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Chapter Text

Standing on the first stepping stone that led the way to what was once her home and business and seeing nothing but a pile of ice mixed with broken timber and other debris, all want escaped. Not even the smoke of what was once desire remained. Perhaps that was a good thing, maybe even a healthy approach given that everything that she'd been pouring herself into was now just a frozen pile of wreckage anyway, but that lack seemed wrong. The complete void of feeling had the person in front of the destruction completely separated and unlike herself, if that self still existed.

Of course the person who was 'Cassidy' wanted things. When having worked in the criminal organization of Team Rocket, she was one of the most ambitious. Fully compliant and participatory in that goal to gain money, power, pokemon, and even eventually take over the world, perhaps everything had been coveted. But perhaps this wasn't the first time drive had escaped, since of course, all of that had been given up to try and start anew.

That included any ties to others or momentary connection felt, remaining alone. Maybe the desire for continued connection to one person in particular hadn't ever been completely admitted, sweeping away wishes with a broom of pure disdain. But everything had certainly been felt despite those efforts to extinguish. But even that had been offered up and dissipated into mist, deciding to let go even when that person later appeared in front of her. Dropping even animosity, only hospitality had been offered. Any longing could be swept away as well.

After all, supposedly only peace had been the only goal... except that hadn't been true either. All of that had simply been a veil on an aspiration to gain something else, be in charge of something, have her own piece of the world, rather than just peace in the world. Alone, but not completely, still in charge of things and admired for the business she'd put together... Which was now completely leveled.

Looking over the complete frozen demolition, there was perhaps a sign of amusement escaping. But it was just a ghost of a laugh, even that action completely slipping past her. Even if laughing, if no one else was around, would it really have happened?

"Raticate!" the beloved pokemon called out as it scurried out from around the leveled out building. The poor thing was looking pathetic enough with frost in its fur and became scooped up automatically by its trainer. Maybe solitude wasn't that easy to find. Even the desire for that drifted away with this pokemon nearby.

But it was too cold to continue to sit there and dwell. Despite escaping with their lives, the otherworldly ice in the already cold area highlighted that there wasn't really any safety here. This was an unnatural disaster - pokemon-made with more than a hint of Team Rocket branding. Though just staying away and minding her own had been the previous decision when learning the obvious culprit of this mess had been unearthed, destruction had come her way. Something had to be done. If things were going this far, they could certainly accelerate. And somehow it was going to be done, even though the lack of the fiery initiative that used to drive was irritating.

Maybe that irritation could spark into something else.

But either way, it didn't matter, given this and the previous visit, she was being drawn in. How annoying there was no kid hero on the case for her sake, though there almost always seemed to have been one going against her. For the good of the world, or maybe just the self, it was time to head back into the haze of danger and toxicity supposedly escaped. All of that had seemed like something someone else ought to be dealing with, but if wanting peace, or her piece of anything, she apparently had to personally make sure to smash it apart this time.

"Come on," Cassidy said, nodding to her pokemon as she put it down. "We'll get you a new pokeball later. We have to get out of this place before we can regroup."

"Raticate!" her pokemon agreed, scurrying after her as they left, trying their best to hide their tracks in the snow.

And just like that, she was drawn back toward everything. No one would cheerlead or encourage her, much like when starting out for the first time...

Chapter Text

Evil.

Upon joining the single word was understood to be the organization's motto all on its own. Neither an order nor an adjective, it simply described them fully. As a noun, that was the total and complete state of things. As members of Team Rocket, they should neither deny nor fret about it. Those with limited vision could never understand their grand goals, and being intimidated by their commanding presence was just natural.

Every person involved remained straight as an arrow, fitting into the elegant Evil, their own inadequacies covered up by its fresh coat of paint. Even if some sort of flaw or weakness shown through, their branding and company could distract, ultimately making them a part of a strong, impenetrable whole that anyone could disappear into.

So who exactly was the person that had just arrived, standing out like a neon sign?

She was dressed in the standard grunt outfit in black complete with pageboy cap pinned into place over long hair styled to an absurd extent, brushed until it was glossy and gelled into shape. On her face was just enough makeup to accentuate her striking features, framing a bright, alert expression. Where other grunts and fledgling wanna-be agents went about their business in the flow to support various nefarious goals, this woman cut through that energy without hesitation, moving with poise as she walked right up to a random office worker and slammed a pokeball on the surface. "You can register me now," she said to the woman at the desk, staring her way with a dauntless confidence. "You may as well put my name at the top of the rankings right now."

After making this declaration, the seeming newbie ran a hand over her seemingly all too appropriate hair, chuckling with confidence, tilting her head up while peering down her nose at the person who sat. Nearby, some others briefly glanced her way from whatever lull they were in, and Wendy, the one who had been addressed, simply stared back blankly. The monolith of Team Rocket appeared overall unaffected even after this bold person's energy had sent a wave through the previously solid-seeming face of the organization.

The thought of what might be going through this person's mind was lost in the thought of how she somehow also gave off a charming air. Good looks shouldn't be an excuse for anything, but somehow the ridiculous attitude added some kind of seasoning to the allure of a gorgeous, well put together woman in uniform - even if it was one of Team Rocket's own over-the-top designs complete with giant 'R' mark. Since no one knew what to say to her declaration, there was nothing left to do but admire her nice figure and pretty face.

Perhaps it had been noted that Cassidy's own attention had been caught, as after frowning at the pokeball shoved in front of her, Wendy made eye contact. "Hey," she said, then motioned her head. Caught, Cassidy begrudgingly walked over next to the person who seemed to demand a fuss, though the area around them wasn't conducive to that energy. The eyes of the person in question brushed her way, though all too briefly, causing her heart rate to increase. The reaction was annoying, yet pleasant. Perhaps being beckoned into her circle wasn't too bad after all.

"I guess you just got here," Wendy said to the newbie, nodding before gazing down at the pokeball. "That's not my area." Wendy turned to Cassidy after informing of this, asking, "Can you show this one around?"

Cassidy grudgingly and silently agreed, allowing her face to twitch. It was extra work, but maybe she wanted to find out what this new person was all about - not that she was going to be the one to get all excited about it. Instead, only a nod was offered in response to the request. Without even gesturing to the boisterous newbie, Cassidy turned and walked down a hall.

As ought to be expected, footsteps followed. There was no need to slow down, so only a crisp pace was kept, causing the woman behind her to hustle after her own hesitation. "Hey," she said, panting to cover up being slightly out of breath. "Looks like you've been granted the honor of giving the grand tour to the next top agent."

"They often push menial tasks like orientating the latest dunces on me." The steady, brisk pace of walking was kept, and again, there was no need to look at who she was speaking to.

"Hu-huh?" the voice protested. Clack, clack, the pace of the footsteps increased, and soon enough, the woman was slightly ahead, staring toward Cassidy with brow furrowed. "Don't think I'll need any detailed directions from the peanut gallery!" As Cassidy stopped, the other woman closed her eyes, flipping a hand through her hair. "I'm here to become elite, you know."

Cassidy quietly scoffed. "Do you even know where you are?" she said, an eyebrow raised.

The hall had widened, a fence blocking them from a gym-looking area in front of wide side-doors to go outside. The newbie's arms went up, tense as she looked from one side to the other. "It's Team Rocket's headquarters, of course. Right?" Awkward laughter followed her half-stating, half-questioning.

Cassidy quietly sighed, placing a hand on hers. The woman jumped before relaxing so slightly. Cassidy chuckled at her confused expression. "You have a pokemon?" she said, then motioned to the desk that certainly had the machinery and devices to analyze pokeballs.

"Oh, right."

With that, the woman followed Cassidy to the desk. While the computer started up, maybe a conversation would best fit the time. "Do you have a name?"

"It's Jessie!" The woman even posed with arms up as she introduced herself.

"I'm Cassidy," Cassidy said without as much gusto. "So, you think you're a good candidate for the elite?" she asked.

"Of course."

"And how exactly will you become elite?"

Jessie put a hand to her head, again posing with a grin as she explained: "I'll light up the sky in a way no one can deny. I'll dazzle the global audience with my skills as a trainer, and join Team Rocket in ruling the world."

This woman just seemed self-assured and convinced of herself as she spoke, grinning and extending her hand while almost bragging. Meanwhile, Cassidy remained mute, watching the screen. As the machine lit up to accept a pokeball, she held out her hand, and Jessie handed her own. Taking it, Cassidy felt hesitant. "Are you sure you want to register this pokemon?" she asked.

"It's mine. And even if it's not, I've claimed it as part of Team Rocket." Jessie gave an extended laugh.

Cassidy placed the pokeball on the machine, having no further comment to that over-the-top declaration. Seeing which pokemon was inside, her eyebrows raised. "Oh, it's evolved."

"I guess so," Jessie said with a sigh. Meeting eyes with Cassidy, she quickly continued with enthusiasm, "Yes, of course! A diva like me has certainly already acquired a fully evolved gem of a pokemon."

Cassidy typed some information before taking the pokeball off the machine and handing it back. "You do know that this pokemon now isn't yours, but Team Rocket's," Cassidy informed as her hand left the pokeball, returning it, though only physically, to its current trainer.

Jessie's expression briefly wavered. Just when it might be inferred that the weight of that information had hit her, she smirked. "Of course," she said. "And what's Team Rocket's is mine, and what's mine is mine. That includes this pokemon."

Cassidy could have rolled her eyes, but instead she just scowled at having her warning dismissed. "You speak like it's nothing, but you don't realize that a different trainer may quickly be found to be more suited to that evolved pokemon," she spat. "Can you even train that thing?"

"I'm its trainer right now!" Jessie shouted, raising a clenched fist.

"I see." Cassidy didn't back away even though Jessie leaned forward menacingly. Instead she narrowed her eyes, taking out her own pokeball. "So then, do you think you can prove yourself in a pokemon battle?"

Of course someone as hasty and haughty as this 'Jessie' was showing herself to be agreed to the challenge right away. Perhaps Cassidy was being a bit impulsive herself. She had been asked to show the newbie around. But of course, that was just a task given to her to get this person out of the hair of someone who wasn't really her superior. Especially with how Jessie dismissed information and just sought to promote herself left and right, giving a bland play-by-play of the daily activities of Team Rocket seemed to be something that might go in one ear and out the other.

Besides, wasn't taking her to a practice arena 'showing her around' enough? That thought was held when they stepped onto the field, the grunts who had been engaging a spoink in some exercises seeming to pick up the atmosphere and getting out of the way for a battle. Thankfully where to stand for the battle didn't need to be explained, and both women took their places across from each other, taking out their pokeballs in unison. "Go, Starmie!" Jessie shouted, somehow getting the draw and throwing hers first.

Cassidy's was maybe a millisecond afterward. "Go, Mih- Minun!" Cassidy quickly corrected herself, sure to call out properly so her pokemon could be on alert.

Starmie's gem sparkled in the sun, its mythical, alien call echoing as the back star spun. Meanwhile, Cassidy's loyal pokemon bounced from leg to leg as it appeared. "My, my!" it called, waving its arms and smiling as its rectangle-shaped tail twitched slightly.

"Huh?" Jessie folded her arms, scrunching up her face. "What is that?"

"My minun, obviously," Cassidy scoffed.

"Obvious, nothing! What is that washed out thing? I've seen plusle and minun before, they have red and blue accents! Just like-"

"It's alternately colored," Cassidy informed. Her little minun was completely nonplused by the uproar over its slightly different appearance. It still stared forward onto the battle arena, maybe one of its long, green-tipped ears twitching slightly to emphasize the cute coloring.

"Well, whatever. Starmie and I can beat a runt like-" Before Jessie could finish speaking, her Starmie spun up, hovering around the area like a UFO, going back and forth from its opponent to its trainer. "Starmie, enough! We can use our elite skills to win!"

"Minun, charge!" Cassidy ordered as she extended her hand.

"My!" Cassidy's pokemon called as it stood in place, a quiet glow surrounding it.

Jessie flailed her arms up, taking a step back. "Ah- No- Watch out!" she stammered, then hardened her expression. "Quick, Starmie! Rapid spin!" Starmie spun around, cutting through the air and buzzing by Cassidy's pokemon. Wincing briefly, the little minun's glow faded. "Alright! You got it! Now, get in there and win! Water gun!" Jessie grinned and clenched her fist as she ordered her pokemon.

Cassidy just rolled her eyes at the obvious inexperienced overlook. "Minun, spark!" she followed with her own order.

Starmie whirled around without relent, water carelessly spraying in every direction, some hitting its opponent somehow. But as the flying star came closer, Cassidy's pokemon bounced up on one leg, holding up an arm as it became surrounded by blue threads of electricity. When Starmie was just a few inches away, the little minun simply bounced up, completely interrupting the other's flight plan while hitting it with a showy display of sparking electricity. Starmie ricocheted up away from its opponent, meandering around further before it eventually settled on the ground, appendages stretching up before resting completely.

"My starmie!" Jessie shouted. She went to the field, checking it over before looking around, then recalled it to its pokeball.

Cassidy folded her arms. "I see there's various definitions of training out there," she commented.

Jessie ignored her, rushing toward the nearby sink and basin. "My, my?" Cassidy's minun called, looking toward her with a tilt of its head.

Cassidy followed Jessie, though remaining at her own pace. The woman didn't even seem to notice, caught up with filling that sink with water by plugging it up and turning on all the faucets. Cassidy decided to just watch quietly. "My?" her pokemon questioned in her place, getting on the edge and peeking down at the water. Jessie didn't respond, just took out her pokeball and released it into the water. With many appendages tucked in, Starmie just barely fit.

"Starmie! Pull yourself back together!" Jessie chided.

"We have people to take care of failing- I mean ailing pokemon, you know," Cassidy informed.

"As if I can't - as if Starmie can't pull itself back together!" Jessie took out a potion and sprayed. Starmie's gem just barely blinked. "Come on!" Jessie shouted, scooping some nearby water over her pokemon.

If it weren't for its flashing front, Starmie may have seemed almost dead, the metal sink making it seem like some fish packed in a can for preservation and consumption. Cassidy glanced toward Jessie questioningly, but the woman didn't meet her eye, instead swapping between spraying with the potion and splashing the pokemon. "My, my?" Seeing her pokemon's tiny appendages touching its cheeks in concern as it called out, Cassidy sighed. It wasn't their fault if this pokemon was so easily taken down.

Eyes closed, a sudden cold sensation hit her face. Cassidy shuddered, opening her eyes and seeing the previously occupied 'sardine can' suddenly empty. She looked around, seeing Jessie just as soaked. "My, my!" Cassidy's pokemon grinned, cheering as it pointed up. In the sky, a dot could be seen, but it couldn't be the pokemon they'd just defeated, could it?

Before any question could be spoken aloud, the dot descended, confirming it was indeed Starmie, who spun as its water gun attack soaked not just their group, but the ones that had been battling before along with a few that were currently approaching. "Starmie, return!" Jessie said, holding up the pokeball. After a few misfires, the beam of light eventually encased Starmie, recalling it and leaving the rest of them in peace.

Jessie sighed, shoulders hunching up. Finally, she looked up, noting Cassidy observing her, and scowled. Cassidy shrugged. "Even though Mini - ah, Minun and I won, I suppose I should be impressed by Starmie's versatile mobility if nothing else," Cassidy admitted.

"Starmie's just a little too powerful to contain itself sometimes, that's all," Jessie said, folding her arms and turning away. "Right, it just needs to work on harnessing its incredible powers properly, that's all," she said. Avoiding eye contact with Cassidy, she eventually ended up meeting eyes with Cassidy's minun, who smiled up at her. Jessie's shoulders relaxed, and she seemed to drop that haughtiness while smiling back. "It might have had a capable opponent too."

"My!" Cassidy's minun chirped up at Jessie, who crouched down to pet its head. As she stood back up, Cassidy also found herself smiling at Jessie, whose ridiculous hairstyle was now slopped around her shoulders. Though at first just smirking, Cassidy was unable to hide a laugh. Jessie's eyes widened, speechless for a moment. However, after looking around at the mud splattered all over the sink and stands, as well as the other soaked agents nearby, they were soon chuckling together.

"It's really a mess, and so am I," Jessie admitted, squeezing some water from her previously immaculately styled hair.

Cassidy gently placed her hand on Jessie's shoulder. As the other woman finally looked her way, Cassidy brushed her hand down, removing the sand that had gotten on Jessie's uniform before pulling away. Perhaps her heart may have beat faster at sharing even brief contact, but she calmly looked down and away. "It doesn't matter," she said, briskly starting to make her way back to the main building before glancing back. "After all, you're quite beautiful regardless."

Jessie's mouth opened wide. Despite saying similar things about herself the whole time, hearing the observation seemed to have confounded her. Seeing that reaction, Cassidy smirked, turning away again. "Let's go. I really should show you the rest of this place." Again, footsteps followed her. When they reached the door, her pokemon hopped on her shoulder, and Cassidy lifted her pokeball to return it. Time to give a tour of the bland, daily to-dos of Team Rocket.

Back in the main building, they did stop and take some time to clean up in the locker room. From there, the various areas they hadn't already visited were shown, such as the offices, laboratories, indoor training arenas, conference rooms, and dorms. "You'll be staying here, I assume," Cassidy said as they left the area.

"Huh? Doesn't everyone?" Jessie asked.

"Some have the privilege of their own space away, though new, bottom-feeding grunts have no choice but to settle with these accommodations," Cassidy said, hitting a button to open the next door.

"So you have some kind of posh home to go to every night?" Jessie asked, pointed eyes darting her way.

Cassidy paused before stepping through the automated door. "No," she admitted.

Jessie's expression softened. Continuing forward, they entered the final area to show - the cafeteria. Jessie sighed as she sat down next to Cassidy with her tray. Cassidy observed her, catching her eye, and Jessie's shoulders hunched up again. "You're a newbie grunt yourself, aren't you?" Jessie accused.

"I've been here a few months," Cassidy said, casually picking up part of her meal. "I've still yet to complete any specialized training, but-"

"When I complete training, I'm sure to become a top agent!" Jessie interrupted.

Cassidy scowled. That was certainly enough of that kind of hubris. "I don't think it'll be that easy," she said.

"Well, I think I'm capable of that kind of accomplishment," Jessie said, holding a hand to her chest.

"As if I'm not," Cassidy shot back.

"Hmm..." Jessie leaned forward with a grin. "So, what are you aiming to accomplish in Team Rocket?"

Seeing the woman's curious gaze turning her way, Cassidy suddenly wanted to have an impressive answer. She didn't have the kind of wild, unfocused ambition as this person, and besides, didn't want to just mirror that gusto. Besides, there certainly were reasons in mind upon joining, even if they hadn't been considered as much as the process to get here. That didn't mean they couldn't somehow be expressed in the here and now.

"Power," Cassidy declared. Jessie pursed her lips, eyebrows going up even more. Was she unimpressed? She shouldn't be, that was a solid goal. "I'll eventually gain a powerful pokemon team of my own," Cassidy declared. It would be enough to protect herself beyond any doubt of course, but also generally establish reality as she wanted things to be.

"So you just want to be a battling grunt?" Jessie asked.

"No." Cassidy scowled. Was that all she could think of? "The boss has powerful pokemon of his own, and can more than hold himself in a battle, you know. He collects the strongest pokemon out there for a reason. Don't you want to be like that? Don't you want to be able to stand on your own too?"

The last question revealed a weakness, but Jessie didn't seem to notice, looking up thoughtfully. "Right!" she eventually exclaimed. "Of course I do - I will. Elite trainers are famous and stand out. I'll be able to hold my own with a group of powerful pokemon. I can't wait to train even more."

"Maybe you can actually win a battle sometime too," Cassidy said, unable to hide her amusement.

Jessie became downcast, her eyes traveling toward her belt and Starmie's pokeball as a look of guilt passed over her face. Where had that arrogance gone? Of course, such an attitude seemed almost necessary while being part of Team Rocket. One couldn't let any weakness show. Before Cassidy noticed, her hand had traveled to pat Jessie's own. They locked eyes as Jessie looked up. Cassidy smiled, glad her action seemed to have calmed this newbie. "Pokemon are provided to the worthy around here," she explained. "That starmie needs more training, but if you keep at it, I'm sure you'll both improve and be seen as fit to acquire more for the team."

Jessie smiled back at her. With that, Cassidy removed her hand, returning her attention to her meal, her body feeling warmer somehow. Though having been annoyed at first, maybe she was happy to be given this task now. Jessie was more interesting than others around here. Maybe her company was even desired at this point.

As they finished and went to throw out their trash, Cassidy casually threw out the question: "So, do you have a partner?"

"Huh?" Jessie's hands went up in an overreaction, making it difficult not to laugh. "Is that - should you really be talking about that at work?"

"I meant for work," Cassidy asserted, with a sigh that certainly made it seem like she hadn't cared at all about getting attention from this person before pointing at Jessie's face. "You want that training as a special agent, don't you? You'd be required to be part of a pair for that, you know."

"Required? I think I'm more than capable of doing anything on my own," Jessie said hotly.

Cassidy shrugged. "Well, I want you to be my partner."

Again, Jessie reacted, face and neck turning pink as her eyes flitted to and away from Cassidy. Seeing that reaction, Cassidy forcefully exhaled, just barely hiding a laugh, before she raised her eyebrows with a smile. "As an elite agent, of course," she clarified, not wanting to tease too much. "With a little polish, I'm sure you and Starmie will shape right up and be able to support me well enough."

"More than that, I'll already be the top," Jessie said.

"You really think so?" Cassidy asked, trying to hide her disappointment at the competitive rhetoric. If they were partners, they'd both be on top together, wouldn't they? "There's a lot of competent trainers around here."

"You too, huh? With that one pokemon..." Jessie suddenly narrowed her eyes, maybe remembering how Cassidy's pokemon had one hit KO'd Jessie's own. "Hey, is it really a minun? I'm sure I heard you calling it something else."

Now Cassidy was put on the spot herself, face going hot. She realized her mouth had fallen open as Jessie smirked her way, apparently having noticed her reaction. "Yes, of course it's a minun!" Cassidy spat out. "You've heard of alternately colored pokemon before, haven't you?" she continued, maybe hoping to distract from Jessie's observation by calling attention to her own possible lack of knowledge.

"Of course I know about shiny pokemon," Jessie said, using the uncouth commoner's term. "But you called it something else. It must not be a minun after all. Are you trying to trick me by hiding what kind of pokemon it is?"

"No, it was just a nickname," Cassidy finally admitted. Sitting there with a frown in the silence that followed, her face flushed, she suddenly felt silly for getting all up in arms and trying to hide it.

Jessie sat back. "Oh, is that all? What's its nickname?"

"Mini," Cassidy said, again unable to stifle that embarrassment. Often she just called it Minun to avoid having to reveal her pokemon had such a cutesy alias. That wasn't anything close to the vibe she wanted to give off, especially in Team Rocket. But in private, Mini enjoyed being called such, so she continued to, and when it became habit...

"Oh! I get it! Because it's so small!" Jessie said.

Cassidy glanced around, hoping too many weren't listening in. After realizing there probably wasn't, she sat back, enjoying the conversation. "That may have been the reason," she said, trying to be casual about the whole thing.

"Let me see it again," Jessie said.

Though not quite liking what sounded like an order, Cassidy perhaps thought Mini should be given more attention than it had here in the headquarters of a group that worshipped only rare pokemon, or at least those that came off as 'powerful' and 'strong', and happily took out her pokeball. "Mini, let's come out," she said, still being somewhat sly and quiet, simply pressing the button on the pokeball rather than throwing it out as would be done for a battle.

"My, my!" Mini called. Its eyes and mouth opened wider as Jessie put her face right in front of its own.

"Hmm..." Jessie said, observing it closely with eyes narrowed for a few moments. After the silence, she simply smiled. "You really are a minun," she said.

"My!" Mini chirped its cute little cry, calmly looking up at Jessie. Of course, that much was obvious, but Cassidy's pokemon was much more patient than herself as Jessie made this realization. Jessie ought to be appreciative to be able to hear its cute call as it tolerated her.

"And not a bad one, seeing as it defeated me," Jessie said with a wave of her hand before looking back at Cassidy. "Of course, Team Rocket elite has far more powerful and rarer pokemon. But that doesn't mean no other pokemon are any good."

Cassidy took a breath, the intake of air seeming easier than it had since she'd started at Team Rocket. So there wasn't just someone that would think something like that, but who would also openly express it? On top of that, Jessie even patted Mini on the head as if nothing were wrong with that after all. There was almost a sense of envy at such nonchalant boldness, but at the same time, a stronger draw to keep closer to this person.

Turning away from Mini, Jessie stared forward. "The pokemon we have will soon become stronger, and then we'll just get more and more," she declared, clenching her fists as she stood up, stomping her foot on the chair as emphasis. "We'll just have to do what it takes and keep moving up that ladder."

"My, my!" Mini cheered Jessie on.

Glancing around, various agents could be spotted peeking at Jessie's spectacle. Were they scrutinizing a newbie, or just unsure where they stood with this steadfast person jumping into the spotlight? Cassidy just exhaled, giving a cough while barely hiding her laugh though the corners of her mouth turned up. "I like your attitude," she admitted. "Others around here may just sit around waiting for powerful pokemon to fall into their lap, but it takes a lot of work to train those pokemon and be worthy as a trainer. Good to see someone else around here that understands that."

As Jessie smiled down at her, Cassidy realized she had been smiling up at the other woman in return. She chuckled for sure now as she stood, moving past Jessie as she got rid of her trash. After doubling back and picking up Mini, Cassidy left, Jessie following her out. "So," Jessie began, her tone alight with energy, "how do new recruits even begin things around here?"

With a sweet pokemon appreciated by someone other than her in arms and a vibrant, appealing woman by her side, Cassidy felt almost a sensation of being lifted up, even though the topic Jessie spoke of had lately been dragging her down. "I suppose I have been assigned to instruct you to that extent," Cassidy said, though the instructions had more or less been to get Jessie out of someone else's hair. Even so, no one else was instructing her, were they? With two eyes on her brightly anticipating what might be next, Cassidy was happy to comply with introducing it. "For those that want to compete, we try and gain attention in order to get various assignments. Part of that is training. We may as well get started on it together."

"My!" Mini chirped in to agree, glancing over at Jessie next to them before peeking up at Cassidy herself. Jessie stayed by her side, not objecting. Somehow that alone was exciting, and Cassidy squeezed Mini closer. "My?" Mini called.

"Hmph." Cassidy smirked in self-satisfaction, happy to share her tiny celebration with her pokemon.

"Can you get me registered for a place to stay, too?" Jessie suddenly asked.

"Right, right," Cassidy agreed, seeming annoyed though she was actually anything but.

Though Jessie shouldn't get too bossy with the requests, being able to draw in someone like this as a new recruit was valuable. After all, being alone, though nothing that couldn't be handled, was actually quite a lonely experience. This new recruit could be provided with support that really wasn't a given.

Chapter Text

The sight of the imposing structure that made up Team Rocket's headquarters was more shocking than it ought to be. As the vehicle drove around the corner, it appeared, seemingly from nowhere. How had such a large, imposing monolith remained hidden until that point?

In the current day and age, with all the technology and mapping done via satellite, it really couldn't stay as such. Many knew the general location, though for some reason the geography of the area made it difficult to actually spot. Though of course, as an accepted applicant, all those in the vehicle had to go there, being welcomed to the main headquarters.

The van bumped along the road, slowing when it got to the gate. The building was many stories, surrounded by tall fencing with actual barbed wire. It seemed like a prison almost. If not for the proud logo on the top, perhaps it may be mistaken as one. Trying to spot signs of any powerful pokemon prowling the area, neither human nor beast were seen. Were they kept inside, or maybe only allowed out under strict conditions?

The new recruit was about to find out. She adjusted herself, looking around at the group around her. Being new, none of them were yet in uniform. A dress had been picked for the occasion of starting this new job to try and seem the most professional, though noting the casual and even shabby attire of those around, somehow that seemed out of place. Even so, silence was maintained after they greeted the guards, were inspected, and drove in.

