New Beginnings

"Good," Kit said curtly. He started out of the pokemon center with Spine behind him, not waiting for the others.
"Hey!" Vix called, running to catch up. Darren was startled for a moment, then followed.
Love was a bit surprised at first, then giggled, smiling happily atop the delibird's head.
"Aww," Lady cooed, glad the pokemon were getting along. "Oh, hey! Can't you guys wait up?" she called after Kit and Vix, hurrying to catch up.

MEANWHILE

Ridley returned to his own apartment, which was noticeably messier. The honchkrow glided to his "nest", which was just a high shelf. He delicately placed the pendulum among his other trinkets, then admired his handiwork.
"Hey Din, you know we're not staying here forever, right?" Ridley said to his pokemon, sitting down at his desk. "Don't get too comfortable here. I'm not carrying all that crap for you when we leave."
Din cawed in protest, and returned to admiring the shiny objects.
A hypno sat in a too-small cage, off to the side. It shivered, quite afraid.
Atop the cage, a Banette sat. It teased the hypno frequently, sometimes attacking it with night shade.
"That's enough, Eris," Ridley snapped.
Eris the banette looked disappointed, but floated over to Ridley's desk, hoping for some attention.
Ridley was busy with his own thoughts. "A team up? And I wasn't informed sooner?" he muttered to himself. He opened his laptop, intending to search for some more information on Team Galactic.
Eris floated around for a bit, then noticed a few things on the floor. She picked one up and dropped it on Ridley's keyboard. It was identical to the card Micheal had shown him.
"... For the love of-" Ridley checked and made sure the card was the same. Then he tossed it behind him. He got up, fuming now.
Eris cackled, the floated over to the hypno's cage again. The hypno whimpered.
"Alright. Alright, Eris, you win," Ridley said. He kicked at the cage, and the hypno made itself as small as it could, in a futile attempt to hide.
"Go, Discord," Ridley said, tossing a pokeball into the air. A skarmory appeared in a flash of red light.
Discord stretched, ruffling his razor-sharp feathers. He glared at the hypno.
"Kill it," Ridley ordered. He pulled out his skinning knife.
Discord did just that.
Ridley removed the fur from the hypno's neck. "Good. Nice and clean. Good job, Discord," he said, then recalled the skarmory. He threw the fur into a bin, where it landed among many others.
Eris cackled happily, floating from side to side in glee.
"Now leave me alone, Eris," Ridley said to the pokemon. He washed his hands, then returned to his desk, and began searching for info on Team Galactic.

"Hey, wait for me too!" Neuge exclaimed, running after them.
Behind her, Roc was trying his best to catch up with everyone while keeping Love safe on top of his head.

SOME TIME LATER

It was already getting dark by the time they finally arrived at Violet City, but the group decided to walk around the city to get to know it a bit before heading to the pokemon center to rest.
"I really like this place! It's very different from Olivine...huh? What's that thing?" Neuge said, pointing to the huge tower that stood past the bridge they were near to.
Roc looked up at the tower with curiosity, but then he shook his head and hid behind his trainer.
"Huh, what's wrong Roc?" She asked her pokemon. "Oh, I know! You must be tired too. Maybe we should go explore it tomorrow instead."

MEANWHILE

"...Krauss, did you hear that?" Michael suddenly stopped typing and spun his chair around to look at his gengar, who was lying quietly on the small bed.
Krauss sat up and looked at his owner, then shook his head.
"Huh...I'm sure I heard someone yelling in the hall....maybe I should go check it out just in case."
He stood up and walked towards the door, but before opening the door he grabbed one of the pokeballs from his belt and let the pokemon inside out.
"Dengeki, I need you to watch over Krauss while I'm gone. It won't be long, but I can't trust him to behave on his own. I'm taking the rest of the team with me."
The gengar looked slightly offended, he was way more clever than his owner thought. He'll prove it someday. He quickly brushed the insult off and grinned at the electivire that was now walking around the room, happy to be let out of his pokeball for something other than a battle. Even if it was looking after another pokemon.
"Behave." Michael said, leaving the room and closing the door.

Michael was about to go back to his apartment after finding the hallway empty, but just as he was opening the door he heard a voice and turned around to see a woman with green hair and a strange uniform, with a porygon next to her.
"That uniform...where have I seen it before? Looks so familiar." He muttered to himself.

He decided to approach the woman, taking a few steps towards her. Surely, she was here for some kind of business. This apartment complex was reserved for team rocket members. Some kind of hideout. But she certainly didn't look like a team rocket member. Maybe....was she a team galactic member? That made sense, but he had no idea how to ask her about it. What if his assumptions were wrong and the woman was just lost? Not like he was ever wrong, but he wasn't gonna risk it.

