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 Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 6:04 pm
It had been several months since Shawn had joined Team Rocket, and he was not a happy camper. The choice had been reluctant, but that was because it had hardly been a choice at all. The 16-year-old had been accidentally 'shipped' from his home town in Goldenrod several months ago when he had stumbled across what he had assumed to be an abandoned warehouse.
The street kid had been patrolling the alleyways on that fateful night when he had come across a wild Haunter. Having been raised to fear the soul-sucking monsters by a then-diseased mother, Shawn had made a run for it and ended up in the dark warehouse along the docks of Goldenrod. Just when he was sure he had lost the gas ghost, it licked him, paralyzing him, before putting him to sleep with Hypnosis.
When the boy woke up, he was relieved to realize he was still in possession of his soul. However, his surroundings had completely changed, and it wasn't long before he ran into some people he had never seen before. Little did Shawn know that he had been sleeping among the supplies for Team Rocket. And despite being pretty much a 'nobody' of society, now that he had learned the of their existence and location of their headquarters, there weren't many options left to him. Join the organization and a life of crime, or die.
It wasn't that the teenager had a family or home to get back to. He had grown up homeless living in the alleyways and streets of Goldenrod. His mother had died long ago due to Grimer and Muk poisoning thanks to their filthy living conditions and soon after that his father had left the city to seek work. The man had never returned, and after all these years, Shawn never expected him to. Still, there was something about being taken in against your will and forced to follow orders that rubbed the rebellious kid the wrong way; particularly when he had been living independently for most of his life.
Now, Shawn was told what, when, and where to wear, sleep, and eat. He wasn't enjoying it one bit, and the closed spaces of the building were such a contrast to the open streets and alleys he was used to. On top of that, they hadn't really given him any real training because, as a kid of his age, he wasn't really trusted with much. Perhaps they had factored in his rebellious nature attributed to his teens, because his main task was cleaning and hall-monitoring.
Because running and parkour were some of his favorite skills to utilize, he should have enjoyed this, but all he could manage was to pace restlessly through the corridors while attempting to memorize the layout of the base. He didn't dare run or try any stunts in the presence of his fellow Rocket members; at least not during his first few weeks. As bold and defiant as he was, there was one thing in particular that kept Shawn in line better than anything else. It wasn't harsh words or threats or even punishments such as denied meals that forced the kid into submission. No, it was something he had tried very had to conceal since he had stumbled upon the criminal headquarters.
Pokémon.
The place was crawling with them.
Shawn was terrified of them.
Enough said.
 Sure, one might have expected the teen to have gotten used to the presence of such creatures by now, but even at his age, he had never quite gotten over the fear instilled in him as a child. The fact that ghost and poison types had dominated the setting of his childhood hadn't helped matters, and the death of his mother had just made things worse. Even the most friendly, adorable-seeming pokémon terrified him, because throughout all his time in Goldenrod, during the time he had spent watching trainers come and go, he had seen what those little monsters were capable of.
He had never even wanted to go near one, much less own one, and he didn't believe it was possible to make 'friends' with the possibility that the thing could suddenly resent its 'trainer' and turn on them. Up until he had joined Team Rocket, pokéballs and pokédexes had been things he had never hoped to afford, nor did he want to. As of late, though, it really hadn't seemed to matter what Shawn wanted.
With a heavy sigh, the teenager sat at the cafeteria table by himself, staring at a single, round object in front of him. A pokéball. Next to that sat his tray, filled with food, and he shifted his gaze from that to the ball and back again. Confused, frustrated, and at a loss for what to do, he raked his hands through his spiky, black hair and groaned. The creature he had been given needed to eat, didn't it? He supposed it was his responsibility to feed it, but...how was he going to do that? What did it eat? And...could he stand letting it out in public?
Glancing back and forth, he winced, hoping no one was around to notice his predicament. What must have been such a simple task for a trainer, let along a Rocket member, shouldn't have given him such a hard time. If someone figured out his trouble, he would never hear the end of it. Worse yet, he might even be put to death when they found out how useless he was as a member of their organization. But, then...what to do?
