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 Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2013 1:14 am
Saya was awakened by a loud banging on her dormitory door. She was so startled that she practically jumped into the air. By instinct, she whipped out the small knife she kept under her pillow in case of intruders. She sat on her bed, pointed her knife towards the direction of the sound and paused to listen.
The banging was heard again. Saya crouched and crept silently from her warm bed. Her light nightgown flowed around her ankles as she moved. Although she was barefoot and the floor was carpeted, she tiptoed as quietly as possible. She hadn’t thought twice about the way she was moving. It was all from years of stealth practice and was ingrained in her. She had spent the majority of her life stealing, hiding what belongs to her so no one else could find it, and sneaking around so no one would notice her.
Saya made her way to the door, taking a moment to climb over the chest-high barricade she made with chairs, tables, and various room decorations that she had otherwise no use for. She stood on the hinged side of the door, so when the door was opened, she wouldn’t be seen. The small girl pulled up a chair next to the door to look out of the peephole. It was a female Rocket she had never seen before.
Not knowing whether the person on the other side of the door was friendly or not, Saya kept her guard up. She pulled the chair away to allow enough room to open the door before slowly undoing the lock and then the chain on the door. Next, she slowly twisted the knob and pulled the door slightly ajar. That was it. She stepped back and prepared to jump the person when they pushed the door open.
. ~ ' " ' ~ . , , . ~ ' " ' ~ .
The Rocket grunt tapped her foot impatiently, and crossed her arms across her chest and checked her watch. Ten minutes. She had been waiting ten minutes for this trainee. Even if she was still asleep, who takes that long to get to the door from the bed? She knocked again, but was surprised when the door swung inwards. There didn’t seem to be anyone on the other side to greet her. That was creepy.
”Hello?” She called out into the empty room. She couldn’t just walk into another person’s room uninvited. She rolled her eyes, as she realized someone must be playing a game with her.
”Alright, come out before I go in there and drag you out.” This was not the grunt’s idea of a fun day. She just wanted to get this mission over and done with as quick as possible. She remembered her first mission as a Rocket and how she almost failed. This time, however, she was going to have to be the one to clean up the mess if the trainee failed.
The grunt sighed. It didn’t look like the trainee was going to come out by herself. She took a look back at the message sent to her from an executive to make sure this was the right room.
211. Yep, this was it, alright. The grunt figured the crack in the door must be enough to count as an invite. She pushed open the door, but didn’t walk in.
”Saya?” She called into the room, and then noticed something was wrong. Right in front of her was a desk, flipped over. That wasn’t all, however. All the furniture in the room had been pushed up close to the door, barring further entry into the room.
”Uh…” She sure as hell wasn’t going any further into the room, now that she saw that.
The grunt waited another five minutes before losing her patience. She didn’t have all day to be standing around waiting for this girl! With the heel of her boot, she kicked open the door. She strolled into the room, confidently. That was, until there was a knife at her throat.
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2013 5:20 pm
Saya had waited, patiently and soundlessly. She knew the girl had to fall for her trap. She was here for a reason, and if the grunt had left, she didn’t really need to get what she had come for done. Now, Saya knew the grunt was here for something important, she just didn’t know what.
Saya held knife just an inch away from the taller girl’s throat. She didn’t say a word. If the girl didn’t explain her purpose, or if she made any moves, the small girl would not hesitate to hurt her.
”H-hey! Now, hold on here! I just brought you breakfast!” The grunt spoke before showing Saya the brown paper bag she held in her hand. Then, without warning, she threw the bag at the trainee.
She was caught off guard and had to abandon her stance to grab the food. Catching a whiff of the contents, she smiled. Well, that was really nice. ”Thank you.”
”Just get dressed, okay? They’ve sent me down here to get you started with us. Welcome to the Team, by the way. My name is Melanie. We can talk more after you get your uniform on.” The grunt brushed off the new girl’s oddities. She’s new, she’s scared. She had a reason to behave the way she was.
Saya disappeared back into her room and reemerged in her regular trainee’s clothing. She took a bite out of her bagel. If the other girl went to all that trouble to bring her food, she could at least see where this was going to lead.
”Alright! We can finally get going. Now that you have clothes on, we’re going to get normal people’s clothes, so people won’t look at us funny when we go outside.” Melanie explained what they would be doing first. She decided she would tell the trainee things one step at a time, as not to overwhelm her. The girl seemed kind of jumpy.
