[Pokémon] E-Anon (Evil Anonymous)

Author's note: Before I begin the story there are probably a few things I should mention. This fanfiction is a satire that is meant to deconstruct the common Pokémon fanfiction plot of every single evil team leader joining forces. Although this is meant to be humorous in tone, let me know if anybody is OOC.

As this fanfiction is based on the games, I've chosen to capitalize pokémon species names, places (like the PokéMart), and pokémon moves.

Due to some mild language (and a whole lot of angry characters), I would rate this story T.

I hope you all enjoy my first pokémon fanfiction!

E-Anon (Evil Anonymous)

Chapter One
​

It was a cool summer night, just past ten o'clock and the streetlights were shining bright, causing the buildings to shimmer a bluish-green. Giovanni had made some lame excuse about needing to buy repels so that he could leave the PWT before anybody else. He absolutely hated it when trainers came to talk to him in the lobby after the tournament.

As he walked away from the PWT facility, Giovanni checked his bag. It turned out it was true—he really was running low on repels. He wasn't fond of many of the native pokémon of Unova, and besides, his adventurous days were over. He stopped to pull his fedora over his eyes. I'll stop by the PokéMart, then be on my way, he thought. He walked past several emerald-studded buildings. He was glad they didn't shine much at night.

Giovanni had never liked Driftveil City. There were far too many people milling around, constantly blabbering about something or other. It was difficult to find ways to carry more than the legal six pokémon at once in such a place. The World Tournament building screened every trainer's party, so Giovanni was forced to hide his extra pokéballs in his coat and hat. Even worse, it wasn't as if he could commiserate with anyone about such criminal inconveniences.

But for the "Self-Proclaimed Strongest Trainer" and former boss of Team Rocket, it wasn't as if he could seek worthy opponents anywhere else. Taking back his position as Viridian City gym leader had been difficult enough. He didn't want anything more to aggravate him.

Giovanni scowled. The walk to the to the PokéMart was taking longer than waiting for Ariana to fix her hair. He tilted up his hat brim, and saw nothing. The Market was nowhere in sight, and the city's stonework stretched to the horizon. The scenery seemed to blur, and Giovanni felt his head pounding.

"What? Is this some sort of idiotic prank?!" Giovanni reached for his bag, but paused when he saw something yellow flickering at the edge of his field of vision. He whirled around, and saw a Kadabra.

"Don't tell me Sabrina has it out for me again," muttered Giovanni, as he prepared to send out a pokémon. Before he could do anything, he heard a woman's unfamiliar voice cry out.

"Kadabra, use Psycho Cut!"

The Kadabra's eyes glowed pink, and it swiped at the air with its claws. A psychic wave shot out and crashed against Giovanni. He screamed and grabbed his head. He crumpled over and fell to his knees. Everything went black.

=====

Giovanni woke up with a pounding headache, his eyes still closed. It felt like his head had been trampled by a herd of Tauros. Knowing that he'd eventually have to wake up, he opened his eyes and resigned himself to the toils of the day.

But instead of his usual hotel room, this room was even more drab. Giovanni quickly felt his clothes—he still had his coat on, not his bedclothes. He turned to the side and saw his fedora lying next to him. He put it on. Getting more and more aggravated, Giovanni groaned and pushed himself out of bed. The room was cramped and barren, with only a bed and no windows. His bag was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, the memory of the Kadabra from the night before came rushing back. My pokémon, thought Giovanni, I have to find them! He rifled through every one of his pockets, looked inside his hat and his shoes, and found nothing. Giovanni grimaced when he realized whoever had kidnapped him had frisked him and stolen his pokémon.

"How dare I be toyed with!" Giovanni stormed toward the door.

Before his hand even touched the doorknob, the door opened by itself, revealing a young woman. She wore a flowing sundress like an Aroma Lady. Beside her stood the Kadabra.

"You! You did this to me!" yelled Giovanni. He reached out to strangle the woman, but missed and stepped right past her. He stumbled into the hall.

"Sorry, Mr. Giovanni," said the woman. "I had Kadabra use Kinesis on you. No harm done, right?" She winked.

"Using moves on humans is against the law!" yelled Giovanni. "Now, what do you want from me?!" He shook his fist at her.

"Oh, Mr. Giovanni, you've got it all wrong," she said. "We're here to help you! And we only use these pokémon to aid in your recovery." She reached down and petted Kadabra's head. "Anyway, we need to hurry to your first meeting. Follow me, please." She turned and walked down the hall.

"I refuse to follow—" Giovanni was cut off by Kadabra raising its spoon. Giovanni became bathed in blue light, and his entire body was dragged after the woman.

The woman looked at him. "Isn't Telekinesis a fun way to travel?" she asked. "Don't worry, I'll tell you all about this place when we get to the meeting room."

"You will suffer for this." Giovanni seethed, but without pokémon of his own, there wasn't much he could do but look threatening.

He was carried down the hall until he and the woman reached another doorway, which stood next to a large billboard that had many brightly-colored fliers tacked to it. A banner above the billboard read: E-ANON.

"What is this?" snarled Giovanni.

The woman stopped walking and spun around to face him. "This is where we gather people like you who need help getting back on track and making new friends!" She grinned. "You'll have free room and board, too! Isn't it great?"

"No!" screamed Giovanni. "Do you know who I am?! I am the Viridian City gym leader, I am—"

The woman snapped her fingers and the Kadabra stopped its Telekenisis. Giovanni crashed to the floor and fell on his stomach.

"Actually, I'm sure Blue will be taking care of your gym while you work on the program." The woman giggled. "Just relax and listen to everyone's stories. Have fun!" She gestured to her Kadabra, who used its Telekinesis to open the door to the meeting hall. "I'll bet they'll all be excited to meet somebody so famous."

Giovanni stood back up and adjusted his hat and coat. "Too famous to be treated like this. Tell me, what is this place?" he asked in a soft tone, under the assumption that woman was insane.

Her eyes opened wide. "Why, you're at Evil Anonymous. You know, the recovery center for evildoers everywhere? Don't tell me you've never heard of us?"

Now Giovanni was certain she was insane. Such a place seemed too silly to actually exist. He decided to keep playing along. After all, insane vigilantes were even more stubborn than starving Arcanines. "Why, how could you think I'm an evildoer? I haven't been involved in any shady dealings for so long now." He smiled. "Why not leave the past in the past?"

She shook her head. "That's what they all say.... at least you'll fit in. Kadabra, show him to the seats."

With another burst of telekinetic energy, Giovanni was flung into the meeting room. He recovered and hurriedly tried to memorize his surroundings, especially any possible exits or weapons. The room was spacious enough, but it also had no windows. Near the middle of the room was a whiteboard, which had many chairs lined up in front of it, like a little army. There was a single chair next to the board. In the side of the room was a coffee table set up with drinks. There were a few doors, which Giovanni assumed led either outside or to living quarters.

A few people were wandering around the meeting room, adjusting the chairs or getting cups of coffee or tea. Most of the people were dressed like Breeders or Rangers, as if they were ready for heavy service work. They each had a companion pokémon out and following them around.

Giovanni scrutinized the pokémon. Natu, Mr. Mime, Kadabra... all psychic-types. It figures, he thought. People were starting to fill the room, all of them with dopey expressions on their faces. Giovanni strode up to a service person who didn't look too active and tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, but what are these meetings? More importantly, where are my pokémon?" Giovanni struggled to keep his voice level.

The man, a Breeder by the looks of it, turned around. He had a Natu on his shoulder, which was staring intently at Giovanni. "Ah, so you're the old Rocket Boss? Nice to meet you. We've been waiting for you for a quite a while." He reached out to shake hands, but Giovanni put his hands in his pockets. "Don't worry 'bout your pokémon. They're being held for you while you recover. Remember that we'll always be here to help you. So, want some coffee?"

Giovanni awkwardly looked away. "Uh... no." It's probably poisoned, he left unsaid. "So where are the... others like me?"

"They'll be here soon enough. Don't get edgy, you'll be able to share your story soon enough." The Breeder turned to one of the doors, where a few more people were entering the room. "Hey! Look, they're arriving. Come on, Giovanni, why don't you go make a friend or two while we wait for everyone else?" The Natu on his shoulder chirped.

"How about no," Giovanni said under his breath.

"Aw, don't be such a gloomy Gus. Hey, I know a guy who's a touch shy like you. Why don't I introduce the two of you?" He pointed to a man with spiky blue hair standing by the coffee table. By this point, several people were already sitting in the chairs in front of the board and talking.

"I'm not interested. Besides, I'm certain that I'm not meant to be here." As more people entered the room and sat down, Giovanni felt his stress mounting. "I'll take my leave now, if you don't mind—" As he turned away, the Natu leapt off the Breeder's shoulder and caught Giovanni's fedora in its beak. It fluttered to the floor and hopped away.

"What?!" Giovanni gnashed his teeth. He grabbed the pokémon Breeder by the collar. "Control your pokémon, you fool, or else you will have to answer to me!"

The Breeder just smiled. "He's just playing. Have a sense of humor, now will ya'?" He looked over to the Natu. "Buddy, take Giov's hat over to the guy I want him to meet, okay?" The Natu chirped again, and started hopping over to the coffee table.

Giovanni shoved the pokémon Breeder and released him, and chased after the Natu instead. "Give that back, or you'll experience a world of pain!" The pokémon kept hopping until it reached the shadow of the coffee table. It skipped to the left, landing on the shoe of the man standing in front of the table. He picked up the fedora and looked down at it.