Though they were already 'there', the van drove a while longer, going to the side of the building around wire and concrete and then finding a spot next to a variety of other vans, cars, even helicopters. From there, they had to walk a while to get close to the centerpiece of a building itself, following their guide through halls with loud lighting and few windows. They went up a staircase before down again, finding themselves in the presence of who was certainly their inspector.

The woman in front of them stared through her glasses and down her nose at them, seeming to scrutinize. She stopped scanning the crowd, blinking several times, perhaps in a double take at seeing a woman in a dress standing out among the rest. Waving back didn't give any other response as she glanced away, eyes traveling across the others. This woman was also sans uniform, dressed in a professional-seeming suit. However, with the air she gave off as well as the guide's kowtowing to her, she was obviously no new recruit. Her serious face gave off an air of thoughtfulness, being a person on a mission. With a clean cut appearance, funny rimless glasses, purple suit that fit her figure, and young-seeming face, this possible higher up in the organization was even cute in a way.

"Hey, when are we going to get our pokemon?" one of the ruder recruits that had tried to strike up small talk with bad jokes earlier suddenly spoke up.

"Quiet, now. Soon questions will be asked of you, and you're going to follow orders," the woman said, only glaring this person's way long enough to say this much before turning back to their guide. "Do any of them seem to have any particular promise?" she asked.

"Well, I just picked them up and... Y'know," the man said.

The woman's fingers went to her temple, sighed, though only for a moment before her posture returned to normal, glaring at the group of them. "And they don't even have pokemon. Take them to begin basic training. They'll need all of that to get themselves in shape before we throw them any sort of first stage creature to try and train. I suppose it'll be a while before I'll even consider any of these people for any missions."

"Yes, ma'am," their guide said, gaining some decorum despite himself.

The professional-looking woman turned her head. Apparently, everyone there was being scooped into one net and categorized the same. After this seeming authority left, everyone left would be packed into the same can and starting at level zero.

If one wanted to halt that, now or never was the time to speak up. Allowing that assumption to stand might make getting on any sort of elite squad or being put on any high ranking missions even more out of reach for anyone new. Without thinking about it more, a call was spoken. "Hey." Hearing their previously silent recruit speak up, the woman stopped, turning around, so the protest continued, "I don't need any of those basics."

Though the woman in a suit's demeanor didn't change, her full attention was certainly acquired with those words. "Who are you?" she asked.

"Alice." The response was kept short for the person who seemed quite short in more ways than one.

The woman took a step back, pointing her finger toward the one that had interrupted her. "Well Alice, what makes you think you can bypass the basic training that's been considered necessary for all recruits in Team Rocket?"

Alice answered, able to address the implied accusation of insubordination without missing a beat: "I wouldn't say I know what's necessary. I just already train pokemon. Thought maybe you'd want to know."

The woman's shoulder's relaxed, though her gaze was still sharp as she glanced at Alice before those around her. "I see," she said, then turned back to their original guide. "Of course - we don't necessarily do things as we used to. There's more of a structure in place, but not everyone needs to follow the same syllabus. There's more efficient ways to make the best of those that come our way. Of course, any training should be more individualized. Get more information on everyone next time."

As the guide glanced down sheepishly, the woman stepped in the center before addressing everyone. "Well then, who here is also a trainer?" she said. Two men made some kind of noise and raised their hands, one quickly standing up after leaning against a nearby doorknob. "Very well. You should have mentioned it yourselves. Learn to advocate when necessary - I'll say it's quite prudent of you to have taken the initiative, Alice."

Alice barely hid a grin, looking up diagonally as to not seem too pleased at having effectively sucked up to who seemed quite the VIP.

The woman continued, "I'll have to be sure you test your skills myself. Come with me."

Now the group of new recruits was splitting up, the declared trainers following this overbearing woman down a different hall from the rest. Alice picked up her pace, wanting to be the one closest to the person in the leadership position. "Hey," she continued, "what should we call you?"

"Matori," the woman said as she continued, still keeping pace before she stopped by a door, entering a security code. Alice smirked, amused that there was someone so caught in their tasks that not sharing that information initially hadn't even seemed to be an oversight, maybe just not wasting time with something considered unnecessary.

The automated door eventually opened, and the decisive Matori walked right in, sliding open the metal shutter to a shelf and removing several pokeballs. "I have an appointment coming up, so we'll have to be quick, but I want to see your battling skills personally. I hope you're all ready to give it your very best." With that Matori shut the cover on the shelf. As she locked it everyone else present simply waited, the next step in their journey as Team Rocket members clearly outlined.

"The new recruits are here," was the announcement given all too early that morning. Even thinking how annoying it was that people came to her regarding these kinds of things yet again, Matori had soon realized just how long she'd been sitting at that desk perfecting that outline for the boss to most effectively be able to absorb the information in it and make the best decision - the one she thought he ought to come to, of course.

Even if the interruption was irksome, perhaps taking a break was warranted. As Matori stood, her assistant, an Alolan variant meowth that freely performed all kinds of tasks, had already taken the cue and was carefully arranging all of that paperwork for that project back into the folder for everything to be continued later. Though perhaps figuring out what to do with the new recruits was another task taken on way too easily where another could be assigned, she wanted to have the first look at everyone.

Just the first glance was enough to confirm that they were a sorry lot. With a few exceptions, most of them seemed like they hadn't even washed up before arriving. "Tch." Matori turned her head, trying her best to not be too openly disdainful of those that had freely joined and would soon be working with her. Even so, the thought that of course anyone wanting to be part of their grand scheme should have cut or at least combed their hair properly couldn't be dismissed. That mental checklist of all the ways they were lacking was growing, increasing annoyance, so it was better to leave. But before she could return to her to-do list, someone else had spoken up.

Many joined Team Rocket before becoming trainers, but existing trainers were far more useful to them. Someone who knew a little about pokemon and could handle themselves in a battle without being trained themselves first could be quite helpful indeed. By chance, did any of them have what it took to join up with what had become her own personal top pet project?

Probably not, Matori thought as she gathered some pokeballs with powerful pokemon to best test them. Sure, they'd just arrived, not even been properly fitted for a uniform yet, but they ought to have gotten themselves together more than they did. That woman that had spoken up, Alice, seemed more with it than the rest, but couldn't be that experienced. That sundress made her seem so innocent, as did the long, free flowing hair that draped almost to her waist. Though her speaking up ought to be commended, that didn't mean she'd perform that well on these tests. Even if not as obnoxiously lackadaisical as the rest, everything about her didn't seem to belong there in Team Rocket.

Going outside and into one of the battle arenas, Matori again had to try her best to maintain some sort of patience as she spotted a group of grunts just lounging around laughing with each other. They all sat up as they got closer, one almost stumbling over himself before adjusting his hat. Matori waited for them to gain complete composure before she spoke. "Listen. I'm going to need you to battle against these three one by one. I want to see how they measure up new recruits, so give it your best despite how they look."

"Sure," one man said, nodding at Alice and the rest before taking out a pokeball and pressing the button to get it to normal size.

"You can put that away. I have pokemon for you to use," Matori said, holding out a different pokeball.

"Huh?" The man scratched his head, brow furrowing. "Can't we just use our own pokemon?"

"No. I need you to use this one." Matori pushed her hand forward, placing the pokeball directly in the grunt's hands. His lip curled up, but Matori just shrugged. "I don't know anything about whatever pokemon you have, but this one's power has been properly rated. How they do against it should give me a good idea of their skills, should they have any."

The grunt with the assigned pokeball appeared to sigh, perhaps annoyed about being given any work to do, though at least he was giving it a start and trying it. "You're up first," Matori said, pointing to the man next to Alice.

The new recruit nodded seriously to Matori, taking his place as a challenger while everyone else cleared the field for the coming battle. Was he eager to prove himself? Good. Matori stood next to him, ready to take note of the niceties of how he handled the challenge against the higher level, evolved pokemon.

"Go, rattata!" the newbie said as he threw out his pokeball. The named pokemon called out as it appeared. As his challenger threw out the pokeball Matori had provided, he said nothing. Of course, Matori hadn't even told him what specific pokemon she'd temporarily assigned.

"Primeape!" the surprise pokemon called out. The primeape swung its fists in the air. Matori noted the man next to her shuddering in surprise. That wasn't promising - Team Rocket agents were expected to handle the unexpected calmly and be able to strategize in the moment. But would he be able to do anything from here?

"R-rattata!" he began, gaining enough composure to speak. The grunt that had been assigned Primeape had an electronic device open and was reading the screen, failing to begin any orders himself while seeming to do some last minute research. "Tail whip!" was the order given in the lull.

"Rattata!" the pokemon called as it leapt forward, smacking Primeape right across the face with the curled end of its tail.

Primeape's eyes went wide, and Matori found herself nodding in approval. "Good. You've got it off guard," she complemented the person being tested.

The monkey-like pokemon quickly wiped its nose before closing its eyes and sneezing, hopping up in the air. Just as Rattata's trainer seemed to relax, it opened its eyes again, veins visible. "Primeape!" it shouted, moving forward with fists swinging as the one that was supposed to be directing it still stared down at his screen.

"It's no good." Rattata's trainer's arms went up before reaching for his pokeball.

"What are you doing?" Matori chided. "It's just the start of the battle. There's no need to panic so early! Your pokemon is counting on you to make sharp observations and provide the appropriate direction."

The man grimaced and paused, appearing to consider Matori's words before he shouted, "Rattata, quick attack!"

Rattata just barely dodged Primeape's rage-fueled attack before staring forward steadfast and darting forward, its body hitting Primeape right on the nose. As Rattata fell back, now staring at its opponent from a distance, tears dotted Primeape's eyes. The larger pokemon jumped up and down before pounding its fists on the ground, repeatedly shouting. "Primeape..." it called in a mix of pain and fury, then sprung forward again.

"Ah..." Finally, Primeape's assigned trainer peered up from the device. "Primeape, stop! Dynamic punch should finish it off quicker."

Instead of listening, Primeape quickly yet haphazardly threw punches and kicks at Rattata's smaller body. Rattata called out in pain, and finally its trainer lifted up the pokeball. "Yeah, there's no good end here," he said sheepishly, turning back to Matori.

Matori straightened her glasses, glaring his way. "Is that it? You think you can compete like this? Is this the response you'll give in the field when support is needed? Do you want to conquer the world, or just have everything handed to you?"

As Matori gave her lecture, various crashing and banging sounded around them, though of course that was all something that someone else could deal with. Matori closed her eyes and sighed. "It can't be helped, I think you'll need the basic training after all..."

"Heads up!"

At the grunt's shout, Matori looked back to the field just in time to see Primeape suddenly landing in front of her. The pokemon snorted as its fist smacked forcefully on the ground. As the infuriated pokemon in the middle of throwing a fit glared specifically at her in a pause, Matori blinked, suddenly frozen for what to do. Would it really attack her? The battle was over, wasn't it? Where was the trainer with the pokeball to call back this monster? He would before anything dangerous actually happened, wouldn't he?

The time it took for Matori to process those questions in her stunned state was barely an instant. Before it was over Primeape leapt forward, fist in the air. Just seeing that pose, Matori froze further, except perhaps starting to lift her arm, but even if able to complete such an action in time, there was no way it would be enough to defend herself.

Hitting the ground, Matori had to wince, but then realized her state wasn't from the effect of the pokemon, but because she'd been pushed away, getting her out of range of the angry pokemon's attack. Glancing up provided a view of Alice's face, stringy strands of long hair draping down around her and partially blocking the rest of the view of the battlefield. The new recruit had a more determined expression than she'd seen before, one that seemed unfitting of how innocent and unassuming this person had initially come across.

Without even acknowledging Matori further, Alice stood, glaring toward the primeape that had now bounced off, targeting someone else this time. Matori also shakily found her way to her feet. Of course, she had to maintain composure the same as she had directed the grunts to do. "Let's get ourselves together!" Matori projected her voice, then found the grunt she'd assigned the now rogue pokemon to. "You, now. The best thing to do is recall this one before it causes further damage."

"Yeah, if I could find the pokeball I dropped!" the man said, sheepishly glancing from where primeape had just reduced a nearby bench to splinters and back at Matori.

Matori clenched her jaw, taking a deep breath. Directions for how to properly hold one's pokeball along with the details on just how important that could be during various tasks could wait. "Find it. In the meantime, the rest of you can just incapacitate this one."

The grunts and unranked newbies alike didn't respond, their eyes wide with fear, only becoming alert when Primeape pounded its chest, then raised its fists. The pokemon flew at the grunts, thankfully avoiding Matori herself this time. She still couldn't help but shout as she put her arm up to block the dust. "What is this?! Can't you do anything? Don't you have any kind of pride for the uniform you wear?"

Something touched Matori's shoulder, causing her to shudder despite herself with all the ruckus going on. Looking over revealed it was only Alice, the newly recruited trainer simply resting her hand on Matori's shoulder. Having gained attention, Alice patted it with a reassuring pressure while meeting Matori's gaze, then stepped ahead of Matori herself. "Guess only I can help things now," Alice said, eyes focused on the violent pokemon in front of her. "I'll take care if it," she assured, brandishing a pokeball seemingly from out of nowhere.

"You should stand by," Matori suddenly said. She realized her mistake - the level she'd selected was far too high for these new arrivals. Even if they did have some training experience, they'd have better options than Team Rocket if they were any good at battling. Even wishing there was some kind of useful person, she shouldn't have had a group that was so basic engage in a battle too above their level. But instead of following her order, Alice glanced back only briefly, giving Matori a brief smile before turning back to the field. "Go, Golurk!" she shouted as she tossed the pokeball out.

In front of the newbie in the flimsy sundress, a giant of a pokemon appeared, letting out a low roar. Matori pushed up her glasses, having to look up to get a view of the entire creature. Alice's revealed pokemon was a pile of stones fashioned into a massive doll, more or less. Though large in stature, perhaps it wasn't the best choice, as fighting types were known for being able to smash apart rocks with ease.

With a now massive target in sight, Primeape shouted, fists flying as it apparently wanted to do just that. But as the repeated punches hit, the large pokemon didn't flinch. It didn't even seem to move at all, and the impact of Primeape's fists didn't make a sound. "I see..." Matori said, nodding as Primeape gave the attack yet another fruitless try, now just wearing itself by swinging its fists through the air, but completely not affecting the pile of rock pokemon that was actually a ghost type. "Of course. Good strategy," Matori said.

Alice didn't respond or even seem to need the praise at all, just continued with her command, "Golurk, shadow punch!"

Finally, the rocky doll moved its arm, now glowing purple with escaping tendrils of black in what was obviously a practiced move, going right for Primeape's face. The misbehaving fighting type tumbled back upon impact. Again, it put its fists to its face, crying out several times, but didn't get up.

Before the battle had to continue, there was a flash of light, finally recalling Primeape to the pokeball. The immediate blunder thwarted, what to do from there had to be considered. Instead of having to say anything to the lowly grunts in front of her, Matori perhaps wanted to sit in front of her computer and accept some tea from her assistant.

"Matori?"

It was Alice that had spoken, and Matori put her head up, giving the one that had come to her rescue her attention. Alice nodded. "Should they," Alice motioned toward the men in uniforms, "show us where to take care of these pokemon?"

"Right," Matori said firmly. "Go do that, have them show you the area for basic training." As the grunts headed off, Matori was sure to continue one thought. "Alice, there's more for you. After you take care of your pokemon and complete the initial tasks, you are to report to my office."

"Right," Alice said. Before she walked off after the grunts leading the way, Matori noted her giving a brief half-smile. The newly arrived, surprisingly capable young woman then turned her head, long hair flowing before taking a spot behind the rest of the group, head still held high.

Upon returning to her office area, a cup of tea was indeed served by her assistant without needing to be requested, but grew cold long before finished. In addition to the project she'd been in the middle of, Matori continued to be interrupted for various other demands. Somehow her secretarial work kept ever expanding. Well, it wasn't like she hadn't wanted to contribute to the organization's overall goal. It just turned out to be much more demanding than she'd thought.

The afternoon went on. When orange sunlight started spilling in through the windows, Matori finally started to feel the drag. She took off her glasses, leaning against the desk with a sigh. Just starting to relax, a curt knock sounded on the already open door.

"Meow, meow!" Matori's dedicated assistant was already responding, shooing the intruder away with one paw. But in the doorframe wasn't yet another grunt complaining about something or admin wondering if Matori was going to take on a task of a person who had left, but someone she'd forgotten she'd been waiting for.

"Wait," Matori said firmly. Her assistant hopped to the side, paws behind its back, looking curiously up at the new recruit as she entered.

Alice seemed quite curious herself. Matori's assistant meowth had meticulously cleaned and even decorated the place. The boss had been insistent on getting only the highest quality solid wood furniture for his office and anyone working nearby it. Alice's eyes scanned the teaware on the nearby shelves, the ornate carpet, and even seemed to start to absorb the contents of the paintings. Walking further into the room, she put her hands behind her back as if to remind herself not to touch, spinning around to get a look at everything.

"So, you've come as requested," Matori said, interrupting her fascination.

Alice suddenly turned, giving her full attention to Matori and nodded. "Sure."

"All of the orientation must have taken a while. Did you find it informative and efficient?"

Alice gave a short shrug. "Nothing too unexpected."

"I suppose your uniform will be made up soon. You'll need something more fitting than that," Matori continued.

"Looking forward to it," Alice said.

Alice's responses were short, but not enough to be curt. Perhaps she was also aiming for efficiency. Matori decided to get to the meat of what she wanted to know. "So, how did you acquire that Goliath of a pokemon?" she asked.

Alice blinked once before her face spread into a grin. "Goliath! That really does fit Golurk!" Alice chuckled. "Yeah, I thought having giant pokemon would be cool since I was a kid. So of course I'd catch a golett when I got the chance."

A golett? Of course, that was the pre-evolution. "Are you saying you trained and evolved it yourself?" Matori asked.

"You got it," Alice said, that half-smile seen from before again appearing, disappearing before it could be seen as too boastful.

"So what are you doing here?" Matori asked.

"Hoping to get the chance to train more and more giant, powerful pokemon of course," Alice said.

"Would you say training is a passion of yours? Where do you see yourself in five years?"

Alice snorted, barely hiding a laugh. She sighed and stretched before walking right up to Matori's desk. "Matori," she said, leaning down to meet her eyes. "Haven't I already got the job? You're treating this meeting like an interview."

"Maybe it is," Matori said. "There's more prestigious work here than the rest of the arrivals today got assigned to, but I'm sure you know that already."

"I could move up the ladder quickly?"

Matori tensed up. "I'm not here today to make promises. I'm simply trying to get the facts about you. Don't let it get to your head, but not all newcomers have the skills as a trainer you showed today - or any kind of skills, really. Just based on my observations, I may be willing to put you on a list of candidates for more prestigious tasks. You may be one of many chosen, but only if appropriate."

Alice took a breath again, glancing at the organized stacks of folders on Matori's desk to the wall before to Meowth on the floor, standing calmly at attention. "You've got it all together, huh?" she said.

"Are you surprised?" Matori said, then frowned, thinking of the recent blunders of the organization. "I wouldn't blame you if you were..." she muttered, mostly to herself.

Alice subtly shook her head. "Na, you seemed like the type right away." Alice came and sat on the desk. "I'm not so much. I'll tell you right now - I don't care about titles and rank, unless it gets me close to the powerful pokemon. That's what I'm here for."

Matori was speechless a moment. From Alice's girlish appearance, almost child-like with the flowing dress, and initial quiet demeanor, it may have been assumed she was more reserved. But the attitude she was showing now wasn't much unlike a lot of the recruits they got. But despite her boorishness, there was something likable about her as well - perhaps because she'd jumped into action, both to defend Matori and to battle. That had to be appreciated.

Matori felt she could be direct with her as well. "I see promise in you," she said. "With a little polishing up, you may get the rank to have all sorts of pokemon assigned to you."

"Oh, yeah, about that," Alice's eyes moved to the corner. "Can I give you some pointers there?"

Wasn't the praise and promise enough? At yet another unexpected response, Matori simply nodded.

Alice gave an exaggerated sigh. "You aren't a trainer, are you?"

Matori's face grew hot despite herself. "I-I- I'm not exactly," she admitted, folding her arms as she huffed and swallowed, regaining all composure after the unexpected question. "But I assure you, I have experience with pokemon. This headquarters is full of them. I also work with an assistant who happens to be a pokemon. And-"

"Yeah, I'm sure you know plenty of stuff from just being around here," Alice said, patting Matori's shoulder in a reassuring way for the second time that day. "Not saying you don't know anything... But it's pretty obvious you don't get into training pokemon. If you did, maybe you'd know that guy couldn't just get out and handle training that primeape on the spot like that."

"Oh?" Was she responsible for his lack of skill? Of course, she had been the one to choose the pokeball for him and give it to him, so that gave her some liability in the whole situation. "Was their some sign you saw that he was a subpar trainer?" Matori gazed intently at Alice, genuinely wanting to know what she may have seen.

"Not especially... But he's not high ranking as a trainer, right? And primeape are known for being one of the hardest species to manage - damn near uncontrollable sometimes, you know," Alice said, smirking with apparent amusement.

Matori hadn't known. Certainly, she'd heard chatter at some point about how the pokemon was unruly. But many pokemon, no, pokemon in general would be like that, wasn't that right? Eyes resting on her calm assistant, Matori sighed. Of course different pokemon species had different demeanors in general. Her assistant, that talking meowth with the group currently in Alola, and the boss's persian - she couldn't imagine any of them rampaging without grace as readily as the pokemon that day had. Meanwhile, any primeape she'd ever seen seemed to be constantly in a rage state. "Isn't that just an excuse? Shouldn't a capable trainer be able to adjust to difficult situations?" Matori asked, pressing her hand against her forehead as she recalled the day's disaster.

"Yeah, we can give it our best. But there's also the fact high level pokemon don't want to listen to low level trainers. Team Rocket hasn't had trouble with that before?"

Matori's eyes opened suddenly, recalling not just that day, but many other instances of trouble from pokemon turning against their assigned trainers. She didn't admit it, just processed those scenes of the low level grunts she'd scolded afterward. Had she just not been able to properly use the humans just the same as some humans often weren't able to properly utilize their pokemon?

"You should be able to see who might be best for certain pokemon," Alice said, echoing Matori's own thoughts. "I'd like to see if I could handle that primeape if you'd given it to me. Not saying I could, but might be fun to try."

Alice stared at Matori seriously, almost seeming hungry for the challenge. Matori stood, her assistant then walking to her desk to tidy up. "We'll see," she said. "Now I have some pointers to give you." Alice's eyes widened expectantly as Matori spoke. "You look far too unassuming right now in that getup. Even if you're able to prove yourself otherwise, you ought to have dressed more appropriately for the occasion."

Alice turned, finding a reflection of herself in the nearby glass of a picture frame. She tutted, pulling one stringy piece of hair back. "Yeah, I'm giving off something else today. Didn't realize it. First day jitters, you know?" Alice grinned at Matori. Was that even a quick wink? "Can't wait for my uniform. I bet I'll look like a badass."

"I suppose the uniform alone gives off an imposing aura," Matori said. "But as far as your demeanor goes, that could also use improvement. The way you've been speaking may allow you to fit in with those grunts, but those high in rank aren't as brash."

"Oh, right." Alice stood up straighter. "Yes, ma'am, understood. I'll have to be giving you all respect from now on."

Just with that, both with her words and body language, Alice did seem to have acquired more of a professional air already. Of course, she needed more advice than that. "If you're going to stay in the dorms, I'll tell you now-"

"Na, I've got a place in the city," Alice said, then glanced away guiltily. "Oh, I mean, thank you, ma'am. I already have things taken care of, but I appreciate your consideration."

Though this was only upon taking her advice, something that many around Team Rocket headquarters failed to do, there was something disappointing about losing that casual regard from before. "That's a more favorable situation for you," Matori said, shaking off that feeling. "I also have an apartment in Viridian. Perhaps we could travel back there together now that the day's work is done."

"Thank you, ma'am. I'd like that."

Even with the overly polite speech, Matori actually did believe that Alice might enjoy her company. She practically bounced as Matori led the way to the transportation that would take them back to Viridian. Despite how Alice remained quiet in return, those bright eyes paying complete attention, Matori started to feel comfortable as well. Inside the shuttle van, Alice even crawled right next to her in the second row.

After they finally got off the dirt road and onto the smoother pavement, she finally spoke: "So, Matori, am I gonna have to- I mean, ma'am, do I understand correctly I'm not gonna be in the regular grunt training?"

"Correct," Matori confirmed. "Others will decide the specifics, but I'll let you know now I can clearly see the basics are beyond you. You certainly won't be one of those bottom tier dunces being handed a rattata."

Chapter Text

The tiny, purple pokemon stared up at Cassidy, calmly and curiously observing the unfamiliar person than had released it into the open. "What is it?" Jessie asked from behind her. "Come on, which one? Which one did you get?"

Cassidy almost didn't want to tell. It had been Jessie's birthday just recently, and she'd been handed not a rare or high level, but at least somewhat impressive pokemon, a first stage poison type. Some kid in supplies had a crush on her and pulled some strings for it to be given in the guise of a gift. Jessie had been absolutely thrilled with the little ekans, which showed a lot of growth in just the short time she'd been training it and followed directives far more easily than her starmie.

But the pokemon given to Cassidy as they seemed to become more respected 'grunts' was just a rattata, the same plain, normal type species that had been shuffled off to so many others. She clenched her hands together, almost starting to fidget. Rattata's expression subtly changed, whiskers twitching as its brow furrowed even more. Was it trying to size up its trainer just the same?

Cassidy took a deep breath, exhaling it slowly. Finally, she scooped up Rattata, purposefully grinning as she held her head up high before spinning back to Jessie. "It looks like the most perfect specimen of a rattata has been sent my way."

Jessie's focused expression seemed to be judging Cassidy's newly assigned pokemon herself before glancing back up and grinning. "Right. This one certainly looks more with it than some of the others. Should we battle and see how it does?"

Cassidy agreed, and they went outside to give rattata the first try at battling with a trainer ever, since it was one of a large group of pokemon some grunts had captured and stuck in a box somewhere. She took her spot across from Jessie, who grabbed a pokeball. "Maybe I should use Ekans instead of Starmie? Going against an evolved pokemon may not be fair," Jessie said.

"Oh? You're underestimating us?" Cassidy said. She and Rattata had matching pointed stares in their opponent's direction, neither intimidated by the prospect. "Don't ask me for battling advice. Use whatever pokemon you think would be best for the battle."

"Hmph." Jessie tossed out the chipped pokeball she'd already had out and ready. "Go, Starmie!"

"YAH!" Starmie's almost incomprehensible cry sounded out as it spun around.

"Rattata, tail whip!" Cassidy ordered, having gotten a good idea of the moves it could use from the device earlier.

"Starmie, water gun!" Jessie shouted as Rattata dashed forward, its little curled tail smacking Starmie directly on the gem.

"Heh." Cassidy could barely hide her laugh as Starmie's attempt completely missed Rattata and instead left a cutting, muddy line on the dirt. But of course, the battle was ongoing. "Rattata, quick attack!"

"Starmie! Water gun! This pokemon's not that powerful!" Jessie informed. Rattata moved forward in a blur, again striking Starmie's gem dead center before easily flipping back, still facing its opponent. Starmie then started to spin around haphazardly, hitting Rattata only partially with its water gun before it kept going, smacking against the bench and lodging itself inside. "Starmie!" Jessie shouted, running to check on her pokemon.

Cassidy sighed, hand to her head. Even now that she was using a newbie pokemon without a type advantage, Jessie still couldn't win with Starmie. Opening her eyes, Rattata was seen looking up at her. Did it want some kind of approval? Well, perhaps that was deserved. Cassidy patted her pokemon's head in an indirect gesture. Rattata closed its eyes at her touch, accepting the token of affection.

After being sure to show her appreciation, Cassidy stood up, smiling as she returned her new pokemon companion to its pokeball. Though perhaps expecting it might be strange to direct a pokemon other than Mini, battling with Rattata felt completely natural. Rattata was on alert, seemingly fully aware and with a sense of duty. Perhaps Cassidy even saw herself in Rattata - underestimated but confident, competent, and ready to do the work. Perhaps the two of them meshed even better than Mini, who though skillful was usually more relaxed, even spacey. Though of course, Cassidy happened to be Rattata's first trainer. The same couldn't be said for her actual first pokemon.

