The Grunts aren’t too tough, but…

A triple stare-down commences, lasting only a few moments while each trainer decides upon their best course of action. Three rookie trainers against three low-ranking members of Team Rocket. Meanwhile, three more Grunts continue to ransack the paleontologists’ camp, searching for Moon Stones that may not even be there. The more powerful Rockets stand back and watch, one to command and the other seeming uninterested in everything that’s going on. It’s a tense several seconds that pass, your heartbeat thrumming in your ears and mouth feeling dry, before the first commands are called.

“Koffing, Tackle!” The **** Grunt calls out, sending his poison type flying towards Daniel’s Drowzee.

“Use Confusion!” The buff blonde retorts, and his psychic type’s eyes glow with a faint purple light as it uses its powers to halt the foe in its tracks. The Koffing’s face contorts in pain at the mental ****, a strangled gasp leaving its mouth as it takes super-effective damage.

“Grimer, use Poison Gas!” The female Grunt cries, and her pile of purple sludge spews forth a cloud of noxious fumes in response.

“Dig, Sandshrew!” Kayla orders her ground type, who burrows into the stone floor of the cavern and disappears. The cloud of gas floats around a bit before dissipating, not connecting with anything.

“Use Harden!” The Rocket girl demands. Her Grimer gleams, upping its defense in preparation for the inevitable strike of the shrew Pokémon. Sure enough, the ground type bursts up from the earth, ripping through part of the sludgy Pokémon. The poison type looks like it’s barely holding on, even with its defense increase helping it handle the attack.

“Charmeleon, Ember!” You command, and your recently-evolved fire type complies, spitting out a small gout of red flames towards its opponent.

“Ekans, dodge, then get in close!” The Rocket facing you tells his serpentine Pokémon. The snake ducks out of the way of the Ember, then quickly slithers its way across the rocky floor over to your starter. “Wrap!”

As your foe issues his next command, you call out “Metal Claw!” As the poison type approaches, Charmeleon’s claws gleam with a gray light, and it slashes towards the enemy Pokémon. Ekans is a slippery snake however, and wriggles away from the steel type attack. It then leaps up, coiling its body around your partner and squeezing his arms against his side. “Use Ember!” You shout as your fire lizard is being constricted. He releases another blast of fire, but is being held in such a way that he can’t get the attack to connect with the foe Wrapping him.

“Now, Bite!” Your opponent’s order comes through, and his partner clamps its jaws down on your Pokémon’s neck. Charmeleon screams in pain, but is unable to retaliate with the way he’s being held. You’re scrambling for an idea, when a shout catches your attention.

“Drowzee, throw that ball of smoke at the Ekans!” Your blonde friend shouts. His Drowzee hadn’t been able to chuck the boulders it had held up during Daniel’s battle vs Brooks, but funnily enough a Koffing is much lighter than a boulder. The psychic Pokémon flings its foe at the snake grappling your starter, causing the two poison type’s faces to collide.

This loosens Ekans grip enough to give you a chance. “Now Charmeleon, Metal Claw!” Full of rage, your fire type spitefully rips both of its arms upward, claws shining. The vicious attack breaks the Wrap completely, and the snake collapses onto the round poison type, leaving them in a heap. “Finish them with Ember!” The angry lizard’s chest swells, and it unleashes a heavy burst of scarlet flame’s onto the pair of poison types, continuing until they’ve been charred ****. You spin over to the blue-eyed boy and give him a thumbs-up, and he winks back and clicks his tongue. Helpful as his actions were, they also serve as a stark reminder that both of your friends from Vermillion are stronger trainers than you, and that you’re lucky to have their help. They each have two badges as opposed to your one, and slightly higher level Pokémon as well. The gap between you isn’t huge, but it isn’t nonexistent either.

“Wha- You can’t do that! Cheaters!” The **** complains.

“…Are you telling me that members of a crime syndicate are going to try and complain about a rule violation? Seriously?” Daniel says flatly, a blank look on his face.

“Shit!” Your attentions are grabbed by the female Grunt’s curse as her Grimer is knocked out by Kayla’s Sandshrew.

“Take that! And I didn’t even need help!” The green eyed girl quips, sticking her tongue out playfully at you and her master.

“Well, in his defense, Daniel didn’t actually need any help. He just helped me, and I returned the favor.” You reply to the smug girl.