"...Hello. Who are you?"

I AM THE WALRUS

Darren stared at the strange tower as well. It seemed to sway, but gave no sign of falling. "Would you look at that," Vix said, staring as raptly as her pokemon.
"That's Sprout Tower," Lady said, happy to be a guide. "It's supposed to be the remains of a hundred-foot bellsprout, or so I've heard."
"Good thing it didn't evolve," Kit said. Lady giggled at this.
Vix stretched, and then said "Well! It's been a long day, I guess we should take a break." She beckoned to her pokemon, then started off towards the pokemon center.
Kit snorted in contempt. "Already?" Spine cackled.
Vix came back and poked Kit in the chest. "Sorry, Mr. Macho. You'll just have to tone down your manly stamina for a while," she said, and headed towards the pokecenter again.
"Don't touch me," Kit called after her. He rolled his eyes and followed.
"Oh, wait, who's that?" Lady asked. She started waving to a guy with a tauros.

MEANWHILE

Ridley shut his laptop a bit too firmly when he could hear voices. A small crack appeared on the case. "Fucking, great," he muttered.
Eris cackled, then hid when Ridley threw a vase at her and told her to shut up. Din squawked at Eris disapprovingly, then made himself comfortable on Ridley's outstretched arm.
"Let's go see if we can't shut them up," Ridley said to his ever-faithful pokemon.
Din crowed in delight.
Ridley opened the door and observed the two in the hall. Micheal, and a stranger. "Well," he said, expression changing from thunderous to amused in an instant. "I didn't know we allowed visits from non-members! Is Mike here your boyyyyfr-... Oh." He had spotted the Team Galactic logo on her. "I see."
He leaned against the wall, raising his eyebrows and motioning for them to continue.

Ridley was about to say something (his usual: rude and not particularily witty) to Jasmine when someone else came running down the hall.
"STOP FIENDS!" the girl screamed, huffing and puffing.
"The fuck?" Ridley muttered.
Din cawed and spread his wings at the newcomer.
"Wow. Are we just letting everyone in now?" Ridley said, lowering his glasses for a minute to get a clearer look at everything.

"Oh, wait, who's that?" Neuge heard Lady ask, and turned to look at the person she was talking about. Then she saw a young boy with a strange pokemon she had never seen before, but they seemed interesting. \
"Hey!" he yelled, waving back at Lady. He then jogged over to were they were standing, his pokemon close to him.
"So uh... would you maybe have room for one more in your group?" he asked.
"We would love to!" Neuge instantly replied, smiling widely. "...er, I mean if everyone is okay with it too." She added glancing at her new friends, slightly embarrassed by her sudden outburst. Now she was traveling in a group, and she had to consider everyone else's opion. She had always been too impulsive with making decisions.

MEANWHILE

Michael was waiting for the woman to reply, when he heard a voice he knew all too well.
"Well," Ridley said, and Michael didn't even sneak a glance at him. "I didn't know we allowed visits from non-members! Is Mike here your boyyyyfr-... Oh." He stopped talking, as if he had suddenly realized something. "I see."
This got Michael just a little bit curious, not like he would admit it. Maybe he knew her?
The woman replied before he got to think too much about it, though.
"For your information," She began, talking to Ridley. "I'm here as a representative of Team Galactic."
"So that's why it was so familiar. Damn, I should've known that. Careless mistakes like this could bring me down."
She then turned back to Michael.
"Jasmine Sharp, at your service. I'm the head scientist of Galactic's Pokemon Genetics Research. PGR, if you prefer. I've been sent to assist you in whatever way I can." She said, introducing herself. Michael just nodded.
She looked pretty...professional. He'd give her at least that.
"Michael Blair. I'm one of Team Rocket admins. It's....nice to meet you." He lied.
He was about to say something more, but just then another stranger came running down the hall.
"STOP FIENDS!" She screamed.
"The fuck?" He heard Ridley say.
"YOU! WHO ARE YOU?" she yelled again.
"Relsy." Said another girl that had just appeared , she seemed to know the loud one. Was Relsy her name?
"What if these people were a threat? What if they had guns?" The newcomer said, lecturing Relsy.
"heh." Michael thought, glancing at the gun holster that was on his leg. Surely they hadn't noticed it yet.
She then turned to look at Jasmine, examining her. Now that he noticed, their uniforms seemed similar. Were they team Galactic members too?
Jasmine who looked so professional and serious, working with that loudmouth? He snorted a bit at the thought.