Wandering over to check on Jessie revealed that Starmie was fine, only stuck, and seemingly wearing itself out trying to get out of where it had flung itself. Recalling it to the pokeball freed it, but then Jessie had to take it inside and take some time to take care of it. Taking time to take care of Rattata as well, perhaps further satisfaction was taken in the win. After all, though Starmie certainly had more power, perhaps superior skills of both trainer and pokemon had won out.

Once they'd finished, they had to find a place to go and look busy. Cassidy hated this part of the 'job' - waiting for someone to initiate something useful since neither of them had the power to call the shots themselves. More than once Cassidy had gotten the initiative to suggest something, but had just been ignored, basically dismissed.

Jessie didn't appear nearly as bothered by everything. She seemed to enjoy posturing in the training fields with the rest of the grunts, asserting herself as superior by pointing out her evolved pokemon and new, skillful ekans. Then she'd talk about becoming top of the ranks - as if they weren't all bottom feeders.

Much like the boy who had made sure Jessie had gotten that ekans, the lowbrow men around them also seemed to like to play into what she was saying. Sometimes they made fun of Jessie's eccentric speeches, but other times over-the-top compliments were provided.

Cassidy didn't like either response.

"I got you, Jess," one man started to say. Cassidy's ears twitched, feeling like slime was dripping into them as she heard his tone. How could he use a nickname as if the two of them were actual friends? When had Jessie even paid him mind before? Even though he was just some nameless creep, he continued, "I've got no idea what I'm doing. We could go out back and you could give me some pointers."

"That's not happening," Cassidy asserted as she took hold of Jessie's arm.

"Cassidy-" Jessie began, seeming like she had more to say.

"Jessie doesn't have time to waste with the likes of you. Get lost!" Cassidy dragged Jessie off, who at first almost tripped then walked along with her readily.

"What's the issue?" Jessie asked.

"You've far too good for him, Jess." Cassidy suddenly stopped herself, realizing she'd used the same nickname as the man. Maybe she wanted to be truly close to Jessie the same way the man outside had tried to pretend he was. She shook off the anxiety that went along with possible rejection, then tried to speak over it, "There's no need to waste yourself on him!"

"Huh?" Jessie's brow scrunched up. "Did you think I was going to date him or something? I wasn't thinking of that at all. That doesn't mean I can't give him some of my professional pointers."

"He's not even worth that," Cassidy said. Her heart beat quicker in the spotlight of Jessie's intense gaze, having to peer to the ground before she finally looked up with confidence, then leaned closer, pushing back a stray hair by her ear as she didn't object to the proximity. "Why should you waste the effort on bringing up someone so lowly? You- we're far better than that. We can build up our skills by battling with each other - and others far above that dreck."

"Oh, right," Jessie said, easily accepting the idea as she took Cassidy's hand. "Yeah, he did seem like kind of a loser. You're right, it's not our job to help him out."

Cassidy's heart slowed again as the internal embarrassment took hold. What was she doing? It was almost like she was being possessive of Jessie in a way, not that Jessie noticed at all. The eccentric woman had turned away and was already looking in a compact mirror, becoming more involved in herself. Would she even notice if Cassidy were in a similar situation with someone trying to cozy up to her? She may not even pay attention, yet here Cassidy was, trying to keep Jessie to herself. Thoughts of how she didn't want to be like that mixing with a wish that Jessie may pay her some special attention herself were distracting.

"Hey!" a man called out loudly at them from the field. Cassidy and Jessie both turned his way, recognizing him as an assistant of an important admin. He might just be rudely shouting out, but they still should be ready to acknowledge him should he actually be speaking to them in the area where many happened to be lulling around.

Turned out he was, even jogging toward them as they strolled his way. Jessie didn't bother to rush, a hand casually resting on her chin, just giving the man a curious look. Cassidy decided to follow that example and not seem too much in a rush. As the man caught up, he did seem cross, though that was his default. "We've been looking for you," he said.

"Have you now?" Cassidy said, not breaking that nonchalance.

"Did you require our expert assistance?" Jessie asked playfully, laughing to herself.

"Come on. You just got assigned that rattata, right? Oh, and you got another new pokemon just before that too!" The man pointed at Jessie almost in accusation. "You didn't think we wouldn't have some work for you?"

"Are you kidding? We've been waiting for one of the dunces in charge to give us anything to do," Cassidy said crossly. She wasn't just egging him but genuinely annoyed. When had either she or Jessie given the impression that they liked lazing around and being idle?

"Right!" Jessie said, the pointed look in her eyes showing the determination even more. "We're fantastic agents, ready and waiting for a challenge that none other can handle."

The man folded his arms and tossed up his head, unaffected by either of their responses. "Yeah. We do have a job for you. Let's go."

Cassidy followed him inside. After stopping by the admin's office to pick up the file, they found their way to an empty conference room to review it. "You two are gonna acquire some electric type pokemon from this group of trainers."

"Doesn't Team Rocket have plenty of electric types already?" Jessie asked. Cassidy internally chastised her, not wanting attention drawn to Mini, who completely ought to stay with them.

"We need more powerful ones that have increased electrical skills to power us in during field tasks." The assistant pushed the folder forward at Cassidy. "Not that it's your job to question any of that."

"So you want us to head to the market and pick up some batteries for you?" Cassidy said, shrugging her hands into the air with folder in hand. The man gave her an incredulous glare. Seeing Jessie appeared a little perturbed herself, glancing back and forth between the two of them, Cassidy snorted. "I've got it. Such a small task is perfectly within our capabilities," she assured.

The man found his way to the door, shuffling out before glancing back with an annoyed expression as Cassidy glared at him right until he was out of the room. Next to her, Jessie was more curious about the contents of their mission folder. Cassidy opened it, spreading out the few papers within. On top of a wish list of various pokemon and a newspaper article about the previous winner, there was an advertisement for the actual event.

Cassidy sighed. "Not much useful information, is there?"

"What do you mean? We just go there and take some pokemon, right?" Jessie said.

"We just stroll in there and take everything? As if life is so easy. There's no information on the venue or any participants that had signed up that may even have any of these pokemon other than the previous champion. And who knows if he's even showing up this year."

"Elias? He's won five times in a row; I'm sure he'll be there to defend his title," Jessie said, pointing to the sub headline. "And of course, his energetic, sleek ampharos and electrode are at the top of the list to acquire."

A closer look confirmed what Jessie said. Cassidy's shoulders went up as her seemingly vapid partner had put two and two together and picked up the request from the limited documentation. Why couldn't that just have been spelled out more easily in some meeting notes? In any case, Cassidy's neck grew hot as she realized she hadn't picked on any of what Jessie easily had.

"Come on. We can go there and figure it out along the way, don't you think?" Jessie was already stepping into the hall before Cassidy could object. Shouldn't they have some kind of itinerary listed out before they left? Cassidy tried to consider what that may be while following Jessie around. Caught in her thoughts, not much was said as Jessie caught her reflection in a nearby window and groaned, pulling at the shirt of their basic grunt uniform. "We should be able to wear something other than this."

"Right," Cassidy said. Around HQ, wearing it was expected, but out in public, that would paint a target on them.

"Well, whatever. We can figure that out later too." Jessie turned around, studying Cassidy closer. Cassidy was again momentarily lost for words given the attention, all flustered for a different reason with Jessie's pretty face with that poignant expression right by her own. But Jessie just pulled a stray hair from her shoulder, then reached up and adjusted her pageboy hat. "There," she affirmed with a grin. "Now you look ready."

Was that it? Cassidy could pout for more than one reason, including that neither of them were ready for anything at all. But Jessie just looked in the mirror again, tossing back her hair before declaring she certainly was, then led the both of them HQ's exit. Again Cassidy wasn't given opportunity to object, but decided there wouldn't have been any point anyway. They did need to get into town and get some idea of what the area around the assigned heist was like.

The location was in a stadium, but the general audience, VIP areas, and even commentator areas were wide open. There wasn't so much as a table to hide underneath. How could they sweep in and swipe pokemon from unsuspecting trainers, when everyone - fans, hosts, and well-practiced participating trainers - could certainly see their every move?

"Hey..." a man said as they circled the area, scrunching up his face as he noted them, looking them up and down, obviously knowing the significance behind their uniforms. "This here's an area to train pokemon, yeah? I don't see what the likes of you all are doing here."

"We're trainers too," Jessie declared. "Do you doubt it?" Jessie grabbed her pokeball. "Go, Ekans!" As Ekans appeared and called out, still slinking close to the ground, Jessie put a hand to her mouth, laughing obnoxiously. "Do you feel silly for doubting us?" she said, tossing her hair back.

"Do you even have anyone to battle?" the man asked, still unconvinced.

"We're battling each other!" Jessie insisted.

Cassidy ended up calling out her pokemon as well, then the two of them started a battle as they often did at HQ in a half-hearted attempt to convince the maintenance man that they were using this area for a legitimate purpose and weren't actually completely up to no good. The man lost interest as the battle as just started, and then Cassidy wanted to be done as well. She strode across the field. "Let's leave," she said as soon as she got close to Jessie.

"My, my?" Mini called as it hopped after her.

"I'm sorry," Cassidy said. "We didn't really need to practice. If we keep going that will just wear out Ekans and give us less power if we really need to fight. Alright?" Mini had just done its 'charge' technique, so would that be a problem? It might get sick from excess electricity.

Mini just smiled patiently, not even seeming to care about the waste its trainer had just put it through. Closing its eyes, a bit of sparks expelled around it, seeming to disperse the 'charge' in a quiet little show. "My, my," Mini called as it hopped next to Ekans, patting it on the head in a gesture that seemed both affectionate and supportive.

Jessie glared in the direction of the person who had acted like they were so suspicious, then nodded toward Cassidy and the pokemon. "Let's go!"

On the streets of Viridian, they walked along. Mini moved in little hops behind Ekans and Rattata, who just slid and scurried along. They'd be better recalled to their pokeballs, but perhaps they could use some exercise, and besides, Mini seemed so happy. "How cute!" a little girl said as she saw Rattata. Then she gasped at Mini. "Super cute!"

"My, my?" Mini tilted its head in what was certainly an adorable expression. Ugh... Now Cassidy really wanted to recall them, and wished she had already. She did seem like some low level trainer wandering around with their 'cute' pokemon. Should Jessie call out Starmie, who though not the toughest looking pokemon, was the only evolved between the pair of them? No, if that happened, Starmie's antics may only begin some comedy routine...

"It really is cute," Jessie said, hand on Cassidy's shoulder.

Jessie's cozy attention distracted from any other response, but thankfully, their new fan's mother pulled her back. "Come along!" she warned. The child's lip wibbled as she looked down in confusion, but stopped trying to approach Mini and the rest. The mother glared at the pair of them as she walked away.

Ugh, ugh. As much as the parent's reaction had saved them from the kid's interruptions, it also reminded of the problem at hand. How could they complete this mission in Viridian, a place where Team Rocket was more well known and hardly popular? As Cassidy groaned, Jessie turned back to face her. "What is it?"

"There's no way to be covert in that place. And on top of that, they expect us to accomplish this on our own. It's not like we can just overpower them." Cassidy pouted. Mini and Rattata both looked up, blinking with quiet concern.

"Why couldn't we be covert?" Jessie asked. Just as Cassidy got ready to shout, Jessie stopped her with a chuckle, narrowing her eyes in absolute confidence. "I've already got a plan," she bragged. They stopped at the corner, getting a look at the poster for the event under the sign for the venue. There was the multi-year winner Elias, posing with his obviously dyed blond hair with black roots visible spiked to the sky, the electrode and ampharos that Team Rocket wanted hopping up next to him. Getting them seemed impossible, but Jessie held her head up in pride as if they were already successful while gesturing toward the picture, seeming to point specifically to the overly eccentric man.

"Right, I know it's Elias from the article. What of it?" Cassidy said.

"I didn't mean- Well, never mind." Jessie again leaned toward Cassidy. Having her partner's smiling face so close was pleasant, but Cassidy couldn't just stand there and enjoy it. Glancing away, Jessie chuckled. "Yes, I believe you're just perfect."

Eyes fluttered while looking toward Jessie's gorgeous features again, a similar sensation going through her heart. "What are you talking about?" Cassidy finally said, covering all that up with annoyance.

Jessie nodded, snatching a piece of paper from the box next to the poster. "We'll just have to sign you up and get you closer to the action."

Cassidy protested Jessie's idea all the way back to HQ. "They already saw our faces when we were in uniform."

"What, that one peon? If he's even around, he doesn't matter. And who's to say he'll even remember." Jessie didn't even look away from her mirror as they rode in the shuttle to HQ.

"The event is coming right up; it might be presumptive to assume he'll forget the Team Rocket assets skulking around."

"He may have only noticed the uniform. If you act like you're someone else, people tend to believe it."

Could that really be true? "Then why don't you do the acting?" Cassidy suggested with a shrug.

"I certainly have the talent," Jessie said, closing her compact before gazing toward Cassidy again. "But in this case, you more have the look."

"I-" Cassidy paused, recalling the man with the eccentrically styled spiked hair on the poster. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"And you also have the pokemon." Jessie grinned as she noted Mini in-between them, who grinned just the same. "It's an electric-type event."

Cassidy couldn't argue that. Of course, she may just lend Mini to Jessie, but didn't want to have anyone else training this little pokemon, even temporarily. Though not right away, she and Mini had gotten into sync. No other rocket members, including Jessie, could be trusted to have the moderation to tolerate Mini's rhythm. She'd have to go along with Jessie's plan.

Back at HQ, Jessie revealed there was much more to the idea than just Cassidy showing up in plainclothes with Mini, and got into the supplies. Cassidy tolerated Jessie taking her measurements, perhaps enjoying that close contact a bit too much, though Jessie's mind was on planning the heist and nothing else. Before long, Cassidy's partner had sewn up a yellow dress, accentuated by some kind of shiny material in various lightning bolt patterns. All of it was very atypical of what Cassidy may usually wear, and she didn't really like it. "Look at you! You're fabulous!" Jessie's hands rested on Cassidy's shoulder as she gushed.

Relaxing into her partner's touch, Cassidy admitted that perhaps the getup would go with the event, so best to accept it. But Jessie's next action was just odd. "What are you doing now?!" Cassidy demanded upon seeing Jessie painting some kind of yellow stripe down Rattata's back.

"Don't worry. This paint is designed for pokemon; it's perfectly safe."

"That's not the point! Why would you do that at all?" Cassidy asked. Her pokemon tolerated the actions, but shouldn't have to match her ridiculous getup.

"Oh, right, I forgot to say," Jessie said as she continued to paint. "You actually need two electric types, so I'm giving Rattata a clever disguise as well."

"I don't see how this is clever at all. I don't even know what your thought process is," Cassidy said.

"Hm." Jessie looked up as if just trying to figure out what she was doing for the first time. "We'll say it's a Johto variant rattata which is electric type."

"Johto's rattata look the same as Kanto's," Cassidy said, arms folded as Jessie continued the paint job of her poor pokemon.

"Hm? As if any of them know," Jessie said.

"They're electric type enthusiasts, so I'd think they would."

"Then we'll disguise Rattata as a pikachu! Pikachu are just electric rats, so it fits."

There were so many reasons why Jessie's idea wouldn't work that Cassidy didn't even know where to begin to outline the issues, so she didn't. Jessie finished Rattata's paint job soon enough. Though maintaining a composed expression, Rattata could hardly be considered dignified at this point. Especially with the red circles on its cheeks, it really did look clownish, even if one that wasn't ready to joke or jump around. "It's just like a pikachu," Jessie said.

"Rattata," Rattata called in response.

Cassidy gave her pokemon a sympathetic look. "Well, we aren't there to compete," she said hesitantly. "It may fool someone that doesn't look too closely if that becomes necessary."

Jessie was ignoring her reasoning, head down as she filled out the participant application they'd swiped. "How do you spell your name?" she asked.

"My n- Hey, stop right there and think for a minute, Jessie," Cassidy said.

"I never had to spell it before," Jessie said.

"What- No! That's not what I meant. Just think, obviously it wouldn't be wise to walk in there with my actual name," Cassidy pointed out.

"Of course," Jessie realized, her eyes focusing on something beyond Cassidy as the wheels began to turn.

"Right, it wouldn't be-"

"You'll need a proper electric type trainer name!" Jessie interrupted with a grin. "How about Zappy?"

"Zappy?" Cassidy repeated with disdain. "I wouldn't even give that kind of name to a pokemon."

"My, my," Mini called with its sweet, high tone. Was it perhaps admiring the name, or maybe wanting to give it to Cassidy itself?

"Perhaps something more becoming." Jessie leaned down, grinning as she wrote the name. Glancing over her shoulder revealed at the top of the paper 'Zappalina' had been written in bold, styled print with an exclamation point made of a lightning bolt and a heart following.

Jessie looked incredibly pleased with herself while continuing to fill out the rest of the information, but Cassidy was still miffed with how her partner continued to expound this plan in various ridiculous directions with a completely straight face. "Forget passing ourselves as legit contestants, how is that even going to pass as a real name?"

Jessie paused from writing down 'Pikachu' under the declared list of pokemon just to giggle Cassidy's way. "It will stand out, hm? Just like everyone else will be trying to stand out themselves."

Recalling that picture of Elias with his overly spiked hair, and perhaps even matching themed outfit, Cassidy couldn't argue. She didn't have a better name in mind, and besides, Jessie had already practically burned the alias into the paper and it might be a pain to go back and get a new application. "Giving others the ridiculous job is easy when you won't be involved at all yourself, hm?" Cassidy complained anyway.

Jessie's smirk only widened as she gripped the paper. "Of course I'll be there," she said, standing up and waving the paper next to her. "The charming Zappalina requires a lovely assistant. And of course, Team Rocket requires someone not in the spotlight to nab those pokemon."

As Jessie giggled more in anticipation, leaning over Cassidy with hand on her shoulder, Cassidy blushed. For some reason, she didn't want to derail from this plan in the least. Having Jessie right by her side didn't sound bad at all. And of course, they both needed some successes to rise in the rank. Clutching her ridiculous elemental-themed dress, Cassidy turned to Jessie with determination.

Disappointingly, Jessie then wordlessly turned and left. But a few minutes later, she returned with a suit on, hair pulled back in a more contained look. "For Zappalina's assistant. What do you think?" she asked, turning around. Cassidy looked her up and down, speechless as she enjoyed taking in Jessie's more butch look. Stopping the show, her partner stared in her eyes a moment, the two of them wordlessly affirming their dedication. They were both ready for this.

Chapter Text

Arriving at the venue, Jessie's confidence with their eccentric plan had worn off on Cassidy, who smacked her application down in front of the woman seated at the folding table. "Oh, good afternoon." The woman creased her brow as she read 'Zappalina's' application, then looked back up. "Have I seen you before?"

"Zappalina has arrived for her debut!" Jessie exclaimed, grabbing Cassidy's arm. Her first time going incognito along with Jessie being so close, Cassidy suddenly was at a loss for saying anything.

"My my!" Mini called out from the ground.

"Someone new, right? There's a few of you this year." The application was quickly processed without further comment. Cassidy was given a participation badge, Jessie an attendant badge, and they were allowed inside. The man that had spotted them the other day was sweeping up, not even giving them a second look.

As Cassidy noted that, Jessie elbowed her. Cassidy glared her way, but Jessie just smirked. "Come on. Does Zappalina the electric expert really not have much to say?" she asked, narrowing her eyes teasingly.

Cassidy glared at her. "My my?" Mini suddenly called out, curiously peeking over at a plusle nearby.

"Ah! It's so cute!" the apparent trainer of Plusle, an adolescent girl, called out. "And it's a different color one."

A cold sensation took hold as Cassidy realized Mini, even if she didn't use the nickname, could probably be used to identify her later. Was it true that alternately colored pokemon only appeared as one in several thousands? In any case, they were rarely seen. Looking back, she noted Jessie's amused expression, perfectly comfortable with their makeshift incognito, causing a feeling of shame or inferiority.

Cassidy forced herself to put her hand up as she laughed. "It's just your everyday typical minun! Well, other than the fact it's trained and practiced so much that it seems to glow and sparkle, you know."

"My my!" Mini called, raising its arms in affirmation.

The other trainer glanced up with surprise, paying close attention to her possible opponent. Cassidy quickly spoke up again, injecting false confidence into her voice. "I'm the magnificent Zappalina, so it's only expected. Maybe you'll get a better idea of my little minun's skills if we battle."

The girl studied her, reaction not immediately apparent. Heat trickled up Cassidy's neck and ears, wondering how well she was really pulling this off. Jessie put her arm around Cassidy's shoulder, saying, "Yes, Zappalina is one of the best electric type trainers there are. I'm her assistant that's been by her side since the start, so I'd know."

Cassidy took her hand, briefly smirking up at her partners. They were getting quite cozy and close for Jessie just playing at being an assistant, weren't they? But on some level this scene was appealing, causing Cassidy to relax some even as her heart raced. This was excitement, wasn't it? Perhaps some of that energy could be transferred into a performance. "Look at that sweet, lovely little plusle. It's just divine - I'm certified with judging the sparkling power of cute little electric types. Yours I would give a full 92 points."

The girl smiled, maybe completely distracted from any other thoughts she'd been having. Of course, people drank in those kinds of words willingly, most vulnerable to praise. Just sucking up to them with compliments was often effective at wearing them down, even if Cassidy didn't often like to hand that kind of thing out. But here, undercover in this mission, that was a wise course of action. Suddenly, other trainers started to congregate around them, wanting Zappalina's 'certified' opinion. Even with Jessie's arm slipping away and her fading to the background, Cassidy was happy to bullshit them, giving such praise to everyone.

Talking about others with occasional self-aggrandizement filled up the time and prevented there having to be any true socialization. Even realizing that Jessie was no longer behind her and had wandered off, Cassidy absorbed herself in the role, becoming completely comfortable. Eventually, the match up board was posted, which everyone gravitated toward.

Jessie showed up again as Cassidy herself wandered over to take a look. "Pst," she hissed in Cassidy's ears, momentarily startling. Jessie then raised her head to the board before looking back at Cassidy knowingly. "I fixed the draws and made sure you'd be matched up properly."

Glancing across the people in front of them, 'Zappalina' was soon spotted and focused on among the tier list on the board. And written next to her temporary alias... "Jessie," Cassidy hissed right back. "What do you think you're doing, putting me up against the reigning champion in the first match?"

"Who says there will be a first match?" Jessie responded calmly. Her eyes traveled to the open circuit breaker box. "I'll be right nearby as your assistant... Then with Ekans's help, we'll cut the power and be close enough to pick up all the desired pokemon before the match even begins." Jessie giggled in anticipation.

Of course. 'Zappalina' was nothing more than a phony cardboard cut out, never meant to be a real participant or even person at all. There was no need for her to compete at all, and that should have been obvious. Rattata had been quickly recalled to its pokeball when she'd had to have it out, and sending it out for a battle would be absolutely absurd. If they'd just sat down and spent some time planning this all out, what was supposed to follow may have been clearer.

But it seemed Jessie had just taken up the task and been able to think of a plot right there on the spot, quickly navigating around anything that may have gotten in her way. Was Cassidy inferior for wanting to give it some thought? Of course, once she had, she wouldn't have painted poor Rattata nor dressed up in this garish outfit. But right there, literally on the spot with Elias spying her way, there was no room to do anything but keep going along with it all.

Their match happened to be the very first one. Twilight had fallen a while ago, so even with the open air venue, daylight wouldn't be an issue. As Cassidy stepped to the trainer area across from Elias, the lights dimmed, apparently to enhance the view of the electric attacks during the battles. Introductions were soon done, Elias posturing to cheers after being introduced himself. Zappalina's few polite cheers were a pittance in comparison, but that wasn't the point of being there, was it?

After all of the fluff, when the referee gave the cue, Elias was the first to throw out his pokeball. "Ampharos, you're up!" he declared.

"Minun, let's battle!" Cassidy shouted right afterward. Already out of the pokeball, Mini hopped forward. Both pokemon called out to various cheers and murmurs.

"Now, Ampharos! Let's-"

That was when the power cut. Cassidy took a breath of relief, though the mission was hardly over with just the lights darkening the area. "Huh? An interruption? Maybe we should keep going!" Elias teased. A shout from someone across the way stopped him from giving the order for Ampharos to do so.

"My, my," Mini gave the almost whispered call as it hopped back toward Cassidy. Nearby, a tiny spark from Ampharos lit the area, and they exchanged pointed expressions. Just standing around wasn't an option?

"Hey! You stop! Wait!" Elias's distinctive voice rang out, moving closer to his opponent's side of the field. That he was likely pursuing Jessie was obvious, but what to do wasn't, so Cassidy remained in place where she really ought to have gotten in his way or distracted him somehow. Elias fast approached fast as she tried to think of what to do. Another spark of electricity went through Ampharos nearby, briefly lighting the area as a clank sounded on the ground.

Maybe a second later, Elias walked right by her. That was when just was to do became obvious. "Return," Cassidy said quietly to Mini nearby, getting her pokemon encased for a quick escape. After that, she shuffled closer to the middle of the arena, grinning despite herself while picking up the carelessly dropped pokeball on the ground. Ampharos had apparently remained in the same spot too, as pressing the button she lit up and recalled it. Holding the pokeball quickly, Cassidy ran off toward where she already knew the entrance was. Presumably, Jessie has gotten Electrode, and maybe a few others, but now Cassidy could brag about having acquired the number one on that list.

Almost to the door, the light suddenly turned on. Cassidy found herself nearly next to Elias, her leaving while Elias was returning. Feeling suddenly exposed, Cassidy momentarily froze. But of course, leaving would be the best course of action at this point. She headed to the door.

"Hey!" Elias shouted, grabbing her arm. He turned to the referee along with the other contestants. Though farther away from the entrance, there was also a rapt audience around them. "Match's on hold!" Elias shouted, before lowering his voice to the men that approached. "We've got a problem to take care of."

Cassidy was dragged outside, roughly pushed toward the ground, probably staining the loud dress that Jessie had bothered to make for her on the grass. She winced momentarily, then got to her knees while shouting. "What do you think you're doing, idiot? Save your meat head aggression for the pokemon battle!"

Cassidy stood, trying not to shake as she noted Elias glowering at her, seeming pretty sure he had the right to treat her this way. None of the others that had exited made any protest to Elias's action. "Hey, what's going on here, Elias?" one man asked.

"Pokemon thieves," Elias informed.

"She's one of them, huh? Never seen the likes of her before."

Cassidy dusted herself off, doing her best to scowl. "I saw the advertisement for the event and signed up since it seemed to fit my expertise. I wonder if this guy had a pretend thief show up just so he wouldn't have to face me."

Another man snickered. "Expertise, huh? You didn't even know your minun was shiny."

Of course she did, but who knew trying to glaze over that would be an issue. "Minun doesn't like to stand out," Cassidy asserted loudly, folding her arms. "Now step aside! It's not my fault you lost your pokemon." As Cassidy tried to pass around them, Elias noticed the pokeball in her hand and snatched it away.

"Hmph. You think you're smart, but I know this is mine." Elias pressed the button, releasing Ampharos to prove his point.

Cassidy took a step back. As she reached for her own pokeball, she found her arm grabbed by one of the men surrounding her. "Hands off!" she shouted, being completely ignored. Her heart began to race as Elias grinned at her, grabbing her face to force her to look at him.

"We caught a pretty thief, huh?" he said, snerking to his friends. "Now, where's your accomplice?"

"I was just picking up after a careless kid that can't keep his toys together," Cassidy said. With that, Elias backhanded her, and she fell toward the ground, managing to catch herself with her hands, though it still stung. She ought to just get up and hit him right back. But of course, everyone there was his ally, and she was overpowered. Even so, she ought to be taking some action - doing something instead of freezing right in place.

Before a thought could be had of what that may be, Elias yanked her to her feet again, more than happy to manhandle her. "Guess we'll have to go even further than this if you don't speak up soon," he said.