They made their way to the provisions room with Saya happily eating her food. Melanie went up to the front desk and spoke casually with the person attending the room. They seemed to know each other quite well and were joking and laughing. The place was otherwise empty. Saya looked around. It was a small room with a closed door leading to another part of the room at the back. There were a few chairs along one wall to serve as waiting chairs.
Melanie had finished talking to the person and was motioning for Saya to come over. She compiled. The grunt handed the girl a palm-sized device with a screen.
”It’s your communicator,” she explained. ”I have one too, and we can use it to send messages when the other person isn’t around. It works like a cell phone, but we don’t really use it for calls, in case someone is on a mission. It might jeopardize the mission, and that would be terrible.”
The trainee carefully inspected the gadget, having never held one before. ”How does it work?”
”What? You don’t know how to use a cell phone?” Melanie exclaimed in disbelief. She shook her head. ”It’s really simple, actually. Here, watch.” The grunt took out her own communicator to demonstrate while she spoke. ”You see this little icon here? Since it’s a touchscreen, just touch it with your finger to open your messages. You can also see the time on your home screen, search Team Rocket’s open database for names, numbers, and basic info of all members, find public missions information, and various other things. Just explore on your own time, okay? Right now, we have to find some more conspicuous clothes to wear.”
In the back room, they found themselves in a storage area. Metal shelves were placed as close to each other as possible to allow for the maximum amount of shelving to fit in the room. As Saya followed the two, she saw boxes overflowing with various items. There was a messy scrawl on the boxes to label what the contents were, but she couldn’t make out some of the writing. They came to an area with stands of clothes, organized with size tags. I was like being in a thrift shop and no one item looked like any other.
”Saya, I think you’re an extra small, so go ahead and find something you like in that section.” The grunt pointed to the stands on one end of the room. ”I’ll be over here.” She motioned towards the middle of the rack. She and the attendant chatted away, paying no mind to the younger girl.
The trainee browsed through the rack, picked up the first dark colored t-shirt she laid eyes on, and took it. She also grabbed a dark colored pair of lounge pants. She didn’t even care what color they were, as long as it wasn’t blinding. They seemed comfortable. She glanced back towards Melanie, who was taking her time looking through all the clothing. Saya decided they wouldn’t care if she explored the place, since they were so into their conversation to notice her.
She spotted some weaponry on a shelf nearby and went over. She could use an upgrade from her pocket knife, or more than one wouldn’t be a bad idea. There was an impressive collection of weaponry she had never seen before. Saya decided to stick with grabbing something she knew how to use. A small Bowie knife caught her eye. It was about the length of her hand and tapered to a sharp point, good for stabbing or tearing. This would be her fighting knife. She slipped it into her pouch.
When she was about to leave, she saw a peculiar item. It looked like forearm armor, but with a blade attached to one end. Intrigued, she picked it up and examined the weapon. She somehow pressed something on the item and the blade slipped into the armor, hiding it. She was getting really excited. She had never seen anything like it before. Sure that it would prove to be useful, she strapped the weapon onto her right arm and pulled her sleeve over it. Saya brought both of her arms together to compare and was satisfied when she saw no immediate difference between the one with the arm piece and the one without.
Saya made her way back to the other women, who only took notice of her when she spoke. ”Are we done here?”
They sputtered, embarrassed to have forgotten about the time. ”Oh yes! The mission! Well, I think I’ll just take this and these, and that too.” Melanie grabbed various items of the hangers, thanked the attendant, and walked Saya over to a dressing room.
”Change and we’ll be back for our uniforms after the mission.” She instructed.
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2013 8:15 pm
Melanie walked with a brisk pace towards the garage. Saya followed close behind. They were a bit behind schedule, but no worries, they could make up the lost time on the next tier of their journey. Once more, the grunt dealt with the attendant at the front desk while Saya waited. This time, the interaction was brief and Melanie was handed some keys.
With the grunt leading, they found the rental car and were finally on their way to the location of their mission. ”Oh! I don’t think I’ve told you—Today’s going to be your first mission!” The girl spoke as she drove. ”You are required to go on missions to earn your keep in Team Rocket. As a trainee, you will probably be assigned missions with grunts or higher ranking members, so they can help you out and make sure you know what you’re doing. Once you become a grunt, you can go on missions on your own, or choose your own partners. For some, you might not be able to. It depends on what needs to be done. Sometimes, they will partner you up with someone with similar skills. Oh! You can be promoted by doing missions well and other stuff like that, which you probably don’t need to worry about too much. Anyway, we’re heading to Saxukai desert to meet with a predicted thunderstorm. Electric pokemon like to gather in places high in energy, so that’s what we’re after. It might rain, so I took some rain jackets from the provisions room at first.”