"That's mine!" Giovanni ran over and grabbed his hat out of the man's hand. He put it back on, adjusted it, and let out a frustrated sigh. When he looked up, he noticed that the man standing next to him was staring at him. He had his head tilted down, and was staring up at Giovanni with a blank, soulless expression. He had dark circles under his eyes, increasing the effect.

Although the man's stare was comparable to looking into the back of a Shedinja, Giovanni was not the least bit intimidated. "What do you want?!" he snapped.

The pokémon Breeder walked up to both of them. "Chill, Giovanni. Cyrus looks at everyone like that. Why don't you guys get acquainted? It'd be good for you to make some friends with the other recovering villains, Giov."

Giovanni felt more angry than an abused pokémon using Frustration. "First of all, my name is Giovanni, and you will use it! Second, I am not under your command!" He paused. "Wait, what? Isn't Cyrus the name of..."

"Yep, the Boss of Team Galactic from Sinnoh. Sure was hard for us to track him down!" The Breeder grinned.

"Isn't he supposed to be dead?" asked Giovanni.

"You're such a jokester." The Breeder shook his head. "Now, have a conversation like two, well-adjusted humans. I'm sure you two'll get along great. I mean, you both have tons of wrinkles!" When Giovanni just kept glowering at him, his grin fell. "Natu, use Peck on Giovanni." Right on cue, Natu leapt into the air and jabbed Giovanni in the face with its beak.

"Argh!" Giovanni swatted the Natu, and covered his face with his hands. He felt like the veins in his forehead were about to burst. Thinking quickly, his imagined a detailed scenario involving his Nidoqueen stomping the pokémon Breeder into a paste. That soothed Giovanni a bit, and he straightened his back.

"I'll leave you and Cyrus for a bit," said the Breeder. "Come on, Natu! Let's wait for everyone." He walked away.

"Fine, you fool. I'll teach you a lesson soon enough!" After screaming at the Breeder, Giovanni looked back to Cyrus, who had been completely silent for this entire exchange. "All right. Tell me, how many people have you killed, Cyrus?" he asked with his most cloying voice.

"None... directly," Cyrus answered, in utter monotone. After a long silence, so long it became somewhat awkward, he spoke again. "Why?"

"Either you're a serial killer, or you have never slept a day in your life," said Giovanni. "What is wrong with your eyes?"

Cyrus seemed to look right past Giovanni.

"More importantly, how can I retrieve my pokémon and leave this place this instant?!" Giovanni made a fist and slammed it against the table, causing the coffeemakers to shake.

Cyrus just looked on, emotionless.

Giovanni breathed heavily, sweat dripping down his forehead. After a few moments, he heard someone yelling at the other side of the room. He turned to look, and saw a man being pushed through an entrance by two service people. He was holding a metal cane, struggling to keep his balance, while simultaneously attempting to resist the people forcing him inside. He was shouting some gibberish and foaming at the mouth.

One of the people herding him tried to soothe him. "Now, now, did you accidentally spit out your medicine again today?"

Giovanni's eyes widened. He recognized the shouting man's pale green, antler-like hair and black robe immediately. Giovanni always watched the news carefully. "Is that..." He didn't get to finish his sentence.

"I am perfect! I am Ghetsis!" yelled the former Plasma King, spit flying out of his mouth.

Giovanni put his head in his hands again. This is hell, he thought.

This is a really good idea! I think you're doing a good job portraying the characters and keeping them true to their personality.

Aside from a typo or two (which I would point out but alas, I am on a mobile device ATM), your writing seems great. I didn't find any glaringly obvious grammar mistakes. Looking forward to the next chapter!

Silhouette said:

This is a really good idea! I think you're doing a good job portraying the characters and keeping them true to their personality.

Aside from a typo or two (which I would point out but alas, I am on a mobile device ATM), your writing seems great. I didn't find any glaringly obvious grammar mistakes. Looking forward to the next chapter!

Click to expand...

Thanks so much! I was worried that the premise would turn people off--I don't see many humor stories on this forum.

I'm going to be busy for a while, but I'll try and get chapter three out soon!

Author's Note: Sorry for the wait! I had this chapter half-finished for a while as I was busy with schoolwork. I'll try and get the next chapter out sooner.

Chapter Three​

With a soft groan, Giovanni rolled over onto his side. His stomach felt like it was eating itself, or worse, it already had and only a gaping empty spot remained. Giovanni did not really want to wake up, since there wasn't anything to look forward to in his life, but he did not really want to die, either. He was somewhat certain of that now. With this energizing thought in mind, he opened his eyes, only to be greeted with the barren room at E-Anon.

He rubbed his eyes. "Why is it that the best things in life are all just dreams, but the worst things never seem to just be nightmares?" he hissed to himself. Though if I want to find a way to escape, getting up before anyone else would be helpful. So he slid out of bed and walked to the door as quietly as his Persian could stalk.

He reached for the handle cautiously, as if he was afraid it would scream if he moved too fast. He touched the handle, half-expecting some shadowy creature to leap out from behind the door. He turned the handle. But the door didn't budge.

Giovanni's eyes widened in annoyance. He shook the handle. Then he tried alternating between pushing and pulling. Eventually he tired himself out and just slumped to the floor, his back against the door. His stomach growled petulantly.

Don't tell me I've grown too weak to even open a door! He scowled.

A low pokémon cry came from outside. Acting on instinct, Giovanni staggered to his feet. He pulled back one arm, waiting for whoever would come inside, so he could punch his or her face in. The door creaked. It opened just a crack.

"Would you like me to put the sugar in your coffee, or would you rather do it?"

Giovanni was taken aback. He recognized the sickeningly sweet voice. "Wait—you're the wench with the Kadabra!"

The Aroma Lady opened the door. She was holding a tray with a cup of steaming coffee and a plate of donuts on it. Her Kadabra was standing beside her. "You're hungry, aren't you, Mr. Giovanni?" the lady asked.

"What's it to you?! And how would you know?" Giovanni snapped.

She cocked her head to the side. "Oh, well," she whispered, "I'm not really supposed to tell you this, but we do have cameras hidden in everyone's rooms!"

"What," Giovanni stated, flatly.

"Oh, I see you're an early riser," she said. "Just so you know, it
doesn't really make a difference here. I mean, every door is unlocked at the same time each day, unless a worker like me opens it for you." She smiled. "Anyway, coffee and donuts!"

Giovanni had his mouth pressed into a thin line. Well, the other prisoners must eat something, and if I never eat anything, I'll starve before I escape. "Uh, I take mine black."

====

After Giovanni finished eating, the Aroma Lady and her Kadabra escorted him to the courtyard. She seemed very excited.

"You're so lucky that you joined us when you did," she said. "We have a very special activity planned for today!"

Giovanni tensed up. This isn't good, he thought. "Very special activity" is never good. Just like "we'll take care of you." And I should know! "You can not make me participate!" he yelled. Giovanni turned around and tried to run, but his legs wouldn't obey. His entire body was yanked backward by Kadabra's psychic power.

The Aroma Lady had her head held up high, and she beamed. She looked like a teenage girl at the mall. "You're going to be so happy, Mr. Giovanni! We know how much you want to see your pokémon."

Giovanni blinked. Curiosity replaced his rage. "I'm going to have my pokémon returned to me?" He was inwardly celebrating. He knew his ground-types could easily rip open that electric fence, and then he would be home free.

The lady giggled. "Oh, you really love your pokémon, I see. Well, have fun!" She gestured to Kadabra, and with another psychic burst, Giovanni was thrown through the doors.

Giovanni stumbled for a second, but stayed on his feet. I'm not about to fall in the dirt in front of my new-found enemies, he thought to himself. After all, that would just be inelegant. He regained his wits quickly, and surveyed the courtyard for anyone who didn't look overly insane or unfettered.

In the end, he didn't have a choice, as Lass Mia ran up to him, looking bright as a Sunflora. She had her Pichu on her shoulder gripping her shirt for dear life. "Mr. Giovanni!" called Mia. "I wanted to talk to you!"

Giovanni took a step back. He looked left and right, trying to find an escape route. He found none, because too many people were milling around the courtyard. "What do you want?" he hissed.

"I heard some people in the audience yesterday saying some rude things to you. I just needed to let you know that they're just meanies, and that I'll be your friend!" She held her hand out.

Giovanni glared down at her. It took Mia at least five seconds before she took the hint and turned away. "Um... why don't you go get a pokémon now?" she said, quietly.

"Wait. Pokémon, singular? I thought I would have all of my pokémon rightfully returned!" Giovanni yelled.

"I think you only get one back," said Mia. "And just for an hour. I took my Pichu, obviously—"

Giovanni didn't want to hear her prattle on. He ran forward until he saw a table with several boxes on top of it. Trainers in the program were removing pokéballs from the boxes and sending them out. Giovanni could see the names of trainers printed on the boxes indicating which pokéballs were owned by which trainer.

As he searched for the box with his name on it, he watched the other people in the courtyard. His vision wasn't great, so he couldn't keep an eye on everyone from a discreet distance. Giovanni noticed that among the crowd were: a man with a waxed moustache who constantly twirled it, a bug-eyed hunchback skulking around, and, of course, there was Ghetsis being led around by several Ranger-like workers.

This is just like an asylum, thought Giovanni. All they need to complete the picture is for these maniacs to be dressed in long, white, flowing robes. I wonder whether all these people started out insane, or snapped after being abducted. Probably the former. The world's always been a never-ending parade of maniacs. His frown grew ever lower.

Eventually he saw it. It was lying on a table next to another box, and, just Giovani's luck, the same Breeder with the Natu was there.