"Hey!" a loud voice interrupted, echoing through the still darkened area they all stood. Jessie practically flew down from nowhere, fists up before she opened them and pushed the man in front of her. He stepped back, struggling to keep balance and Jessie grinned, seeming to want to continue similar physical altercation with the others, but then Ampharos hopped forward in-between them. Its tail shone brightly in what was surely the blinding 'flash' technique, but Jessie still didn't falter, throwing out a pokeball. "Go, Ekans! Acid attack!" Jessie shouted the second her pokemon appeared.

Ekans belched forward the sticky black gunk of its attack. This technique had always seemed so disgusting in previous battles with poor Mini getting coated, but watching it cover ampharos was actually quite satisfying. "Ampharos, thunder punch!" Elias ordered. Ampharos cooed briefly before it leapt forward, lightning-encased fist ready to strike.

"Ekans, wrap!" Jessie shouted. Ekans hissed out as it was strike, body flailing upwards before it leaned forward, coiling itself around its opponent tightly. Ampharos's high-pitched cry sounded out in distress.

"Ha! You only made it easier for us," Elias taunted despite his pokemon's reaction. "Ampharos, thunder!" With Ekans still squeezing around it, Ampharos stood up straighter, calling out in its high tone again as electricity flared all around it, hitting Ekans all the while before a large amount struck them both, causing Ekans to slack before flopping in front of its opponent. Ampharos cooed out, jumping away with a pleased expression as Jessie returned Ekans to its pokeball.

Previously caught in the middle, the fact Elias continued to grip Cassidy's arm without relent couldn't be ignored. She tried to pull away, but he still held steadfast. "So then, thief, you can't handle yourself, can you?" Elias taunted. "How about you give me back the pokemon, and I'll let your accomplice go, huh?"

Jessie tossed her head up with a mocking grin. "You think you can beat us so easily?"

"Looks like I'm the one holding all the cards here."

After Elias spoke, the area went silent. Jessie's smug expression fell, and she glared pointedly. Elias pushed Cassidy forward in an implied threat, not backing down himself. "Tch." Jessie clenched her jaw as she reached in her pocket, the desired pokeballs falling out and rolling around the ground in a single motion. Jessie then dashed forward, the men stepping in her way and stopping her before she reached Cassidy. "Let me go!" Jessie shouted. In response, she was pushed back, stumbling though still remaining on her feet in a battle stance.

The pokeballs on the ground were grabbed, the men nodding at Elias after inspecting them. However, that he didn't slack his grip in the slightest was unable to be ignored. Elias narrowed his eyes toward Jessie, chuckling. "Maybe we should teach you thieves a real lesson."

Cassidy hardly saw it coming as she was struck, dazed and shaking a moment as the reality sunk in. She reached for one of her own pokeballs before being kicked. Feeling helpless and unable to even get her bearings, Cassidy pulled her limbs closer to brace for the next impact.

A shout ran out, and it was Jessie's, followed by cursing before the sound of a pokeball opening rang with accompanying flash of light. "Go, Starmie!"

No. No, no, no. The very haphazard Starmie could certainly be seen in front of an enraged looking Jessie, spinning around and making a lot of noise itself. Jessie really wasn't thinking, as was typical of her. What could she possibly be doing, pulling out this disobedient, overall just erratic pokemon with a type disadvantage to these electric type experts? The bad decision absolutely wasn't lost on their opponents. Elias openly laughed while pointing toward Starmie. "Ampharos, hit it with thunder!"

"Starmie, water gun, now!" Jessie shouted. Her pokemon made some kind of alien noise as it spun forward like a shuriken. The unfocused 'water gun' attack hardly hit its target, instead flying about and striking the various trainers, who shouted and got out of the way. Ampharos raised its arms as it completed the 'thunder' attack, which flashed out mightily, completely missing its target. Unlike Elias, Jessie hadn't remained still, and ran forward in the ruckus, kicking Elias right in the face.

Cassidy's partner then exhaled forcefully, practically growling as she watched the trainer on the ground for just a second before reaching a hand out to Cassidy. "Let's go!" Jessie said.

Cassidy didn't remain still, taking her partner's hand before pulling herself up mostly with her own power. At that point, the other electric type trainers had gotten up, a few throwing out their own pokeballs. "Starmie, knock them all out!" Jessie ordered. Without her command, Starmie was already spinning around, occasionally expelling water. An electabuzz put up its arms and called out in protest of the haphazard attack, while the trainers themselves squinted.

Jessie laughed. "Can't handle Starmie's prowess, hm?"

In fact, the trainers probably just weren't used to such an unpredictable, downright erratic method of attacking, but that only served to an advantage in this case. Jessie continued to laugh as she pulled Cassidy forward, the two of them making their escape, or so Cassidy thought, before Jessie went and grabbed at one of the trainer's pokeballs. He pulled it up and out of the way. "Come on Electabuzz, thunderbolt!" he ordered.

"Electabuzz!" Electabuzz called. This time it was anticipating Starmie's attack, and took it while flinching, though overall standing tall. With a wave of its hand, a lightning bolt struck, hitting Starmie right on the gem. Despite not being the biggest fan of that pokemon, Cassidy had to flinch vicariously. It had to be knocked out, right?

Despite that seeming the case as the pokemon's levitation lower and its arms drooped, Starmie suddenly regained its shape, then did its signature spin toward Electabuzz, whose mouth opened in disbelief before getting hit across the face, first with the close range Starmie's water gun, and then the star-shaped pokemon's body. The two pokemon then fell in a heap, both knocked out.

Jessie held up the pokeball, pressing the button to return Starmie inside. "Hmph." Even without any usable pokemon, Jessie still appeared as confident as ever, holding up her head with an arrogant expression. Their opponents still saw fit to 'punish' them more, stepping forward with plenty of other pokemon waiting despite that electabuzz being knocked out. "Cassidy, you're up," Jessie said in a low voice.

Of course, Cassidy still had Mini and Rattata both. But which one of them could stand up to such energetic, experienced pokemon? She didn't want to send either out, really, but decided on Rattata. Stepping forward, she reached for its pokeball, then winced, almost stumbling to the ground.

"Cassidy!" Jessie shouted. Meeting eyes, the other woman's concerned expression could be seen, but it soon hardened as a pair of jolteon appeared. "Hmph. Looks like you've gotten lucky today," she announced loudly toward the group as she stepped toward Cassidy putting an arm around her. "You've been spared the wrath of Team Rocket." Jessie laughed and threw something out.

Another pokeball? No, turned out to be a smoke bomb, quickly obscuring the area. Cassidy felt Jessie's support as they retreated. She couldn't run fast enough to get away with the pain in her leg, Cassidy thought, but as the smoke cleared, she noted they were in the foliage, Jessie's finger to her lips as the trainers looked around, unable to spot them at all. Turned out the attempted thieves were safe after all.

Except for the fact they had failed.

Returning to HQ, Jessie didn't bother to report to their supervisor as the uninjured partner, instead taking Cassidy right to the infirmary. The assigned medic didn't comment much, but checked her up and patched her up, telling her to keep off her feet for a while. Standing, Cassidy winced again. "Can't you do more?" Jessie demanded.

"I'm fine," Cassidy said. She mostly was, especially considering what may have happened. Trying to keep her expression steady, Cassidy walked forward, a bit slowly. Seeing Jessie follow, she glared back. "Aren't you going to report back the results of our mission?"

Jessie's eyebrows went up, but she nodded, then took off in the opposite direction. With her out of sight, Cassidy relaxed only slightly, taking her time and stopping if she thought she heard anyone else nearby. Eventually, she made it back to her dorm, shutting the door and plopping herself on the bottom bunk.

The failure was enough that sleep wouldn't come easily. Closing her eyes, images of punishments that might happen seeped in along with the idea of others laughing at their bumbling. Chastisements could also be heard - did they think their disguises were any good? Why weren't they more covert? Jessie's idea was more than Cassidy could think of, but maybe more sensible ideas would be spouted by anyone that heard of how they'd been chased off without even getting one of the required pokemon.

And of course, the fact that, if not having bothered to go back for Cassidy, Jessie possibly could have made an escape with pokemon in hand couldn't be ignored either. Cassidy swallowed, eyes opening and resting on the bottom of the top bunk where Jessie always slept. Cassidy had often discarded Jessie's observations as inept, wanting to consider herself smarter, and not just by a bit. But maybe Jessie was just more open when working through her ideas. Being less ashamed of having anything silly come across her lips, Jessie was therefore able to sift through her thoughts and think of better ideas than Cassidy herself.

Would she brag about the fact, mocking Cassidy? The fact she'd been so stupid in front of her crush just added more salt to her wounds.

Wait, crush?

Right. Though Cassidy had mentally put Jessie below her, Jessie was also more or less her crush, as juvenile as that term seemed. Jessie's attractiveness was often admired and any closeness was enjoyed. Cassidy had even flirted with her partner, even if indirectly and denying it as a joke or misunderstanding afterward. But she really shouldn't be denying it to herself.

Jessie was someone she wanted to spend more and more time around and get and give attention from. How could Cassidy impress her? She wasn't that impressive at all, especially in the current pathetically lame state. So Cassidy had a few months experience on the books over Jessie as a Team Rocket member. That wasn't going to matter in the long run, if it even still did.

Hearing the door open, Cassidy kept her back to it. By the footsteps and the breathing, it was only Jessie that had entered, closing the door behind her. Maybe she'd just go to sleep without saying anything. Not that the conversation wouldn't have to happen eventually, but holding it off provided Cassidy some time to lick her wounds, so to speak.

The bed bounced a bit as Jessie sat down. Cassidy shuddered. "Cassidy?" Jessie said tentatively. As Cassidy looked toward Jessie, she briefly glanced away. "I just wanted to know if you were alright at all."

Cassidy remained silent as she looked up at Jessie. "I'm not," she said with a sigh, hand to her forehead. "How could I be with such a blundering plan having failed so spectacularly?"

Jessie's lips moved upward awkwardly as her eyes flittered away. Did she feel guilty? The assessment of her plan was obviously a cope from the person who had caused it to completely bomb. Jessie pursed her lips, surprisingly enough grabbing one of Cassidy's hands with both of her own. "We'll do better next time," she promised with some intensity. "And don't worry - they were using us as a distraction before they jumped in as backup. No one's talking about what we did."

Or what they hadn't, more accurately. Cassidy sat up, groaning. So no one would be talking about how they failed, but they'd hardly have a success to brag about either. Jessie grinned, apparently happy to see her partner picking herself up. "Don't look so happy," Cassidy chided. "After all..."

Words then choked up in Cassidy's throat. Her leg hurt, and she felt completely overwhelmed. She'd learned a lot that day - about Jessie's skills and her own limitations. They really could do better next time, couldn't they? Or maybe she'd end up floundering around and getting beaten up again.

"Cassidy..." Jessie leaned toward her as she teared up. Cassidy had been trying not to cry the whole time, but finally failed in that task, and when the spotlight of Jessie's attention was on her at that. "Come here," Jessie said, holding out her arms.

Without a moment more of hesitation, Cassidy took the offer, relaxing into Jessie's embrace and even letting out a brief sob. Jessie only hugged her tighter. "Cassidy, it's alright. We're safe now," Jessie assured.

"I know that," Cassidy snapped as their hug broke. She wiped her own face, taking a few breaths and composing herself.

Jessie's hand rested on her own as she dropped it, and Cassidy couldn't help but look warmly at her. "It was cold and dangerous out there, but it's warm and cozy in our evil compound, hm?" Jessie chuckled in response, fingers intertwining with Cassidy's own.

Cassidy smirked herself, gripping Jessie's hand tighter. Even if it was in the shadow of their failure, she now had Jessie right next to her, showering with attention. The closeness was almost too much, sparking the desire for more. Maybe Jessie felt the same way? Cassidy's partner didn't say so, but had gone out of her way to comfort, and didn't pull away. Could they get even closer? One of them would have to take the initiative.

"Do you mind if I kiss you?" Cassidy asked before she could overthink it.

Jessie's eyes widened a moment in surprise, but she soon blinked several times, certainly surprised but not looking offended at all. "Is that something you've been thinking of?" she asked.

Cassidy exhaled with exaggeration, then ran her finger down the side of Jessie's face, smiling and filling with warmth as she took in Jessie's complete regard. "Well, who knows. I just want to forget about today, don't you? It might be a nice distraction, don't you think?"

With that, Jessie leaned forward, warm lips quickly meeting her own without further discussion. It was better that way. Cassidy leaned forward herself, continuing with a second kiss. They soon lay down, continuing to make out a while. Cassidy's hand went to Jessie's side, pulling her closer. Jessie gasped in anticipation as Cassidy's hand moved more. The other woman invited more of the touch, then touched Cassidy more herself.

Sparks were now easily flowing between them in a way that was much more fun than the battles against the electric types had been. The stress of the job along with the day's events weren't quite forgotten, but things manifesting in a new direction between her and her partner nicely coated over both physical pain and humiliation. Being with Jessie had been something that had been wanted, though much like with the mission, a plan had never been put into place to grab it. Even so, going and being spontaneous the way Jessie had that day managed to draw them together. Despite everything - failure as an agent or even grunt, Jessie's noted superiority for this mission, and all the past traumas and frustrations the recent just piled onto - being able to have won over this proud woman, even if it turned out to be just for that night, filled her with warmth in a way.

Other things they ended up doing that night excited her even more. Letting off some of that pent up frustration and laying next to Jessie was completely satisfying. Arm still around her when they were done, Cassidy felt completely safe.

But was this really alright? Just being some kind of pathetic leach that needed to be rescued wouldn't do. It would make her dead weight. She'd wanted to be the leader of their little duo, actually. Trying to pull up a way to do that and drawing blanks caused tension.

Internally pouting about everything, Jessie's form was pulled closer. Cassidy's partner's sleeping, warm, soft form along with overall presence was enough to provide some kind of comfort alone. Jessie was surely comfortable with this too, so why couldn't they both be?

Besides, would it really be that hard? So few around this place actually did anything besides posture and then try and look busy when someone more important than them strolled around, scrambling to follow directions in any kind of haphazard way. She knew how things might develop, and could move forward with that in mind. Jessie could be supported, not just have to provide some floundering, injured partner with support.

With all of this in mind, Cassidy drifted off, soon falling asleep. Further initiative could be taken in the morning. Even with where they were currently, they could certainly climb up.

Chapter Text

A knock sounded. Though there was no door to this office area, such a thing was often done for politeness. "Meow," Matori's assistant announced the visitor. Meowth was also following etiquette as Matori certainly noted the person who had just arrived. She continued typing, just finishing her thought before providing a greeting of her own.

"Alice, come in," Matori invited. The newer employee entered, looking quite different from that first day in the basic uniform, and also having tied her long hair in a braid. Everything was more controlled and out of the way. Altogether the changes were quite the difference from how wild and disorganized Alice had seemed before, pushing Matori out of the way while ordering her pokemon around in that ill-suited dress. Awkwardness in first impressions could certainly be forgiven. Alice was obviously a person trying to meet expectations.

So few around here took that initiative.

"Good afternoon, ma'am," Alice said, speaking with respectful words though still a friendly tone that reminded of their initial connection. Though Matori was certainly happy for this visitor, perhaps there was also some disappointment. That casualness from the day the two of them first met was erased, almost leaving a gap. The candid, personal exchanges had been surprising, but were missed, since they had disappeared. Even when commuting back and forth from HQ together, Alice always referred to Matori in polite terms, avoiding her name, though such blunt advice had been given before. Though pleasing in that this showed Alice valued Matori's advice, that seemed to leave doors shut where things may have been more open before.

"Good afternoon," Matori repeated, certainly maintaining composure even with her egging disappointment. Despite that unwarranted reaction, she was pleased to see this person overall. "Do you have something to report? I heard your elite training has been going well."

"Yeah! They've got me putting up a fight," Alice glanced away, smirking as she apparently recalled some kind of exciting battle. Such enthusiasm was contagious. But then Alice's face went blank again, regaining that professional composure. "I mean, everyone's helpful. I appreciate their input."

Matori nodded. There was a wasted moment before finally she managed to speak again, "So what brings you here?"

"This," Alice said, pulling up a familiar stapled paper packet.

"Meow!" Meowth called out, snatching the item from her hands before its feline eyes scanned it over with a grin.

"Your cute assistant kept waving it in my face," Alice said, wry smiling as she observed Meowth's pleased expression. "Ah- I mean, your assistant kindly provided it to me. Thought I might be a good applicant, I guess."

"I would agree," Matori said plainly. The words were truthful, but the conversation didn't give time to express the letdown that went along with her reason. "You do seem worthy of being one of my elite picks. I've seen your work with that golurk, and I've been told you've trained even more species than that prior to joining us. Correct?"

Alice's face changed, but then she seemed to slam the brakes on what would have certainly been some happy gushing about her pokemon. "Yes, ma'am," she said, maintaining that professional air.

Matori remained silent, again sensing not just the gap between them, but between the interactions they'd had before. Of course, Matori preferred the sort of employees that got to the point when talking to her, showed basic respect, and did their job. With those criteria, Alice was the perfect employee.

Even so, perhaps this turn wasn't completely preferred.

Matori carefully placed the papers on the table, allowing Meowth to pick them up and organize. "It's the end of the day's activities, correct?" Matori said.

Alice gave the slightest shrug before she spoke, "Yes, ma'am. I thought I'd submit this after I completed all my duties."

"Right." Matori briefly cleared her throat. "So, we ought to leave together."

Meowth's cute little eyes spied Matori from the side, with a grin that was just slightly different from the default. Alice, however, only blinked. "Yes, ma'am. Should we leave now?"

"Yes," Matori said. "No, wait. Meowth needs to complete its tasks." Meowth didn't need to complete anything, but shuffled itself around, looking busy. Matori smiled in approval before glancing back up at Alice. "If you're open, I have some feedback for you."

"Of course," Alice said, still standing straight like the soldier she was attempting to become.

"Well," Matori again held a wasted pause. "Have you ever heard of code switching?" In response, Alice's blinking increased, implying she perhaps hadn't. Matori pushed her glasses up and continued, "It's a term that can refer to switching languages to fit the context, but that's not all. It can also mean something more subtle, referring to the type of language one uses. For example, I imagine you speak differently to your fellows than myself or your admin."

"Well, yeah," Alice said, that lively, wry smile appearing again before she dropped it. "Yes, ma'am, I try my best to adjust for any situation."

"Of course," Matori said. "I understand you do. And I was thinking about that further - it's alright to code switch with me as well. In the office and around the headquarters, I imagine you'll continue with the professional demeanor you've been skillfully adapting. But when we're commuting home, it's perfectly acceptable to be more casual. Is that alright?"

Alice's eyes widened, blinking even more. Then she smiled even wider than before with a brief twitch of her eyebrow. "Yes, ma'am," she said.

Matori nodded in approval. "And of course, you're free to just call me 'Matori' when in a more casual setting."

The request was perhaps somewhat out of the blue, and maybe even eccentric in some ways, but Alice's facial expression again subtly twitched, perhaps trying to hold back her own pleasure at the turn. "Understood," she said. A bit of excitement washed through, and perhaps Matori let that show in her own face, the two of them staring back at each other.

After they went quiet, Meowth was thankfully there to break up the lull. Stopping all busy work, it stood in front of Matori at attention. Matori patted its head before taking out the luxury ball she'd caught it in, per routine recalling it to the item for the ride home. Matori and Alice walked through the halls together, silent on the elevator, before finding the man who drove the shuttle van every day. He was sure to wait for Matori specifically before departing, so with her, Alice, and a few others aboard, they soon left.

Matori had climbed in the back next to Alice. While Alice studied the area outside the window, Matori found herself studying how this promising grunt looked with the uniform and braided hair. Alice had a handsome face as well, the highlight of the late day sun accentuating that fact. Of course, that didn't mean Matori or anyone else on staff was guilty of any favoritism. Alice was moved up to advanced programs per her own skill. Perhaps it was even disrespectful to admire her for other reasons.

Matori subtly shuddered as Alice turned all attention her way. But before any offense could be assumed, that appealing grin appeared on Alice's face. Was there some kind of mutual attraction felt? Even if so, Matori didn't really feel like being called out on her own. "Hey, Matori," Alice began with some enthusiasm. Matori couldn't turn away, just waited for her to continue. "You always look-" Matori's heart rate increased in the split second before the next word "-so put together!"

Oh. Matori took a slow breath. "Professional appearance and demeanor is required for the job," Matori said. "You're shaping up yourself," she added, staying on topic.

Before Matori could completely calm, Alice reached her hand up, touching the end of Matori's hair and letting it slide past her fingers. They were in close proximity, but was that really expected? Matori had given direction that they could be more casual, but was that action at the appropriate level of casualness? Of course, Matori enjoyed the closeness, but how much closer could they get?

"How nice," Alice said with a sigh. "Do you have a hairdresser?"

Oh. That was it. "Yes, of course. I keep regular appointments," Matori said. "Were you thinking of changing your own style?"

"Hm?" Alice grabbed the end of her braid. "Ah, yeah. It's a pain to find a place to get your hair done when you're a traveling trainer, but short hair is easier, huh? I could get it done like yours."

An image of Alice with her exact haircut came to mind, maybe even one with them side-by-side. "No. It absolutely wouldn't suit you," Matori said.

After she'd spoken, the thought that the blunt statement would be taken into offense took hold, and Alice indeed adapted a miffed expression. "Huh? You don't think so?" Alice wondered allowed. Her eyes traveled up as she sighed, seeming to consider Matori's words without being too offended. "Hm..." Alice glanced back after a pause. "You like long hair then?"

The question left Matori speechless. "I'm not trying to push any of my own preferences on you!" she said. Of course that may be inappropriate, especially since Matori it couldn't be inferred Matori had that kind of preference for her own hair. The idea that Alice may have noticed that despite any hairstyle, Matori had some kind of interest in her caused Matori's ears to grow hot.

But Alice just sighed, not seeming affected by any of that. "Long hair's a pain, though. Sometimes I've thought about just going and shaving it all off."

"There's no need for that," Matori said firmly. With Alice again seeming wide-eyed and eager for what may be said next, Matori had to correct. "Listen. There's a middle ground. If you'd like, I'd be happy to provide suggestions for hair styles that may suit you. But my input should be taken as suggestions and not directives. I'm not acting as your superior in this case. Understand?"

Curious rather than intimidated, Alice expressed she did, and Matori brought out her phone, opening up a website and swiping through various pictures while explaining the details and drawbacks of each. Alice was completely attentive the whole time, glancing from the screen to Matori's face and back again while the words continued. "If you'd like, I can provide a list for your reference later," Matori offered once she'd finished.

"No, no," Alice threw up her hands with her telltale wry smile. Before Matori could think she'd overdone it, Alice continued, "I mean - I think I've decided already. I really appreciate your helping me, Matori. This is all not something I think too much about."

Alice shrugged her shoulder, apparently having some exasperation with the subject. However, she soon glanced back at Matori with a grin, apparently to assure she wasn't the cause. They locked gazes for what seemed just a second too long, before Alice's focus was completely caught by where they were approaching. "Oh! Better get going. It's my stop."

Matori studied the surroundings, not having paid too close attention to where Alice had been dropped off before. The area wasn't one she'd been personally, and seemed more rundown. Right outside, there were some obviously abandoned buildings, one with broken glass that hadn't been boarded over. Around the corner, two men were having an open battle with a weepinbell and a mankey. The weepinbell whipped toward its opponent but instead hit a nearby sign, causing a dent. Mankey leapt toward Weepinbell while attempting its own attack, bouncing off the way. The trainers egged the pokemon on, no caring for their neighborhood or anyone else nearby.

Matori pushed up her glasses to better scrutinize the whole area. "Errr...." without realizing it, an almost growl escaped her throat.

"Ma'am?" the driver said, facing her way from the road.

Matori realized she'd been leaning partially in and partially out of the van. She took herself completely out, folding her arms while watching Weepinbell knock out Mankey, ending the battle. Their trainers continued to loudly jeer each other. "You there! Do you have any idea what kind of ruckus you're causing to those around you?" Matori shouted from across the street.

"Fuck off!" one of them shouted back, though they both started to walk away.

"Ugh." Matori scoffed, hand to her forehead. Then she glanced at her new underling. "Alice, is the area you live not safe?"

"Ah..." Alice scratched her head. "I mean, it's not the best, but I've never felt unsafe or anything. Gorlurk'll take care of anyone that decides to mess with me anyway, don't you think?"

Alice winked and Matori had to smirk in response. "I suppose so. But I'd like to make sure any promising new employee isn't in any kind of precarious situation." Matori's eyes swept back toward the driver, who appeared confused. Some of the other passengers were probably getting impatient as well. "That could be another day," Matori said, taking one pace back toward the van. "I wouldn't want to impose."

"Huh- Oh, nah, you can come over now if you'd like. Maybe we could eat some dinner together," Alice offered.

Matori about faced, staying in place. "You're dismissed," she said to the driver before shutting the door. Hopefully while maintaining a casual air, she walked off with Alice leading the way.

Alice eventually stopped at a door, looking sheepishly Matori's way. "The place is kind of cramped. Might not be perfectly clean, either," she said.

"I understand," Matori said. Perhaps the idea of being invited into Alice's cozy, more intimate space was exciting. That it wouldn't be spotless was to be expected, though Matori's penthouse had become such since her assistant pokemon had started coming home with her. However, not everyone had the time, energy, or help to always maintain their home as such. It was their personal sanctuary of sorts, maintained for their own welfare. For Matori at least, only the very closest were invited inside. And of course, for herself, that was hardly anyone...

Might she find some excuse to have Alice over to her own place in thanks?

Alice went to open one of the mailboxes lining the wall in the indoor corridor, giving a chance to inspect further. The place was tiny, the hall ill-lit, but still clean overall with nothing broken, which was a good sign. Matori nodded in approval, making a mental note of her assessment thus far, gaze pointed to continue to make sure the promising new employee's accommodations were acceptable.

Though obviously a budget apartment, nothing was particularly of note. That was, until they got to the door. Alice put in the key, but before she even unlocked it, there was a banging sound heard on the inside. Alice turned the knob anyway. Matori almost reached out a hand to stop, but the door was wide open before that may have happened.

"Primeape! Stop!" a man on the inside with an irritating yet vaguely familiar voice shouted.

"Primeape!" The pokemon that was likely the one Matori had decided to give Alice tossed a couch cushion in the air, before pounding the ground and calling out more.

"That's enough!" the man shouted.

"I'll say that's enough." Matori coolly stepped forward, phone in hand. Golurk wouldn't fit in these accommodations, but Matori had others to call upon to take care of an intruder. "Good job, Primeape. I'll summon a squad to take over from here and remove this burglar. You'll soon find out you've broken into the wrong apartment, sir."

"What the-" the man began.

"Ahh, no!" Alice stepped between the man and Matori, palms splayed out to each of them. As they both went quiet, she turned to Matori. "It's alright. He lives here with me."

Somehow that fact didn't quell Matori's aversion to this person. She was sure to study him closely. Now that the situation was less immediate, he was easily recognized, and she barely stifled her groan. "You!" she exclaimed as the man did the same.

"Primeape!" the pokemon joined in their aggressive energy, pounding on the ground more before Alice picked the pokeball off the small table to recall it.

Matori adjusted her glasses, taking a slow breath. "Of course I remember you," she said, glaring at the man. "You're the one that's overly concerning about your name. Well, good news for you, some people aren't noteworthy enough to be spoken of at all, by name or otherwise."

His lip curled up, eyes rolling back to Alice. "Oh, yeah. You are doing the Team Rocket thing. She gonna keep you working even now?"

"That's incorrect." Matori purposefully glowered at him in response. "I know the importance of allowing employees to have a work/life balance. I'm here as Alice's guest."

"Yeah." Alice slowly put her hands down. "She just wanted to stop by, so I thought she could have dinner with us. You'll make something good for us - Matori too, right?"

At the request, the man clenched his jaw, eye almost twitching with an incredulous expression. Alice said nothing else, just steadfastly waiting for a response. "Fine," he eventually turned around and went past the door into a small kitchen. Peeking inside, a meal of unknown quality was already in the works. Was properly balancing the nutritional content being considered?

