OOC: Whew, after a long day and a half of mixing semi-dangerous chemicals together and watching them turn purple, pulling apart and examining flowers, learning about plant structures and animal respiration, salsa dancing, and EV training in Diamond inbetween classes, I am finally able to post. And my post actually fits right in with both chapters, so this really works out. I already know this is going to be a long post, as I have to cover two chapters and don't feel like skipping ahead too much, so just bear with me.
IC:
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After the ferry docked in Olivine City, there was roughly one hour before Lupin had to head to the train station to catch the train to Goldenrod City. The question was, what was there to do in such an hour? Glancing around the city, he saw one narrow street flanked by fairly tall and run-down buildings, with bright lights and even a paper lantern or two lining it. Quite a few people were walking down this street, some in couples, some in large groups, some alone. A couple of those people were walking in a crooked manner, or even dancing, and some wore clothing which made them look quite flirtatious--especially the case with a few large groups of girls. Lupin stared down this street for quite some time, though for a far different reason than the aforementioned girls.
"Mis misdreavus?" Maleficent asked Lupin, having glanced around the city herself.
Lupin stopped to ponder for a while, apparently wondering whether or not going down that street was a good idea. From the looks of things, there had to be some sort of club or lounge there, or maybe just a party of some sort. Apparently, this area of town was one of the areas affected the least by Team Rocket. It truly followed the old adage a fellow Black Cat Bandit once informed him of: when times get tough and streets get rough, the night life still survives enough.
At last Lupin headed toward that street, figuring that at least just walking down it wouldn't cause any harm. As he did so, he told Maleficent to fly high above him, where she could not be seen as easily. But the young Misdreavus was still able to see her new trainer, and was curious as to what he was planning to do.
If he's going into that club or whatever over there, I wanna go in as well, she thought. This is a fun area to scare people in, hee hee hee.
To Maleficent's slight dismay, Lupin did not enter any of the buildings lining the street, not even the club which was the source of all the commotion on the street. From her viewpoint, Lupin was just moving his way through the crowds, walking unusually close to some people at some times. This seemed odd to her--didn't Lupin seem like the type who would stay away from these people? Then Maleficent almost laughed out loud when she saw Lupin approach one of the girls from behind. He looked like he was trying to touch her butt or something.
In reality, instead of touching the girl, Lupin was slipping his hand inside the opening in her purse--it helped that she was engaged in a conversation with the girls around her and probably tipsy. With a subtle yet swift motion of his fingers, he pulled out something papery then let the girls walk ahead. A smirk played across his face as he turned a corner and walked down a more deserted street. As he did, he examined what he had just stolen.
1800 Pokedollars, hmm, that's more than I expected. That girl must have received a few tips in that club, perhaps. Of course, who am I to tell?
Just then, Maleficent appeared in front of him, almost in his face. She could hardly stop herself from giggling.
"Mis mis mis..." she muttered in quite a tattle-tale tone.
It wasn't too long before Lupin figured out what Maleficent was laughing at. He showed her the stolen money.
"Ah, I wasn't looking for sexual satisfaction--I was looking for this. Though from above it probably looked like something a pervert would do, didn't it?"
Maleficent ceased her laughter and stared at the money.
"Mis mis mis? Mmm... mismismismis."
For the next few minutes, Lupin wandered about the rest of the city. At one point he passed by the Olivine Gym, which looked like it had been recently refurbished. A couple of Rocket guards were standing outside, but Lupin quickly walked past them, indicating that he wasn't interested in challenging the gym.
"You're right, I didn't really need the money," Lupin said to Maleficent while they were passing through a darker part of the city. "It is true that I follow the motto of 'quickly, quietly, reasonably', and the 'reasonably' becomes an issue sometimes. But practice is a reason, as it's essential for keeping a skill sharp, and that applies to anything. Keep in mind this is what I do for a living--at least part of it anyway."
The darkened passageway opened onto a more brightly lit street. Maleficent flew ahead of Lupin and clinged to the wall of a building, peering around the corner and waiting. Then, she flew out and gave a startling shout, causing two teenage boys to jump and shout in surprise. The mischievous Misdreavus cackled in satisfaction, and dark energy started emanating from the two boys, merging into a funnel-like shape that entered one of the orbs on her "necklace". Lupin knew that this was a Misdreavus's method of collecting energy--fear was like a food source to her.