“Don’t sweat it, Casanova.” The muscular young man responds, then turns back to the Rockets. “Now, do you three have any other Pokémon, or are we done with you and moving on to some of your friend’s asses to kick?”

The three Grunts recall their fainted partners, then each pull out a second ball. As this is happening, the dry voice of Inferno cuts in. “Damn Richard, I thought you were supposed to be good at training new Grunts? These ones are a bit pathetic.”

The Rocket Captain’s entire body tenses, and he looks like he’s about to snap back for a moment. Instead, the shaven-headed man takes a deep breath, then responds in a strained manner. “I am the best at training our new recruits, Agent. I simply haven’t had much time with these ones yet, and they still have mostly basic Pokémon. Would you like to step in and deal with these twerps in their place?”

“Eh.” Is the pink-haired man’s only reply, alongside an apathetic shrug.

Richard sighs heavily. “Of course not… Grunts, continue. And do better, unless you’re looking forward to a punishment later.”

All three Rockets stiffen, then gulp loudly. “Yes, Sir!” They all hurriedly send out their second Pokémon; a Rattata from the woman, a Zubat from the ****, and a Murkrow from your opponent.

“Gee, it sure seems like you’ve made some great life choices. Guess I had it all wrong.” Your brunette friend says mockingly to the fearful female Grunt.

“Q-Quiet! Just shut up!” The Rocket girl stammers, glancing at her boss in fear.

“A fucking bat… Good.” Daniel grins, almost maniacally, at his opponent.

“Uh… Okay?” The black-clad man replies, confused at your friend’s strange response to his new Pokémon. Come to think of it, Kelly said he only had a Koffing before. Maybe he caught this Zubat here in Mt. Moon? Whatever, no one cares.

You and your foe say nothing, you simply stare each other down. All the while, the other Grunts keep ransacking the scientists’ campsite, tipping over boxes and tossing things aside. The captive trio squirm uncomfortably as they watch this, but they seem to be paying more attention to your battles. You’re their only real hope right now, and you can’t let them down!

As you’re preparing to command Charmeleon, the Rockets catch you all by surprise. Like they had all come to some silent agreement, or just coincidentally come up with the same idea. “Murkrow, Pursuit the Drowzee!” “Zubat, Bite that Drowzee!” “Rattata, use Bite on the Drowzee!”

The Vermillion City boy manages to react before the attacks land, but it’s not enough. “Dodge!” The brown and yellow Pokémon obeys, and barely ducks under the swooping Zubat. It isn’t fast enough, however, to get out of the way of the black bird ramming into its side or the purple rat chomping down on its leg. The psychic type shrieks in pain, just as the bat flies back in and Bites it on the head. The rapid, triple super-effective **** proves to be too much for Daniel’s partner, and it slumps to the ground.

This doesn’t go unpunished though. You call out for Charmeleon to “Use Ember!” and he launches yet another blast of fire towards the trio of opposing Pokémon. The flying types manage to dodge out of the way, but the Rattata gets clipped by the flames. Kayla jumps in next, ordering her Sandshrew to “Use Swift!” The ground type waves its hand, and several star-shaped projectiles materialize, honing in on the normal type and slamming into it. The rat backs up, badly damaged and eyes darting around in a panic as it breathes hard.

Your blonde friend recalls his Drowzee, then sends out his next Pokémon. “Go, Ekans!” His own snake takes to the field now, hissing out a battle cry. Electabuzz would do wonders here, but all three of your electric types are still exhausted after fighting that horde of bats earlier. They’ll have to be a last resort. “Finish off that rat!” The poison type darts off towards the normal type, closing in on it swiftly and lunging forward.

“Use Hyper Fang!” The female Grunt commands. Her partner tries to obey, but it’s frazzled from fear, and misses its attack entirely. The blonde boy’s Ekans sinks its fangs into the Rattata, landing a finishing blow. “No! Fuck!” The woman stomps her foot in irritation, then recalls her fainted Pokémon. She makes no move to send out another, meaning she’s probably down for the count.