"Of course!" Lady said, her smile brightening.
"Yes," Kit said.
"Oh? I thought you would've objected, Kit," Lady said, rather surprised.
"I didn't want to be the only guy," he replied matter-of-factly. With that, he headed into the pokecenter to tell Vix.

MEANWHILE

Ridley leaned back against the wall, taking in the situation. He debated on placing his hand on the handle of his knife, but decided against it. "I've never seen a more wrong way to sneak up on someone," he remarked, readjusting his glasses so that everything was once more vaguely orange. He wondered how much this Relsy would hinder their mission. 'Is she even supposed to be here?' he thought.

"So. What exactly are you two doing here...?" Jasmine asked them.
"So they do work together..."
"Uhh, Liss, they do have guns" Relsy said, nudging the one next to her.
"Sure, those are guns. But they aren't gun guns You know. Like big scary guns." She replied, picking at her nails.
"they do shoot all the same, and I would be glad to prove it to you." Thought Michael, already getting annoyed at these newcomers.
Sure, he hated to admit it but he had gotten a pretty good first impression of team galactic thanks to Jasmine. But now, seeing those two...He was sure the new supposed alliance would only slow them down, if they had to work with that kind of people.
He was distracted from this train of thought when someone spoke again.
Oh yes, Jasmine, to answer your question: We were sent here, for some mission. We haven't recieved any information yet. They said it was on the way. And you? Same reason I presume, chances are the same mission too." Elissa said, and Michael noticed that she grabbed a small bottle of what seemed pepperspray. Michael's hand twitched and then reached for his gun, just in case.
However, he was startled by sudden yelling that made him almost fire his gun in surprise.

"THE TREASURE IS CALLING ME!" Relsy screamed, ripping up the carpet, finding a small door that opened up to a compartment with some cash in it.
Michael just stared at her, dumbfonded. What was that just now? He had made up his mind. Clearly, Team Galactic was made up of useless lunatics.
Though the greedy part of him was considering find out more about just how she had managed to find money like that. Maybe they could be useful, after all. Just maybe.

Lady giggled, trusting Fiyero already. "My name is Lady, Lady Nacht," she said, bowing her head slightly and grinning.
Love hid behind Lady's boots, staring nervously at the tauros.

MEANWHILE

Ridley, who was becoming annoyed by all this yelling, did his best to look unimpressed. He didn't know what to make of the most recent outburst, in which Relsy had produced a large amount of cash in what seemed like a lucky guess, or some other worldliness. He couldn't convince himself that Relsy was useless anymore, not if she could do this on a regular basis.
Din eyed the shiny coins, but did not leave his perch. The crow pokemon could sense the tension, and thought it unwise to disobey at this point.
"I'm sure I have something in my room you could use," Ridley said to Jasmine, going through the mental list of pokemon he had kept in pokeballs in a safe. He had been planning to skin a few later, but he was curious as to what Jasmine's abilities were. He didn't mind parting with a few. "Anyways, is that everyone? I don't want to have to repeat myself." Ridley paused for a minute, allowing any surprise entrants to make their move. When he decided that that was it, he said, "My name is Ridley Steel, Team Rocket Executive."

"Of course!" Lady said.
Kit agreed with her, which surprised Neuge, but she let out a sigh of relief. She didn't to be the impulsive one and then have everyone disagree with her.
"Oh? I thought you would've objected, Kit." Lady asked him, seeming just as surprised as Neuge was.
"I didn't want to be the only guy." Kit said and left for the PokeCenter.

"Awesome. Oh! I forgot to introduce myself! Name's Fiyero, I'm from a ranch out near Olivine." The guy with the tauros said, introducing himself. "And if ya don't mind my askin', who might you ladies be?"
"My name is Lady, Lady Nacht." Lady said, giggling a bit.
Love hid behind her, looking at Fiyero's Tauros.
Roc noticed this and took a protective stand next to Love, glaring at the tauros. Apparently it was his duty to protect Love now.
"And I'm Neuge Gennara, nice to meet you!" She miled brightly. "And this here is Roc, my delibird." She said pointing to Roc, who was still glaring at the tauros.