Before Matori could go and investigate and possibly provide needed redirection, Alice touched her arm, beaming. "Come on, you can sit if you'd like!"

Alice put down one of the misplaced couch cushions and Matori took a seat. After finding the other across the room and putting it next to her, Alice also sat. Matori glared toward the kitchen before back at her. "Alice, listen. Are you sure you've chosen the correct sort of 'roommate'? Perhaps there are some things I should outline about him for you before you choose him as any kind of 'partner'."

"Oh, no, it's not like that," Alice denied, quickly shaking her head.

"Are you certain he's not taking advantage of you?" Matori asked, staring steadfast in to Alice's eyes.

"Na... Maybe it's the opposite. I make him pay his half for the whole month even if he goes off on his seasonal work." Alice's eyes traveled up and to the side as she admitted this.

So he wasn't around all the time? "Well, good," Matori inadvertently spoke her mind. "But I'll give you all the information anyway. That way you'll be informed should he try and convince you otherwise." A mental checklist of every way this man had been lacking as both an employee and person in general was already forming. "He was a member of Team Rocket prior, so I-"

"Oh, yeah, I knew that. I knew him back then, he's my brother," Alice said.

The list started to dissipate, a building line of information flushed with that new blip of information. Matori glared at the person who was still preparing food, but bit her lip for anything else she was about to say. "I see you left that primeape you were allotted here," Matori said. "Is it not satisfactory for battles?"

"Na, it's great." Alice shook her head, throwing up the pokeball. "I kind of have a few pokemon, so I don't take them all every day... Golurk and another one of my pals can't really even come out in this small apartment, you know? So I let them get some air out at HQ today. Primeape could get out more here. The small ones can stay here if they're not gonna be used. Besides, I knew he was gonna be home. He can handle them."

Given the scene they'd walked into, there did seem to be some question regarding that, but Matori did her best to hold back any of her own assessment. Speaking too critically of another's family members wasn't a way to endear a person, after all.

"Hey, Al! Where'd you hide the extra oil?" the man's voice shouted from across the place.

"Bottom shelf, where else?" Alice projected back.

That nickname. Matori's mouth opened, various thoughts about hearing such a casual exchange. There was perhaps again a feeling of separation, but of course, such casual interaction between two siblings was likely natural. "Alice..." Matori began.

"Hm?" Alice turned back to her.

"That name... 'Al'..." Matori paused, quoting her fingers to be sure to convey she wasn't using it herself without permission. "Is that what you prefer, rather than Alice?"

"Either's fine," Alice said. No preference? Then she couldn't be pleased by being referred to a specific way... Before Matori could pout, Alice tapped her hand and grinned. "No one else really remembers my name around HQ, or bothers to hear it in the first place, maybe. Has me feeling more homey and cozy when you talk to me, Matori."

Oh. Matori's heart fluttered at the close contact. Apparently she had pleased Alice without trying as well. Hearing Alice openly saying her name again was similarly pleasing. What was the best way to respond from here? Perhaps Matori could touch her own hand in return, but would that be moving too quickly? Of course, the next step should involve conversation. What sort of topics would Alice prefer? Pokemon training or perhaps getting into the details of the various species was an option, as was work. While confident about speaking on those topics, it was much the same of what they spoke about around the office, and wouldn't bridge the gap between them or anything.

On the other side of the apartment from where the ill-mannered guy was cooking, a shuffling sounded. Matori shuddered as what appeared to be a small, yet at the same time far too large insect leg came out from behind the trash pail, clutching Alice's nearby hand in her surprise. At the same time, Alice let out a short chuckle. "Hey, no need to worry. That's one of the guys," she said, then scratched her head. "Pokemon, I mean. It's a shy one, so I won't make it come out."

"Understood," Matori said. Even if she found it strange to have creatures crawling around in the crevices of one's residence, that seemed to be a mainstay for many trainers. As she relaxed, she realized she was still holding Alice's hand. Breath coming in a hitch, she noticed Alice with a scrunched grin, amused perhaps. Matori slacked her grip, glancing away as she avoided any sudden movements to cause any awkwardness.

"Hey, it's done," the man called as the sound of dishes clinking sounded on the table. Disappointingly, Alice stood up and her attention went away completely as she helped her brother set the food, condiments and utensils out for the meal.

Matori sat after Alice waved a hand to a particular space. Set out was a portion of rice, fish, and both pickled and fresh vegetables. Other than the canned food, it seemed everything was freshly made. "Thank you for the meal. I see you put in some effort," Matori complimented. "It's comforting to know Alice isn't completely lacking when she comes home hungry after work."

"Yeah. I know how to cook, unlike some of Team Rocket's kitchen staff," the man shot back as he sat, smirking Matori's way.

"Oh? Were you looking to be reassigned to that department before you left?" Matori asked.

"Now Team Rocket's worried about what its employees might do?" he asked in return.

"Our business is of no concern to a former employee," Matori couldn't help but shoot back. She took a breath, checking on Alice to see her fully absorbed what she was eating. "As close as the two of you may be, you must know that Alice is talented. She's gaining status based on her own efforts. She's not reliant on nepotism or anything outside her own power and efforts."

"That'd be different from some people there, huh?" the man muttered.

There was absolutely an urge to give some kind of response to that, even with the multitudes of reasons there also were to hold back. Matori stopped eating, glaring at the man and holding back a growl. "Hey," Alice interrupted casually, chopsticks paused in the air. "Funny you both know each other. I didn't think about it before, really. Team Rocket seems like a huge organization, but it's a small world, huh?"

"Yeah." The man's antagonism seemed to quell as he signed, turning back to his own meal. Matori took the cue and began on her own. Talk of politics should be avoided in certain company, as should talk of the secrets of a secret organization in front of a person who had bent and even broken while failing to contribute to it, then become an outsider.

Alice finished eating first, staring into space a moment, the tension of the day seeming to melt as she leaned her chin on her hands. Her head soon turned to Matori. "You know, if anyone knows what's going on, it's Matori." No one else present responded as Alice blinked, a dreamy smile taking over her face. "If Team Rocket's going places, I'm sure she's the one that's taking us there. Yeah?" Alice grinned over at her incompetent brother. "I was hella lucky to run across her my first day."

"Yeah, sure," the man said dismissively. He finished his own meal, standing up and starting to clean up.

But Alice's attention didn't leave Matori this time. As Matori stared back, she suddenly peered away diagonally. "Ah, sorry. Guess here's not as nice as I bet you're used to visiting."

"The food was wholly acceptable. Thank you both," Matori said. "Besides, I didn't come for a dining experience. I wanted to be sure your accommodations were safe and otherwise adequate." Matori threw up a hand as she scanned the tiny, though overall clean environment. On the table were several pokeballs, providing protection beyond even the standard. "Though I imagine you may want something else as you start to earn more, this seems adequate for those purposes."

"Yeah, it's great," Alice said. "Traveling around trying to be a trainer I would sleep outside, so it's nice to have my own bed to go back to, you know?"

"Yes, understandable," Matori said, though she hadn't had such experiences at all. Training pokemon and camping outside were both things that hadn't been done before. The image of Golurk's imposing figure came to mind, as well as the shadow of whatever pokemon lurked around this tiny apartment out of sight. Alice had experienced the wide, untamed world that was full of these creatures, hadn't she? Such experiences were invaluable, since controlling them was the key to Team Rocket's goals.

Matori wanted to know more. Of course, she wanted to know Alice better in general, but getting to find out more about the wild pokemon world that had always been just outside of the shadow of Matori's experience was a desire unto its own. And maybe even more than others, she trusted this new person, who seemed to have clashed with it and come back all the better with power on her belt, to share that kind of thing. "Alice," Matori began, pausing before Alice seriously met her eyes. "As a thanks, next time I'd like you to come to my apartment where I'll cook for you instead."

"Sure, that'd be great," Alice easily agreed.

As Matori beamed back, the irritating man came back into sight. "Oh? Am I invited too?" he asked, a teasing lilt in his voice that couldn't be ignored. Before Matori could even consider how to respond, he picked up the condiments, turning his back. "Don't worry, I'm busy," he said as he walked away. "Even though I was the one that cooked for you!" he projected his voice from the kitchen area.

Alice chuckled and shrugged. "I can cook, I'm just not good at it," she admitted with a wink.

"Well, I'll be happy to give you some pointers with that as well if it would be helpful," Matori said. She stood up and gave a brief bow. "Thank you very much for inviting me."

Alice stood. "Should I walk you back to your place?"

"That won't be necessary," Matori said, raising her phone. "I have others to call on for help with that." As much as she enjoyed Alice's company, there was no need to tire with unnecessary tasks.

"See you tomorrow then! Oh, but wait. Can you tell me who your hairdresser is?"

"Yes. They're right here in Viridian City," Matori said, writing down the information. After their salutations and walked out of the building, a sense of lightness couldn't be shaken. A flash of light filled even the area. "Meow, meow!" Meowth called, stretching its arms up.

"The ride should be here shortly," Matori assured, sitting on a nearby bench as her phone pinged. She petted Meowth's silvery head. It sat next to her before curling up. "And yes, I do think things have been going very well recently."

After all, since Matori had started taking initiative, Alice was far from the only elite she'd discovered in the rough.

The next days were busy, both with the job of secretary, part of the desired expanded role, and also with various tasks that were pushed onto her. With everyone looking to Matori with questions that no one else bothered to answer, it was no wonder she was soon to rise from the simple clerical tasks she'd been hired for into some kind of leader.

The interviews for her new elite group were also conducted. Of course, much investigation had already been done into the applicants, but the mistake of just trusting the records and self-reported information wasn't going to be done again. Observing their battles had been done already, and now she'd see them all in person, taking into account any other information that may be parsed from that.

Alice had been interviewed as well of course. Actually, she'd already been on the short list to be selected, but the same protocol ought to be followed for all. Matori didn't have any sort of favoritism toward the new, well, now slowly becoming more seasoned recruit. At least not in any professional sense. Of course, the door was still open to favor her in other ways.

As Gozu, the selected highest ranking for the new group, entered her office area near the end of the day, Matori stood. She'd acknowledge her recruits equally, as they'd all earned the positions that would be assigned to them that day fairly. Or at least, that had been the thought before they all entered the room, and one stood out to her even more than usual.

Alice held her hands behind her back, a professional expression on her face, which was framed by a new stylish cut. It was the angled style which was the first Matori had suggested, actually. And she looked as good as may have been imagined. Maybe even better, also being in uniform.

But of course, they weren't there to talk fashion. All of the selected recruits were already professional enough, and about to look even better in the uniforms that were being designed and made specifically for the brand-new 'Matori Matrix'. Matori announced they were indeed all those of the group chosen for this elite role. After hearing this, the new group of elite was unable to hide their pleasure completely, exchanging pleased grins with the other, though overall maintaining their poise. Matori allowed Gozu to begin with his thoughts afterward. Everyone was attentive, as fitting of being part of a chosen elite.

After Gozu's speech had completed, the group was given instructions on where to meet the next day for training prior to being dismissed. Several stopped on the way out to thank Matori personally for the opportunity. Matori gave them brief words in return assuring them they'd earned their way in, and should continue to work to be worthy. Eventually, only Alice lagged behind, bright expression turned Matori's way.

"I see you did end up taking my recommendations after all."

"Yeah! Your hairdresser's really good. Well, mine now too. Thanks for helping, Matori."

With the use of her name, Alice signaled they she had switched into their more casual interactions. "You look sharp," Matori said, deciding to give a compliment that she may not when they were working.

"I didn't before, I guess," Alice said sheepishly.

"Oh, no," Matori said, wanting to deny any such implication. "You've been quite attractive both before and after."

After admitting that, there was definitely some pause. Had there been an overstep? Especially since they were still in the office - no, despite that? Matori's heart beat quicker, hoping there was no offense taken. Even if being attracted to Alice, it was just a casual compliment, and of course any boundaries regarding this would be accepted, especially since Alice was the underling.

Seeing a shadow nearby, Matori shivered. She looked up, realizing it was just Alice right in front, who took a step back, grinning Matori's way. "You're really cute," she gushed before looking away, then awkwardly tittered, hands behind her back as she glanced away. Matori pushed her glasses up, observing the actions of this person intently, wondering if there was an undercurrent to those words. "Ah, sorry. Didn't mean to make things awkward around the office," Alice added.

"No," Matori said softly, perhaps getting even more nervous as she spoke. "Of course, sometimes the bungled words of another can be seen as 'cute' by others. I wouldn't take any kind of improper meaning from it."

"Hmph." Alice pursed her lips, briefly raising eyebrows as she stayed looking away. "Think I was more bumbling than you, Matori," she said. "Maybe I was 'code switching' too much?"

"That's quite alright. I won't take any kind of unintended implication from it."

"Unintended?" Alice leaned forward, still with her arms behind her. "Not trying to be improper, but you really are cute."

Face hot, Matori replied, "Of course, we're having more casual conversation, and that wouldn't be appropriate to say at any point, but it's acceptable to hold those opinions as well."

"Really?" Alice exhaled as she grinned, again barely hiding a laugh as she smiled. "Right, yeah. Hey, didn't you say you'd treat me to dinner?"

"Right." Matori took a quick breath, cooling her emotions as the subject changed. "I did promise that. I shouldn't break my word. It wouldn't be appropriate as a current supervisor of yours."

"You weren't asking me on a date?" Alice tilted her head.

"N-No!" Matori shuddered, again tense as the subject turned back to what may make Alice uncomfortable. Matori sighed, again trying to maintain her composure for the sake of her underling. "Especially with your new position, I may be considered your boss, but you don't need to worry about me collecting anything improper from our interactions. I'm not taking anything else from our conversation here. I wouldn't coerce you into something you'd want to avoid."

"Oh." Alice grimaced and sniffed, scratching her head. "I was hoping for it though." Whatever was written on Matori's face caused her to smile again. "Just thought it would be fun, not trying to make things uncomfy for you either. But I am actually gay. Fine to forget it." Alice's eyes traveled further down as she spoke.

"I am as well." At the admission, Alice's eyes shot back up, mouth wide up. Matori nodded confidently. This wasn't something she was trying to hide. "Did you not already know? I'm openly so." Matori's eyes briefly moved to the drawer where she kept a specific pin emblazoned with a set of colors that was worn for specific days. Perhaps she hadn't worn it for a while, though not out of any kind of shame.

Matori gazed back at Alice, hands on her hips. "Did you not think it was acceptable? Team Rocket believes in the power of embracing diverse employees. There's no need to limit the talent pool. The boss agrees as well. Not that I'm saying to be out as an obligation, or to share anything you're not ready to, but you absolutely should not hold back thinking there's any kind of problem with the workplace culture here. Such things would not be tolerated."

After she finished, Alice was again silent. Before Matori could think she'd gone too far, a wide grin fell on her face as she reached up and adjusted her hat. "That's the kind of lecture I'm happy to hear." Alice dropped her hand, putting both her arms by her side as she looked right at Matori and gave a single nod. Matori nodded back, happy the message had been properly received.

"So does that mean it will be a date?" Alice asked. Again, she chuckled as Matori didn't respond right away. "Not saying it has to be. I'd be happy to just get treated to dinner by the cute secretary - I mean, one of my new supervisors."

"It can be a date," Matori said, pleased at the current turn of events. "Of course, it's fine to end things after just one, and then doesn't have to affect our work here. I trust you can separate work and personal life."

"Of course," Alice assured. She then broke out into a grin. "But you know, I have a feeling it'll be a good time. It's already been real fun spending time with you."

With that, Alice reached her hand forward, grabbing and squeezing Matori's own. At that first real affectionate contact between them, Matori blinked in surprise. The shared warmth of the brief touch was enjoyed between Alice and herself before it ended, Alice's hand being pulled back to own body with a sheepish expression. "But if not," she continued, again putting Matori in the spotlight of her enthusiasm, "I don't think that'll make working with you any less exciting. You've got a whole bunch of plans, huh?"

"As you heard today, we may expand into Alola where others before us seem to just spin their wheels."

"And Unova too?"

Matori followed Alice's gaze to the folder on her desk. 'Lacunosa' was visible on the tab, though all documents were inside. Meowth hopped up, snatching it away and holding it close. Matori turned to her new underling, surprised that the backwater area from another region was recognized. Did she know anything about the possible promise there?

Alice turned back to Matori and shrugged. "I spent some time around Unova. Where I got my Golurk and some others, you know. Might not be bad to go back."

"Right. Well, it's a possibility. Team Rocket looks at the whole world of possibilities, since we're soon to rule the world, of course."

Alice shrugged again, easily accepting Matori's explanation as she went toward the door. "I gotta get home," she said, no comment about the specific area Matori had been researching, disappointingly enough. "Did you have more to do here?"

"No," Matori said as Meowth slid a filing cabinet drawer shut. "I'll be able to take the shuttle back with you per usual."

In the van, they got caught up in other casual conversation, any talk of business forgotten. Things seemed to be moving forward with both areas of Matori's life. Outside her dedications as a Team Rocket member, she could enjoy the company of a woman she was interested in, the feeling being mutual. Inside the evil organization, she was having some success building her group of elites.

Finally, the kind of comradery, even community that had long been sought both in Team Rocket and elsewhere was manifesting. There were all kinds of directions Matori might go with the support that was building, including but not limited to the options contained in the folders spread out on her desk.

Chapter Text

Awaking in the morning, the ceiling was close enough to touch, causing a moment of confusion. Was this somewhere other than the regular dorm? The talk of sending Team Rocket assets on multiple missions with the promise of acquiring various powerful pokemon had been had, but it had all just been talk, none of those who called the shots making any kind of plan beyond their swagger. Or had they now? What legendary pokemon were they in search of? What did the building she was in have to do with anything?

After a few brief moments, those thoughts quieted while recalling of course they were still lulling around this growing base, the same as they had been for a while now. Cassidy was simply in Jessie's bunk after the previous night - which had been fun. After they'd gotten cozy in Cassidy's bottom bunk, Jessie had fallen fast asleep. As sweet as it might seem to spend the entire night in each other's arms, Jessie had eventually rolled to the middle of the mattress and couldn't be coaxed aside. Though it would have been plenty deserved, Cassidy had decided not to wake her and found her own spot in Jessie's usual.

Climbing down, Jessie was found still sleeping. Cassidy might have groaned at the lackadaisical attitude, but instead found herself enjoying a candid look at Jessie's relaxed, unaffected expression. How might a gentle awakening go? Would Jessie be embarrassed, or maybe ask for more of the affection from the previous night?

That was if Jessie could even be woken up. As demonstrated in the previous night where Cassidy had tried to get her to move, Jessie could sleep like a rock. How nice to be able to relax so much with them being bottom tier and having so much to do to climb the ladder or in general. Cassidy sighed, almost feeling cross before she caught sight of Mini right there, curled up in a ball on what must be a comfy fold of blanket at the end of the bed.

Cassidy leaned down to see her pokemon closer. "Did you let yourself out?"

Mini was the opposite of Jessie, easy to rouse and difficult to rile up. It perked up, brief attention on Cassidy. "My, my," it called, its voice breaking into a whisper before its head dropped back slowly back, resting on Jessie's leg.

Remaining in a bad mood with two of her closest partners there, both appearing so snug and cute, especially together, was impossible. In fact, maybe they shouldn't have this moment all to themselves. Stretching over Jessie, Cassidy found her spot squished between Jessie and the wall. This disturbed Mini, but not too much, as it only meandered around and found a new position elsewhere on the bed. This wasn't exactly a comfy spot to sleep, however, it was snug enough to be able to enjoy being right by her girlfriend.

Jessie snored briefly. Cassidy wrinkled up her nose but decided to still enjoy things. She swept the stray hairs back from Jessie's face, careful not to pull, before putting her arm back around, quietly sighing. Even if they ought to get up and moving, perhaps that could wait. Jessie didn't appear bothered, rather stirred, making various quiet noises. The natural sounds faded into the background. With both Jessie and Mini so relaxed and quick to sleep, Cassidy herself became relaxed, then drowsy enough to fall back into a slumber herself.

Not long later, Jessie's snort was enough to startle Cassidy awake again. "Hey!" She pushed Jessie's shoulder roughly.

"Huh?" Jessie's eyes finally opened, even if only partially.

Cassidy huffed, climbing over her and starting to get dressed. "You've sure got a lot of time to laze around."

Back in the bunk, Jessie just barely opened her eyes, Mini next to her picking up its head with a quite similar expression. Jessie tittered and put her hand over, petting Cassidy's similarly lackadaisical pokemon. As Mini sighed, Jessie hugged it closer, both of their eyes closing again. The sight of her girlfriend giving her pokemon special attention was certainly adorable. Cassidy wanted to continue to take their lead and forget about things with them. A morning of 'special time' together sounded really great, actually. Heart beating faster, Cassidy approached the bed with a warm feeling in her chest.

Jessie's eyes fluttered, appearing to notice, though Mini still slept soundly, looking quite comfortable with its head peeking over Jessie's arm, eyes closed. Without getting up, Jessie reached out with the arm that wasn't cuddling a pokemon, taking Cassidy's own with a sly smile. "Why don't you join me?"

Again? Cassidy wished she could stop the heat from traveling up her face, but was unable to turn away or otherwise move at seeing Jessie's sweet expression looking up at her. How much she wanted to take the invitation, if only for a moment of the romantic interlude of Jessie's embrace and attention.

Instead, Cassidy stayed right where she was, squeezing Jessie's hand. "Anyone who wants to move up the ranks ought to be up and training already."

"I guess so." Jessie groaned. As she sat up, lifting Mini, it appeared unbothered, still sleeping. "Not like there's even a lot to do around here," she muttered. Though wishing it weren't true, Cassidy couldn't argue. Jessie put Mini on the dresser, and it sat up, yawning but not moving at all otherwise as they got dressed. Given nothing else to do, they then went out to the practice arenas to stand by.

Sometimes there were rare pokemon out there being tested, or newly acquired pokemon being given out to employees that needed them. Not that day - everyone was just lazing around. Thinking of how she may as well still be in bed, a more awake Jessie enjoying getting close to her as they had been recently, Cassidy pouted. What could they even do to stand out here?

Jessie let out an almost growl, glaring at a man who brushed by them. Seeing Cassidy's questioning look, she exhaled sharply. "That was one of the guys that got picked for that last mission over us."

Was he? The mission referred to must have been that solo mission that for some reason a newer set of grunts had been picked for. Cassidy hadn't been in that much of a rush to go on that particular mission, thinking it was dangerous. But perhaps she should be more competitive and ready to jump into anything like Jessie.

"We should train to be better than him," Jessie suggested.

"You think so? Who's to say we aren't already?" Cassidy suggested.

Jessie beamed. "You're right. I'll go beat him to prove it," she said, taking out the pokeball with a familiar chip in the red finish - Starmie's.

"Maybe I should be the one to try," Cassidy said, bumping her shoulder against Jessie's as they made their way over.

"Or both of us," Jessie said. "Team Rocket doesn't always play fair. We can teach him that lesson."

Cassidy chuckled. "I'm sure he has his partners nearby too. If we really want to prove we're objectively superior, maybe we could try playing by the rules."

Jessie shrugged. "Rock paper scissors?"

"Or," Cassidy said, her eyes scanning the area at the other dozen low-ranking members around them, "maybe we can make it a contest." As Cassidy paused, Jessie said nothing, blinking with curiosity. Cassidy sighed, purposefully blinking several times herself. "We certainly are superior to these peons - so we'll see which one of us can beat the most of them."

"Oh! So you meant a competition between the two of us." Jessie laughed. "Let's go! I'll probably win as well."

"Don't count on it," Cassidy said. "I'll admit Starmie has some power and Ekans has some skills, but Mini has experience. And even though it's a younger pokemon, Rattata's been battling and improving quickly just like Ekans."

"We'll see then," Jessie said before wandering away, seemingly trying to find some prey.

"Let's make it interesting," Cassidy said, staying in place.

"Hm?" Jessie stopped a few paces away.

Cassidy smiled, closing her eyes and putting up her chin. "Whoever loses takes the other out for a treat."

The put on haughtiness was just to cover up the nervousness that went along with the fact that Cassidy was indirectly asking her partner on a date. Even having spent a lot of time with each other, such a thing hadn't happened yet. Rejection was still possible, as was responding with lack of enthusiasm even if accepting. In either case, Cassidy was prepared to say she didn't much care about doing such a thing anyway.

"Sure."

The response was instantaneous, Jessie responding in a chipper voice. Cassidy's eyes opened just as quickly, seeing her partner beaming back in her direction. Not knowing what to say, Cassidy stayed quiet. But Jessie didn't dwell on the moment either, turning to two young and unfamiliar faces in the front. "Hey! You two have pokemon, right? We're going to battle you."

The men glanced at each other before furrowing their brows back at Jessie. "Did somebody ask us to or something? Why?"

"We're about to show our superiority to all of you!" Jessie announced. That caught some attention. Cassidy folded her arms, letting Jessie be the one to bait them. Though not wanting to be as loud or just plain eccentric, she stood by her partner in tacit approval of everything being said.

One of the men eventually got hooked. "What makes you think you're anything at all?" he asked. "What's with this swagger? You're nothing!" he shouted, stomping forward with a sneer.

"Oh?" Cassidy tossed her head, blinking back at him. "Surely, you're prepared to beat nothing."

Seeing two challengers stepping forward, Cassidy exchanged knowing glances with Jessie before they went out to battle. Splitting the field up into two sections, though perhaps only one would be better given the size, Cassidy and Jessie got ready to take on their challengers. Cassidy sent out Mini, who could surely handle at least a few of these clowns given all the rest it had gotten. "My, my!" Mini called, posing while bouncing on one leg with a wide smile.

In the battle next to them, Starmie's strange call could also be heard. Ugh, that pokemon, really? Of course if they wanted to win a significant amount of battles, they'd have to put both of their pokemon to work. Filtering out Jessie's directing of her pokemon along with the others' commentary and shouts at its erratic actions, Cassidy directed Mini against a familiar loudred. They easily defeated the whining mid-stage pokemon. The trainer took on his pokemon's indignant expression. Cassidy just laughed, inviting the next trainer to battle.

Swapping between Mini and Rattata, all battles were won, and all of their teammates eventually slumped over sulking, though having nothing to say given their terrible performance. "I'm sure I win," Jessie said.

"I beg to differ," Cassidy said. Her pokemon definitely hadn't been slacking by going through all those opponents.

"Alright - you, you, and all of you!" Jessie walked around, clapping her hands and pointing at the people she'd defeated. "Stand over there so Cassidy and I can clearly compare." The men stared back blankly, one blinking, another sniffing before he pursed his lips. "Now! Do it! We need to be sure who's the winner." Jessie giggled again. This time her instructions were followed, the men dragging their feet as they walked to one side.

All six of them stood clearly to the side, with six remaining in place. A tie. Cassidy glanced back at Jessie as the results became clear, and Jessie grinned back. "Now there's only one way to solve this bet."

"Hm?" Cassidy voiced with exaggeration. Winning really would have been nice, then getting to goad Jessie into taking her on a date, but maybe Jessie had an interesting idea of her own from here.

"We'll have to battle each other to see who's the best!"

Cassidy exhaled slowly, hardening her expression to hide her disappointment. That didn't sound appealing at all. "Why try?" Cassidy asked.

"Because we have a prize on the line, don't we?" Jessie said with a grin.

Seeing they had an audience, Cassidy could have rolled her eyes. No matter who won, there would be half the audience happy to have one of them taken down a peg. Didn't Jessie know they'd done this to promote themselves? That couldn't be pointed out now, in front of everyone. "I mean why try if it's already set in stone who's superior? I've already beaten you many times before."

Jessie scowled, making it clear that was absolutely the wrong thing to say. "Are you backing down from the challenge? If you get a big head, that's when I'm sure to surpass you!" she shouted back.