It was a long ride to the proposed location-- a very long ride. Saya was getting restless. Their breaks were short, just long enough for the both to use the restroom and eat when it came time to it. Not being used to traveling by car, she was getting nauseous. She rested her head between her knees, with a paper bag in her arms and groaned. She stared at the ground, fighting the urge to puke. It reminded her of her journey to the island. She had vowed never to take a boat again, but it didn’t seem possible for her to avoid cars, especially if she was required to go on missions.
Seeing the agonizing state that Saya was in, Melanie fished into her pockets and retrieved a small bottle. ”Here, this should help.” She popped the lid and poured out one of the small white pills. ”It’s motion sickness medication. Take it with water.”
Not knowing otherwise, Saya chewed the tablet. BITTER. She chugged down a lot of the water from the bottle Melanie had. A little while later, however, she felt much better. She marveled at the small magical pill.
. ~ ' " ' ~ . , , . ~ ' " ' ~ .
Many agonizing hours later, Melanie announced their arrival. ”We’re here! Sorry about the terribly long journey, but there’s no other way of getting here. We’re just in time too, look!”
It was late evening, but the skies overhead were as dark as night. The air was still and humid. Every few minutes, lightning broke through the clouds. Thunder rumbled and shook the very earth they stood on. The storm was right above them.
There was no other way to get into the desert. They would have to walk from here. The grunt grabbed her bag from the car, which contained all the necessary equipment they would need for the mission. Melanie led the way, using her communicator as a navigational device.
The rain began with a drizzle. Saya pulled her rain jacket over her head, mimicking the reaction from older girl. It wasn’t but a couple of paces when the downpour picked up. Her boots sank a few inches into the sand with each step, making it hard to walk properly. She struggled to keep up.
They didn’t make any small talk other than the grunt instructing the other girl about what they needed to do as she remembered it. She also took out each gadget from her bag and explained how to use them, so the other girl would be prepared when it came down to it. The main item they would be using was a canister that shot out an electricity nulling net for the capture of electric pokemon. They would then transfer the pokemon to small cages back at the vehicle. The net was not to be removed at any time until the pokemon were brought back to headquarters, both for the two Rockets’ safety and for the convenience of the handlers. The rain was making it difficult to hear what the other was saying without yelling. Now and again, they were interrupted by a crack of thunder.
As expected, they soon spotted their first pokemon. It caught sight of the duo before they saw it, and the emolga was gone in a flash. There was no way they could chase it, being crippled by the storm. The weather diminished their visuals, and by the time they saw the creature, their opportunity to capture it had passed. There will be others, but the faster they could fill up the car with pokemon, the faster they could be out of the elements and back in the shelter of the base.
”We’ll go at a slower pace, and make sure to take in everything before moving forward.” The grunt announced their new plan of attack.
Saya crouched low, making herself smaller and less likely to be seen by any other pokemon before they saw her. Unnecessary, in this rain and under cover of darkness, but she did it for any way of raising their chances of catching some pokemon. She wanted out of this storm and was starting to miss the feeling of carpet on her bare feet. Instead, her boots were stuck in the muddy clay that was once sand.
Upon catching sight of movement in the distance, Melanie motioned to her partner, but Saya, being always aware of her surroundings, had already seen it. They nodded to each other, both knew what the plan was and were ready to act.
Saya arched wide around the pikachu, getting into position. It was still oblivious of her presense. She made a dash towards it, closing in on the pokemon. The pikachu saw her and bolted. Being the more experienced one, the grunt easily took aim at the moving target and pulled the trigger. The pikachu yelped in surprise. Wired netting came down upon it from all sides. Momentum kept the yellow pokemon going, but without being able to move forward, it crashed into the ground, sliding a few feet from where it fell. It fought, it screamed, but no help was coming. It dangled helplessly as it was picked up and slung over the shoulder of the taller girl.
Saya thought nothing of it. It’s just a mission. This was what needed to be done to earn her keep. Above all else, she will survive and come out on top. She had to keep this in mind. It was either them, or her.
