Alex was angry.
One of the Green grunts had been within his earshot when the words '...commander is a cripple...' were uttered. Most of the Rocket celebrations in looting were halted abruptly by terrible screams. Max looked over at the scene and flinched when he saw the bat flying through the air. Alex was maiming the man, beating his leg with savage strength. Those closer to it heard a sickening snap and the grunt's screaming exploded in a sound of pure agony.
Wiping the sweat off of his face with his good hand, he looked down at the broken grunt.
"You're not my tool but you're under my authority." he waved the bat at all the Green grunts lying about.
"You're ALL under my authority. Where's that damn grunt with the Machoke... Eel? Leels! That's her name! Find me Leels, I need her at the tower NOW!" he shouted, walking towards the Pokemon tower with two grunts flanking him. Only then did a Green team grunt rush forward to his fallen friend, calling out desperately for a nurse.
Max watched impassively. It had been a long time since Alex had broken bone like that. Likely something was wrong. However the sun was rising and, knowing Alex wouldn't do it, Max had to start making arrangements for rotating sentries on all sides of the captured town. As he was ordering grunts to sleep in strategic houses so they could run out and fight if needed, Max yawned. It wasn't easy taking over a town. There were so many places one could approach Lavender and they all needed eyes on them.
With the last of the sentries posted for the day, Max went over to a small house near the tower and crashed into the bed inside. The beating, the lack of sleep, the hike, the battle, the organizing. It all came at once and Max surrendered to the exhaustion willingly. He had done all he could...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Wex made use of the washing machines in the Pokemon center, finally cleaning his soiled clothing. A few of the Green team grunts were milling about in the main room but he ignored them. They were beneath him, they were actually beneath him. He came out of the room refreshed and smelling of lemon. Glancing at a clock on the wall, he noticed how late it was. He was tired... The sun was starting to shine through the windows of the center. Finding a couch, he waved at Mayu.
"Get some sleep kid. If you think taking the town was easy, holding it is going to be a hell of a lot harder."
I hope we're done here...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The meeting was early, far earlier than normal. Most had flown in on borrowed Pokemon, their bodyguards most likely. It was a quaint building by their standards, the most luxurious hotel in Pewter. It was so small...
As Giovanni walked towards the conference room, he paused at the door to listen in.
"...it's absurd! The public don't care about the gang as a whole, just this Jesse and James duo. While our factories are being raided, our houses ransacked while we're on vacation and our products being sold on the streets... They want those two thieves! What have they even stolen of value?"
There was a shuffling of paper.
"...not a whole lot, actually. The biggest and most recent item was something from the museum, just here in town. A piece of amber to be precise. Oh and a computer hard drive."
"They've just been burning down random houses, stealing from random mayors and councilors..."
"The public and the government want them, not the gang."
"What about the gang that was captured in Lavender? We need to get our hands on them..."
"I've been trying to get Saffron to do something about it but there was a lot of Rocket activity yesterday and there are local issues with the youth now. Something about a Rocket revolution? They won't send their men."
"Cerulean?"
"Another crime wave. The police aren't moving."
"Vermilion won't send their men. They are more worried with those damn sailor thugs than the Rockets. That leaves no one except... No, Koga won't allow for the police to leave Fuchsia. With cycling road, all the hooligans on both sides of the city and the quick trip for Rockets to move south..."
"If only Erika would wake up more often! Her precious city is rotting."
"She only cares about her girls in her gym. There have been rumors..."
"And of course Lance hasn't heard about any of this. Nobody is allowed to go to the plateau and our numerous letters go unanswered. I tried this new fangled thing called 'e-mail' and that didn't work either!"
Giovanni walked in, having heard enough on the sidelines.
"Sorry I'm late, I had some matters in the office that had to be dealt with."
"Well, come on in then." scowled Reginald, head of the Kantobank company. They were all there. Theodore with Pokeblast foods, Alexander with his complete domination over radio (and now television too). Presiding over all of them however was the head of the elite, the unelected leader of the nation.
Samuel. J. Silverstein, owner, founder and president of Sliph Co.