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 6:48 pm
Sitting not far from Shawn, was a blonde agent who probably had more in common with him than either of them realized. Although it wasn't the fear of Pokemon, certainly. She was minding her own business, not paying attention to the guy who was busy with his own thoughts. However, there was someone who was paying attention to him, or rather, his food.
A pair of beady red eyes beneath a crown of spikes, peered over the edge of the table. They eyed the tray full of food that seemed to be fairly unguarded at the moment. The eyes narrowed and they ducked down under the table again.
There was some shuffling around... and then there was a sudden battle cry as a black and tan projectile shot across the table and at Shawn's tray of food.
"Toge PRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 7:03 pm
 ((O_o A staff member? I'm honored by your presence! XD Thank you for being the first to visit this humble starting thread.))
"Wha...?" The sleep-deprived teen looked up from his tray and ball, the feeling of being watched only worsening his silently paranoid, panicking mental state. There didn't seem to be anyone at his table, though...
Glancing over for the nearest possible cause, he just missed the crown of spikes disappear behind the table's edge. Frowning, he leaned over to further investigate his suspicions when -
"Gahhh!"
Falling over on his face, the young grunt got up off the floor and angrily whipped around, face red as heat rushed to his cheeks, humiliated. However, all color drained from his face when he set his sepia gaze on the beady-eyed creature that had come after his food.
"AHHHHHH! S-STAY AWAY!" He cried, lunging backward as he grabbed the first thing he could snatch up - a spoon - and held it up in defense.
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 7:13 pm
(( Lol no problem. XD I simply couldn't resist. <3 ))
The dark Togepi landed in the tray with a squish upon the food. The not-so-innocent baby Pokemon promptly scooping food into its mouth with its stubby little arms. The pathetic attempt at defending himself, was met with a malicious look from the Togepi. Her cheeks stuffed and glowering up at the Rocket, giving him muffled little growls. "Trrrrgeprrr!" As if daring him to try and remove her.
The commotion drew the attention of the blonde nearby and hearing a familiar voice, whipped her head around to see HER Togepi harassing a... petrified looking Rocket. She was about to shout but instead just gave the young man an odd look, a slender brow arching at his reaction.
Standing up, she shuffled over, looking between the snarling Togepi and the trembling fellow. The girl folding her arms across her chest, staring at Shawn with an unreadable expression. "What are you planning to do? Bludgeon it with a spoon? Those Togepi are nasty creatures you know. I bet she could snap it in half."
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 7:16 pm
The sudden outburst and commotion drew the attention of a pare of large hazel eyes, eyebrows arching slight in surprise and curiosity.
Having been taking her time peering at the lay out of food in the cafeteria.
The tall dark blond women dressed in an Agent uniform straightened up, hands folding behind her back before she walked over to investigate what was going on with this new grunt.
leaning forward a little once she reached him, the women blinked and tilted her head softly at him. "...?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 8:10 pm
"I-it...er, 'she' could?" Shawn stammered, doing his best to keep his weakened knees from shaking beneath his long coat. They hadn't wanted to waste a proper grunt uniform on him, so they had simply slapped a couple of red 'R' patches on his worn street clothes.
He didn't seem to question the tiny creature's abilities as the young woman suggested it. Still, Shawn fought to clench his teeth and stand up straighter as he was approached by the blonde. He had a pretty good guess that the thing belonged to her, and he didn't want to make her or it more angry than they already were. The woman did not seem impressed by his behavior thus far, and his hopes of staying alive were sinking fast.
"Er...you're right, the spoon was stupid," he admitted to the lady, suddenly realizing what he had picked up while attempting to play it off as something he had grabbed on purpose. Shame the kid didn't have much knowledge of pokemon other than the ghost and poison types he had encountered in his younger years. He really had no idea what power, or lack thereof, the egg-thing had in store. Considering pokemon in general to be relatively dangerous, he decided it was best to play it safe and slowly placed the spoon down on the ground beside him. Raising his hands up in surrender, he tried to indicate to the malicious baby monster that he was giving up. So much for lunch.