At the same time, both of the male Grunts’ flying types have been harassing Kayla’s Sandshrew. They dive in and out, using Wing Attack and Bite repeatedly. The green-eyed girl’s partner Scratches them whenever it gets a chance, but it’s definitely looking worse for wear. You’ve ordered Charmeleon to keep up with the Embers, but most of its flames are missing the swift aerial Pokémon, only occasionally nicking them a bit. As the woman’s Rattata falls, so too does the Vermillion girl’s Sandshrew. Once it’s down, the male Grunts have their partners turn on your starter, telling them to take him down.

“Ekans, bite that fucking bat!” As the pair of flying types rush your lizard, Daniel’s snake leaps up and chomps the unaware Zubat, pulling it out of the air and down to earth. While the two poison types grapple, your fire type starts to dodge the Murkrow’s attacks, having a much easier time than Kayla’s ground type thanks to his extra speed and there being only one attacker. You have him strike back with Metal Claw whenever the chance arises, and the frail dark type bird can’t keep its pace up for long.

Ekans finishes of Zubat and Charmeleon rips Murkrow down from the air, and both male Rockets are now also out of usable Pokémon. The trio spit curses and insults at you, then retreat back into their own ranks. Apparently they have no intention of paying their defeat fees - or offering a forfeit, in the girl’s case - which makes it that much more surprising that they were so miffed about the ‘cheating’ earlier. They hang their heads in shame, and the one you had been against originally says “Sorry, Sir… We failed…”

“Yes, I fucking noticed!” The Captain snaps, and all three Grunts shrink back at the furious tone in his voice. “Ugh, unbelievable… Expect some harsh discipline once we’re back at HQ, all six of you!”

“What!? But we-“ One of the Grunts who had been looting the camp starts to protest, but gets cut off by the enraged Captain.

“I don’t give a shit! You three are all on the same level as the three who just lost, so the results would be the same if I bothered letting you battle next. So instead, I’m going to handle this, and just consider you failures preemptively. Understood?” Richard growls, and all six of his subordinates are now looking subdued and scared.

“Yes, Sir…”

“Good… Now then, brats, time to face off against a real Rocket!” The blue-eyed man goes for one of his Pokéballs, before getting cut off.

“Yeah, it is. I’ll take them on.” The previously-uninterested Inferno says, stepping forward and standing between the Captain and your trio.

Richard blanches, confusion and anger evident on his face. “What!? Now you feel like doing something!?”

“Mhm. These kids did better than I would have expected, even if their opponents were just your pathetic Grunts. And who knows? Maybe a three-on-one will give them enough of an advantage to be at least a little challenging for me. Is that okay, Captain Richard?”

The red-coated man’s final sentence carries the first real bit of emotion you’ve heard from him, a minor amount of menace, and the buffer Rocket gulps in nervousness of his own. “O-Of course, Agent. Whatever you say.” His shaky, hasty reply tells you one thing for sure; while you don’t know much about Team Rockets hierarchy, you figure that Agents must be more important than Captains. Because the high and mighty Richard looks very rebuked, despite his earlier attitude towards Inferno.

“Good. Glad we understand each other.” The Agent’s voice returns to his normal, bored cadence, and he finishes walking towards you and your friends, who have listened to this exchange in silence. “Well, you heard all that, right? I’m your opponent. Name’s Inferno, don’t really care about your names. Try not to bore me, okay?”

“Daniel Surge, from Vermillion City.” Your blond friend says, giving his name anyway. “And I don’t care how tough you think you are, you’re going down!”

“Kayla, from Vermillion City! See how you like my Gyarados!” The brunette follows her master’s lead, introducing herself before bringing out her blue sea serpent. It’s still slightly injured from the bat swarm earlier, but you’re all running low on options at this point.

“I’m Red, from Pallet Town. We don’t have any choice but to beat you, so that’s what we’re going to do!” You do your best to sound confident, but your heart can’t help but beat faster. You can see similar small signs of fear in your Vermillion friends; clenching fists and licking lips as nerves take over. This guy is clearly different from those Grunts you just beat, and it’s not just because of his appearance. He has it; that aura that powerful trainers seem to exude. The easy confidence, casual self-assuredness, and inherent belief in his abilities that mark a superior Pokémon trainer are all evident, even through his lazy outward personality. This isn’t going to be easy…

The wild-haired man yawns, then uses one hand to stretch his neck. “Yuuup. Sure thing. Like I said, just try not to bore me. Now… let’s see how you handle a little heat.” With a half-hearted toss, the man sends out his first Pokémon…