Giovanni felt his head pulsing with a weary ache. "Joy..." he sighed. "I'll get this over with, quick." He straightened his back, and put on his best death glare—the one he used to love giving someone he was about to kill.

He walked over to the table. Fortunately for his sanity level, the Breeder didn't seem to notice him. Instead, the Breeder was busy ushering over someone else—Cyrus.

Giovanni looked away quickly. The quiet insane people are always the most dangerous. Better not snap at anybody around this guy... I already said too much yesterday.

"Hey, hey, Giov!" yelled the Breeder, interrupting Giovanni's thoughts.

Giovanni clenched his teeth and hid his eyes with his hat brim in response. He desperately wished he could stop existing. Unfortunately for him, the Breeder couldn't take a hint and patted Giovanni on the back.

"Not very talkative today, huh?" asked the Breeder. "Anyway, as I was just explaining to Cyrus behind us—" he pointed to the other end of the table. "Go ahead and pick whatever pokémon you want, but no dark, bug, or ghost-types, got it? The rules say so!" He grinned. "No problem, right?"

Giovanni, urge to kill swiftly rising, said nothing and refused to look the man in the eye.

"Good!" The Breeder turned away from Giovanni and walked over to Cyrus instead. Cyrus was giving a thousand-yard stare to nothing in particular.

"Hey Cyrus, you have a question?" asked the Breeder. When Cyrus didn't say anything, the Breeder looked down at the box of pokéballs on the table—the one with Cyrus's name on it. The Breeder rifled around in the box, and did not stop until he saw Cyrus's brow furrow slightly.

"Geez, looks like you don't have the best luck today. Houndoom, Weavile, Honchcrow—that's over half your team there. Guess that's the problem with only having five pokémon on hand. But Golbat and Gyrados are still okay. Anyway, have fun, dude!" He left.

Cyrus didn't respond. Only when the Breeder was out of sight did he he turn his head to look at the box of available pokémon.

Though he would've preferred for Persian to have removed the pest by slashing his throat, Giovanni felt his annoyance ease up a bit when the Breeder left. He was still confused by something, however. He did some quick pokémon-typing math in his head. When he finished figuring, he was taken aback. "What an idiotic team," he muttered.

Giovanni regretted his slip-up immediately. Cyrus whipped his head around and glared at him.

"Explain," Cyrus demanded, his voice cold as Froslass breath.

"Nothing to explain." Giovanni kept his face impassive.

"If you want to criticize my team, then do so properly. Otherwise, you've wasted energy speaking, and wasted energy is what's broken this world."

Giovanni quickly glanced to the right. He saw plenty of free service people and pokémon. So if this sociopath tries to murder me, he'll fail, he thought. I can afford to insult him.

"All right," said Giovanni. "Excuse me for believing that it only takes someone with half a brain to notice that all of your pokémon are weak to Rock. Your incomplete team, this is. Only five pokémon altogether?"

"I see. My plans in the past did not hinge on the power of my own pokémon, but in the future I will strive for a well-balanced team." Cyrus's eyes became vacant again. "I appreciate you bringing this to my attention." He took a pokéball from his box, though he didn't send out the pokémon. He brushed past Giovanni and walked back toward the E-Anon building.

Giovanni's eyes widened. "Wh—I mean, think nothing of it," he said. Not your typical sociopath? Then again, once a man cracks, he doesn't exactly have to crack again. He shook his head. He needed to focus on an escape plan.

A plan, a plan... Giovanni thought frantically. He knew he might only have enough time to grab one of his pokémon. All right, I'll take Honchrow when nobody's looking since it resists Psychic, and we'll fly out of here before anyone can stop us! But then I may never be able to recover my other pokémon, and how long would it take to gather a giant pokémon army to storm this place? Wait, didn't I have my Honchcrow forget Fly? Why, why, why would I have done that?! And where is this center even located?! And what will I even do once I escape, and what am I even living for anymore and—

"What do you mean Hydreigon isn't allowed?!" Ghetsis shrieked. His discordant voice was
unmistakable.

Giovanni turned around. At another table, Ghetsis and a service person, who was dressed like a Ranger, were arguing. The service person had his hands up. "Sorry, Ghetsis, but rules are rules! No dark, bug, or ghost-types allowed. Also, did you take your meds?"

Ghetsis leaned on his cane. He spat at the man. "I'll never take your devils' pills or potions! I spit them out every time!"

Giovanni groaned. The yelling was starting to give him a headache. He held the back of his head and walked left, reaching the box that had his name printed on it. There were at least twenty pokéballs inside, since Giovanni always carried each of his pokémon with him. While he was deciding what pokémon to choose, he looked back to see if Ghetsis was making a scene. Would make a good distraction, at least.

Ghetsis's facial muscles went limp. He looked at the ground, his eye closed. "Besides, Hydreigon has not been fed in so long... don't you know it's starving?"

The man shrugged. He took out a pokéball of his own. "Well... I do have a Gallade. I guess it's okay if you take Hydreigon out for a little bit."

Ghetsis flashed him an eerie grin, reminiscent of a Banette leering at prey. "I'm eternally in your debt...." He took Hydreigon's pokéball out of the box, and released it. His Hydreigon let out a deadened cry, its rumpled black wings waving like tattered flags, its red eyes sunken. It floated just in front of the worker.

"Aw, he looks so tired...." The worker reached out to pet Hydreigon's cheek.

"Hydreigon, use Crunch!" yelled Ghetsis.

Hydreigon opened its jaw and slammed it shut. The worker fell backward in fear.

"W-What kind of prank was that?!" he yelled.

Ghetsis cocked his head, his red eye almost aglow. "When I said it was hungry, you didn't know I meant for human flesh?"

The Ranger leapt back to his feet. "That's a joke in bad taste! Go, Gallade!" He released his Gallade. It waved its arm-blades and twittered. "Use Close Combat!"

With great difficulty, Ghetsis raised his arm. "Dragon Rush!" he snapped.

Hydreigon seemed to have a wraith-like glow as it dashed forward. Despite Gallade being ordered to attack first, Hydreigon rushed forward so fast it slammed into it before Gallade could even think about moving. Gallade careened backward and crashed into the table. It overturned, and pokéballs spilled onto the grass.

Gallade quivered slightly, but eventually collapsed.

Ghetsis cackled. "Hah! That is what little insignificant insects these days call an OHKO, is it not?" He coughed. "Now, Hydreigon, I command you to rip this man's head off. I want to see the dirt of this courtyard bloodied!"

Hydreigon turned sharply, its razor-sharp mouth hanging open. It shot toward the Pokémon Ranger with full power. Pure Frustration.

At the last second the Ranger ducked and Hydregion smashed into the overturned table with enough force to break it. It shattered into a million tiny splinters that ricocheted off the ground.

"You disgust me," said Ghetsis. "Those should be shreds of human skin."

Hydreigon shook a bit in response, disoriented. The Pokémon Ranger screamed and scrambled to his feet. He ran away, still screaming. Hydreigon flew behind him in close pursuit. As they ran past the other service people, mayhem ensued in the courtyard. People were dropping their pokéballs and abandoning their pokémon, leaving the vulnerable psychic-types wailing on the grass.

Meanwhile, Ghetsis was like a mad conductor, making wide gestures to his Hydreigon. Occasionally he laughed, sending spit flying out of his mouth.

"How foolish," muttered Giovanni.

Ghetsis froze. "Hydreigon, halt and turn back to me!" he yelled. He awkward hobbled around, and turned away from the madness to glare straight at Giovanni. "You... I remember you, you insolent freak! You dared to insult me yesterday!"

Giovanni scowled. "So what if I did? What are you going to do, throw your cane at me? Or will you limp after me?" he asked. "I'm so terribly frightened."

Ghetsis glanced at Hydreigon, a sign for it to float at the ready. "Hah! Team Rocket's leader, living in fear of the great Ghetsis. And you should be scared of me, Giovanni, as you will now see!" He tightened his grip on his cane, and pointed to Giovanni. "Hydreigon, now!" he yelled. "Frustration!"

You can't beat the classics, Giovanni made his decision. He pulled a pokéball out of his box, and he pressed the button. With a flash of light, his pokémon was released—Rhyperior turned its head up and roared at the sky. It stood even taller than Ghetsis.

The E-Anon courtyard was now a battle arena. The service people running around now slowed down, and a few of them stopped panicking to watch the match.

Hydreigon rushed forward and bashed Rhyperior with its two brainless heads. Rhyperior was pushed backward by the impact, leaving a large rut in the dirt. But Rhyperior's rocky plates easily countered the attack, leaving it nearly unharmed.

Giovanni couldn't help but sigh. How stupid can this idiot be? He does know who I am, right? "Use Ice Punch."
As Rhyperior's clawed fist glowed with all the power of liquid nitrogen and became crusted with ice, Ghetsis's brow furrowed with rage. "Hydreigon, use—" he was cut off by the crackling of Rhyperior's fist colliding with Hydreigon's face, its true face.

Hydreigon crumpled to the ground, fainted.

Ghetsis didn't even bother returning it to its pokéball. He flung another one toward Giovanni's Rhyperior. With a flash, the Coffin Pokémon Cofagrigus was revealed. It grinned menacingly, its shadowy arms jiggling.

Giovanni, feeling increasingly bored by all this, adjusted his fedora. "Earthquake," he said.

Rhyperior smashed the ground using its tail. It sent a shockwave hurtling to Cofagrigus. The shockwave hit its target, and Cofagrigus was sent flying backward. But using its arms, it dug into the ground and kept itself from slamming into anything.

"Shadow Ball! Hit it while it's weak!" Ghetsis commanded.