Speaking of a food source, at that point Lupin remembered that he had not eaten since last evening. However, he didn't really feel hungry for some reason, nor anything close to it. For a moment he thought about whether he should go get something to eat anyway, but one look at the clock on his cell phone told him it was probably a better idea to start heading to the train station.
At the station, Lupin stood behind a short line of other apprentices, who boarded the train one by one. However, before he could get in the train, a large Rocket official thrust his stubby arm out to stop him.
"'Ey, ticket and ID come before board," he demanded, upon which Lupin lazily flashed the two, ignoring the official's attitude.
During the train ride, and the bus ride that followed, Lupin sat there in a row by himself, lost in thought, a hint of a sad expression on his face. The sight of those blasted berry trees easily seen from the window certainly didn't help, nor the fact that he was headed for Goldenrod City. He remembered too well the time when he and Yamiko were wandering around the city, Yamiko's Kirlia safely in her Pokeball. It was a sunny afternoon, which was bad enough. Lupin wanted to come to Goldenrod because he had heard of a Rocket meeting going on in what used to be the Radio Tower, and that Namba and another important Rocket official were supposed to be present. However, when the two were walking by the gym, the two men guarding it ran towards them, demanding that Yamiko hand Kirlia over. Figuring that these were people who knew about Kirlia being rescued from the Rocket's storage facilities, and fearing that they knew that Lupin was the one who did the rescuing (which fortunately they didn't), Lupin grabbed Yamiko and ran away. The two guards gave chase, sending out a pair of Machokes with a strange kind of robotic band around their necks. At some point Yamiko sent out her Kirlia to battle these Machokes, but somehow they were able to resist Kirlia's Confusion attack somewhat. One delivered a punch so powerful that Kirlia fainted instantly, and had to be returned before the guards could snatch her.
Again Lupin and Yamiko ran for it; by that time, the guards were calling other officers to their assistance. At one point, while the two were momentarily out of view around a corner, Lupin came up with a plan. Handing all his belongings to Yamiko, he ran out and was promptly chased by the officers, who demanded to know where Yamiko went and various other information about her. Somehow they knew that the two were very close. Meanwhile, Yamiko fled along a specific backroute that lead to Route 34, escaping the clutches of the officers who had been successfully distracted by Lupin. But Lupin could not escape so easily, and eventually the officers cornered him and carried him away to Team Rocket's special prison, housed in a building below where the Game Corner once was.
It was then that memories of the prison flooded Lupin's mind, along with it images of grimy cells, of being naked, of cries and screams all around, of needles and whips and red-hot steel... and of his barely manageable escape. Similarly, thoughts of the ship he had hitched a ride on when he was ten years old, being locked up in the closet, his father's voice, and a brief image of a bathtub he quickly shut out of his mind. As he slowly regained awareness of the physical world around him (a.k.a. the train), he began to notice that something was being drained from him. Not something that made him feel weary, but that eased the fading away of such awful memories. Looking to his right, he saw that Maleficent was once again absorbing energy into her orbs.
"Mis mis misdreavus," Maleficent said to him, sounding like she was thanking him. This tone of gratitude and excitement increased as she kept absorbing energy.
"Miiisdra! Mis mis vus!" She was almost laughing with satisfaction. When Lupin finally looked at her, she smiled and nodded.
Lupin could not understand Misdreavus language, which was unfortunate because at that point Maleficent commented on how good an energy source he was.
Wow, what a difference! Maleficent thought. All I could absorb from those two boys was a form of petty surprise. But Lupin actually has some real fear in him! I've been craving that for so long! Who knows, he just might be quite different from the black-hearted thief I thought he was. I was surprised to learn that he was a thief in the first place, even. How interesting... Hmm, I guess I just might stick around him some more, if for only the fact that he's an excellent source of fear energy. I'm almost starting to wonder where all that energy comes from...
Finally, the bus stopped in New Bark Town (obviously Lupin did not want to make any stops in Goldenrod City along the way) with an abrupt slam on the brakes. Although his mind was still drifting a slight bit, when the sudden stop happened, Lupin was able to react quickly enough, throwing his legs out in front of him so that he "landed" on the back of the seat in front of him. He waited until the people who were especially startled by this ran off the bus, then exited himself, Maleficent following in the shadows behind him.
