Chapter 5! *Phantomness waves*

Chapter 5

Once they had entered the cave, the lights abruptly went on. The area was made of shiny crystal, each sound magnified nearly a hundred fold. Their steps sounded like boulders falling, a gasp sounded like a windstorm…

Still, it was worth it. At the end of the tunnel, there was a small pond, and in it, were three pink-and-purple flowers. Red only took one, as not to be greedy. He had read enough fairy tales about greedy men getting punished.

Perhaps that was why the others had died?

Suddenly, Vee began to glow.

“Vee, what’s wrong?” He asked in a panic.

I feel… strange… The pokemon confessed, before he was entirely swallowed up in white light. When it cleared, a beautiful lilac pokemon stood there.

“… Vee, you evolved? But how?”

< Yes, Master Red, I evolved. >

Red jumped, wincing as it sounded like an avalanche. “You’re’ a psychic….” He whispered.

< Yes. Now let’s get out of here before we disturb this grave any more. >

Red nodded, and teleport promptly whisked them away in a luxuriant haze of wispy blue fog. They reappeared just outside of Rocket HQ.

Vee recalled himself, smiled at Red, and then watched him walk in.

How had he wound up in team Rocket?

Humming, he began to access Red’s memories, frowning at what he saw. So Red was now Giovanni’s son? How…. Odd. How very odd.

Still, Red wasn’t twisted like the man was, and Vee hoped he never became that power-hungry…. No, that wasn’t Red’s character.

He wanted honest glory.

That was good at least…

“Um, excuse me?” Red asked a random wandering Rocket. “Where is Giovanni’s room?” The executive gave him a shocked look.

“You’re supposed to refer to him as Boss, kid. You must be a new recruit. Down the hall, the big mahogany doors with the gold knocker. You can’t miss it.”

“Thank you ma’am!”

Furthermore, he wasn’t even dressed in the proper uniform! She’d have to speak to Giovanni about this…

“Did you get the flower? I do hope you did not fail your first mission.” Giovanni asked.

Red growled slightly at the condescending tone. “Yes, sir. Here.” He laid the maiden’s slipper on the desk. Giovanni nodded.

“Very well. For the next nine months, Lance will be giving you missions he deems fit. You are to obey them without question. For your reference, any hint of insubordination shall be severely punished. Do you understand this, Red?”

“Yes, sir…” He muttered unhappily.

“He’s a good agent. You would do well to learn from his example.”

Red left as soon as Giovanni dismissed him. What a pain…

“Hey kid! Why aren’t you wearing the proper uniform?” This came from a red—haired woman in a white version of the normal black and red Team Rocket grunt outfit. A Meowth and a blue-haired man who was also in a white version of the same clothes accompanied her.

“Er…”

“Oh, Jessie, maybe he’s new? Or he’s being creative and making a fashion statement like we are?”

“Quiet, James. I’m not asking you.”

Red was not in a good mood. Therefore, he deigned not to answer in case he accidentally insulted some high-ranked officer. Unfortunately, his silence was horrendously misinterpreted.

“Why you little brat! I’m not worth an answer, is it? Arbok, go!”

“Jessie!” James shook his head. The redhead’s temper was quite a problem. Now what were they to do?

Being a psychic type, Vee picked up on his master’s bad mood, appeared, and calmly blasted the Arbok into unconsciousness with a Psybeam. Psychic beat poison, after all.

‘So you’re on Sabrina’s team, eh? Well, sorry kid, but… You’re going down! Think of it as a learning experience.”

Red ducked the blow, and then prayed for mercy.

“Dragon Rage!”

The attack blasted the two away from Red. Lance glared at them as he walked to Red’s side. “You all right, little brother?”

“…. Little brother?” James gulped.

Lance shot them a predatory grin. “Well, who did you think he was, unless he were important, would we let him wander around like this? Come on, Ash.”

Red didn’t bother to correct his name and followed Lance down the hall. Meowth shook his head.

You both are idiots…

Jessie and James sweatdropped in tandem; laughing to hide their nervousness. Well, now they knew…. Lance was higher than the three generals – Surge, Koga, and Sabrina… he was Elite.

It was also rumored that he was Giovanni’s son and heir, although that rumor had yet to be confirmed…

Oh well….

In any case, maybe they should have been more patient, but it had been a long, stressful day….

Jessie groaned. The boss hadn’t been too pleased when they had lost Pikachu and Yellow. Now, their mission was to chase the pikachu and get it back.

What a pain….

She did not relish the time and energy it would take to find that Pikachu, and somehow, she had a chill go down her spine when she thought about what might happen…

Some twerp could find the Pikachu, and then… oh God, what horrible thoughts. And then they might spend the rest of their lives chasing it!

Jessie hurriedly rapped on the nearest wooden surface, shaking her head. Better not jinx their new mission….

What now?

“Well, when do we start, James?”

“Tomorrow I guess. We need a rest.”

“That we do…” They headed to their quarters, as Meowth made disgusting kissy faces and ran after them….

Well, all right. Their next mission would be just fine….

“Um… thanks.” Red finally offered, after Lance had steered him back to their quarters. “Not that I couldn’t handle it myself, but…”

Lance shook his head and cut him off with a faint smile. “You were bluffing. Don’t underestimate them. They know weapon techniques you haven’t learned yet. Although their pokemon training skills are rusty, their fighting skills are not.”

“Oh….”

“Now then… since I’m in charge of your training for the next nine months, was there anything you especially wanted to learn?”

Red immediately nodded. “Healing.”

“Healing? It is not a popular choice, but the skill itself is quite valuable. After all, foot soldiers are a dime a million but proper medics are harder to find than hen’s teeth… Then we’ll start with that…”

Red smiled as Lance got out the texts and he started studying….

End Chapter

Completed 5/3/05

Phantomness: Anyone can battle, but not everyone can heal!

Lance: True….

Ash: But didn’t you already use this?

Phantomness: Not precisely, no….