A tangible darkness formed between Cofagrigus's four hands. With the same blank grin plastered to its face, it flung the ball or darkness at Rhyperior.

Though Rhyperior was in a defensive stance, that proved worthless against the unearthly nature of the attack. Rhyperior tumbled backward, smashing into the table Giovanni had been standing in front of.

Giovanni did not even flinch. "Return, Rhyperior," he said. Rhyperior was converted to light and sent back to its pokéball.

Ghetsis let out his victory cackle.

"You do realize I have over twenty pokémon here, don't you?" asked Giovanni.

Ghetsis grinned. "Maybe so, but you won't have a chance to use them." He nodded to Cofagrigus.

Cofagrigus's eerie arms whipped through the air at Giovanni at lightning speed, like demonic Arboks. The movement was so fast that Giovanni had no time to react before the arms snaked around his body, and his own arms were tangled up in Cofagrigus's spectral appendages. Giovanni was all wrapped up like a Tentacruel's prey.

"What is this?!" Giovanni struggled in vain. Cofagrigus's arms snaked around his legs, shoulders, and finally his neck. Giovanni had to look down to stop the arms that were around neck from strangling him.

"That's right, shut your mouth," said Ghetsis. "You're lucky. It looks like your just short enough to fit inside its body. I thought I would need to cut you feet off or something." Ghetsis noticeably relaxed. "Go ahead, Cofagrigus. Reel him in."

Cofagrigus's lid opened, revealing the gaping shadow of its coffin. Its arms pulled Giovanni in painfully slowly, dragging his heels across the ground.

Giovanni tried to mutter some curse, but he couldn't speak. His fedora was over his eyes, so he couldn't see how close he was to Cofagrigus's body. It came as a surprise when he fell forward, flung into the cold metal depths of the pokémon's body.

Slam. The coffin shut. He looked left and right, but Giovanni couldn't see even a pinpoint of light. He tried to struggle or resist, but his limbs were weak and numb. Suddenly he felt the pressure on his throat ease up, so he tried once again to cry out, but no sound came out. Something cold was being shoved into his mouth, down his throat, mummifying him from the inside out.

Though he couldn't see anything at all, Giovanni could feel his vision growing blurry, his head swimming. He saw colors that did not exist. While everything was whirling, he blacked out.

To say the least, this combines a good mix of evil and comedy. After how Team Magma and Aqua were against each other in Hoenn, this really leaves me to wonder what would happen if other villainous teams met in future games.

But I like this so far! The characters are well developed and provide witty lines, so keep it up.

Stargazer said:

To say the least, this combines a good mix of evil and comedy. After how Team Magma and Aqua were against each other in Hoenn, this really leaves me to wonder what would happen if other villainous teams met in future games.

Click to expand...

Thanks, Stargazer! In the beginning, I was originally thinking about having every evil team leader at E-Anon, but then I realized that Archie and Maxie honestly reformed, and Lysandre... well... we know what happened to him.

This has easily become my favorite fanfic :) its so great, how you potray the characters. I especially like the new characters, you added, who may not seem as important, hey seem to have a personailty of their very own. Also having this focused more on the gaming side of Pokémon, is great, since, I can get most jokes(I don't follow the anime much). So good job :)

DJTiKi said:

This has easily become my favorite fanfic :)

Click to expand...

Wow, that's such a huge compliment! :3c Thank you so much for your kind words! Almost all of the OCs I created for this story will have a plot purpose later on, so I'm glad you're liking them so far.


And now, for the next chapter:

Author's Note: In this chapter—goodbye, comedy, meet my new best friend, drama! Just kidding. It's still comedy. But there will be some darker things referred to later on, just a heads up.

Chapter Four​

In the void, Giovanni watched himself float aimlessly. It was like a dream where the connection between perception and the body is severed. In fact, Giovanni probably wouldn't have minded the peace and quiet, if he had any grasp on his surroundings. It could have been a relatively painless death.

"How dare you?!" a very familiar voice called to him through the darkness.

A very clear thought came to the forefront of Giovanni's mind. I'm not dead?! He forced himself to open his eyes. There in front of him, standing under some sort of spotlight, was a figure. Giovanni's vision was so blurry, he couldn't recognize the person.

"How could you do this to the people who need you? The people who always followed you, who respected you? Who cared about you all this time?!"

Giovanni felt shock split his mind, like a lightning strike. Ariana! He tried and failed to yell out to her. It was as if he had no mouth at all.

Ariana stomped on the blurry, black floor. "It's no wonder Silver hates you." Her voice cracked a bit. "You know what happens to men like you, Giovanni? They die in some back alley, penniless, friendless, alone. You should just start over from scratch. I mean, you should just kill yourself and start over in the next life!"

Giovanni wanted to yell more than ever. He felt a tumultuous mix of rage and disappointment. He didn't understand the disappointment—he had left the past in the past. He hated things he didn't understand, which made him even more angry. But he was still frozen, unable to lash out at all.

"I'd have Vileplume kill you right now, but that would be an insult to her deadly spores," said Ariana.

Am I in some kind of Hell? Giovanni wondered. If so, this torture is lacking. I don't care about any of this. There's no chance that I could. I've let all this go, and it doesn't even remotely matter to me anymore. I don't care at all! His rage was red hot and broiling. It shot hideous splotches of color all throughout his vision, clouding Ariana under an endless red fog. Giovanni felt it filling his lungs—he had forgotten he even had them. Right as he realized this, he felt himself drown, the burning red corruption replace more and more of his body.

A glimmer of violet slashed the fog apart. Light flooded in from the cut. Giovanni's entire body felt numb, but he could see in front of him. He was lying on the grass. He heard hissing noise from above him. His head jolted upward. He saw a pair of dark red eyes, framed in long eyelashes.

"...Ariana?" he asked, tentatively.

The creature hissed at him. Giovanni noticed blue fur and a pink, feathered headdress. It was a Weavile that had been eyeing him.

He heard someone walk up to him. "This is a pathetic display down to the smallest detail. Get up."

Giovanni looked in the direction the voice had come from. He saw the pink-haired scientist, Inari, the caller of the E-Anon meetings. She looked as cross as Koga battling a steel-type specialist. "I'm used to Ghetsis causing trouble, but this is a first. You must be quite stupid to get caught like that."

"I am not like the rest of these fools!" Giovanni snapped. He felt a sharp pain in his head, and a wave of exhaustion washed over him. He felt drops of sweat running down his face, and he was short of breath. The Cofagrigus did something horrible to me, he thought. "My pokémon," he mumbled.

"I'm afraid the plans for everyone to get a pokémon back have been canceled," said Inari. "Something else will be revealed to you tomorrow." She turned away from Giovanni, to some service people. "Half of you, clean up this mess. The rest of you return our more unruly recovering evildoers to their living quarters. If you need me, you know where I'll be." Inari walked to the other side of the building and left.

Weavile hissed again. Giovanni looked back at it, and saw that it was reaching down to him. Reluctantly, Giovanni accepted the help, and Weavile pushed him back to his feet. But Giovanni still felt very woozy.

As Giovanni had expected would happen, Cyrus walked up to him. He looked no less vacant than usual. Without saying anything, he held up a pokéball and had Weavile return to it.

"So, it was you who freed me from that garish coffin. Why would you do that?" asked Giovanni. "If you think you have use for me, mark my words—I do not feel held by any notion of debt."

Cyrus nodded slightly. "I understand. But tell me... do you want to leave this prison?" he asked quietly.

Giovanni blinked. He was about to reply when two Rangers walked up to him. One of them tapped him on the shoulder. "It's bedtime, Mr. Giovanni," he said. The two of them each grabbed one of Giovanni's arms and dragged him away.

"It's not even sunset!" yelled Giovanni.

"Early to bed, early to rise!" said one of the Rangers.

====

Giovanni had a horrible time trying to sleep. He was used to crashing into bed, exhausted, after one too many round of battles at the PWT. His circadian rhythms had been, likely permanently, disturbed. Even the fact that there were no windows in his room didn't help him to relax.

After hours of tossing and turning, he finally felt himself being dragged off to his usual nightmares. In the moments before he fell asleep, the last thing he thought of was that image of Ariana, spurned and angry. Somehow the idea of her still living somewhere, disillusioned and alone, didn't bring him any of the spiteful pride he had hoped would come.

====

Giovanni woke up to the sound of his door unbolting. He dreaded the morning wake-up call. Not only would it aggravate him further, but his sleep the night before had been spotty and restless. He did not even want to get up. Outside, he heard the sound of people clamoring in the hall, and his leaden dread just grew more intense.

Half-a-minute later, nobody had opened the door, and the sound of footsteps in the hall had stopped. Is it possible? wondered Giovanni. I've been spared? He got out of bed and slunk to the door. He waited a few seconds more before opening it a sliver. Nobody was outside.

Giovanni quietly left the room. He knew that at one end of the hall was the entrance to the courtyard, but he didn't know what was at the other end. It was his chance to explore. He walked down the hall, and examined the doors as he passed by. They all looked identical to the door of his room. These are the living quarters for all the inmates, he decided.

At the end of the hall, there was a reinforced metal door. It had no markings on it, but Giovanni heard a low buzzing noise form inside. He felt pressure emanating from it—the kind of feeling one gets before a terrible cataclysm. He had a feeling the door could be alarmed, so he didn't try to open it. He turned, left, and headed for the courtyard.

====

Giovanni saw a bunch of trainers, each with a pokéball, out on the lawn. But that Inari woman canceled this event, he thought. What are these pokémon?