Dr. Namba's lab looked quite different from the laboratory Lupin used to see pictures of in various places, from when it was still owned by Professor Elm. Of course, Lupin knew plenty about Namba--he had overheard several Rocket officials talking about him, and heard a news report long ago about a device he invented--one that made Pokemon ultra powerful by inducing anger in them. A pesky trainer named Ash Ketchum had supposedly interfered with Namba's plans before he could successfully patent the device to the rest of the team, though. But this was back in the old days. Now, Team Rocket was the dominant force of Johto, and Namba's lab was filled with evil-looking gadgets and half-finished machines.
Then there was a picture of Namba standing inbetween Jessie and James, the prestigious leaders of Team Rocket. Lupin knew that anyone who was permitted to share a picture with those two must be someone very important indeed. So as he entered the lab, he became increasingly aware of his surroundings, taking frequent looks around whenever possible, noting anything that was worth investigating later on. He especially took note of the various devices on display. One was a headband with a cracked red orb on it--this he knew to be the aforementioned anger device, which was apparently Namba's first invention. Then there were accessories for specific Pokemon to use--many of these looked like modified rare items. There was what looked like a robotic spoon, apparently held by Kadabra or Alakazam to grant insanely powerful telekinetic abilities. There was what looked sort of like a life jacket but had a picture of a Fearow behind it--this was used to boost a bird Pokemon's flight capabilities. There was even a wool patch that apparently made Mareep's electric attacks deadly enough to kill a person with one touch of Mareep's wool. Many laser beams surrounded this one, indicating that it was probably one of Namba's most dangerous inventions.
And then there was Namba himself, who gazed at each of the apprentices intently as they entered. He was just finished giving a few materials to someone, who left the lab to spend the night in a nearby house, when he saw Lupin and started talking to him. Lupin was not intimidated by the maniacal expression on his face, nor the devices in the room, nor even Namba's words, but he was careful to retain a sort of poker face, showing neither amusement nor surprise. Namba certainly not seem like a pushover to him, so he couldn't let his guard down for any reason when around him. But Lupin decided to treat him like any member of a rival gang--just that, a rival. Namba was simply another business relation he had to deal with.
"Ah, you must be Lupin Merrimac," Namba said to him. This was not Lupin's real name, but since Merrimac was his mother's maiden name, it looked legit. "Ah, don't tell me--another of Dr. Wolfe's recruits?"
Lupin nodded. "Yes, I received a special invitation from him a couple nights ago."
"Hmm, then he must have observed you and found you qualified for our organisation," Namba commented, nodding and rubbing his chin. "Well, I obviously don't know anything about you just yet, but let's just say you're a teeny tiny bit easier to trust than some of these teenagers who came walking in here earlier. How old are you anyway?"
"Twenty-three."
"Hmm, you looked a bit older than that. But that is no matter. Son, I hope you're ready for an adventure that will test your skills to the most painful extreme."
I just had one such adventure just a few weeks ago, Lupin thought, remembering his time in prison. Although there was a small part of him that screamed for all the suffering he experienced in life to stop, he set that aside, brave and confident and ready to face the inevitable challenge. Even so, Namba saw the grave expression on Lupin's face, and saw him nod in serious approval.
"Only the most ruthless Privates, which you currently are by the way, will make it to any rank close to that which is even remotely near to the level that Jessie and James, our Generals, are at, so I hope you came prepared, or you might lose that Misdreavus you brought with you."
Maleficent did not falter, but she did give Namba a disapproving stare.
I'll put a curse on you before that happens!
At that point Namba stood up. Although he stood a full head shorter than Lupin, he still tried to appear threatening (but failed quite a bit). He pointed to the small R on Lupin's chest.
"That R is an important symbol of your commitment. If you wear it proudly and righteously, people will cower at the sight of you, and their Pokemon and privacy will fall into your hands, and therefore fall into ours. Ultimately, the people of this world will have a decision to make: join us, or fall victim to us. Therefore I congratulate you on making the decision to ally with us instead of making life difficult for us by trying to turn against us. But not just anyone will make it here, you know. Ohohoho, oh no. We will be watching you at every step, yes we will, and should you do anything un-Rocketly, we reserve the right to conduct appropriate disciplinary action. A minor misconduct will result in a boring lecture from one of our officials, or even myself if I happen to be in the mood, and a major enough misconduct might even land you a special place in our prison."