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 1:04 am
Their next captures went without any other troubles, in a similar fashion to their first. They kept the same plan, since it was one that worked. There was no need to come up with anything fancy. By the end, they had amassed quite an array of electric pokemon. Both girls had their hands full of angry pokemon, and it was getting hard to keep others from hearing them coming, so it was impossible to try to capture any more. Now was as good a time as any to start heading back.
Melanie gave her young apprentice a huge smile, glad to be nearing the end of their mission. Soon, they will be back at base and enjoying a nice warm shower. Her spirits were high, despite the rain still pouring hard.
Saya returned her smile, though dreading the ride back, and feeling miserable. Her rain jacket tried to do its best against the storm, but it had won. Large droplets dripped from her bangs and blended into the falling rain and darkness. The rest of her wasn’t any drier. She shivered, as the jacket had become useless in keeping the rain out, with the need to run around. The arm bands from her concealed weapon were digging into her skin. She shifted the wrist blade when her companion wasn’t looking. If these creatures weren’t doing to stop squirming, she was going to end them right then and there. But the mission-- she had to keep the mission in mind. The girl trudged on.
”Don’t look so glum!” Melanie said to the girl, when they were back at the car. ”We’ll stop by Katarina city for a nice meal before we head back to base, alright? That would make the both of us feel better and give us a nice break from cafeteria food.”
The trainee forced a smile and a nod back. Even though food sounded great, it wouldn’t be for a while and there was still a long travel before they got there. She dreaded the thought of the ride.
Saya handed the protesting pokemon to the grunt one by one. Melanie loaded the creatures into crates, two or more to a box if they could fit. She really didn’t care if they didn’t have room to move. The Rockets had worked hard to capture every one of the pokemon, and they were going to bring every last one back.
Melanie tossed Saya a towel. ”Try to dry yourself off as best as possible. I don’t want you to get sick.” She slammed the trunk of the car shut, muffling the cries of the pokemon, and made her way to the driver’s side. Saya went to the other side and took off the damp rain jacket. Her wet clothing clung to her body, making it terribly uncomfortable. She twisted the bottom of her t-shirt to get as much water out as possible so it could dry faster. What was the point in wearing clothes that were wet? Saya stripped down to her underwear and covered herself with the towel before getting into the car. Much better.
The older girl turned up the heater in the car to the maximum level. ”This should help. Hopefully, we’ll be warm and dry in no time. Here, another pill for you. Don’t chew it this time.” The grunt laughed, handing Saya another motion sickness pill.
The trainee put her hands up to where the hot air was blowing in. This was nice. Finally, she was warm. They were on their way back. Their mission was a huge success. She couldn’t help, but actually be happy for once. She snuggled into her seat, grasping the towel tightly around her shoulders, and drifted off to a peaceful slumber.
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 1:22 pm
Melanie drove into the night. As the duo moved further from the desert, the weather gradually cleared up. It was a couple hours’ trip to Katarina city, but the longer tier of their travels was still ahead of them. The grunt rented a hotel room for the two of them to rest until morning. She was tired and could use a warm shower. She took a minute to ponder what to do with the pokemon, but thought it was best they left them in the car. She couldn’t risk someone seeing or hearing the pokemon if the two of them were going to be carrying the creatures back and forth. It wasn’t a hot out, they should be fine.
The next morning, the two girls had breakfast in Katarina, as promised, after a rocky start of the day. Saya had once again greeted the older girl with a weapon in her face. Melanie wondered whether this was going to be a regular welcome between them.
”You know, if I was going to hurt you, I could have done so when you fell asleep in the car last night,” Melanie laughed and shrugged.
Saya put her knife away and relaxed. That made sense. ”Sorry. I’m not used to having… friends.” She simply stated.
”You can’t have no friends! You’re like what, 16? How could you have gone through life no having any friends at all?” She said in disbelief. The trainee has got to be joking, right?
” I don’t. I only have enemies and people who hate me. People who don’t care, but pretend they do. Those are the ones I’ve known all my life.” Saya spoke harsh words with no emotions. She stared straight ahead. Her mind fluttered back to the one fond memory she had of a friend she had last known. It was too long ago. She shoved it out of her mind.
Melanie’s voice softened, upon realizing that the girl wasn’t joking. She put an arm around the younger girl’s shoulders and squeezed her into a hug. ”Well, hey, no matter what has happened before, it’s in the past now. Those people are gone, and you’re with Team Rocket. I’ll be your friend, if anything. If anyone bothers you, just let me know and we’ll beat them up together. That’ll show them to mess with us!” She offered a sympathetic smile. ”I think you pretty much can handle yourself, but if you ever need the help, I’m here.”