 "Hehe..." with a sheepish smile, he noticed that his outburst had caught the attention of more than just the monster's owner. Embarrassed, he tried not to press so close against the wall behind him as he noticed another blond young woman surveying them from across the room. Was that a superior's uniform? He couldn't recall; he hadn't really memorized the ranks yet. If she was, though, and she reported him, he was in deep trouble. Still, his fear paralyzed him - he could do nothing. Or was the cause of his paralysis the little tan and black creature? He glanced at it fleetingly, not wanting to look it in the eye. Why wouldn't the woman call it off already if it was hers? These Rockets certainly had a cruel sense of humor.
Just then, a sound made him jump. The pokeball that had previously been on the table poped open and a red beam of light shot out. At it faded, a spikey, gold-yellow and white creature stood on the table, fur bristling as it glared with dark eyes at the Togepi. The Jolteon was not pleased with the intrusion upon her trainer's meal, but with him back against the wall and another, more menacing human seeming to corner him, she would not leave him unprotected. Growling at the baby pokemon, her fur sparked threateningly and she barked at the woman speaking to her trainer in such a condescending tone.
Meanwhile, Shawn had just faded several tints lighter. Even though he was more familiar with the creature that had come out from its ball, that didn't make it any less terrifying. As she caught him staring at her, she seemed to sense his fear, because she chirped almost friendly and hopped down to brush her spiky self against his legs in an awkward attempt at what must have been a show of affection.
Though the Jolteon was clearly infatuated with her owner, he was not thrilled in the least. He was too stunned to move his leg away, though, and remained pinned against the wall and in a worse state than ever. Not only could everyone now see he was scared, but they could tell he had no control over the pokemon given to him.
"Get back in your ball..." he tried to urge the creature through gritted teeth. "L-Lindsay, right? Be a good, um, girl...go on..." Speaking out of fear though he was, 'Lindsay' didn't seem to notice. Ever since she had burst into Shawn's room one day and hidden under his bed, she had taken his general allowance of her doing what she wanted as a sign of his love and respect. Though born and bred a Rocket pokemon, she had developed a warped sense of what a bond between a trainer and a pokemon should be, longing for that connection.
Once Lindsay had escaped her place in the storage facility as an overly vicious and badly-behaved pokemon who didn't follow orders, she had, by chance, fled into the boy's room. As he had been too frightened to get off his bed or leaved his room in case she objected, the Rockets in charge of her soon discovered her hiding place under his bed. As she was too much trouble to put back in storage and keep her there, they gave her to the terrified boy whom she had come to take a liking to so much. After all, if he was required to have a pokemon as a Rocket member, at least they didn't have to waste a good one on him. Lindsay, of course, simply believed that Shawn had neglected to turn her in out of adoration for her.
Such was the twisted relationship both boy and pokemon had gotten themselves into.
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 8:19 pm
If the women had any intention of scolding or reporting him, she certainly didn't show it, her expression was that of curiosity, as she stepped up next to Shawn, blinking down at the Jolteon when it was released from its ball.
When the boy interacted with the Jolteon, the agent's face took a look that was rather indignant.
It was about that moment that the sight of the black shelled Togepi caught her eye, and with fascination she seemed to perk up, darting over to the edge of the table by it. hands cupped over the top of the table, as she crouched down and peered over the edge at the small egg pokemon.
"oooo!" she cooed.
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 8:44 pm
Nikki just smirked at Shawn's apparently gullible nature, although he did admit to his attempts at defending himself to be rather stupid. Which it was. However, the agent's smirk quickly disappeared when the Jolteon let itself out of its ball. Ugh, it was an electric type. A glower was given to the spikey thing and was mirrored by her own Togepi. Kaira apparently had absolutely no intention of ceasing what she was doing. And that was pigging out on Shawn's food and making threatening gestures at him.