Giovanni really didn't want to have to talk to anyone, but he reluctantly walked into the crowd. He was curious about whether he could retrieve a different pokémon, and about what Cyrus had been trying to tell him the day before. Something about an escape plan.... but this isn't like a blockbuster movie. I'm better off escaping on my own, right? Then again, I could just pretend to go along with his plan and throw him under the bus when it's convenient. Yes, that's just what I'll do.... But Giovanni didn't see Cyrus anywhere. With these nutcases around, he probably wouldn't tell me anything, anyway, he thought.

In the middle of the lawn was a splintering table with a single box on it. It had a crossed off name on the side. Giovanni concluded that these were pokémon being offered to anyone. He hoped whatever was inside wasn't weak and useless. He hurried to the box and peered inside—only two pokéballs left. They each had the names of pokémon written on them. One said: LUVDISC, the other: VIBRAVA.

"This choice is obvious," Giovanni said to himself. He reached for the Vibrava.

"You cretin! That pokémon is mine!" Ghetsis stomped over to the table. "Hand that Vibrava over, or I'll show you the true meaning of conquest!"

"And why would I give it to the likes of you?" asked Giovanni. "You take the Luvdisc like a good little boy."

"You can't disrespect me! I bet you're not even really Italian."

Giovanni rolled his eyes. "Why, that's true. I'm really part of the Russian Mafia. The fact that I speak Italian, and that my name is Giovanni is completely coincidental."

Ghetsis grinned. "I knew it, you fake! Now give me my pokémon!"

"No," Giovanni said, flatly. He turned away, but ran into a Ranger.

The Pokémon Ranger looked somewhat stern. "What seems to be the problem here? Is there a disagreement?"

"Giovanni won't give me the Vibrava, but it is rightfully mine!" Ghetsis whined like a toddler. "He's supposed to take that pathetic Luvdisc."

Giovanni shrugged. "I saw the Vibrava first. First come, first served, right, pokémon ranger?" he asked in a faux-pleasant tone of voice.

"Well," said the Ranger, "there's a simple way to find out who owns it.... Eeny, meeny, miny, moe!"

Giovanni scowled. "What."

"Is that some form of magical incantation?" asked Ghetsis. He bit his lip. "I don't put much faith in the occult."

"Naw, all I do is this. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, catch a Raikou by the toe..." The Ranger
pointed to each of them as he spoke. "Whoops. Sorry, Giovanni, but the pokémon belongs to Ghetsis."

Giovanni froze. He watched, utterly silent, as Ghetsis laughed, took the pokémon, and both he and the Ranger left. Giovanni quivered until the rage seeped out of his pores. His head was pounding; the entire world around him had stopped moving. His breaths grew short and raspy. "Impossible," he muttered to nobody. "It's impossible! That pokémon was mine!" He slammed his fists on the table. It shook slightly, which wasn't nearly enough for Giovanni. He kept hitting the table, over and over, until his hands felt like they had been smashed by mallets. People were starting to slowly back away, but he didn't notice. "Why does everything get taken from me? Why?!" he screamed. Tears came to his eyes, and he collapsed onto the table, his face hidden by his arms. His body was wracked by his sobs.

After the sobs stopped coming, he looked up at the box and pulled it over. The pokéball rolled out. "This Luvdisc is all I have left! This universally despised waste of a pokémon, though it's supposed to be the harbinger of love." He slowly stood up. There was a sharp pain in his back. "And yet, maybe it's more than I even deserve," he whispered. He picked up the pokéball and pressed the button. He dropped the ball on the ground, and it rolled slightly. It shook, and with a flash of light, it revealed none other than a cheerful, bright pink, smiling, Clefairy.

"Pipiriiin," said the Clefairy.

Giovanni looked down at it.

It looked up at him.

Giovanni picked the pokéball of the ground and read what was written on it. On it was printed, unmistakably and in very neat handwriting: CLEFAIRY.

"I've gone mad," said Giovanni.

"Madness is subjective, as you should be intelligent enough to know." Cyrus was standing behind him, holding his own pokéball.

Giovanni whirled around, startled. He scanned the area, and saw that nobody else was nearby. He dried his eyes on his sleeve. "I... was feigning madness to get everyone to leave me alone!"

"That would be impressive if it were true," said Cyrus.

Giovanni glared at him. "You didn't come here just to criticize me. Get to the point," he hissed.

Cyrus held out his pokéball. It had "LUVDISC" printed on it. "As you are a better pokémon Trainer than I am, I switched the pokéballs so that you were left with the stronger—"

"I don't want your pity!" snapped Giovanni.

"Pity is a product of our contemptible, incomplete hearts. What I did was for strategic purposes only." Cyrus pocketed Luvdisc's pokéball. "I need you to distract the guards while I disconnect the fence controller. Afterward, your Clefairy can break through the fence."

"And why did you ask me for help? Do you think I'm an idiot? I don't trust anybody, especially not sociopaths."

"The other inmates here have either refused to work with me, or simply have no battling experience. As for you not trusting me... that is good. Trust only creates strife. But that's beside the point—going along with my plan will benefit you."

Giovanni looked down at his Clefairy, who was happily skipping around his feet. It's true that I have other pokémon stored in the PC, and I want to escape, but still...I want to retrieve my stolen pokémon. Then again, if I don't leave now, the staff here could kill me and I'd never get my powerful pokémon back. It had never occurred to Giovanni that carrying around all of his best pokémon at all times could have been a problem. He had always assumed that he could easily crush any thief that tried to take his pokémon. Attacking trainers was unheard of. "Fine, I'm in. Just remember, Cyrus, I have no issue with taking care of former teammates."

"I expected as much. You are of somewhat above-average intelligence, after all...." said Cyrus. His face betrayed no emotion.

"What a charmer you are," Giovanni said, sarcastically.

All the way from across the lawn, none other than Lass Mia came running up to them. She skidded to a halt, after which she was out of breath. "Is that a Clefairy?!" she shrieked. "It's even cuter in real life! Oh, my goodness! Can I trade you my new Sunkern for it, Mr. Giovanni?!"

Giovanni gave her a look harsher than a Gengar's Mean Look. "No."

"Aw, well I tried," she said. "But I don't understand. I thought only a Luvdisc was left? No offense, but you were late today, Mr. Giovanni. I was actually thinking of taking it for myself, but then I realized it wasn't exactly fair."

"Cyrus switched pokémon with me," said Giovanni. "That Luvdisc is his now."

Lass Mia blinked a few times. She looked between Cyrus and Giovanni. She gave them a big, sunny smile. "That's so sweet! That's like he stole your heart! And now you'll have eternal love."

Giovanni was totally flabbergasted by this comment.

"You should hear this while you are still young," said Cyrus, blank as ever. "Love of any intensity is a transient state that only brings suffering in the end. It dies like everything else. I have shunned emotions for a reason—there are no 'positive' or 'negative' emotions, no matter what anybody says." When Mia just mirrored his blank look, he continued speaking. "...Not to mention the fact that Giovanni and I just met... and the drastic age difference between us."

"That's okay. May-December romances are cute, too! Have fun, lovebirds," she said. "I need to go play with Sunshine the Sunkern!" She ran off again.

Giovannni returned Clefairy to its pokéball. "I want to leave as soon as possible," he muttered. "When did you want to exact this plan of yours?"

"After the other inmates leave the courtyard," said Cyrus.

"Fair enough, but I am not waiting an instant longer!" He paused. "By the way, what did you mean about a drastic age difference? For your continued safety, you had better not think that I'm eighty years old."

"As I did not appear to age in the other world, I am twenty eight."

Giovanni adjusted his fedora. "Really? Not even your parents loved you, did they?"

"That's very obvious," Cyrus stated, in monotone.

"I'm getting increasingly concerned about you...."

A/N: Oh man, I'm really, really sorry this took me so long to write. I had no time and no motivation for a while. To make up for that, this chapter is a bit longer than usual, and contains some action!

You know, as I continue this story, the more it veers into black comedy territory. I've never written black comedy before, nor am I a huge fan of that genre so I think it's weird that I'm writing this. I guess that just goes with the territory of villainy, though.

By the way, am I the whose headcanon is that Giovanni is the shortest of all the evil team leaders?
Anyway...

Chapter Five​

Waiting for the day to end was hell for Giovanni. He was forced to listen to the background noise of people playing with their pokémon and having fun. The din of a crowd of people enjoying themselves was one of Giovanni's most hated sounds. It got so overpowering that he seriously considered scratching his ears off.

To add insult to injury, waiting gave him time to check his Clefairy's moves—it turned out Clefairy knew Cosmic Power, Sing, Moonlight, and Body Slam. When I get my hands on the imbecile who didn't teach it Stored Power, I'll give them a slow and painful death! he thought.

Even worse, through all of this, Cyrus was as blank as an Espurr. Giovanni knew it was a passive-aggressive insult. To him, it further confirmed Cyrus as a sociopath.

Once the sunlight turned golden and the shadows grew longer, Inari walked out into the courtyard as she had the previous day. She was pleased—she had the look of a scientist after a successful experiment. "Evildoers listen up. It's bedtime! That means each and every pokémon should be safe in its pokéball!"

Like robots, the inmates withdrew their pokémon and started walking back to their living quarters. The few who lingered were immediately hustled away by the guards.

Giovanni turned to ask Cyrus a question, but he was already gone. What, does he teleport or something?! Giovanni was fuming. How am I supposed to know when he shuts off the power? That bastard. Giovanni didn't see the controller for the fence anywhere—he figured it was on the other side of the courtyard.

Clefairy pulled on Giovanni's pant leg. The pokémon was pointing forward. Giovanni looked up and saw the Aroma Lady and her Kadabra running up to him.