After having riled Jessie up, Cassidy almost felt like shrinking away, but she sure as hell wasn't about to. "Since you're so insistent on being humiliated, let's begin the battle," she said. That certainly didn't redirect Jessie, but maybe Cassidy herself was in the mood to fight a bit. After all, once she certainly beat Jessie and her unpredictable pokemon, Jessie would have to treat her to a date. What kind of outing would they enjoy, together on the town, no job related things getting in their way? How nice would it be, being in the spotlight of Jessie's attention?

Of course, gaining that attention seemed to have already been accomplished. Jessie glowered, pokeball in hand, slouching forward, but at the same time not noticing anyone other than Cassidy that may be around her. "Hmph." Cassidy noted the pokeball with the chip in Jessie's hand, then gripped her own choice tightly. They stepped out across from each other to begin the fight.

"Go, Starmie!" Jessie shouted out, probably not even knowing she'd given away that choice before even beginning. Starmie had just gone against most of the opponents, and had to be at least a bit tired out. Besides that, Cassidy had another advantage.

"Go, Minun!" Cassidy shouted. Mini appeared, still bright, alert, and ready to go, despite having expended the energy to defeat half of their previous opponents. "Charge!"

Mini started to glow as the start of the electric empowering technique right as Jessie gave her own first order. "Rapid spin! Get it off guard!" In front of Mini, Starmie started to spin, blurring its appendages. It then shouted out its alien call before spinning away from the arena. Cassidy raised her eyebrows. Was it really going to be this easy, the opponent just leaving the stage?

Almost before that thought had even finished, a flash of motion went through the field, hitting Mini in the middle of its charge technique. The tiny pokemon toppled over several times. Open mouthed, it had barely turned its head before Starmie, still nearby, hit it again various times. "Mini!" Cassidy called.

"That's it! Now water gun!" Jessie said.

Cassidy frowned, trying to get hold of herself. "Minun, spark!" she shouted out before shaking her head.

"My!" Mini called. Standing tall despite the intense hits, the little threads of electricity showered around it, indeed hitting Starmie, but just as soon a series of torrents of water hit Mini in return. As Mini fell down, Starmie floated around, a hovering object seemingly unaffected by what was supposed to be a very effective move.

"Now, Starmie! Finish it! Rapid spin!" Jessie said.

Before Cassidy could give her own direction, Starmie shot forward, smacking Mini off its feet. The small electric type curled inward with a slight tremble. After seeing its eyes close, Cassidy raised her pokeball, recalling it without further hesitation.

From there, Jessie let out a shout of celebration, dancing up. The trainers Cassidy had defeated looked a bit pleased themselves, the others walking off and ignoring the results. Just as soon, Starmie spun around like a shuriken, distracting everyone as it again crashed into the benches, getting stuck between one and the wall yet again. Cassidy forcefully exhaled, but didn't go and help, rolling her eyes as Jessie went off to check. "Come on, Starmie! We're number one!"

Their fellow rockets laughed, smirking at each other and shaking their heads as Starmie, though just having had several moments of clarity, turned into a flailing mess. Jessie tried several times to recall it, various snickers sounding out as she missed each time. "Look at that blowhard," one of the audience said. Jessie didn't appear to notice, sighing as she finally got Starmie back into its pokeball.

"They're both just talk. Who knows what they thought they were proving."

Hearing the words, Cassidy's chest started to ache, her body flushing with heat at the embarrassment. Not only had she lost to a pair with a type disadvantage currently showing themselves to be a mess, but the previous wins seemed all for nothing. The disparaging words continued, and who else had even witnessed their prowess?

"What about that one with the minun? As if it's that impressive to use her little specks to catch us off guard first thing like this."

"Loudred beat her with that one before. She's not that great."

"Yeah, she's a clown too. They're both a pair of them."

"Hey!" Jessie suddenly recognized the trash talk and was apparently about to snipe back. Of course, there was no point in that. Cassidy turned her back to them all, taking a slow pace back to the main building. "Cassidy! Are you just going to let-"

Cassidy turned back, doing her best to keep that calm face as she glared at her partner. "Pokemon that have had several battles need proper care, of course."

That shut Jessie up. Though still biting her lip and stomping along, certainly pretty ruffled, she followed Cassidy. "Did you hear what they were saying? And after we just pummeled them!"

"I heard it," Cassidy said, eyes briefly closing as refused to hustle back. "It would be like a group of sore losers with no room to defend their own skills to say things, wouldn't it?"

"Right," Jessie said, briefly scowling back in the direction they'd come from, but still following Cassidy toward the building and into the care area. They dropped their pokeballs on the counter where someone was actually on duty for once when Jessie suddenly giggled. "I am the winner, though," she said with a smug, playful tone.

"As if that matters," Cassidy snapped back.

"Oh? Weren't you just saying something about sore losers?" Jessie said, gently poking her shoulder.

Even if being able to perform, the whole experience had sucked overall, and maybe Cassidy should have just let Jessie go off on the losers that had dared to mock them. They deserved to be the target of her wrath in several ways. However, with the humiliation of the loss came the desire to just leave. Beyond wanting to maintain a sense of dignity and promote the both of them, Cassidy had really wanted Jessie to take her out on that date, getting time together beyond this place.

As they waited, Jessie seemed restless, unsurprisingly for her having trouble sitting still for the time their pokemon were being given care. She wrung her hands, pacing around, eventually becoming irritating. "Come on," Cassidy chided. "It won't be that long before our pokemon are back; we're the only ones here."

"Right. Of course," Jessie said tersely as if she'd just thought of it, then paced back next to Cassidy, arms straight at her side with fists clenched.

"What?" Cassidy said. The tension was a bit contagious, and there was no reason for it.

"I did win," Jessie said.

"As you keep saying," Cassidy shot back, still staring at the open door the man with their pokemon had disappeared beyond. "It's fine to promote yourself, but you might not want to get too pompous by dwelling on just one win."

"Um, right," Jessie said tentatively, surprisingly agreeing to what Cassidy said right away. After a moment of silence she spoke up again. "Doesn't this mean you're going to take me out?"

Cassidy's attention instantly snapped to Jessie next to her, seeing the other woman looking away, a subtle sign of possible nerves though she otherwise smiled, eventually turning back. Of course - that had been the deal. No matter who 'won', even in this case of them being played the fools, the terms of the competition had them going out anyway. Why hadn't she realized that before. "That was the agreement," Cassidy admitted calmly.

Next to her, Jessie cheered, then hugged her in a moment of high emotion. Though initially surprised, Cassidy soon realized she shouldn't be due to their developing relationship, and hugged Jessie back. The closeness of two of them pressed against each other felt so warm, and relaxed and natural, even. This truly did seem like an actual connection. Even though Jessie could be irritating at times, Cassidy honestly liked her. She wanted the two of them to be close, and now, here they were, hugging and even talking about their next outing.

Jessie eventually broke the hug, though Cassidy noted still grabbing her gloved hand. It seemed awkward, especially since they were both gloved, but Cassidy didn't break away, even as the man returned, placing their pokeballs down. He walked away without any interest, and Cassidy and Jessie soon broke away to get their pokemon back. Gripping the pokeballs in hand, they walked away. "So, what sort of luxury will you be treating me to?"

"A movie," Cassidy said.

"Huh?" Jessie raised an eyebrow.

Cassidy sighed as she pocketed her pokeballs. "Dinner and a movie is a usual sort of date, and I can only afford one. So a movie." Actually, Cassidy could think of more exciting dates, but they were either too expensive or seemed too intense at the moment. Getting some time away and sitting next to Jessie in the dark, holding hands without gloves perhaps in a peaceful, normal moment seemed a bit appealing. It was away from work, and they'd had at least a little time to be cozy together.

"Well then we'll have to make it a double date," Jessie said.

"Hm?" Cassidy raised an eyebrow. There were a few tolerable people around HQ, but not any two they knew that were dating, or might convince to, for that matter. Besides, time with just the two of them was preferable.

"Right. You take me to this movie, and I'll take you to dinner," Jessie said.

"That's not what double date means," Cassidy pointed out.

"Is it where you go out with two people at once?"

"Never mind," Cassidy said, shrugging a shoulder as they meandered outside the building to locate still more busy work. "Alright, Jessie, I suppose we can splurge. It will be our first date, after all."

"Huh- I've been on plenty of others, thank you," Jessie insisted, folding her arms and looking away.

Cassidy just blinked at the response. Again, Jessie was getting defensive. "I meant with the two of us together," she said.

"Right." Jessie tittered in a seemingly still nervous way, putting her head up as she continued, "I just meant, you don't have to worry about coming across someone clueless. I have plenty of experience with this."

Cassidy simply smiled back as Jessie's eyes finally made their way back to hers briefly. Jessie really could be awkward in some ways. Even so, there was plenty to like about her. Cassidy felt lucky they had met in a way that had pulled them together and kept them in each other's circle even now. Cassidy reached down and squeezed Jessie's gloved hand briefly, before the two of them went back to the group they'd left, an admin's assistant there to give them some or another order for sure.

Once they finally found the time, they escaped the base, figuratively yet also literally in a way, and went to Viridian for some time away. First up was the theater. Cassidy picked a movie with a shorter run time, knowing they had limited time to get back before the curfew, which really wasn't negotiable from what they'd been told. What movie they saw didn't matter, since the whole point was to allow the two of them time alone together.

Or at least that had been the thought. That image of her and Jessie getting cozy in the dark in the back of the theater, holding hands exchanging brief whispers didn't at all match the reality. Of course, not familiar with recent properties, Cassidy had accidentally picked one of the year's tokusatsu movies. Who knew 'Pika Ranger' would be a story of the week cinemafied for that year's multicolored task force of heroes? That it might be a documentary about pokemon rangers with an affinity for electric types was an easy assumption, though wrong.

So of course the theater was full of kids, loudly talking and even shouting in their excitement. And this was the last pre-bedtime showing close to the premiere, so the whole cinema was packed. Cassidy groaned, not that she could be heard above the ruckus, as she and Jessie found themselves a seat in the middle of the row up on the balcony, kids and their parents all around them. Their co-workers spotting them here as possibly the only two adults sans children would be humiliating. Of course, then they'd probably be in the same boat.

"Looks like pokemon are allowed," Jessie said, noting the children with tiny, mostly first stage pokemon in the audience. Cassidy made no comment, but released Mini, who she could trust enough to be calm even in this crowd. It stood by the rail directly in front of her, fascinated as the energetic theme played. The movie cut to the chase with an action scene, which included various random explosions happening for no apparent reason which never seemed to do any damage.

Mini watched the colorful light show with interest, but Cassidy wasn't at all. Everything about it, from the storyline to the acting to the cheap special effects was so juvenile. Cassidy scoffed, but at the same time even more self-consciousness seeped in. She'd chosen the movie. Should she apologize to Jessie and the two of them leave?

Not wanting to see her girlfriend's reaction, Cassidy had avoided even looking at her, but did so as Jessie's hand squeezed hers when the heroes started doing their self-introduction. The garish explosion on the screen illuminated Jessie's face, revealing a completely enraptured expression. Jessie liked this. Rather, she completely loved it. Though a perplexing sight, that Cassidy hadn't failed to find something to interest was a relief. Was there really something that interesting about it? Cassidy turned back and watched to find out, all while enjoying the feeling of Jessie's hand in her own.

"My, my!" Mini cheered as the theatrical heroes finally sprung into action after their posing and dramatic words.

Previously completely taken in, this distracted Jessie enough. "Mini likes the show, huh?"

"It's not very picky," Cassidy said.

"Hm, I think it fits Starmie pretty well too," Jessie said, reaching for her pocket.

She couldn't be. No, Jessie indeed released her erratic pokemon right then and there. "Starmie, look!" Jessie pointed to the screen where the heroes did black flips and other erratic moments as they fought. No. This would just encourage that pokemon to act similarly. Cassidy watched it closely, resting in front of Jessie, noting the blinking lights of the screen reflect back on its gem. Of course, the thing had no facial expression to even be able to guess what it was thinking.

Suddenly, it floated into the air. "Ah-" Cassidy began, but Jessie stood up and grabbed her pokemon just as quickly. Thankfully, no one paid them too much mind. The place was already full of squirming kids, so the action fit right in. Jessie pulled Starmie close in a hug. "Come on, you," she said, almost gritting her teeth. "You're the one that won and got Cassidy to treat us, so I thought you should be able to actually enjoy this."

"My, my!" Mini leaned back, patting one of the other pokemon's many arms while calling out happily. With that, Starmie looked, if it was indeed looking, back at it, seeming to calm.

Of course Mini would congratulate and calm the pokemon that had kicked its ass to get a seat. They sat and continued to watch the feature. As they reached a lull in the story, Jessie turned to her, squealing. "Thank you, Cassidy! You certainly picked the absolute best movie of the bunch!"

Cassidy chortled just as the main character on screen started dramatically shouting again before swinging his plastic sword. Jessie didn't notice, still happily watching the scene. "Team Rocket is a bit like these heroes, hm," she eventually said.

"Some might say we're the villains," Cassidy stated the obvious.

"Let them say that," Jessie said, clenching Starmie even tighter while staring at the choreographed fighting beginning yet again on the screen. "I'll embrace my role as evil. But that doesn't mean we can't be as passionate and theatrical and stylish as this group. We even have the uniforms, right? We might spruce them up a bit, and then really make an entrance."

Did she really think so? Cassidy didn't want to wear those shiny, tight spandex suits. Of course, back when they were kids the costumes on these shows were made a bit differently. What exactly did Jessie have in mind?

They didn't discuss it, just sitting and watching until the credits of the relatively short feature began with an upbeat tune playing over them. Starmie then got a little antsy, wiggling around and possibly wanting to fling itself around the auditorium, but Jessie quickly returned it to its pokeball. Cassidy recalled Mini as well so the tiny pokemon wouldn't get lost as they left. To either side, parents were directing their kids who weren't ready to go for various reasons. How annoying, since the two of them had limited time. But eventually, they were finally able to scoot out, finding the air outside.

As they meandered down the sidewalk, Jessie stretched, letting out a noise of happiness. "That was the best!" she said. "I haven't been able to watch anything like that in years. I forgot how exciting it was. It's always awesome to see Red leading the charge." Jessie spun around before imitating the pose of the movie herself.

"Don't you mean all of them? There's five."

"Six! And a seventh secret character appeared, don't you remember?"

"Right... So, don't you think the whole team is important rather than just Red?"

"The others are fine, but of course Red is the star!" Jessie declared, sweeping her hair behind her ear. "I thought I might be Red myself one day."

"Isn't Red always a man?"

"Who cares! I'd be the first who wasn't. But that doesn't matter now. I'll just find a way to be a star in Team Rocket."

Jessie missed the point. Among plenty of other hero shows with sole stars, this one focused on a team that had a united name and worked together. Didn't Jessie see herself as part of a team? They were 'Team' Rocket and all. "Maybe I wasn't paying attention the whole time," Cassidy admitted, "but it seemed to me everyone's various over-the-top techniques were needed to defeat the silly monster. No one was slacking. And no one was trying to outshine each other and prove they were better, just showing themselves as a strong, united whole for their opponents to respect."

Jessie had no response to that. Did she get what was being inferred? It didn't much matter. Cassidy would rather enjoy their date together in the limited time they had left than harp on how thoughtless Jessie had been previously. Taking a deep breath, she paced toward what looked like a park entrance. "Well then, should we just spend some time here before we have to go back?"

Jessie blinked, standing in place before rushing ahead, soon catching up to Cassidy. "Wait! We still have dinner that I promised."

The idea of sitting across from each other in a quiet, intimate setting sounded appealing, but they really didn't have time to get there and wait. Jessie having made any plans ahead of time didn't seem likely. "It's alright," Cassidy assured. "I know we have to make it back soon."

"No! I told you it's a double date, and I meant it." Jessie took Cassidy's hand, dragging her back a different way. Cassidy went along without fuss. Jessie's hand was on hers again, the same as she thought she'd might enjoy, even if her attention was focused all around, the goal still seemed to be to try and please Cassidy. Cassidy squeezed her hand, that spiritedness from Jessie's enthusiasm becoming contagious. Jessie didn't appear to notice, but then squeezed her hand in return and shouted in enthusiasm as she noted the nearby sight.

An oden cart was set up, already serving several customers. Well, this may indeed be a good option, especially since it was close to their ride back. Jessie pulled her in behind the curtain, and they sat. Jessie ordered for herself, and then began to order for Cassidy. "Wait," Cassidy began tersely. "Isn't this your treat? You could have ordered for me first. Or better, let me order for myself."

"Right..." Jessie said sheepishly. "What... Would you like, Cassidy?"

"The same as her," Cassidy gave her own order, nodding to Jessie. There wasn't much to ordering at a place like this, and she had no strong dislikes among the possible ingredients.

Jessie was served first, but picked up her bowl and moved it to Cassidy. "You should eat first," she said, the touched her hands. "You're getting cold, right? Just hold the bowl, like this." Jessie took her hand, leading it to the sides.

Cassidy glanced over her shoulder at Jessie next to her, happily so close. "Thank you," she said, honestly enjoying the attention.

"Yeah," Jessie muttered, perhaps even seeming to blush. It seemed she might say something, but then the second order was served and she started to eat. "Cassidy, do you like oden?"

"Hm?" Cassidy looked up from her meal. "It's fine," she said.

"But it's not something you really like too much, huh..." Jessie's shoulders shrunk. "I wanted to bring you to the best restaurant, and serve you your favorite foods! But this is all I saw..."

"It's fine," Cassidy said.

"We shouldn't have to settle for just fine! The best movie, and the best food! Not just any dump!"

The cart owner briefly looked up, wrinkling his nose at Jessie's less than subtle shade on his business, but of course he couldn't comment more from there. The place really wasn't for fancy get-togethers. But at the same time, did it matter? Cassidy kept eating her soup, honestly enjoying the warmth and flavor. And there was more to that besides.

"Jessie, I just wanted to spend time with you," Cassidy declared. As Jessie turned her way, she warmly grinned. "Of course, you are my girlfriend," she declared, smirking at Jessie's open mouth and subtle blush in response to the declaration of something they'd established yet not talked much about. "But most of our time is spent at work, where we live, necessarily. I thought we might get to know each other better if we went a different place. Of course, we should have standards, but the place doesn't matter to me so much at all."

Jessie seemed flabbergasted, suddenly staring down at the soup with that embarrassed expression. Cassidy's admission seemed to have calmed her some, but she also seemed to quite like the words. "W-well, right. We're here together at least. We can go to some place better next time." Jessie began to eat her own soup quickly.

Cassidy enjoyed her own before it seemed to cool a bit too much, then tried to down the remaining oden quickly herself. Jessie slammed the money on the counter before taking Cassidy's hand, the two of them leaving. Instead of taking off, Jessie took slow steps. She eventually turned back. "Cassidy," she began. "I think I like you the best."

"The best of what?" Cassidy asked.

"The best of anyone I've met, in the country or even the world!" Jessie gushed, now taking both of Cassidy's hands and swinging them up while making such an over-the-top statement. "You're fun to train with, and pretty, and hot, and you wanted to be partners, and even though I don't know anything about how to win a girlfriend-"

Jessie was really putting her on a pedestal, wasn't she? "It's not really that difficult," Cassidy said. It shouldn't be that different than having a boyfriend, of which Jessie had apparently had plenty before.

"I know it must be easy for you! You've just got that cool air," Jessie said, seemingly half-lamenting and half-admiring.

Cool? That description was a surprise for some reason. With it, Cassidy imagined how she might look in Jessie's eyes. 'Cool' seemed positive, though others often described her as cold. "You think so?" Cassidy asked.

"Yeah!" Jessie exclaimed. She still held Cassidy's hand, but then looked to the ground. "My cool partner... Who I had looking really uncool." What Jessie meant wasn't immediately clear. Cassidy didn't say anything in response, but Jessie soon continued with her eyes clenched shut, "I knocked you down in front of those idiots and had you looking like a dunce! Even though you're anything but. And little Mini failed badly too. I'd be the worst Red ever, not thinking of my companions... I just wanted a date..."

Jessie looked away, scowling at the end of her admission. Was she annoyed? Actually, she seemed like she may cry. Cassidy stared at her emotional girlfriend, who surprisingly enough, had the unexpected self-awareness to figure out what had happened then. That certainly hadn't been expected - Cassidy had more or less thought Jessie might continue to overlook things. This moment of clarity had them seeming much closer. "It's alright," Cassidy assured. "That's the same thing I wanted. And we both got it, hm?" Cassidy put her arm around Jessie, narrowing her eyes with a grin.

"We did." Jessie nodded, still gripping Cassidy's hands tightly as they stared in the other's eyes, warmly accepting the other. "But next time it'll be better. Together, including the pokemon, we can perform and together make a fantastic picture, none of us having to be the best. All of the other peons will be blinded by our magnitude, I'm sure. We'll crush everyone in our momentum, then burn them up in our exhaust."

Cassidy chuckled. She found trouble being too sure about that, but somehow Jessie's enthusiasm made it seem a whole lot more likely. Were they really about to sail past the limits seemingly placed upon them as 'grunts', and gain the power they'd joined seeking? There seemed to be nothing to stop the propulsion of Jessie's energy. Maybe it really would take them straight to the top.

Chapter Text

After throwing the stack of folders on the desk, Matori began to furiously leaf through them. How could they have failed? Even though she'd somehow found her way to what might be considered the top of the organization and had a group of hand-picked elites assisting her, and even given such useful leads, they'd failed to grab any kind of impressive pokemon... Again. The boss hadn't been pleased. He'd been too busy with one of his own pursuits to scold too much, but still - it stung. The great things expected of the Matori Matrix seemed to be just as useless as expecting anything from the group currently assigned to Alola...

Pausing the search through the records of various legendary pokemon, Matori stared into space, realizing she very certainly had expected various things from that group specifically at various points in time. And not just them - she'd just tried to promote various other employees in the past, thinking they could be counted on to work toward their mutual goals. Were her new ventures just as useless, and going to be just as fruitless?

Crinkling the paper may have mussed the records, but helped in bringing back to the current moment. No, no - everything in the present had to be different. In those previous situations, everything had fallen through as Matori had simply provided information and suggestions that might steer these underlings to success, and through them, the entire organization. This time, rather than hoping for follow through from afar, she was on the ground in uniform helping provide direction personally. Even if there hadn't been any major successes yet, given both that attention and various resources at their disposal, the Matori Matrix would certainly hit their mark soon enough.

As someone stepped into the room, Matori shuddered, sitting up and adjusting her glasses. It was just Alice, so she didn't need to be too much on alert. That was, if Alice wasn't bearing any kind of news that required attention and effort.

"Hey, Matori," Alice greeted, sitting on the desk.

She grinned in a way that was contagious, and Matori returned the expression, though couldn't help but note, "We aren't yet close to the end of the work day." Alice was being awfully casual considering they were still on the job.

"You seemed like you were a little off work already, slumped over like that," Alice said with a wry expression, blinking and glancing at the folders on the desk before back at Matori.

The observation caused Matori to immediately sit up as straight as possible. "Of - Of course I wasn't slacking!" she said, huffing as she adjusted her top and closed her eyes, then prodded Alice. "It was just a momentary lapse during a trying day." As Alice slid off the desk, Matori sighed again. "Series of days, to be more precise," she muttered.

Meowth offered Alice a chair. She turned it around and pulled it right next to Matori before sitting down, leaning toward the front. "Yeah, I told the boss I was taking a quick break," Alice informed. The 'boss' in this context referred to the hard liner Gozu, of course. "He said okay."

"He isn't working on getting the Matrix in shape after the last failure?" Matori asked, forehead becoming tense as she thought of everything. Hopefully her new allies weren't as lackadaisical as the last.

"Oh boy, is he." Alice's eyes went up, giving a half-laugh and half-sigh in response. "Yeah, humans and pokemon are gonna get knocked into shape with him leading us. You don't have to worry about that."

Matori closed her eyes, letting herself relax somewhat. Alice's hand rested on her shoulder, and Matori rested her own on top of it, appreciating the support. "Right. Proper rest and rejuvenation are important parts of the process."

"For you too," Alice said, giving a brief pressure to Matori's shoulder as she leaned down. With a concerned expression, Alice's face grew close, and she leaned in.

Matori pulled away. "It's fine you're on a break," she said tersely, reaching toward the folders. "But I have plenty to do. Besides catching up on record-keeping and scheduling, I need to locate our next target. Don't hesitate to rest on your own, though."

Alice made a brief noise of discontent. "Maybe worrying about the cute evil mastermind was occupying me."

Though trying to become focused on thinking up another mission, having Alice there was absolutely distracting. Glancing back, Alice rested her chin on her hands, absolutely watching closely, a dreamy smile on her face. Matori glanced at the paperwork and back again, unable to hide her own interest in her lover's presence, even though it was mid-day with plenty left for them to do. "I'm sure you can find far more interesting things to do than observe the dull goings-on around here," Matori said, again trying her best to ignore the appealing person next to each other.

"Maybe I don't want to just observe," Alice said, the playful suggestion in her voice causing heat to creep across Matori's neck. She shivered as Alice ran a hand up her shoulder, then pulled it through her hair and let it fall through her fingertips. "Our mastermind definitely deserves a break, maybe some up close special attention, too."

With that declaration, Alice began to rub Matori's shoulders again, causing her to relax. "As much as I may enjoy that, there's no time."

"Come on, like you said, breaks and letting off steam is important, huh?" Alice leaned forward, head right next to Matori. "I could get it done for you quick, right here."

From there, the image of Alice kissing her and otherwise getting close as they'd done in private before couldn't be ignored. Saying yes was the first inclination, as Matori wanted her right there. Even so- "That's ridiculous," Matori said in a lower voice. "It's open for anyone coming down the hall to walk in on us."

"Hmph." Alice only seemed to smile wider at that idea. "You think so?" she asked.

"The point of this design is to eliminate the friction caused by doors."

"Well, we'd have to be quick about a different kind of friction then." Alice squeezed closed to Matori, still rubbing her shoulder.

"Meowth is right there!" Matori pointed out.

Matori's assistant indeed stood, paws behind its back, same serene expression as always even though it certainly had to have heard Alice's lewd suggestions. Now addressed, Meowth's eyes moved to the corner. It suddenly pulled something out - a silk eye mask with lace around the edges. Putting the object on, it then stood in place, at attention as always.

"Thanks, pal," Alice said, then began leaning toward her girlfriend.

Matori put up her hand, grunting in frustration. "Absolutely not," she said.

Alice rubbed her nose, slightly knocked. "Come on, you gonna tease me?"

"The one who's guilty of that is you, teasing me," Matori accused, turning her poignant gaze toward Alice until the proper signs of shame appeared before going back to her work. "You know I've got a mountain of work to do, if I even want to leave at a reasonable hour today."

Alice moved the chair back against the wall and away from Matori. She leaned back, regaining the frank, serious expression that was befitting of her current status, even though the slouching posture didn't also match. Alice even placed her hands behind her head instead of again trying to touch Matori's body. The fact was actually a bit irritating. Even though there was distance between them, it didn't seem enough - Matori still felt the urge to completely take Alice up on that offer.

Instead, she pushed aside the folders containing the collected information for various rare, powerful pokemon that they were nowhere close to obtaining. Simpler tasks could be accomplished first. "I'll start with these new acquisitions," Matori said, taking out the folder on the new, or at least new to Team Rocket pokemon. "Right now they've just been sitting around like capsules in a gachapon ready to be collected."

"That doesn't sound good for them or anyone," Alice commented.

"I'll have to have them graded and then pick matching trainers to make the best of them." Matori opened up the folder and did her best to become absorbed in all of it.

"Hey, Matori," Alice again called out from behind her, remaining casual though given the cues perhaps she currently shouldn't be. Despite herself, Matori turned back. "You ever catch any pokemon? I mean, besides Meowth."

Meowth had pulled its sleeping mask up and yawned, maybe disappointed there wasn't something more exciting happening there that day. Alice had already heard the story about how Meowth, not that it wasn't fully qualified, had basically inserted itself as her assistant. Yes, it had a pokeball, but was hardly 'caught' the standard way, so it was easy to guess what Alice might be getting at. "I haven't," Matori admitted. "Nor have I ever participated in a pokemon battle. I'll admit that's your prowess and not mine."