Saya stood there. She didn’t make a move when the other girl gave her a hug. She didn’t shove her away. It was a new and foreign concept to her, but it felt nice.
”I’m sure some food will make you feel better.” Melanie suggested, and Saya agreed. She just wanted to get out, to get away from the topic. She didn’t want to be left alone with her thoughts.
Stomachs filled and fully rested, the two Rockets took a moment to enjoy the comfortable warmth of the winter sun. They blended in nicely with the crowd. No one even took a second glance at the two girls. They were strangers, just passing through. No one knew where they were coming from, or what secrets they held in their car. It reminded Saya of the days she spent in the city before she joined Team Rocket. How long has it been since then? A couple of weeks?
Melanie eyed the various shops along the street longingly. ”Why don’t you take the rest of the day to explore the city? It took us that long to get here, so we might as well take advantage of it.” Melanie winked. ”I’m going to shop for some clothes,” she frowned at the choice of garment Saya had chosen. ”And for you, too,” she added. ”Message me on your communicator if you need anything! We’ll meet back here in a couple of hours, okay?’ With a grin, the grunt disappeared into the shop next door.
Saya took out her communicator, finding it more interesting than the city at the moment. She unexpectedly bumped into someone she had met once before, back at her hometown, Ecruteak City. They chatted for a bit, and then the girl went back to meet up with Melanie.
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 4:42 pm
She didn’t immediately go back to meet up with her partner, however. Saya wandered into the heart of the city. Though it was getting late in the day, the streets were still bustling with people. She was looking for something—an opportunity. It had been awhile since she was near a city. She couldn’t ignore the thought in the back of her mind any longer. There were so many tempting items just lying about. People sure were careless.
Carrying the pokemon back to the car from the desert had made Saya want one of her own more than ever before. She chosen a large department store, one where people go to shop for clothes, accessories, and other junk that Saya didn’t see a need for.
It didn’t take too much effort to spot an unattended bag. Why people dropped off their stuff and go elsewhere, she had no idea. It was their loss. This was going to be more difficult than what she was used to. She had to hope the item she was looking for was there.
Saya stood next to the bag and took a moment to make sure no one was looking her way. She gave the bag a hard kick, propelling it towards the space underneath the clothing rack. Then, she ducked between the clothes, out of sight. Frantically, the girl dug through the contents of the bag. Make up, mirror, berries, medicine, and then, it was there—a single pokeball. She had no idea who it belonged to, and didn't go about trying to find out. Having no connection to who she was stealing from made it easier. Saya decided she’ll wait until later to see what, if anything, was in it.
She made no effort in rearranging the items in the bag. There was no way the owner could not realize a pokeball was missing. The girl zipped up the bag and shoved it back into the hallway. She exited on the other side, after checking to make sure no one was there.
On the car ride back, Saya couldn’t help but think back about her bump in with Doyle. She hadn’t seen him since he was a teen and her, a small kid. He had helped her out of a bind, and taught her how to deal with the bigger kids at her boarding house. She was glad to have met him that fateful day. He was one of the only people that had been nice to her. They had made plans to meet up again, and Saya was sad that she had not been able to. What she couldn’t tell him was when she got back to the boarding house after their talk, she had chicken out. She couldn’t tell Doyle, she was embarrassed that she wasn’t confident enough to pull through with her plan. It was a stupid idea. What was she even thinking?
Saya did get back at the other kids that had stolen from her though. Not quite as head-on as she first stated, but in her own way. She set traps, and stole from them when they were asleep. She snuck around a lot at night, looking for hiding spots for her things where no one else could find. Some were found, but she learned from her mistakes and concealed her items better. When the house wasn’t a safe place for her things anymore, she moved onto finding hiding places in the city. They were mostly her favorite toys and extra food for when she didn’t get enough.
She sought out her revenge by stealing the bigger kid’s favorite toys and putting them somewhere they would never find. Fights broke out in their anger and confusion. Everyone was a target to their bullying, including Saya. She prayed to fix this the only way she knew how. Let the ones that were terrorizing her fight against each other. She planted the evidence in another kid’s bed area. The bullies took the bait, just as she had planned. That was enough. She had gotten back at them and she didn’t want anything else to do with them. She had to do it this way, she told herself. They weren’t going to leave her alone otherwise. Saya, 10 at the time, started spending her days in the city and honing her skills at thievery.
To be continued~
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