Here Lupin had to struggle to avoid appearing nervous. Namba did detect a bit of worry in Lupin's eyes, but considered that to be a normal reaction. For now Lupin was just greatly relieved that Namba didn't catch on to the fact that he was so far the only person to have ever escaped from that prison. Still, he knew well how terrible that place was--in fact, if he was ever asked what Hell was like, he could describe that prison and it would be pretty accurate.
"Now, I believe you have just heard a boring lecture from me, which was punishment for being new," Namba continued, backing away from Lupin and pacing around in a circle. Then he reached into a small black bag on his desk and took out a few devices. First was a Pokegear, which was a dark purple in colour.
Hmm, my favourite colour, Lupin thought as he received the device. He didn't see much use for the radio or the telephone feature (he already had a separate cell phone on him), but the map feature might come in handy, and of course there was the chip to be inserted later. Anyway, after that Namba gave Lupin a few Pokeballs, and also a device that looked like a syringe inside a black plastic case. The syringe part was filled with a bright red fluid, which swirled around like plasma.
"This device," Namba explained, indicating the syringe thingy, "is one of my own inventions. Just inject it into a Pokemon and it boosts the Pokemon's strength considerably."
Like a steroid, Lupin thought, as he raised an eyebrow.
"Not only that, but it will also drain the Pokemon's personality for a short while, turning it into a tool," Namba whispered into Lupin's ear (he had to stand on tiptoe in order to do so).
Lupin nodded. Hmm, this stuff is starting to sound similar to the medication I'm taking, only with exaggerated effects.
"Then I'll be sure to use it well," he said to Namba, accepting the device from him. Maleficent gave him an odd look, but Lupin just gave her a reassuring look back. Fortunately she didn't hear all of what Namba said about the device.
"Does it have any other side effects?" Lupin asked as an afterthought.
"I have tested it many times and found nothing that went horribly wrong, so no," Namba replied. "But anyway, last but not least, I have been so kind as to offer you a place to spend the night in this town. There is a house just down the road there, with a bedroom for each of you recruits. I wish you a good night and good luck, for you're gonna need both, ha ha ha."
And with that he laughed, while Lupin turned around and left the room. As he did so, he noted the lock system on the doors--apparently Namba had devoted so much time to inventing that he didn't bother to add electronic upgrades to the locks, meaning that Lupin could easily sneak his way in if Namba and assistants were not on watch. Nor did he see any cameras, at least not in the main room anyway; there may have been some in a storage room Lupin had not entered yet.
What's more, Lupin thought, there's a window right here, so I can see when the place is closed. Surely there might be guards about the place at that time, but fortunately there is a way to get around them provided careful precautions are taken. In fact, that gives me an idea on such a way... so if only I can obtain a list of the devices Namba has patented, then...
Lupin smirked and left the lab, Maleficent flying ahead of him into the night. Speaking of the night, the road was very dark, darkness that Lupin used to his advantage. When he was practically cloaked in darkness, he took out the Pokegear and slipped the chip into the slot he had previously located on it. Fortunately, nobody was watching closely enough to tell whether he was inserting something or just examining the Pokegear.
Sure enough, not too far ahead was the house Namba mentioned, a relatively large and simple-looking one. Some of the windows were lit, and Lupin saw one go out, indicating that someone had just gone to bed. This house was like any other--it had a kitchen, a living room, a garage (which was empty)... except it had nine bedrooms. Lupin had been assigned to Bedroom #4 (the secret reason behind that was because he was the assistant of the fourth gym in Johto), which was no different from the other bedrooms anyway. In addition, there were two bathrooms on opposite ends of the hall.
When Lupin entered the bedroom, he again found his suitcase mysteriously transported there--it was lying on his bed. He wasn't planning on sleeping in this bed just yet, but he did open the suitcase and take out a few things. Then he left the bedroom and proceeded into one of the bathrooms, telling Maleficent to stay behind. The funny part about this bathroom was that in one corner was a spot where a security camera had been removed. Apparently the owners of the house had removed it so that Rocket executives wouldn't be able to see them naked. For this Lupin was extremely thankful--being seen naked was one of the things he liked the least, and hated the most about the prison he had been in. Therefore, he felt relatively safe in taking a shower here.
After showering, Lupin headed into his bedroom, but he did not go to sleep. Instead he beckoned Maleficent to follow him, left the house, and walked out into the night.
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OOC: Whoa, this is long already... I'll post the Chapter 2 stuff tomorrow, or just edit it into this post if nobody else posts until then.
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