"Why don't you?" Alice asked. Staring Matori's way with a plain expression, she said nothing else to clarify. As Matori didn't respond, she stood. "Yeah, don't worry, I get you're busy." Alice began taking slow, poised steps past Matori's desk toward the door as she continued, "I'm not saying put that in your schedule right now. Just something for later maybe, huh? Might help you if you're ever in a pinch by yourself, that's all I was thinking."

Just before Alice stepped over the threshold, about to go out to continue her work as a dedicated employee as Matori had goaded her to, Matori spoke. "I know it's an area I'm lacking."

Alice turned back. Despite hearing the admission of weakness, she calmly waited for her girlfriend to continue.

"Right," Matori said, dramatically putting her hand to her chest. "I suppose it sounds ridiculous. I'm a member of an organization that seeks to rule the world through pokemon, but don't have any experience in training pokemon myself. Perhaps you might even wonder why I was hired."

"Na," Alice denied calmly, breaking into a wry smile as she peered down the hall. "I think I've got a pretty good idea of that, seeing how good you are at knocking humans into line. Trainer or not, you're the one getting everything into shape around here."

Given that positive reflection of herself, Matori relaxed some, the shame from that admission dulling. Of course, she wasn't so self-depreciating as to not know she had value with other skills, but on the other hand, she wasn't so unaware as to not know that was likely a thought that many had about her. Especially as she'd moved beyond mere organization and to a more commanding sort of role, others likely questioned not just her status, but her presence. But of course, the head of Team Rocket completely approved of her and all of her actions, so who was anyone else to question anything? Even so, they did, many seeing her as unworthy by default, few noting her worth.

Except Alice certainly had.

Perhaps she'd seen Matori's value from the start, the same as Matori had for her after the initial demonstration. It seemed they'd both been drawn to the other, seeing each other as they truly were with ease as everything fell together. And perhaps, they could both continue to grow from here.

"I do think training pokemon could be a valuable exercise - no, skill to develop," Matori said. "You're right to give me such advice. I'll tell you now that I do hope to train one day and be able to direct my own powerful pokemon rather than relying solely on any underlings."

Alice now had a huge smile on her face. She wasn't one to rub anything in, and of course had only the best for her girlfriend in mind when giving the suggestion. Before, even knowing she had the boss's approval when it came to her contributions to the organization, Matori had felt belittled when it had come to this topic, but Alice giving the suggestion had seemed only encouraging, even compassionate.

"Once I do, I hope you'd be one to advise me," Matori said, turning her head back down to signal she truly was finished talking to her girlfriend on the clock. Without another word, Alice turned and left, as was appropriate. Unfortunately, once gone, Alice's words and actions still lingered in Matori's mind. She put down the list of new acquisitions, turning to Meowth. It looked up questioningly at her, apparently knowing that its typical attempts to make her comfortable wouldn't help set her back on track. The distractible state was because her mind was occupied, and in various ways.

"Perhaps we could start on another excursion, just starting with a smaller target," Matori said. She picked up another folder on Alola, recalling the last major failure. But maybe this time she could go back for another reason. "Meowth, do you remember that bewear?"

Meowth's increased blinking and steady gaze let her know it indeed knew what she was talking about. Meowth had interacted with the group that had managed to catch that bewear, after all. They had even directed this very useful pokemon assistant her way. "Our leader was impressed with it. I know it was his priority for us to bring it back and put it to the best use. And Alice seems to think that larger pokemon like that one are more valuable for battles. Perhaps she could help me train up that one."

Meowth's eyebrows raised up, no other reaction to the suggestion.

"Well, I'm not immediately sure of anyone else would be worthy," Matori said, seeing the weaker, most first-stage species on the list of new acquisitions and shaking it. Holding out the record on those currently assigned to Alola, she grinned. "No matter who trains it, the team needs more powerful pokemon. Someone here will make better use of it than the group that lowers themselves to only attempting grunt work."

After taking out a sheet of paper, notes were made from the records. It was time to plan her own sort of break, almost like a vacation considering the desirable area they'd be traveling to. Of course, it would lead to a more powerful arsenal of allies. Time could also be taken to train them. Alice often fawned over her own large pokemon, patting her massive Golurk while talking about what a great ally it was, and how well it worked as part of her own personal strategy. Would she be enthusiastic to see a powerful species she hadn't come across before? Perhaps day-dreaming of the possibilities could be allowed in moderation as Matori made concrete plans for acquiring the creature in-between making sure the rest of Team Rocket was on track.

Unfortunately, there had never been time for anything resembling a break to be had in Alola.

Despite having expertly accomplished various evil tasks in the past, the Alola-assigned group were nothing more than disappointment in the present. Even after having been given a call ahead and assured this was something the boss wanted, they weren't prepared for the simple task of handing over the pokemon to be provided with an appropriate trainer. This sort of transfer was commonplace in Team Rocket, but they acted as if infants completely incapable of taking two steps forward. Were they trying to be incompetent at this point? Any criticism was well-deserved.

Even wanting to get back right away, of course Matori had stayed around, being sure to provide advice and redirection to the group that had initially seemed so competent when she'd been newer to the organization, but now seemed to require her guidance. There were some underlings on stand by. If things just got done right away by simply recalling a pokemon and handing over a pokeball, they could be provided with a break. Maybe even Matori might get a break herself, spending time with Alice. However, duty came first, and she remained dedicated, until the end.

...Even though that end ended up being one of her vehicles crashed in an inconvenient place. Not only was there no comfy vacation time, but she had to wait for others to recover them. Altogether, how humiliating, and a complete waste. Matori paced, spitting out orders even as she could see that her fully capable chosen few were already on the job.

"Hey, hey, Matori," Alice began in a half-whisper, holding up her hands as they found a moment away from the rest of the group. "I know this bombed big time, but it's okay to take a breath a minute, you know? The rest'll be here soon enough to get us."

Matori stopped her pacing for a moment, only to continue it, walking away from the rest. With Alice nearby, speaking to her as a 'girlfriend' by first name and all, perhaps this was an opening to air frustrations even more. "Of course they will," Matori said, arms folded, ignoring her own aches while looking away from Alice. "There are plans for this kind of situation, and they're sending a team that's skilled in these kind of operations. The problem is me."

Alice glanced back at the group before back at Matori, biting her lip before she nodded. "Yeah, you are getting people kinda hyped up when we're already under a lot of stress."

"Noted," Matori said, taking off her glasses to clean them. Those that had accompanied her on this trip knew what they were doing, unlike some. And of course, as she'd just been advising others, Team Rocket assets all needed to keep a cool head to be able to make the sharpest judgment calls at all times. After having 'taken a breath', as Alice put it, Matori saw how the tasks she wanted done may be completed without her, and continued, "But that's not what I meant. I might have criticised the others for not being able to simply give me a pokemon, but I couldn't even capture that helpless child."

"There's nothing to worry about there, either," Alice said. What seemed a platitude fell flat on the ground before Alice clarified, "What you were trying wouldn't be capturing a pokemon at all."

Given the direct, cutting criticism, Matori's shoulders sunk down. But of course, she and Alice had the type of relationship where they could be candid, at least here between the two of them. "I didn't have a pokeball in the moment, but I could have just as soon acquired one for it back at HQ," Matori declared, unwilling to let her efforts be downplayed this much.

"The pokeball's not so important," Alice declared, just as simply not backing down from her criticism. She leaned down, patting Matori on the shoulders while looking in her eyes. "It's good to have, but just a convenience. If you win a pokemon over, you don't need one. Usually that's a battle, but I know there's exceptions." Alice glanced back toward where Meowth was mirroring Matori's previous actions by directing the pokemon of the others. Alice turned back, staring in Matori's eyes. "And you wanted it to battle, right? It's better to get a pokemon for battling by battling."

The words were like waves on the earth, the aftershocks being Matori's changes in perspective. Even being able to recite facts like pokemon types and techniques, Matori's understanding of battling or even being a trainer at all was so limited. Of course a pokemon that was going to battle would be better off being caught in a battle. Just like that bewear that day, they were terrifying creatures that wouldn't just listen unless one could impress, or rather subjugate them somehow.

"And yeah, don't go underestimating the little ones either." Alice smiled wryly and looked up as if imagining a time when one of her giants was humbled by a smaller one. "And a lot of bigger species start small before they evolve, of course, but any pokemon'll want to bond through a battle if they're thinking of having a human be their trainer. And not only that, learn, too."

All of this was likely just basic. Matori had been a fool, imagining she might pick a small pokemon with a large evolution off the ground then simply level it appropriately and gain something powerful in return. And hadn't she been imagining how Alice or someone else may do that for her? Considering things in such a way wasn't even at a beginning stage.

"Hey..." Alice began softly, her face showing concern. She reached her glove up, brushing Matori's face. "It's okay..." she said.

So Matori had even let herself expel a few tears of frustration. She'd just been knocked around and even gotten in a crash afterward. Alice leaned closer, but Matori backed away, causing her to trip in the attempt. Then as any superior may do, Matori choked back any emotion while wiping her own face. "It's back to work, huh?" Alice said in a low, sing-song voice, taking the cue.

"Of course," Matori said seriously. She then brushed her hair down as much as she could before turning back to her girlfriend for one final exchange before she returned to being an underlining. "I respect what you're saying and will take it all into consideration when there's time. Understand?"

Alice adjusted her hat and nodded, smiling back. They both stood tall, rejoining the rest of the group. This time Matori stood back more, observing the work that was done without her intervention. Unlike others, those in the Matrix were able to independently act as appropriate. When the recovery team came, composure was certainly regained, and not just by Matori, but by the group with her. They'd go back to Kanto and regroup. Perhaps a vacation day could be had later.

Inside the plane on the way back, Matori found herself sitting right by Alice. It was difficult to be so close knowing they were still on the job. But after a while into the longer flight, the feeling of Alice's gloved hand on her own was felt. Looking over, they exchanged glances. No one else was paying much attention, all also quite exhausted from their fruitless excursion. Of course, this was just more reassurance from the person who supported Matori the most.

And it certainly did comfort. Receiving this casual contact also incited the desire to follow through on what they'd been talking about. Thoughts turned on everything involving pokemon training, though of course exhaustion and circumstance prevented any real planning. After Alice patted Matori's hand, smiling knowingly without the need to say anything, Matori closed her eyes, leaning against her girlfriend and allowed herself to have some much needed rest.

In between the many tasks both assigned and taken up, research was done into what pokemon may be best to start with. Conversation with Alice had revealed that her large pokemon, save for any assigned through Team Rocket, had been caught at their first stage and evolved later. Alice even expressed that this wasn't a waste of time at all. Though her girlfriend may seem lackadaisical at times, Matori knew her to be dedicated and fierce when it came to training. Any shared opinions didn't come from putting up a front of agreeableness.

Her conclusion was based on observations that trainers and pokemon that trained together grew strong together, and got to know each other. During those moments considering what to possibly catch and where to do it, the question also came as to how to do so without borrowing a pokemon that another had put the effort into. Would a pokemon she wanted to train have any respect for her if she just led a pokemon another had helped rise to a high level?

Matori found herself considering Meowth there, supposing the two of them really had grown together in some ways. All of the tasks accomplished both in this office and out couldn't have been done nearly as well without Meowth having dashed in from Alola to assist. And seemingly, they both wanted to reach the same goals through Team Rocket, though Meowth had chosen Matori as a companion knowing her limitations. Were Meowth's limitations similar?

"Meowth," Matori sharply addressed her assistant. Its eyes traveled in her direction from the spot it stood by the door at attention, but it didn't jump into a task as it often had. Did it sense, from what she'd been researching along with having witnessed conversations with Alice, the topic about to be brought up?

Matori stood up and stepped closer to Meowth. Though it was often the opposite, Meowth deserved to be addressed directly rather than across the room. Standing up straight in front of the pokemon, Matori looked down. "Meowth, are you even the battling sort?"

One corner of Meowth's mouth turned up, and it merely blinked at her. Though not - or usually not, as a different Meowth proved the exception - using human speech, pokemon often expressed themselves otherwise. Though the idea seemed ridiculous, trainer and pokemon were supposed to have such a connection that they could sense each other's thoughts. What sort of thoughts might Meowth be having at that question?

Matori had already imagined this pokemon may have plenty of experience in life, not specifically in battling, but in general. One didn't acquire the skills it showed the moment after appearing in place of a flashing, dissolving egg. "Though I don't see you as keen to battle as other pokemon I've met, I imagine you have enough skill to handle yourself as necessary."

Meowth's eyes briefly widened, which Matori took as an affirmation. She folded her arms, smirking just the same as the pokemon before she realized it. "Well then - would you assist me in my first catch?"

"Meow," Meowth called back simply, looking up and nodding in agreement.

At the sight of the little pokemon's strange grin, Matori found herself grinning back, a fiery energy consuming and pushing toward the tasks ahead. Going back to the desk, the various guides were opened on the computer, then scrolled through before she found the one she'd been thinking of. "That's it." This species seemed to fit the tough requirements sought from its base form, and had the potential to evolve even beyond that.

Of course, it wasn't native to Kanto, but Matori had the resources to travel wherever she wanted, and the access to the scheduling system to make time for others to transport her freely. When the time was right, they'd go.

Stepping onto the desert terrain was different from the previous experiences traveling from lush areas such as Kanto and Johto and the tropical Alola. The dryness went beyond anything from before, causing Matori's suit to seem too limiting and stuffy. Though a few pokemon had been spotted, the sought after species hadn't yet been seen. Matori sighed and fanned herself, leaning irritably against a big rock.

Meowth stopped to rest with her, though still seeming on alert. It had already scared away one pokemon with a scratch, but hadn't done much else. Should they give up? Such an action not only seemed like a waste of the time put into planning, but also disrespectful to the pokemon that had also gone out of its way. Matori and Meowth may both be out of their element, but should still remain dedicated to the decided mission.

Matori drank more water than expected, trying to stay hydrated. She handed some over to Meowth, who took a drink of its own. Matori then poured a bit over its head before wiping it off with a washcloth, noting Meowth's relaxed expression. She didn't worry about wasting supplies. They were well-equipped. Rather than bringing Team Rocket's own branded pokeballs, a variety of custom, professionally made ones with various effects had been brought for strategy.

After the break, Meowth stood up straighter, eyes clearer while scanning the landscape. Matori did the same, remaining focused and determined. They walked along, observing every crevice before finally spotting the pokemon species they'd traveled this way for.

Taking a breath, a desire to retreat was almost felt despite having reached the target and needing to aim and shoot. Its size was surprising above anything else. Of course the height ranges had been noted when doing the research, but seeing it in person was another thing. Though shorter than Matori herself, it wasn't by too much and its body seemed massive besides, especially when compared with a small one like Meowth. Though a first stage pokemon that was round and 'cute' in some ways, it certainly shouldn't be underestimated.

Yes, pokemon could certainly be terrifying. Especially ones without a trainer like this one out in the wild. This one was bouncing, trunk in the air with leaf-shaped end facing down, smiling as it seemed to play with its shadow. They hadn't been spotted yet, and could still run.

Taking a slow breath, Matori calmed herself. She wasn't the same as some worthless grunts. She wasn't the same as she had been when getting frightened by that bewear among other pokemon in the field and at HQ. She was going to take what she had learned, take full advantage of the moves that Meowth had practiced, and truly catch this pokemon.

"Let's go, Meowth," Matori said.

"Meow!" Meowth called, hopping forward.

The pokemon stopped at the sight of new one in front of it, trunk raising even higher as its eyes opened curiously. Seeing the cute response, both challenging human and pokemon became less anxious, though still remaining fully on alert. "Alright, Cufant," Matori addressed it. "Prepare for a battle."

"Cu! Cu!" the pokemon called, again bouncing forward. Before anything could be assumed about it being overly friendly, it slammed against Meowth in a tackle. "Cu! Cu!" it called, grinning in amusement as both Meowth and Matori winced.

"It's no pushover, and that's desirable," Matori declared, undeterred. Meowth was springing back to its feet without instruction, though Matori was prepared to provide. "Scratch attack!" she ordered. Meowth was close enough to pull it off easily.

Except as it swung forward with claws out, Cufant simply bounced back. "Cu! Cu!" it called while grinning.

How irritating. "Meowth, get on the offence! Get closer and scratch it." Meowth repeated the same actions to the same result. As the battle continued, Matori provided detailed instructions including angle, speed, and distance to try and hit their targeted pokemon. Cufant led them around the area as it continued to dodge, almost seeming to treat the chase as an entertaining game. This repeated many times.

"Good, Meowth. We're tiring it out," Matori said, throat dry. Of course, she and Meowth were getting tired out themselves. Why were all of the attempted strategies failing? Didn't it have a weakness? Even though not a regularly battling pokemon, Meowth was actually quite agile.

Eventually, Meowth grazed it. "Cu..." Cufant called in irritation now. It tucked its head, rolling its body forward on the ground quickly toward Meowth.

"That's it," Matori realized as the pokemon rolled forward, gaining momentum and losing the ability to do much else in the roll out attack. "Meowth, now! Fury swipes!" Meowth was able to jump up and out of the way no problem, then unleashed its attack, swiping and hitting the pokemon several times. "Again!" Matori shouted. Meowth did a back flip, catching Cufant off guard as it again scratched the pokemon repeatedly with its long claws, a smirk on its face.

Cufant eventually stopped, laying on its back. Before incapacitation could be assumed, it rolled back to the right side, standing back up, though teetering. "Cu..." it called, quieter than before.

But of course, a knockout wasn't needed to ensure a capture. This pokemon was already low on energy and seemed prime to be caught. They'd been battling for a while now, so Matori pulled out an appropriate pokeball - the timer ball. This object was designed to be able to more effectively capture pokemon one had to take their time to fight. The ball was thrown, easily hitting the target and drawing it in. It shook briefly before dinging, indicating the capture.

Matori leaned back against the rock, sighing in relief. Of course, she eventually went and picked up the pokeball. Looking at Meowth, she broke into a grin. "Looks like this is our capture," she said. "Well done."

Meowth took the praise silently, calmly accepting things and standing up with dignity despite its current disheveled appearance. Its fur wasn't as smooth and clean as usual, having just been in a such a battle. However, it would be taken care of soon enough. From there they took a break, having lunch before heading back to the waiting transportation. "Miss Matori?" the boy that had accompanied her said in surprise, blinking as he saw her.

Matori caught sight of herself in the reflection of the window. Surprisingly enough, she was just as disheveled as the pokemon that had fought for her. In all of that fighting, maintaining a professional appearance had been overlooked. Taking out a brush and mirror, Matori got to work doing that. Next to her, Meowth was similarly getting its appearance back into its normal sleek shape. After that, they turned back to the boy that had greeted them. "We're ready to return," Matori informed.

Back at HQ, there were of course many other tasks to keep Matori occupied, but she did take time to care for Cufant in-between them. It shouldn't have been too difficult. The pokemon seemed young, based on its energetic, overly playful personality if nothing else. Though that meant it would require a lot of training to gain skills that pokemon that Team Rocket had already acquired had, it also meant that it had plenty of potential to unlock.

If only Matori had the skills to unlock that potential herself.

In order to train Cufant with minimal distractions, Matori had reserved the field completely. Eventually, Cufant would have to battle, but in the meantime, just getting it to listen with basic commands may be the first step. "Cufant!" Matori said as she threw out the pokeball.

Cufant appeared standing on three legs, trunk lifted in the air. "Cufan!" it called in a high-pitched voice.

"Alright," Matori exclaimed at the sight of her cute, yet certainly powerful pokemon. "Listen closely, Cufant. When you're in a battle, you need to stand at attention. Be sure to stand right in front of me, gazing out into the field, on alert for the opponent's pokemon, which could appear from the sky, air, or ground with the goal of slicing you down. You'll need to-"

"Cu! Cufan!" Cufant called, stomping away with almost playful skips before Matori could even finish the introduction to the planned lesson. Cufant's head turned around, then its hooves dug at the ground before running back to the back bench where many trainers and pokemon had been congregating the previous occasion Matori had tried to train it here.

"Listen, Cufant! You need to learn to stand at attention properly," Matori chided.

"Meow!" Meowth called from next to her, waving its arms to gain the attention of its fellow.

Cufant moved its trunk around the bench and ground, sniffing about without even seeming to have noticed the feedback from either of them. "Cu!" it suddenly shrieked in the high-pitched voice, lifting up a ball in its trunk. "Cu, cufan!" Matori and Meowth both spoke again, but Cufant simply tossed the ball in the air, running to catch it.

Matori put a finger to her forehead. "It's no use, is it..." she muttered.

"Meow?" Meowth furrowed its brow. "Meow, meow!" it called toward the oblivious Cufant again.

"Don't worry, Meowth," Matori said, going and sitting on a bench nearby. As she took a breath, the gate to the area opened, someone entering despite knowing it was reserved.

"Look at that!" Alice's voice was heard before she was seen, and she ran over to Cufant, laughing briefly as she approached the pokemon. Grabbing the ball, she tossed it up. Cufant caught it, and Alice motioned toward herself. They began a game of catch, both Cufant and Alice calling back and forth with each other.

Eventually, Cufant punted the ball over the fence and out of sight. "Cu?" its eyes narrowed. But with the object gone it sniffed around. "Cu, cu!" It hopped, and Alice began to hop along with it.

"Wow! What an energetic pokemon. I've gotta see what you can do too, Cufant. I heard you know rollout. Try it!" Alice pointed forward.

Cufant rolled across the field, Alice shouting and cheering as it left a trail, then bounced back, trailing again, faster this time along the established track. "Wow!" Alice shouted.

Matori was just as impressed, and not just with Cufant, though disappointed at the same time. Alice had instantly connected to the pokemon she'd struggled to interact with at all. Walking next to Alice, she silently wondered what might be next.

"Oh, Matori," Alice said while glancing over before looking back at Cufant. "Yeah, sorry about that. Just got excited there. I had to come see the pokemon you've been talking about when I got a break."

"Right," Matori said, staring toward Cufant, who bounced up with a happy expression on its face.

As it ran back toward them, Alice touched its trunk, and Cufant called out a high pitched noise of happiness. "You did good!" Alice praised.

"As did you," Matori said seriously. She locked eyes with Alice once she glanced away from the pokemon. "In fact, I'd like to give you this pokemon."

"Huh? You sure?" Alice said.

"Cu?" Cufant called curiously, raising its trunk to Alice's head and taking off her hat.

"Hey!" Alice said. She laughed and soon snatched it back, putting it on and readjusting before addressing Matori again, "It's just the kind of pokemon I like. The species is cool, and this one specifically I can see is gonna blast through any competition - but didn't you catch this pokemon yourself to start training?"

"Yes," Matori admitted, pacing toward Cufant with the unique black, red, and white pokeball in hand. "But I realize now I was thinking more of what might work for you instead of myself. So I'm going to entrust this pokemon to you."

"Cu!" Cufant called out its apparent contentment at the idea, then picked up Alice's hat yet again.

This time, she didn't even appear to notice, putting a hand to her head, looking up diagonally with a sheepish expression. "So, you caught something with me in mind, huh?"

"Perhaps. I'll have to reconsider multiple factors I neglected when I go out to catch something again," Matori said.

"Yeah..." Alice looked back at Cufant, clicking her tongue.

Matori's expression softened. "This isn't an order," she clarified. "You aren't required to take care of this pokemon for me. I'm offering it to you almost like a gift. I can find another place for it if you don't want to accept, so don't feel obligated."

"Na!" Alice finally turned back toward Matori. "I really do want to train it! But, well, I kinda did the same thing as you..."

"So you have another Cufant already?" Matori suggested.

Alice shook her head. "I caught a pokemon with you in mind," she said. Hearing this news, Matori blinked several times, unable to hide her surprise. Alice grinning, taking out a pokeball. "Kind of presumptuous of me that I know best, but yeah, here it is."

"Let me see it."

Given that request, Alice tossed out the pokeball. Appearing on the bench was a smaller pokemon, slug-like though covered in spikes. They all walked over to observe it. Meowth's face moved close to observe, large eyes focused, but the pokemon didn't react. The urge to touch it couldn't be resisted. "It's cold... An ice type?" Matori guessed.

"Yeah," Alice confirmed. "A snom. Primary type, secondary type bug... Even though it's a bug, it's pretty cool. Literally, but also other ways, you know? I don't know, I just thought it would be a good one for you to start with... Maybe..." Alice trailed off.

"You're knowledgeable when it comes to training, so I'll trust your judgment," Matori said. "Now let's go get them properly traded."

"Sounds good, ma'am," Alice said with a grin. She recalled the pokemon and they went inside, finding the station that would allow such a trade. Of course, all pokemon here belonged to Team Rocket as an organization, but they still had assigned trainers, and this machine that acted the same as other trading mechanisms would quickly do the job of switching the assigned trainer's names.

Once it was done, Alice picked up the immaculate timer ball with Cufant, while Matori ended up with the scratched up standard red and white pokeball. Noticing her observing it, Alice spoke up, "Yeah, it was another one of mine I've had for a while." She laughed awkwardly.

Alice had previously explained her pokeballs bore so many scratches because she often kept them at the bottom of her backpack knocking around with rocks and other sharp debris from collected items until seeking out an appropriate pokemon. "Of course," Matori acknowledged in response. Perhaps her own belongings were typically kept in an immaculate state, but having something like this from her girlfriend would serve as a perhaps endearing reminder of how Matori had been so carefully considered.

With that, they went back to their respective duties. Matori kept Snom on her desk. Meowth provided it with a small, silk pillow. It appeared comfortable, but then again, had much the same expression it had outside. Matori also gave it attention, talking to it in-between tasks after looking up what moves it knew, and others it may learn via technical machine. Snom occasionally called out in seeming agreement at her ideas, while Meowth nodded along with them.

At the end of the day, she ordered it off the pillow, and it slid down before being recalled to the pokeball. For some reason, there was optimism about working with this small, low level pokemon, to develop its skills, and by extension, Matori as a trainer.

"Done for the day already, I guess." Alice swung in, hand on the doorframe as Matori was about to recall Meowth as well.

"Yes. It was a good day's work. I made progress on multiple fronts." Matori glanced down at both pokeballs, Meowth's luxury ball and Snom's weathered default pokeball, before putting them away.

"Stuff in the works for the Matrix too?" Alice asked, eyes resting on the filing cabinet that held various information about pokemon of legend before looking back to Matori curiously, putting her arms behind her back.

"Of course," Matori said. "While developing my own skills as a trainer will be important, it's vital I have trainers like you on staff. Talent is required, as Team Rocket will soon dance with legends before melding the world to our own the same as they have."

After Matori spoke, Alice's eyes widened, her shoulders moving down. After a moment of awkward silence, she pursed her lips. "Yeah, that's Team Rocket's goal, huh? Even if I just wanna play and have fun training all the pokemon here, that's the goal everyone here's been aiming for all along, huh?" Alice smiled, though still seeming a little bit awkward.

"Correct." Was this something Alice really hadn't considered fully before? Matori certainly had, long before joining. The world was a place which deserved to have its current status quo overwritten.

"Hmph." Alice further pursed her lips, raising her eyebrows. "Sure seems it'd be a lot of work. A lot of trouble to bother with, really."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah." Alice was then able to hide her smirk as went to the window, which overlooked the training areas outside, and then swept her hand around at the perfectly immaculate office, all records maintained and tucked away. Closing her eyes with a satisfied smile, she opened them, blinking as she approached Matori, grabbing her hand, staring into her eyes. "If anyone can do it, it's you. I believe that. I'm here for you, my megalomaniacal princess."

In addition to Alice's words, her closeness caused Matori to heat up. A mischievous expression on her face, Alice even dared to lean closer, expecting more. "That-that's-" Matori began.

"Hm?" Alice backed away, though only slightly, still coyly looking into her girlfriend's eyes.

Matori huffed. "It's our leader Giovanni who will ultimately achieve that goal. We're all here to serve him, and will do our part to help him reach that evil, yet righteous goal."

Alice glanced down the way, toward the boss's closed, empty office. He was gone that day as he often was, a schedule full of training or trying to acquire some rare pokemon or meetings with others he wanted to maintain some kind of relationship with, or vice versa. Alice gazed back at Matori. "Yeah, I don't doubt any of that," she said. "But if he does get any kind of world breaking pokemon, I'm betting it'll be because of you. So really, you're the one I'm betting on getting anything done, rather than just shaking things up and running away with your tail between your legs."