MEANWHILE

"Nonetheless, I will assist you in whatever way I can. If you'd like a... demonstration, just provide me with a Pokemon. Preferably one you wouldn't mind losing." Jasmine said.
"Well, this is it. I'm stuck with two lunatics and a psycho." But even if he would never say so out loud, he was rather curious about what kind of demostration she was talking about.
"I'm sure I have something in my room you could use," Ridley said. Michael remembered that Ridley often caught pokemon for their valuable skins, killing them off to get the skin and sell it. It probably paid very well, but it just wasn't something Michael would do. He'd rather sell the whole pokemon off, after all.
"Anyways, is that everyone? I don't want to have to repeat myself." Ridley paused for a minute, as if waiting for any other surprising entrance. He then introduced himself again. "My name is Ridley Steel, Team Rocket Executive."
Michael didn't bother introducing himself again, it wasn't worth it.
Just then, he noticed that the Relsy girl seemed nervous, kinda out of it. She was also twitching.
Michael supposed he should be worried, at least a little bit, since she was now technically his co-worker. But instead, he just raised an eyebrow. Could these girls get any more weird? He hoped not.
Suddenly Relsy got up and looked around. Then she screamed and ran down the hall, jumping out of a window.

"...Well, seems like they indeed can." He thought, watching the window Relsy had just jumped from.

"Aw, he looks sweet," Lady said, brushing her hair back and smiling at Boc. "Love is just shy around pokemon that aren't of her type, that's all," she said, gently nudging the pink pokemon with the toe of her boot.
Love peeked warily between Roc and Lady's boots. "Smooch?" she said.

"Gee, what is taking those guys?" Vix said, having just healed Darren.
"Another person joined us," Kit said, idly flipping through a magazine.
"You should've told me right away!" Vix said, throwing up her arms in exasperation. "Now I feel like a jerk for not saying hi!"
"Shame on you," Kit said. A wry smile played at his mouth.
Vix sat down at the table, huffing indignantly.

MEANWHILE

Ridley stared at the window for a moment, wondering what the hell was wrong with Relsy. He gave up on trying to understand and merely shook his head.
"Well then, Michael, Ridley, meet me in my apartment in two hours' time with a Pokemon. I'll show you what Team Galactic is capable of," Jasmine said.
"Right. We'll see," Ridley said as he headed back to his room. "Michael, could I have a word with you? Meet me in my room." With that, he headed into his room, shutting the door a bit firmly.

"Greet to meetcha!" Fiyero declared, grinning. "Although it seems our Pokemon haven't started off on the right foot. This 'ere's Boc, my most trusted companion. He looks a lil' intimidating, but he's easy enough to get along wit'."
Boc lowered his head, sniffing at Roc. Roc just kept glaring at him, and stepped closer to Love.
"Aw, he looks sweet," Lady said, smiling at the Tauros. "Love is just shy around pokemon that aren't of her type, that's all," she said, gently nudging the pink pokemon with the toe of her boot.
Love peeked warily between Roc and Lady's boots. "Smooch?" she said.
Roc decided that maybe the strange pokemon wasn't so bad, since everyone else seemed to calm about it. He relaxed a bit, but stayed close to love.
"I have no idea what has gotten into Roc....he's usually friendly!" Neuge said, looking disapprovingly at her pokemon. "Oh, shouldn't we tell Vix Fiyero joined us, though?"

MEANWHILE

Jasmine cleared her throat, which caused Michael to look back at her.
"Well then, Michael, Ridley, meet me in my apartment in two hours' time with a Pokemon. I'll show you what Team Galactic is capable of." Jasmine said. She then left.
"She sure sounds proud of her abilities, huh..." Michael thought out loud.
Next to him, Ridley spoke again.
"Right. We'll see," He said as he headed back to his room. "Michael, could I have a word with you? Meet me in my room." With that, he headed into his room, shutting the door behind.
Michael sighed, but decided to go and talk to him. He walked to the door of Ridley's room and checked if it was locked. It wasn't, so he opened it and quickly stepped in.
"What do you want to talk about?"

"Oh! Yeah!" Lady agreed. "Come on! Kit probably told her already." She picked up Love and headed towards the pokemon center.

MEANWHILE

Ridley sat down at his desk chair, offering Michael the couch.
"This was a mistake," he started, putting his hands in his head and massaging his temples. "Some sort of joke. That crazy one who found the money shouldn't be here, what the fuck are we going to do with her? Unless she can be a bit more subtle, that's it. Fucking kaput. She can't just go jumping out a goddamn window every time she finds something.
"What do you propose we do?"
Ridley's tone was angry, but he asked the last part with a seriousness that couldn't have been good.
Din squawked, sensing the mood, and flew up to his nest.
Eris poked her head over the opposite desk edge, cautious of any more vases. Not liking the atmosphere either, she ducked back down, and slunk off to tease another caged pokemon.