"My people have had heard the most ugly rumors about your casino company Giovanni... Something about Pokemon smuggling..." said the old man, gazing at Giovanni with probing eyes. Giovanni didn't flinch.
"It's nothing but rumors, I assure you sir. I have the paperwork to prove that the Pokemon my business offers as prizes are either paid for or captured wild. We'd buy more from Sliph if you made some more virtual Pokemon like that delightful Porygon."
"We're working on upgrades." said the legend with a small wave. "But that's not what matters now. What matters is that we destroy Team Rocket."
"I agree." said Giovanni, gesturing to the most powerful men in Kanto. "The Rockets are, shall we say, deflowering Celadon? It makes it hard to do business."
"We don't even know who their leader is." said Alexander tremulously. He wasn't a fighter and it was plain he wanted it taken care of as quietly as possible.
"My people have turned up nothing. Captured grunts just yammer on about their superior officers, not the ones pulling the strings." said Theodore stiffly. It was true, his company thugs had been trying to wrestle captured grunts away from the police to do their own questioning. It hadn't been the first time the food titan had stuck his fingers into a place he shouldn't have.
You'll be next.
"As it happens, I do know who runs Team Rocket through a couple of friends in Celadon."
"Tell us!" demanded Reginald. The old men looked at their youngest millionaire member with curiosity.
And most people think Kanto is run by Indigo. It's hilarious.
"Jessie and James, those two running around the country."
The men stared in disbelief.
"Are you certain?" asked Samuel. J. Silverstein, his eyes mercilessly searching Giovanni's face. Lying in front of him was the hard part. Fortunately Giovanni had spent his whole life practicing false honesty. He gave away nothing.
"It's hard to be certain when you're dealing with people you have stationed in the streets but a good number of my men have come back on their own, each saying Jesse and James are the true leaders."
"Why on Earth would they be running around like they are, attracting all the ranger and police attention they can and making such a ruckus?" asked Alexander, puzzled.
"Why indeed? Criminals are rarely grounded in reality. I think they believe they are invincible." said Giovanni, frowning. "The fact they can get away with it concerns me."
"We need our people out there with the rangers." said Reginald, pounding the table.
"Without their leaders, the Rockets are nothing!"
They all started talking about plans to have their men join a force dedicated to stopping Team Rocket. They talked fast and excitedly. Team Rocket's defeat was their only goal, not for the good of the public but to protect their profits.
"I don't believe it." said Samuel. J. Silverstein. The discussions ended immediately and all eyes turned to their leader.
"While it might be true that a gang of stupid uneducated wretches could be formed around a pair of thieves who have the uncanny ability to evade capture, those don't sound like the kind of people behind a campaign of corporate espionage."
"What are you talking about?" asked Theodore, quietly and respectfully.
"Sliph went public, you all know this. My most trusted stockholders have been giving away their stocks and then vanishing. Some turn up miles away from their homes with suicide notes. Rockets have been spotted in and around my company's biggest factory in Saffron. Two marauding rogues don't have the brains to attempt to take over a company, let alone mine. By my calculations only my stocks are keeping the company out of unknown hands. About 40% of the stocks are being held by men I've never heard of before. Do you have an explanation for that?"
Samuel. J. Silverstein turned to Giovanni and for once even the leader of the underworld, the man who never slept alone, the man who ran the country's other half felt the chill of fear up his spine. This was the moment he had to shift all suspicion away from him. This was the last move they'd play on an equal footing. Without hesitating, Giovanni looked through his briefcase and passed a picture across the table to the most powerful man in the country.
"No..." said Samuel. J. Silverstein, setting down the picture.
"Yes." said Giovanni somberly on the outside. Within he knew he had won. The eyes which had spotted and stopped dozens of threats to his domination of Kanto had been deceived. As the picture of Petrel in his Rocket uniform was passed along to the other members at the table, the gasps and anger strengthened his position.
Jameson Silverstein, my first executive. Petrel, your value was never your leadership. It was your name.
"Why would he..." asked the business legend, stunned. It was a blow he had never saw coming. He sagged in the expensive chair.
"Revenge. You locked him out of the company and your parents never left him anything. He is the third leader of the Rockets, the one with the brains." said Giovanni.
He had them.