"Excuse me!" she called. "You need to return your Clefairy to its pokéball now."

Giovanni didn't say anything.

"Oh, would you like a sleeping aid?" she asked. "We have Hypno around here, you know."

Giovanni shook his head.

"Okay, then I'm afraid I'll have to do this the hard way," she said quietly. "Kadabra, I choose you!" she yelled melodramatically, despite Kadabra already being outside of its pokéball.

It took its position in front of its trainer, glaring at Giovanni's Clefairy.

Giovanni just sighed. He hadn't been looking forward to this. "Clefairy, use Cosmic Power." He gestured half-heartedly at the Kadabra.

Clefairy hopped forward and began to glow with the energy of the stars.

The Aroma Lady smiled. "Oh, so you're playing that game, are you?" she whispered to herself. "Kadabra, use Double Team!"

Kadabra held up its spoon. In a flash, Kadabra's form rapidly shifted left, hiding its true body.

This doesn't matter if Clefairy has a healing move, thought Giovanni. "Clefairy, use Cosmic Power again."

Clefairy glowed more brightly.

"Kadabra, use Double Team!" yelled the Aroma Lady.

Kadabra's illusions shifted faster.

"Cosmic Power."

Clefairy glowed more brightly.

"Double Team!"

Kadabra's illusions shifted more quickly.

"Cosmic Power."

Clefairy glowed more brightly.

"Double Team."

Kadabra's illusions shifted more quickly.

"...Cosmic Power."

Clefairy was glowing so brightly it was shielded by sparkles.

The Aroma Lady threw her head back. "Ah ha ha ha! You'll never escape! Kadabra, Psybeam Clefairy to Hell!"

From Kadabra's third eye, a peculiar stream of pure, hot, willpower shot out. It slammed into Clefairy's head, scattering waves of intense alpha radiation every which way, a touch of which could make even a strong man go mad.

Clefairy wiggled its ears a little. "Piri?"

"We've almost won, Kadabra!" The Aroma Lady held up a fist. "Keep attacking!"

By now, the sky was a hazy purple. The sun had nearly set. Giovanni didn't see anybody else in the courtyard, and he knew that if he waited any longer, he would be left wandering around in the dark with no idea where he was. "You know what? I forfeit." He turned away. "Clefairy, follow behind me." He left to look for Cyrus.

Clefairy answered with a confused peep, and hopped after him.

The Aroma Lady smiled sweetly. "Yay! He's running away like the coward he is. Good job, Kadabra."

====

After walking in a complete circle all around the building, Giovanni found Cyrus and Luvdisc in front of an open fuse box. Luvdisc was holding screws between its lips.

It figures that I'd find him all the way over here. "Are you done yet?" Giovanni adjusted his hat for the nth time that day. "I've already waited all day for this."

"Yes, I am done," said Cyrus.

"Good." Giovanni pointed to the fence. "Clefairy, use Body Slam to break that."

Clefairy dove into the fence. The wires snapped under its body weight.

Giovanni suddenly felt lighter, like an Air Balloon was slowly lifting him. He wasn't even thinking of the horrible, repetitive life he'd have to return to after gaining his freedom.

Without needing to discuss it, he and Cyrus ran out. There could have been security cameras on them. Outside the E-Anon compound was an uninviting wood.

====

The woods definitely didn't feel like the open and airy Viridian Forest. The trees here were dark and gangly, and after what had happened with Cofagrigus, Giovanni was extra paranoid. He wouldn't have been surprised if they came to life and attacked him. He recalled hearing about a ghost-type pokémon in Kalos that was exactly like that.

"We're clearly still in Unova somewhere," he said. "How are we going to figure out where we are? Climb a tree?"

"And if we only see more trees?" Cyrus asked. "When the clouds clear, I can easily use the stars to decide which way to go. Now, we wait."

Giovanni blanched. "Are you kidding me?! That could take hours! Do you really think they're not tracking us right now?!"

"We would be hiding. They guards in that compound were clearly incompetent. They are no danger."

"Suit yourself." Giovanni turned away. "Even if they don't find you, I for one happen to know the importance of not starving to death in the dark. But don't think I'm questioning the wisdom from your big city upbringing," he said sarcastically.

"It would be irrational to run off." Cyrus still looked blank. "Since we only have two pokémon between us, if we split up and you ran around in circles and died, it would be inconvenient.... so I don't have a problem with looking for food and water," he said. "I am exceedingly patient."

Giovanni glared at him. "You're not the one dealing with a sociopath." He took out his pokéball and sent out his Clefairy. "Take us to water," he commanded it.

Clefairy stared up at the sky, expectantly.

"There's no moon!" Giovanni snapped. "I said listen for water!"

Clefairy chirped, annoyed. It hopped away with its wings fluttering, going deeper into the woods.

Giovanni and Cyrus walked after it. "What makes you think this will work?" Cyrus asked.

"I'm actually intelligent, unlike most people," Giovanni sneered. "Besides, I used to sell Clefairy on the black market. I had to instruct my employees on how to capture them."

"...How wasteful...."

"Really? Maybe if your parents had been kind enough to buy you a pokémon like that once in a while, you wouldn't have turned out like this."

"Fortunately not. I was never easily swayed," Cyrus said deadpan.

Clefairy kept hopping for a few more minutes before it stopped in front of a short, oddly-shaped green bush with pointed leaves splayed out at its base.

"What?! I asked for water, insolent pixie!" Giovanni yelled. "These berries had better be edible."

Cyrus pointed to the leaves at the bottom of the berry plant. Giovanni noticed drops of water dripping from them. He felt his temper flare even more. How could I forget?! Clefairy can hear a pin drop! Why do I do this to myself?!

Cyrus picked a berry from the plant and peeled it carefully. "These berries are edible," he said.

"How would you know?" hissed Giovanni. "Don't tell me you used to run around in forests!"

"No... but these berries were sold at the Veilstone City Department Store."

"Of course. How could I forget. I'm sure you lived holed-up in the basement of some lab in a big, bustling city." Giovanni didn't want to show it, but he was exhausted, and his eyes hurt. He covered his face with his palm. I admit it. I'm too old for this, he thought. If any legendary pokémon is reading my mind right now, please strike me dead. Actually, just strike everyone dead....

"You keep making assumptions," said Cyrus. "My home city is on the seashore."

"Huh?" Giovanni looked up. "Excuse me for drawing a faulty conclusion based on how you look worse than a reanimated corpse!"

Cyrus didn't react to that comment. "I am also obviously not a sociopath." He bit into the berry and it crunched very loudly.

"That's exactly what sociopaths always say," said Giovanni. I hope that thing is hard enough to crack all his teeth.

While they were talking, Clefairy had jumped up and grabbed a berry for itself. It ate down to the stem until it bit into an incredibly bitter area. Not satisfied with the flavor of the fruit, it chucked it into the distance, hard as a fighting-type using Seismic Toss.

Clefairy looked into the darkness, ears wiggling. It shook a little and bolted off to the left.

"Wh—what is that insubordinate pokémon doing?!" Giovanni didn't have time to react before Clefairy was too far to recall to its pokéball.

"It probably heard somethi—" Cyrus was cut off by a deafening roar that sounded like the angry lovechild of a rusty trash compactor and a starving banshee in its final death throes.

A hulking pokémon with red, demonic horns dashed at them out of the darkness, before suddenly stopping to glare down at them with serpentine yellow eyes. But instead of just ripping them in half, it made tittering noises as if waiting for a cue. It was a bug type, and even with its stubby pointed legs it stood tall as a Lapras.

Cyrus looked up at it blankly. "It's a Scolipede."

"I can see that," Giovanni hissed, quietly as possible. "Do something, you fool!"

Cyrus took out his pokéball and sent out his Luvdisc. "Use Sweet Kiss," he told it.

Since it was only two feet tall Luvdisc bounced up to try and kiss its foe. Scolipede took this as a declaration of war. It snatched up Luvdisc before it could do anything and crushed it in its powerful jaws. Luvdisc's weak defenses made it faint instantly.

Cyrus quickly withdrew Luvdisc. Scolipede roared again, this time eyeing the two humans as its enemies.

Without stopping to think, Giovanni and Cyrus bolted in the direction Clefairy had run.

"Run in a zigzag!" Giovanni panted. "It's faster than us!"

The Scolipede let out another cry and dashed after them. Giovanni's idea seemed to work—whenever the Scolipede got close to a tree, its many legs rippled and it slowed just slightly to curve its body. But there was no way a human could outlast a pokémon with Speed Boost. It was only getting faster.

Giovanni tried not to focus on anything but running. He refused to give in to the temptation to look back. He tried not to think of the horns and poisoned tail that were right behind him. He knew if he tripped he would be impaled.

Everything in the forest looked the same, as if the trees were just all the same tile or stamp placed over and over to confuse people. But just as Giovanni figured he was going to collapse from exhaustion, he saw a bright point of light in the distance. It grew and grew, too fast for it just to be an illusion caused by him running closer.

The light is... bright pink? thought Giovanni.

Cyrus hit Giovanni in the back and pushed him to the ground. "Down," Cyrus said in a clipped tone. He quickly ducked himself.

Giovanni glanced up, irritated, and saw the ball of light shoot through the air above his head. He heard a loud crunch and the sound of something snapping behind him. He looked back and saw a splintered, smoldering tree stump, and the Scolipede knocked out at its base.

Clefairy leaped out of the darkness and landed in front of Giovanni. It was chirping happily.