However, the Jolteon suddenly seemed more interested in its owner, and Nikki watched with disgust as the boy cringed from its attempts to bestow affection. "How pathetic," she muttered before glancing to Faleen who suddenly seemed enthralled with Kaira.
Kaira did not share the sentiment and glared up at her. "PRRRIII!" She "bellowed" in her squeaky voice, reaching out her stubby arms. One might think at first that she wanted Faleen to pick her up, but Nikki knew better. Especially as she started clawing the air at Faleen's face in a definite desire to rip her eyes out.
Nikki's hand came down on the Togepi's head, which drew a more enraged reaction as it now flailed its little arms and started screaming like a banshee. "That's enough out of you." Picking up the Togepi by her head and then stuffing the egg under her arm, all the while Kaira continued her loud protests.
Again Nikki's attention turned to Shawn and she sighed. She might feel moved to pity the guy, except he seemed like such a waste of space. "That kid won't last a week," she muttered to the other blonde.
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:51 pm
Shawn briefly caught the expression on the agent's face as she saw the Jolteon leave its ball. He wondered what she had against it since she seemed more disgusted with it than afraid. Furthermore, the tiny egg-thing's courage astounded him as it boldly continued munching on his lunch after ignoring Lindsay's warning. Besides that, it seemed to still be gesturing angrily at him.
 Suddenly Nikki turned away with a couple of words the teen knew were directed at him. He wasn't sure how to react, though, until she picked up the creature that had turned its attention to the shorter-haired blonde. At first he'd wondered what the hell she had been doing, cooing at the dark abomination that so clearly wanted to attack her. Yet, he dared not say anything to warn her lest he be scolded himself. Turned out he didn't need to as Nikki grabbed the spike-ball pokemon and tucked it under her arm.
The street kid took this opportunity to dart forward, grabbing the pokeball off the table and aim it uncertainly at Lindsay. "Return," he breathed sharply, hoping it would work. The Jolteon made a curious sound and tilted her head at him before obeying. She decided that her trainer was grateful for her protection and was now protecting her from the other Rocket humans. Pleased, she returned contented to her ball.
With both pokemon out of the way, Shawn took a couple of moments to catch his breath and calm his rapidly-beating heart. Steadying himself with a hand on the table, he looked up at the two female Rockets and his eyes narrowed. "If you've got something to say about me, say it to my face," he called to Nikki, his resentment and pride overcoming his subsiding fear. "And my name isn't 'kid'. It's Shawn."
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 10:03 pm
Faleen, still crouched under the edge of the table looked up when the Togepi was taken again, blinking. but she didn't stop there. hopping up excitedly and walking over, she poked the Togepi in the forehead, snickering...
Faleen must not be feeling well today.
When Nikki muttered something to Faleen, the dark blond women looked up at her, straightening up and smiling at her, though she still didn't say anything.
There was a slight clatter of a tray behind Shawn, the sound of someone walking up behind him before a female voice spoke,
"Shawn" it said, calmly, "You must be new."
Behind him, holding a tray with food on it, looking as if she was searching for a place to sit was... Agent Faleen?... another one?
Her eyes were looking past Shawn though, toward where the other Faleen was standing with Nikki and her Togepi
"Zorua..." She said, with a soft frown, and slight blush of embarrassment. "I'm sorry Nikki,"
the Faleen by Nikki gave another little snicker, and with a spin of light, dropped down into a small shiny Zorua "Zooru~"
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 10:13 pm
The agent snorted at Shawn, turning to him yet again. "I'll call you whatever the hell I like. What are you... a grunt? A trainee? You're definitely not going to survive here if you don't know how to show respect to your superiors. So watch who you're talking to. You're lucky I'm not Seth or something."
Nikki just arched a brow at Faleen as she seemed a bit... merry today. What was with her?
Although when another Faleen walked up, and the fake revealed itself to be... some kind of little fox Pokemon, Nikki guffawed. "What the hell?!"