"Perhaps it's enough talk of work today," Matori said, pulling away from Alice and heading toward the door, if only to try and forget about the times she may have certainly run away in something that fit that sort of description. Alice was being a bit bold with declaring Matori to be above even their leader, but perhaps that was just tongue-in-cheek as her girlfriend. All of the amusement toward Matori's own reactions certainly seemed to fit that.

As they entered the shuttle, Matori even allowed Alice to put an arm around her, pulling her close. With such support by her side, including the other members of the Matrix, perhaps gaining one of those 'world breaking' pokemon and reaching Team Rocket's ultimate goal was truly within reach. The information, gathered through various sources including by past agents, certainly had to lead somewhere, especially now that there were competent employees ready to be led.

Chapter Text

The rumored mission wasn't going to be just another case of some busy work foisted on the lower ranking or having to follow someone else's orders. This was something important - a chance to get close to one of those world conquering pokemon that Team Rocket was constantly trying to acquire. Such an opportunity shouldn't be wasted. Cassidy stomped around various area of HQ, furiously looking for her partner.

Jessie wasn't in their dorm. No one had seen her in the training areas, nor sniffing around the areas with the rare pokemon. For some reason, Wendy was very short when Cassidy asked up there, so presumably Jessie may have been by but chased away. The cafeteria seemed a sure bet, but no one was in that area at all.

Stepping outside with impatience steadily building, Cassidy looked from side-to-side, still not seeing any sign. Taking a breath to collect herself and think where to look next, a shout was heard.

Spinning in that direction, Jessie could be seen climbing up a rope ladder strung against the building. Starmie was perched on a windowsill. "Get down here! We've got to get back to training already!" Jessie shouted up at it.

Though the inhuman makeup of its body made it hard to determine many things, Starmie's gem was slightly angled toward the sky, perhaps not considering going along with its trainer's instructions at all. It simply stayed still, not showing any signs of even having heard her, but still alive based on the casual waving of one of its limbs. "Starmie!" Jessie shouted again.

After making her way back toward the building, Cassidy stood at the bottom of the ladder, shouting up, "Jessie, what are you even doing?" The same as Starmie, Jessie looked toward the sky, not responding, though perhaps muttering something to herself. Cassidy scoffed, getting on the ladder herself. "Jessie!" Not getting any response, Cassidy kept climbing until at eye level with her girlfriend. Only then with them right by each other, Jessie stared back. "What's this about?" Cassidy asked with the two of them eye-to-eye.

"You can't see? My pokemon's up there!" Jessie replied, glaring back as their hands slid next to each other.

"Just use your pokeball and return it like usual," Cassidy said. Jessie raised the pokeball, swaying the ladder as she did. "Careful!" Cassidy chided.

Jessie paid no attention, pressing the button over and over again. "See! From the ground or here, it's impossible to aim and get it back," she said.

"Maybe we should just leave it then," Cassidy groused.

"Leave my darling Starmie?" Jessie said. A pout formed on her face, eyes seeming to tear up as she looked up at the pokemon and considered the idea.

"There's a mission we just have to get," Cassidy said seriously. "A group of agents got injured doing something else, so they're looking for others to fill their spaces. And this sounds very, very important. The kind of thing we've been looking for in order to get noticed and move up. So leave your stupid pokemon and let's get to the boss's office!"

"But Starmie," Jessie lamented, looking up at the pokemon who only seemed to exist in some kind of ethereal place above the rest of them, two of its many appendages now lifted up toward the sky as if to demand a return to its home planet.

Despite how the pokemon misbehaved, or maybe just didn't know any better, Jessie of course had an attachment to it. Perhaps Cassidy even felt the same. They were already possibly too late to ask for the mission, so they may as well make sure this thing was safe in its pokeball before doing anything else. Maybe it was better than leaving it alone for someone to complain about whatever it might do when it decided to finally come down.

Cassidy carefully released Mini, who snagged on the net as it appeared. "My, my?" the small pokemon called as it looked toward her.

"We need to convince our dolt of a teammate to get down," Cassidy said.

Mini peered up the sharp angle of the building. It wasn't especially good at climbing, but did so on this simple rope ladder. Though Cassidy had been thinking that giving their teammate a little shock should knock it down, Mini instead softly called when going up to it, "My!" Starmie's gem angled toward it, the simple reaction a difference from when even its trainer had spoken to it.

"Tell it to get its ass down here, we need to get to the boss's office to promote ourselves," Cassidy said.

"My," Mini called down briefly before climbing up one level closer to Starmie. "My, my. My!"

In response to Mini's soft calls, Starmie stretched out all of its appendages to a more standard stance. Just when one may have thought it was going to hover its flying saucer of a body back toward the ground, Starmie instead flung itself around in a more haphazard way, moving back and forth from the building before it started to slam against a window.

All of its teammates shuddered at once. "My?" Mini called curiously.

"Starmie!" Jessie shouted. "The building isn't a pokemon! Let's go!"

Jessie tried to return it to its pokeball again, but before she could, a window opened, a human and persian face looking out as Starmie flew in. "What was that?" the boss asked as his persian called out, echoing his perplexed tone.

Cassidy froze, but Jessie immediately took action, climbing the rest of the ladder and inviting herself in the window the same as her pokemon. "We're here!" she said.

"My!" Already close enough, Mini hopped in after her, and Cassidy grudgingly followed as well, absolutely humiliated at the turn of events. Even so, there was no way she could run and hide, security probably having already been alerted as to their actions.

Jessie, however, seemed absolutely in her element. She let out an extended laugh, sitting on the boss's desk and crossing her legs in a pose. "We were just demonstrating our skills at breaking and entering to prove we're the perfect two to be picked for your upcoming heist."

"It's a research mission," Cassidy couldn't help but say.

"Of course. But Team Rocket is always prepared to claim - to steal anything it may find!" Jessie said. She sighed, putting a hand to her chin before smiling over it. "We're the ones you should pick, to, well..."

"To explore the area in Unova," Cassidy quickly filled in the blanks.

"Unova? Really?" Jessie shouted out in excitement.

Still absolutely aghast at the actions she'd been drawn into, Cassidy couldn't find anything else to say to try and paint them in a better light. However the boss responded from here, that was that.

"So you're the ones sent to cover that," Giovanni said.

"We are!" Jessie said.

"Fine. I'll approve. There was no need for this stunt. Clean up the side of my building after you fill out the paperwork." Giovanni took a stack of papers from off his desk, shoving it toward them in irritation. "Now leave."

"Yes, boss!" Cassidy and Jessie said in unison. Before they left, Jessie saw Starmie had attached itself to the wall, and quickly got out its pokeball, easy to aim in this place. Neither of them wanting to see the reaction of their leader, they left as instructed.

Outside, Cassidy returned her own quieter pokemon to its pokeball before she read the paperwork. Everything was filled out, including destination and instructions for others to make the travel arrangements. The agents listed were the ones that could no longer go, and the attached addendum the boss had pre-signed with the lines for the assigned employees blank, so Cassidy was quickly able to jot in both of their names herself. How did Jessie's haphazard actions continually keep leading to results? There was the fact Jessie was so quick thinking when Cassidy herself clammed up whenever anything unexpected came on their plate...

Jessie hugged her from behind, the warmth melting away Cassidy's shame for the moment. "We did it! A romantic getaway for the two of us, how nice."

"You think so? We have to complete some drab tasks in a remote area that's said to be quite chilly," Cassidy said.

"Oh? Really? That will just give us an excuse to cozy together even more while proving our elite skills."

"Yes. I'm sure whatever we do will prove our skills more than almost breaking the window to the boss's office and destroying the contents," Cassidy said dryly. Jessie just gave an extended laugh in response. Cassidy had to smile back, gripping the papers in hand. Of course, they had something to be happy about, and maybe should feel a bit jovial.

The paperwork was quickly submitted. Wendy took it with a dubious expression, but it all had the boss's stamp of approval, all facts on the document accurate as well. There was no room to object. Cassidy tried to glare Wendy down, but Jessie didn't seem too concerned. "Are you sure you want to go to such a far away place with Jessie?" Wendy eventually asked, looking at Jessie and perhaps trying to make it clear that was the source of her ire.

"Did you think she'd switch to you?" Jessie put her arm around Cassidy's shoulder. "That's not going to happen. Cassidy's my lovely girlfriend, and she's overjoyed to be escorting a beautiful partner like myself to Unova." Jessie squeezed Cassidy closer.

"Well have fun flying coach to the luxurious accommodations in that ice cold ditch," Wendy said.

"We certainly will," Jessie said with full confidence, her hand smoothing down Cassidy's shoulder. As they walked away, she linked her hand with Cassidy's own, swinging it up and laughing. "You're a genius, Cassidy. Finding a gem of an assignment, just for the two of us."

"Thanks to that 'gem' of a pokemon..." Cassidy muttered, wondering if Starmie's gem may have actually shattered the boss's window if hitting it just right. She looked back at Wendy, who was still scowling their way as they left. "She's right, you know. It'll be tough."

"I don't care. I'll get to be there with you..." Jessie gushed, then pulled Cassidy's arm closer, loving eyes meeting Cassidy's own as she looked over toward her in surprise. "I really am happy, Cassidy. A wonderful girlfriend getting me a new mission that's a sure ladder to success!" Jessie gushed. She started to hug Cassidy, the two of them having to stop right there in the hallway.

The contact was enjoyable, so the hug was returned. The warmth of it all overpowered any inclination to end it before someone paid them too much mind in the middle of everything. Once their embrace of each other finally ended, Cassidy found herself spouting out something stupid in the wake of it. "You're the one that made the ladder," she said.

"Hm?" Jessie's eyes widened before she blinked in curiosity.

"The ladder we have to go clean up," Cassidy pointed out, then making her way back toward the building's exit.

"Oh, right. I did have to set that in place," Jessie said sheepishly before she tittered, seemingly trying to laugh it off. "Don't worry, I know how to get it removed properly, and clean up after Starmie."

"Hopefully we'll make a name for ourselves beyond being the clean-up crew for the Starmie menace," Cassidy said.

"We will," Jessie said, grabbing Cassidy's hands, staring intently into her eyes. "With everything you've done, I know we're going places."

"You're the one that convinced the boss before you even knew what was going on," Cassidy pointed out.

"I did, didn't I?" Jessie chuckled as if just realizing that success. Then she grabbed Cassidy hands closer, the two of them touching foreheads. "That just proves we're the perfect team."

Jessie's smiling face right by hers, Cassidy's heart began to beat so fast. Did Jessie notice? Was she trying to give her girlfriend a heart attack? Cassidy gaped at Jessie, but at the same time liked their closeness so much she could never object to Jessie's turn of scene. Grasping Jessie's warm hands closer, she leaned against her as they kissed.

"Hey, aren't you two gonna clean-" a man interrupted them before turning away and scoffing. "Geez."

Cassidy pulled away from Jessie, disappointment seeping in and causing her to pause before starting on any action. Finally, she let go of Jessie's hands, sweeping her bangs away from her own eyes. "We'll be right on it."

When planning for the mission they'd managed to be assigned to, Jessie really did have the same enthusiasm she may have if they were going on an actual vacation, gushing about everything there was to see and do in Castelia City. "Though we'll be flying into there, we won't be staying," Cassidy pointed out. "Our destination is a far more out of the way area. It's a village with a low population. Most people avoid it based on rumors about the creepy area we're investigating."

"We'll find time for it all after our fantastic success catching that legendary pokemon," Jessie said, continuing to set out which of their few items she was packing.

Even not many things, it was starting to seem like too much. "We'll be carrying some equipment too, so don't bring anything unless you absolutely need it," Cassidy advised.

After going and confirming their supplies, Cassidy came back and found Mini covered in a black scarf made from glittery yarn. Upon closer inspection, a red 'R' was included at the end. "My!" Mini called happily, grinning up at Jessie.

"Jessie, weren't we just talking about-" Cassidy began.

"Didn't you say the place we're investigating is cold? You don't want Mini to be warm?" Jessie said, hugging the pokemon close. "It looks stylish that way, too."

Cassidy couldn't exactly be cross at the sight of her good natured pokemon dressed up in a little accessory made by her girlfriend, certainly with good intentions in mind. She went and grabbed Jessie's hand. "It'll certainly be an interesting time with you in Unova, but no..." Cassidy pulled away, carefully unwrapping the scarf from her pokemon. "Mini may need to battle, and I surely don't want it to be tripped up." Cassidy carefully folded Jessie's possibly hand-made gift before running her hand down Jessie's own again. "It was a nice thought. I'll save it for another occasion, perhaps."

Jessie smiled back. "My!" Mini called, raising its arms. As they continued to pack, it fell asleep. Cassidy recalled it to its pokeball. Just as she did, Jessie leaned against her, touching her in other ways as well. Could they really work as partners, both in Team Rocket and beyond, enjoying everything in their own leisure? Jessie certainly seemed to believe they could. Pulling her close and touching her as well, Cassidy tried to channel that. The sound of Jessie's laugher, the feeling of their bodies pressed together, and the promise of what they may accomplish together - all of that together made everything truly seem celebratory.

It was almost as if this were some kind of holiday instead of the start of a very difficult assignment that was still somehow considered grunt work.

Flying in the plane, Jessie soon became bored. Wendy had been right that it was coach, but by luck they happened to have an empty seat by them. Perhaps they may have spread out, but Jessie instead cozied right up next to Cassidy who had claimed the window seat. Jessie played with her girlfriend's hair while petting Mini who was out and on Cassidy's lap, eventually standing up and observing the world from an angle never seen before.

Peering over Cassidy and looking at the view herself, Jessie was even more impressed. "We're so high up. Even higher than when I've been ballooning."

"You-" Cassidy wasn't sure where to begin. "You haven't been on a plane before? But you have been in a hot air balloon?"

"Yes, but not a plane. I've been to Hoenn before, but I took a boat. It's not nearly as far as Unova of course. I can't believe we're going together!" Jessie leaned against her girlfriend, resting her head on Cassidy's shoulder while clasping her hand.

"I can't even be surprised," Cassidy said, shaking her head. With Jessie's head nearby her own, both of them petting the quiet pokemon, she imagined Jessie setting up a hot air balloon, perhaps thinking it was the perfect mode of transport to wherever instead of just taking the train. It certainly seemed like something she might do. With the image in mind, even imagining the actual balloon perhaps resembling the sheen of Starmie's gem, a small laugh couldn't be held back.

"Huh? What is it?" Jessie asked, peering up but not bothering to completely pick her head up.

"Nothing. I'm just having fun imagining the type of excursions you've had."

Jessie moved her other hand down and clasped Cassidy's own. "Don't bother worrying about anything you may have missed out on. I'm here in the moment with you, enjoying the excursion we're having."

"Are you really having that much fun?" Cassidy asked.

It was just an offhand question, but Jessie responded with some intensity, "Yes... Since I've met you, it's seemed like a dream..."

Cassidy looked down at Jessie, who still gripped her hand, head down. The other woman did seem sincere. Sure, they'd decided to be girlfriends, and exclusive at that, but hadn't it just been a relationship of convenience for Jessie, who seemed so flighty when it came to everything? Sure, Cassidy wanted it to be more, but didn't at all count on it. Holding onto Jessie seemed like it would be like trying to hold onto Starmie.

As Jessie looked up, her face was flushed. Now she was the one to give a brief, awkward laugh. She still smiled though, cozying next to Cassidy in complete comfort. "You recognized my beauty right away," she said. Oh, that moment had been embarrassing. How long had it taken Jessie to notice she had been not so low key flirted with? "You're quite the catch yourself... We're the beautiful, shining team between us. Maybe this trip is all for business, but we'll be rolling in the money and taking even fancier vacations before long. So I can't help but be excited."

"We'll have to dedicate ourselves beyond anyone else for that to happen," Cassidy said.

"I'm prepared to do that." Again, Jessie leaned forward, briefly touching Cassidy's forehead before leaning back and chuckling. "I know you are you too. The world isn't prepared for such an Evil duo."

"My," Mini called out quietly, not even opening its eyes or picking up its head in what seemed such a mild, contented response to such a malicious declaration.

"So should I be imagining the two of us living in luxury in a mansion, the richest and most in love pair to ever walk the Earth?"

Jessie had quite the reaction to her tongue-in-cheek declaration, squealing in excitement and swinging her hand up. Mini actually did open its eyes briefly to that. "Yes! Absolutely! I know that'll be our dazzling future. And I'll get Cassidy by my side the entire time."

Though the entire fantasy was difficult to imagine, a brief blip of her and Jessie in a golden bed with silk sheets came to mind of everything else she may have imagined. They could finally be comfy and secure, with a foundation of wealth acquired on their own.

And of course, that security would also be found together. With Jessie believing in their future this much, for some reason Cassidy thought she could believe as well. "Thank you, Jess," Cassidy said in a moment of sincerity, happy for just this moment of hope.

"Hm?" Jessie blinked, maybe not realizing what had been given, which was also quite like her. Cassidy liked up her hand, placing it on the side of her face. Leaning forward, Cassidy surprised her accepted partner with a kiss, which was soon returned.

"My, my," Mini called, again disturbed but perhaps not completely, just as content to see its humans' happiness. Hopping off Cassidy's lap and to the empty aisle seat, Mini left Cassidy and Jessie to continue to enjoy each other in various ways.

"But the Ferris wheel!" Jessie lamented, leaning over the edge of the boat as they made their way under the Marvelous Bridge, dramatically reaching in the direction of Nimbasa City. "And the whole theme park that's there. And the Pokemon Musical. And there's all kinds of other fancy restaurants and shows and places to battle too!"

Cassidy grabbed Jessie by her uniform's sleeve before she could launch herself into a shocking end of her melodrama by throwing herself into the river. "Stop it, Jessie. Of course we don't have time to stop off there."

"But just imagine," Jessie began, hands clasped together against her face as she closed her eyes. "The two of us, together, floating above the world in a romantic scene while-"

"We were just floating above the world for several hours on the way here and now have jet lag to thank for it," Cassidy interrupted. As their mode of transport floated past the escape to the tourist-y destination, Jessie slumped over, while Cassidy rifled through her bag, looking for the mission file. "It's time to get our mind on why we're actually here."

"Right!" Jessie exclaimed. She scooted over, running a single down Cassidy's shoulder while looking over it. The action wasn't objectionable, causing a tiny bit of relaxation after being so hyped from the travel fatigue. But then of course Jessie opened her mouth. "So, what are we going to do around here?"

"Ugh." Cassidy couldn't hide her annoyance. "Why are you asking me? You don't know?" Jessie just looked back at her, quiet for once, certainly waiting to be informed after having traveled all this way. "Didn't you read the assignment? Why would you come all this way without knowing?"

"Because," Jessie began, now smoothing her arm down Cassidy's shoulder, "I already knew my lovely partner had found us just the assignment we needed."

Hearing Jessie's trusting words, feeling her assuring touch, and having her beautiful face beaming her way, Cassidy found it difficult to stay annoyed. "I certainly did," she asserted. "There's some kind of pokemon of legend hiding over in this corner of Unova. I'd say supposedly, but from all the information Team Rocket's gotten thus far, along with all the other talk floating around, it may well exist."

"And we'll catch it!" Jessie said, clenching her fist and moving it upward. She struck a pose, hair whipping backward, which looked rather picturesque with the Unovan river's background.

Cassidy had to chuckle at the nativity of Jessie's suggestion, though the optimism was appreciated. "Do you think it'll be that easy to just go and capture some ancient, legendary pokemon that's been the talk of the town for who knows how long? Don't you think others would have gone and tried their best in the past."

"Team Rocket isn't just any peons who wish they could capture a legendary. We have power and brains behind us." Jessie took Cassidy's hand, trying to raise it in the air, though facing some resistance.

"Right. Well our mission here is just to gather some information. Ask around. Take some pictures of the area, perhaps."

Jessie's shoulders rose, and she immediately scowled. "That sounds boring."

"Hm?" Cassidy ran a hand through her hair. "Did you think grunt work would be fun?" Of course she had, Cassidy didn't have to wait for the answer. "But actually, Jess, I do think there's a possibility we may be able to go beyond what's expected of us."

"Of course," Jessie gushed, gaining back some of that gusto as she leaned forward, waiting for Cassidy to continue.

"From all the reports, this pokemon hardly moves at all. Some even have thought it was a statue. We could go and try and actually get up close."

"And catch it!" Jessie declared, repeating her previous pose.

Grinning at the declaration, Cassidy raised her chin before she continued, "If we can gather the information and provide a how to then why don't we follow it in place of giving someone else the glory?"

"Right!" Jessie said, appearing to try and life her arm in further into the sky before she grabbed Cassidy's own hands, spinning her around. "We'll get the glory, certainly. And then be promoted to our deserving spot as the divas of Team Rocket, and get enough of a major bonus that we'll get to take a real vacation somewhere exotic and warm, the envy of all those below us. I'm sure we'll even be promoted to admin, since none can top us!"

"One step at a time, Jessie," Cassidy said coolly. "Do you really think a legendary pokemon is the ticket to all of that?"

"You don't see anyone else walking in throwing their capsules full of legendary pokemon on the table. Of course it'd be worthy of some kind of reward." Jessie leaned forward, maybe hoping to insist on her fantasy.

"Perhaps," Cassidy said, putting a hand on Jessie's tense arm. "But there's other ways to reach those goals. I'm already dealing with the envy of others as they see my beautiful partner by my side."

Jessie's face went pink, and she remained in her pose, this time frozen in place with an incredulous expression on her face. Perhaps steam escaped her ears along with a subtle squeak before she broke out into her best extended laughter. "Yes, of course! They're biting their knuckles and crying at the sight! After all..." Jessie looked away and paused, a hand on her head. "We're the most gorgeous duo in all of Team Rocket."

"Hmph." Cassidy went down to take her seat. Though it might be fun to tease Jessie further or lean into that interest, they did have a job ahead of them.

Arriving at the location town revealed a typical place that was unlike the creepy rumors spoken of in articles and around the net. Lacunosa Town was pleasant, actually, with well-maintained streets and buildings. Crowds were noticeably absent, adding to a peaceful atmosphere as they drove to the hotel they'd made a reservation at, though Jessie was notably unimpressed, resting a hand on her chin and frowning as she stared out the window not seeming to focus on anything. Surely this was different from the lights of Nimbasa, but Jessie would just have to deal.

"Oh!" Jessie exclaimed as they entered the lobby, which had marble floors, a wooden couch with black and white upholstery, and a gigantic mural of Reshiram and Zekrom, Unova's quite popular legendary duo. Neither were their target acquisitions in this excursion, and the jury was out on if they even existed or not. For all anyone knew, one of them may be the legendary that was spoken of around here.

Cassidy went to check in as Jessie ran up to admire the painting. "So you're vacationing?" the clerk asked as he went over their reservation.

"We are," Cassidy confirmed, the only one to continue the conversation as Jessie posed on the couch, running her hand down the fabric and sighing. "We don't much like places that are too busy."

"Our resort has various features to enjoy," the man said.

"I did read that," Cassidy said. In actuality, though probably the best this town had to offer, it wasn't anything special. There was a pool, hopefully heated since the weather was starting to get cooler, some spa services, and nearby dining, shopping and a theater. "I'm glad it's quiet and out of the way," Cassidy noted. Behind her, Jessie made a quiet sound of disapproval. "I hope there will be some great stargazing tonight."

"Ah-" The clerk was momentarily at a loss for words. As expected, this simple suggestion stoked unease in the likely Lacunosa native. "W-Well, you could do that," he continued, suddenly not meeting Cassidy's eyes. "But I wouldn't go too far... out. Yeah."

Jessie had now stood up, taking her place next to Cassidy, eyes focusing on the person in front of her. "Why not?" Maybe sensing something was off, Jessie naturally continued with the seemingly mundane conversation.

"Well, actually, staying inside might be better," the clerk began.

"But we didn't come all the way out here just to lie around," Jessie said.

"If you'd like, there's an indoor hot tub. Oh! And room service, if that's your taste. Just show caution."

"Caution of what?" Jessie asked. The printer nearby whirred, and the man walked away without answering them. Jessie's eyes narrowed as he went to the backroom, just as quickly coming back with their room keys and receipt. "Well, please enjoy your stay. Your room is just down that hall."

"Hmm..." Even as they both left, following the instructions and looking for the correct room number, Jessie looked back at the man suspiciously. "That guy seemed up in arms about something," Jessie noted.

"Oh, so even you noticed?" Cassidy stopped in front of the door, taking out the key. "If you'd bothered to do the research, you might even know why."

Then inside, Jessie hoisted up their bag, throwing it into the corner before tossing herself onto the bed. "He's not just a weirdo?" she said.

"No, at least not from what I'm guessing. I had been wondering if it's exaggerated, but his attitude may be typical here."

"Hm?" Jessie's eyes widened, staring over at Cassidy from the bed, her face upside-down in the prone position.

"Right. Lacunosa is-"

"Cursed? Haunted?" Jessie suggested.

"Well... It may as well be called something like that," Cassidy said.

Jessie sat up, suddenly hugging herself. "It's nothing too bad though, right?"

Cassidy sat on the bed, pointing above Jessie at yet another artistic depiction of the two legendary pokemon, now floating far above a landscape that seemed to include Unova's ancient Dragonspiral Tower. "Well, they're supposedly being cautious of a pokemon about the size of one of them."

Jessie glanced at it briefly. "Of course, we have to watch our step around any large pokemon. They might stomp us flat without realizing it."

"And not just that in this case," Cassidy continued. "This pokemon supposedly would swoop down in a storm of ice and capture the residents for a meal."

Jessie tumbled off the bed while making a completely uninterpretable noise. After a moment of silence, she stood, swept back her hair, and laughed. "Of course that's just a story, isn't it?"

"Who knows." Cassidy said dismissively as she lifted her own bag up onto the dresser, starting to go through it. "Of course, the pokemon in the story is the one we've been sent here to investigate." To the revelation that should hardly be a revelation at all, Jessie sharply inhaled. "Aren't you up to the challenge?"

Jessie stood up as well, a serious expression overtaking her face. "Of course," she said. "Finally - the search for the man-eating pokemon is certainly a challenge worthy of us. We've trained, and now we'll battle this menace before claiming it as our own." Jessie suddenly threw our her pokeballs. "Right, Starmie? Right, Ekans?"

"Ekans!" Ekans called in agreement. In contrast to that response, Starmie was completely silent, slowly turning itself around, the light of the nearby lamp reflecting off of it.

"What is it, Starmie?" Jessie demanded.

"YAH!" Starmie suddenly called, picking itself up and levitating. Before one could assume that rallying call was the end, Starmie began to spin itself, Jessie having to duck before it knocked over the lamp, still continuing to explore the area around it without relent.

"Ekans!" Ekans called in dismay.

"Ekans, wrap! Hurry!" Jessie ordered, pointing toward her misbehaving pokemon as she blocked her head with her other hand.

"Ekans!" Ekans soon wound itself around the star-shaped pokemon.

"Right, we're ready..." Cassidy muttered as her partner's pokemon wrestled against each other. They were as ready as they were going to be, was that it? Cassidy took out her own pokeballs, staring for a moment at the other supplies. For a moment, the scary thought of being so far away from the Kanto-Johto area, the only place she really knew, having her feel far from herself as well. What was she even doing? She was just winging it, basically.

The light of the pokeball flashing was a reminder of the moment. Jessie put her hand on Cassidy's shoulder, slumping over it as she exhaled. "You've got the shining pokeball for our prize capture, don't you?" she said.

"We have enough of all the necessary supplies," Cassidy said, closing the bag before joining Jessie on the bed for what was a much-needed nap for the both of them. Of course, Cassidy had made it here to the foreign region, and with the woman she'd decided was her partner - one that was an expert at winging it. Allowing worries to escape, Cassidy enjoyed this person's warmth as they both drifted off with pokemon next to them before what was sure to be a trying mission. Even day-dreaming about a tropical vacation would have to wait.