Giovanni slowly pushed himself to his feet. He was panting as sweat dripped down his forehead. I'm too old for this, too old for this, too old for this... his thoughts were like a broken record. He hadn't run so fast since the time he tried to take a Kangaskhan's baby. "This is why I hate Unova's pokémon. There aren't any eight-foot-tall Beedrill back in Kanto," he muttered. "Anyway, what was that giant globe of light? An attack?"

Cyrus was already standing up. "Yes. A fairy-type attack from Clefairy... Moonblast."

"Since when has Clefairy been able to do something like that? You think somebody would have noticed years ago!"

Cyrus didn't answer. Giovanni assumed he didn't know either. They looked around—the Scolipede had chased them into a clear area with a deep channel running through it. Cyrus and Giovanni walked to the edge of the and discovered that it was a river with very little water flowing in it. There were shiny round stones covering the bottom.

Clefairy, entranced by the stones, jumped into the river.

"Get back here!" snapped Giovanni. Clefairy ignored him.

Without saying anything, Cyrus carefully stepped down into the river. He walked against the weak current.

"What are you doing?!" Giovanni felt like he was reaching the end of his rope, or possibly his fuse. "You're even more insane than I thought!"

Cyrus stopped. "If you keep yelling, you will likely attract attention," he said quietly. "If people are indeed hunting us, they may be ignorant enough to overlook this river. Besides, Clefairy could be sensing an evolution stone among these rocks. Will you yield to my logic?"

"I'm not yielding to anything," said Giovanni, but he climbed down the bank anyway. "I'll follow you because if you die, I'm going to be right there to take your pokémon."

"I only have one pokémon, and it is virtually useless. You're lying about your reasons. You agree with my logic," said Cyrus.

"I do not! You're insane!"

"Bickering is pointless. Stop yelling." Cyrus walked away.

Giovanni scowled, and reluctantly followed him. It's not like I have any say in this, he thought. Does it really matter if I get the last word in? Nobody cares.

They walked for a few minutes, but it felt like hours to Giovanni. He tried to keep himself sane by watching the different shapes and colors of the rocks he was walking on, but they all looked pretty much the same. The splashing of the water repeated again and again, becoming more torturous each second. I'm ruining my custom-made shoes. But I'm not really losing anything that matters, am I? Giovanni felt intensely melancholy at that thought. But I suppose I'll force Cyrus to pay for them just to spite him. Sociopaths tend to be rich. I should know... I employed so many of them in the old days. But I made sure my executives were never like that. In fact, I remember....

A deep rumbling sound cut through his reminiscence. Giovanni looked straight ahead and saw that the river ended in a waterfall. It was all he could focus on, and so he froze. All he could hear was the rushing of water replacing his whole world. Nothing else existed in his mind. Nothing else mattered. He felt the water soaking through his clothes.

Something slippery slapped Giovanni in the face. His eyes flew open—he didn't realize he had closed them. It had started raining heavily and he hadn't even noticed. "...Did something hit me just now?" he asked tiredly. He could almost hear bursts of radio static taunting him in the distance.

"Yes. I had Luvdisc slap you," said Cyrus. Luvdisc was playing in the water at his feet. "Are you... afraid of waterfalls?" Cyrus asked.

"Uh, I had...a bad experience at the waterfalls in Johto. I was planning to rejoin Team Rocket, but a child defeated me again, and I was feeling... disappointed... and I, well—"

"I didn't ask for your life story." Cyrus returned Luvdisc to its pokeball.

Giovanni felt his anger level rise to the usual. "Well, excuse me for assuming that you aren't a machine," he said sarcastically. "Tell me, do you have any bright ideas about getting out of here now that it's pouring? Shouldn't we find shelter?!" His words were punctuated by a thunderclap. "Aren't you terrified at the thought of your hair gel washing out?"

Cyrus pointed to the waterfall. Giovanni watched his Clefairy slip behind the stream of water to a hollow in the rock. "We can use that as a hiding place," said Cyrus.

Giovanni flinched. "No!" he yelled, taking a step back, almost falling backwards into the water. "I will never sleep in a cave behind a waterfall again!"

"You'd rather die of exposure?"

I am freezing cold and wet— Giovanni was just weighing his options when he saw another strange burst of light shining from behind the waterfall like a star in the night.

A happy Clefable walked out of the waterfall, not even disturbed by the rain. It was holding a jagged grey stone.

"I was right. Your Clefairy was looking for an evolutionary stone," said Cyrus. "Now, have you calmed enough to listen to me?"

"I'm perfectly calm!" Giovanni snapped. "I'm not going to wait for hours trying to fall asleep. You'll have to drag me into that cave if you want me to stay there!" He turned to Clefable. "Come here!" he ordered. It walked up to him obediently. "Use Sing," he said.

Clefable turned left and right, trying to find a target.

"Use Sing on me," said Giovanni.

Clefable took a deep breath. It sang a high but calming lullaby that soothed Giovanni's anger. Soon Giovanni found himself getting sleepy. He could feel a velvet curtain descend behind his eyes. He drifted off to sleep standing up.

====

Giovanni woke up to the sound of maniacal giggling. Instantly he knew the situation was bad. He was in a chair, back in the E-Anon Compound. A Pokemon Ranger stood giggling in front of him, with an imposing circle of guards behind her. Giovanni tried to get up, but his arms and legs were strapped into the chair. He looked to his left and saw Cyrus was beside him, also strapped into a chair.

"How did you capture us?" Cyrus asked in quiet monotone. "How did you know where we were?"

"Guess who can control the minds of sleeping people?" She grinned sadistically. She pointed to a pleased-looking Gothorita that was standing beside her. "I'm afraid that Inari isn't very lenient with disobedient recovering evildoers."

"My pokémon! Where did you take it?!" Giovanni fruitlessly struggled against his bonds.

"Now, now, don't worry. We're all good people here. We'll give you two your pokémon back after today's activity."

"What are you going to do to us?!" Giovanni's eyes were wide with terror.

"Oh, we're only going to help your recovery along." She turned to the other guards. "Okay, everybody, let's teach these sad men how to be nice! Bring out... the happy pills!"

Thank you for the in-depth look, Logical Cabbage! Even though this is a comedy, I've been trying to showcase the different types of villainy, what makes people turn bad, and whether a villain can ever be happy or content.

As for character development: when I first starting writing this story, all I had in mind for Giovanni was that he was a depressed jerk because he lost to kids. But as I was writing more in his head, I realized that those trends in his character had to go further back in his life. He still has "depressed jerk syndrome" in spades, but it is also deeper than that. I'm glad you're liking my characterization of him. I hope I don't need a trigger warning for all those suicide references....

As for Cyrus, I had a clear understanding of him from the beginning. I find his philosophy to be hypocritical in many ways. In fact, I find Cyrus himself to a huge hypocrite. He must have a ton of cognitive dissonance under that icy facade of his. I'll get more into his problems in the next chapter.

I was worried that my readers wouldn't like the shift into... "buddy" comedy, either. I'm glad you still love it!

Logical Cabbage said:

Who exactly are these people that claim to be Evil Anonymous? Why did they gather leaders that disappeared kids beat them up? And why are normal people there too? What are their true intentions? We have some things answered; they obviously want total control over them, this is possibly a mental hospital, and maybe they plan on using them...

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The climax will have a creepy, but very funny and ironic reveal to them. ;) The villains' villain, that's what E-Anon is!

Logical Cabbage said:

I just love this fan fiction! To think I hated Giovanni for so long....

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Awww. Thank you so much! :pink_blush:
Well, it's still okay to hate Giovanni if you want. He did do some awful stuff!

Purely as constructive criticism, no flame.
==========================

Righty-o good chap, this fanfic is about the criminals of Pokemon which fevorously took charge in many plans involving many people, so lets get to the core that they are evil as you have capitalized on very well.

However reading the latest chapter you posted I have to say that I wasn't hyped as much. The happy pill effect may have been overdone a little bit. Going into other things I didn't find strong use of literary devices (but no one really pays attention to that) and symbolism a little meak. While this is a series which has had a profound and well start, some thing can be improved.

Maybe not what I presented as these are purely suggestions and nothing but. This may be only me who thinks these things, however.

Why would I think your review was a flame? 0_o

I thought that I could get away with making the happy pills scene exaggerated because it was for comedy. Like the audience thinking that Ghetsis's name was Cheez-its, among other things. What would be better, in your opinion? What was the element that felt overdone to you?

NyxShooter said:

Going into other things I didn't find strong use of literary devices (but no one really pays attention to that) and symbolism a little meak. While this is a series which has had a profound and well start, some thing can be improved.

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I feel like I don't totally understand what you mean by this. Which literary device would you like more of? Layering? I suppose I could have more in the next chapter—I admit that I wasn't thinking that through during the writing process of this chapter. If it's not layering that you're talking about, which device? I thought I was doing a pretty good job of thematic symbolism, honestly.

If I'm going to improve the rest of the story, I need more specific details. Explain it in a PM or VM or something, and I'll make sure to work on it next time!

Here's your review reward for completing the challenge for the first three chapters!

Firstly:

This fanfiction is a satire that is meant to deconstruct the common Pokémon fanfiction plot of every single evil team leader joining forces.

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I have to confess, despite knowing of the concept, I have not read any fic that actually did this. Maybe it's more common on other sites or I just haven't been reading enough of late however, but I'm afraid I possibly won't 'get' some of the deconstructions.

The concept thus far is certainly interesting. I am intrigued by this E-Anon group and what their actual purpose is. They sure like their Psychic types as well... and lethal fences. You've done well in setting them up and portraying the few characters that are a part of this group shown thus far. Giovanni is enjoyable enough to read about, although I would like to see some more development and expansion of him later on (guess I'd need to read more to see!). At the moment it seems to a bit too much of him getting angry and frustrated by the position he finds himself in, and while that's certainly understandable and realistic I feel there's more he can offer later on, and hope so too as he may run the risk of being too predictable otherwise.