Kaira however, was continuing her tantrum under Nikki's arm. The Togepi issuing death threats and insulting everyone's mother in Pokespeak.
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:09 am
Could one never have a meal in peace in this place.
"This is why solitary training is so much better...meals in silence," Sierra muttered, rubbing her forehead and temples with her eyes closed. Good thing she'd almost finished eating. "What do you say, Marle? Should we see what the commotion is about?"
The Pikachu perched on the table looked up, eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. She'd been trying to behave, not running off and making poor Sierra chase her all over the base, making her human look bad. It didn't mean she wasn't still curious to a fault. She nodded eagerly, dropping the apple core in her paws onto Sierra's tray.
"Alright, alright," the human chuckled, brushing her long black hair out of the way before patting her shoulder. Marle took the invitation, leaping up and perching on Sierra's shoulder, attention darting this way and that about the room. Unconsciously, she brushed her hand over the remaining Pokeballs at her belt as she stood, the tiny miraculous balls where Celeste, Layla, and Khalon rested until she called them.
Curious, wonderful devices.
She neared the gathering group in time to see one of the 'twins' turn into a small fox-like Pokemon. What the...?!? Neither the Pokemon nor the trainer was familiar to her, nor the kid named 'Shawn' that everyone seemed gathered around. The blonde agent, however...well, it'd been a while, but Sierra couldn't forget someone like that.
How long ago was that mission? What was her name again...? Nikki, right? Well, she'd certainly gone far and climbed the ranks, unlike Sierra, who remained a mere Grunt. She struggled to keep the thought from weighing her down...she knew she'd have to work harder than everyone else...that's how it had always been. Even if it took more effort though, she'd prove them all wrong. She'd prove she could be just as tough and independent as any of them. That's why she'd put herself and her Pokemon through such rigorous training all those months. So that she'd be ready for anything.
Shaking off her tangent thoughts, Sierra puzzled over the group, still not sure exactly what was going on, and unsure how to join the conversation, without knowing the exact atmosphere. So, she went with instinct, and the lesser charged of the subjects, and peered at the dark little fox with curiosity. "Well, aren't you interesting?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:19 am
Honestly, he didn't feel like eating. He would have much preferred to stay up in his dorm fiddling with schematics and doing calculations. The chance to work intensively on his engine designs was a rare one (there were some advantages to being on sick leave after being slammed at high velocity into a giant mechanical Araidos), and as such he hated in interrupt his flow, but he knew that eating was important. He probably wouldn't have remembered that, however, if not for the patient insistence of the Galceon who padded along beside him; Skiron was so good at sensible things like mealtimes.
Collecting a bowl of pasta salad, a banana, and a glass of water for himself plus a dish of water and one of pokefood for Skiron, the small man turned to seek a place to sit... Just in time to hear an agent give a boy he didn't know a sharp tongue-lashing. Frost raised one pale blond eyebrow at the odd scene, interest piqued; what kind of a fool spoke out of turn to their superiors? Was he related to somebody important and thought that would protect him, or was his just a blithering idiot? Either way the results could be interesting to watch... Oh, and Faleen was there; he had been intending to catch up with her, and that added to the stupid dark-haired child made sitting at that particular table even more attractive.
Moving with the caution of the decidedly battered, Frost approached the table and sat down opposite Faleen. "Good afternoon Faleen, Agent... and Shawn you said your name was, boy?" As usual the pale-eyed man's tones were cool, clear cut, but undeniably polite, and as he spoke he nodded in turn to each of the people he was addressing. Having now put himself in a good position to watch any fireworks that might occur, Frost picked up his fork and scrutinized it as though it were the most important object in the world. Finding that it was not quite up to his standards he produced a clean, neatly folded handkerchief from a pocket, dipped the square of cloth delicately into his water, and set about wiping the fork clean. Why did the people in the kitchen never manage to get things clean? It wasn't exactly rocket science... Oh, somebody else had appeared now too; Frost offered her a polite nod too: "Grunt."
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