Cyrus seems to be nailed, while Ghetsis is perhaps a bit too much of a raving old person for my liking. I guess I could see him that way following the events of B2W2, if I'm recalling some dialogue from the Shadow Triad correctly, but I'm not too fond of him as there doesn't seem to be too much offered from him thus far. His speech to everyone didn't seem to carry quite the same weight as he supposedly does in canon (see BW and his various speeches to the public about releasing Pokémon). Wonder what he did with trapping Giovanni though, hmm...

Most of the plot seems to have held up nicely so far, but in chapter three I was bugged by the 'let them have a Pokémon for an hour' part. To begin with, it seems awfully dangerous of them to do that in the first place, and even more so that the Pokeballs are just sitting in boxes like that (and all of them for that matter – if they're only allowed one, why not just bring up one to them?). And that one let Ghetsis take a Dark type anyway. That was only ever going to end one way. This is my biggest issue with how the story has progressed thus far – otherwise I don't have many qualms (just questions about the motives of E-anon, how they're 'converting' people exactly, and so forth, which the rest of the story hopefully takes care of!).

The description is nice enough with character reactions and how they speak. I noticed that you liked using a lot of similes with pokemon (shining like a Sunflora), but also consider changing it up a bit more or pairing it up with some description to bach that up (e.g. 'Giovanni felt more angry than an abused pokémon using Frustration.' - you could try in addition/instead of this mentioning say that Giovanni 'clenched his fist' or some action that would indicate to readers he is angry, without outright telling them that he 'felt more angry than ___').

Perhaps some sentences could be joined or expanded, as they feel too short. E.g.:

He turned the handle. But the door didn't budge.

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This would read better as one sentence (He turned the handle, but the door didn't budge.) And sometimes I feel you tend to 'tell' a bit too much, e.g.:

Unfortunately for him, the Breeder couldn't take a hint and patted Giovanni on the back.

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Here you tell us that the Breeder couldn't take a hint, but his previous actions, as well as what he did here (patted him on the back, followed by his dialogue) already indicated this fact to us.

The battles did feel a bit too quick to end for my liking as well. Gallade went down in one hit, as did the Hydreigon. Maybe you are treating it somewhat like the games when it can typically happen, but it doesn't quite make for a thrilling event. While it's good that you describe the Pokemon's reactions to attacks, some more description of that and how they react would also help the feeling I got that they followed a pattern of 'Pokemon X prepared ___ and launched this attack/Pokemon Y took the hit and reacted/fainted'. An example:

Rhyperior smashed the ground using its tail. It sent a shockwave hurtling to Cofagrigus. The shockwave hit its target, and Cofagrigus was sent flying backward. But using its arms, it dug into the ground and kept itself from slamming into anything.

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Here, you describe one thing after another (which sorta links in with my earlier comment about considering merging some sentences). Rhyperior did ___/This cause ___ to happen/It hit and Cofagrigus flew back/It did __ to stop itself is the base of this, but we don't get much of an idea of say the senses (sound - the sound of the attack, or if either Pokemon made any sounds in executing/withstanding the attack) or touch (how did the shockwave feel to Giovanni, for instance?) Some extra details would liven up the battle and make it more exciting to read, and easier to visualise too. Certainly there's a base, but it needs some more fleshing out, I feel.

There are a bunch of typos or presentation issues here and there; here's a sample as well as some suggestions.

It was a cool summer night, just past ten o'clock and the streetlights were shining bright, causing the buildings to shimmer a bluish-green.

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This would be better as two sentences imo ('It was a cool summer night. It was just past ten o'clock and...', or maybe something along the lines of 'It was just past ten o'clock on the cool summer night. The streetlights were...' may be better, as it separates the subject of time from the setting and description of it).

Giovanni had made some lame excuse about needing to buy repels so that he could leave the PWT before anybody else.

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It may be worth writing out PWT in full (Pokemon World Tournament), so readers who haven't played B2W2 don't have to guess at it.

He wasn't fond of many of the native pokémon of Unova, and besides, his adventurous days were over. He stopped to pull his fedora over his eyes. I'll stop by the PokéMart, then be on my way, he thought. He walked past several emerald-studded buildings. He was glad they didn't shine much at night.

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I didn't really notice this be a problem otherwise, but here there were a number of sentences starting with 'H' (He wasn't, He stopped, (thought) he though, He walked, He was. These phrases get repetitive and can make the paragraph feel more like a detailed list of events, so watch out for cases of starting sentences the same way too often and vary it more often.

My pokémon, thought Giovanni, I have to find them!

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Sometimes you forget to put the thoughts in italics here and there, like in this case, or this one:

After all, if those guards get distracted, I want to make a clean break for the exits, thought Giovanni, though what do about his stolen pokémon was still unclear to him.

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Meanwhile, this:

This is hell, he thought.

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was all in italics.

"You will suffer for this." Giovanni seethed, but without pokémon of his own, there wasn't much he could do but look threatening.

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I think this may be better if you treated it all as one sentence and had a comma at the end of the dialogue as a result, rather than the full stop.

"Greetings, degenerate fools. I am the rightful ruler of the region of Unova."

"Hi, rightful ruler of the region of Unova!"

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Haha. Good Dennis joke as well. I quite enjoyed the general setup of chapter two, although I was a bit confused on what it really achieved in the end for E-anon. Guess it wasn't a particularly useful session for them for the bigger baddies.

Giovanni smirked. "Because you were never allowed to join in on any reindeer games? Also,
weren't you also defeated by a kid?"

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Occasionally you had hit enter in the middle of a sentence (or it appears that way).

Giovanni had his mouth pressed into a thin line.

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I don't think you need to tell us he 'had' his mouth like that, but rather just state that 'Giovanni pressed his mouth into a thin line'.

Proton cracked a few skulls for me that way, I recall....

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Three dots for an ellipsis.

Lass Mia, of all people, seemed convinced. "Wow, you're so right! I mean, I saw a documentary
about Red, and he was really, really, cute!"

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Another case of a sentence seemingly having the enter key pressed midway through. Poor Giovanni, I bet nobody calls him cute.

In an instant, a sound like a super-effective Thunder resounded.

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This description seemed a bit odd to me, partly with the 'sound...resounded' bit, and the need to point out a Thunder would be super-effective seems a bit needless to me. I think it might have been better to just describe how it would actually sound like here.

I mean, every door is unlocked at the same time each day, unless a worker like me opens it for you."

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Did you maybe mean to write 'every door is locked'?

But Golbat and Gyrados are still okay.

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Gyarados.

Wait, didn't I have my Honchcrow forget Fly? Why, why, why would I have done that?!

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Why indeed? I'm not sure why he would have done this, or if it really benefits the story to have a four-limit-rule thrown in, or leastways indicated here when you could have gone without it imo. It just doesn't seem to make much sense to me to have this part in.

The Pokémon Ranger screamed and scrambled to his feet. He ran away, still screaming.

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screamed and screaming in two sentences is a bit repetitive; but again, you could remove the last two words and merge the rest into two sentences (...scrambled to his feet before sprinting off, yelling all the way).

Overall I enjoyed this start to the story, and there's a good basis. I hope my comments on what to possibly improve on come in useful. Good luck with the rest of the story!

Thank you for the prize, bobandbill!

bobandbill said:

Firstly:I have to confess, despite knowing of the concept, I have not read any fic that actually did this. Maybe it's more common on other sites or I just haven't been reading enough of late however, but I'm afraid I possibly won't 'get' some of the deconstructions.

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Really? I've seen them everywhere. It doesn't matter, though, because my story has turned into something nothing like my original premise.

At the moment it seems to a bit too much of him getting angry and frustrated by the position he finds himself in, and while that's certainly understandable and realistic I feel there's more he can offer later on, and hope so too as he may run the risk of being too predictable otherwise.

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Yeah. When I rewrite this story after the whole thing is finished, I will make sure to show more of Giovanni's manipulative side and his sarcastic side. I mean, I did show him being depressed and suicidal after chapter four, but I agree that I have him snapping too often.

Ghetsis... I don't know. In my mind, he broke after BW2, even though he used to be a super-manipulator. I'm trying to figure out how to work him into the rest of the story, but it isn't going well.
Another thing to fix in the rewrites.

The let them have a pokemon for an hour thing was intended to be a form of torture, like taking away their last hopes, but I can see that it's problematic. I meant to show Ghetsis getting his Hydreigon back as just one guard's slip-up.
E-Anon's motives are going to be revealed in the next chapter (chapter nine, I think).

These telling vs. showing things I will also fix after I finish the story. I agree with everything you said.
Urk. No excuse for those typos! Formatting everything after being used to my word processor is difficult. Yes, Giovanni's thoughts are all supposed to be in italics. I will go back and fix all of those errors when I have time, probably after I get chapter nine finished.

Another case of a sentence seemingly having the enter key pressed midway through. Poor Giovanni, I bet nobody calls him cute.

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I have no idea how I manage to do that. Damn you, awful forum formatting! *shakes fist*

The only things I disagree with are the PWT thing and the four move limit. The PWT is used as an acronym in BW2, and nobody will understand what's going on in my fanfiction if they don't know that game anyway. Actually, I should probably point that out somewhere. With the four move only limit, I think something to do with having a pokemon in a pokeball limits it to knowing four moves, probably as a government safety practice. I also just thought it was funny.