Short Stories

19. Game Corner (II)

NOTE: Leccy is Sam's (female) Pichu, and Aqua is his (male) Wartortle. Eon is his (male) Eevee.

oOo

Sam tied up the second grunt. This one was somewhat more stronger than the first one, but Eon had managed it. He was impressive in the battle and surprisingly cooperative considering the fact that Sam had adopted the Eevee only a few days ago.

Sam turned around when he felt someone tug his shirt. "What's this, now?"

 Leccy was holding a rolled up chart thrice her size, while Aqua growled from behind, displeased at the way she was handling it.

Sam took the charts from the pichu and unfurled it. It was a blueprint of some sort, filled with diagrams, and texts and numbers.

"It looks like a floor plan of some building, huh?" he thought aloud, "Let's keep it."

He folded the chart in squares, while Aqua gritted his teeth in annoyance at the rough use of a beautiful paper, and shoved it in his bag. He pulled out the map Rhonda had unwittingly given him out of his pocket and studied it. "Hmm. So there's a room behind this wall..." Sam ran his fingers on the said solid metal wall. "Maybe there's a card or password or something we can use to get there."

He looked around, but no cards or cheats of paper with passwords written down on it. He shrugged. "Let's just go to the next floor with the nearest staircase."

He withdrew Eon in his pokeball with a 'thank you' and let Aqua walk ahead of him while Leccy climbed on his shoulder.

The second floor was guarded by a single grunt, and loads of useful stuff were simply lying around, collecting dust. Could you blame Sam for keeping themThe second floor was guarded by a single grunt, and loads of useful stuff were simply lying around, collecting dust. Could you blame Sam for keeping them?  After all, potions had expiry dates too, and they'd all go waste if not used at the proper time.

"Is it still stealing if you steal from a thief?" Sam asked as he bagged the fifth bottle of Super Potion. Leccy shook her head with a devilish grin and snickered in her paws. Aqua ignored the question.

"I'll take it as a no, then," Sam said, shrugging, as he packed some vitamin tablets.

Sam didn't know what his plan was, or why he was even in the base of a criminal organisation. He was just doing what he felt like doing, nicking their stuff. And the thrill of being amidst crooks and using their own tactics against them was simply too delicious to make him leave the damned place.

Third floor was a maze and stronger grunts guarded the halls, but the reward was sweeter too, figuratively as well as literally. 

Without any guilt or second thought, Sam pocketed the Rare Candy on the table. "If you behave well, you'll get the candy," Sam told Aqua and Leccy, grinning ear-to-ear. "And if you don't, I'll eat it." 

Whistling away, and without a care in the world, he walked on, both his pokemon following him, worry etched on their faces. Maybe, just maybe, he was going a bit too far? But how were they to tell their trainer that?

Fourth floor was where all the trouble began. 

Sam sent Leccy and Aqua in different direction when they reached an intersection of four halls. "We'll find more stuff faster if we split up," he said.  And that's what they did. With words of caution and tips and tricks to elude the grunts, the two pokemon and their trainer went seperate ways.

Sam found a nice cabinet full of hyper potions around the corner and, though a bit old, they were still usable. 

"Look at the beauties," Sam whispered to no one in particular. Without further ado he got down on his knees and pushed his shoulders inside the cabinet and chose the freshest looking ones from the lot and packed them in his bag, leaving some space for new items. "Nobody will notice if some of you go missing, I am sure."

 "Are you quite sure, though?"

Sam hit his head on the roof of the cabinet in his haste to get out of the cabinet. But he needn't have bothered. Somebody grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and hauled him out. Sam tried to hold on to his bag, but it was snatched out of his grip. 

"Who do you think you are, you stealing rat?"

It was a grunt. A more civilised grunt, it seemed. 'Stealing rat' was, by far, the best word he was called today. She had her red hair short, only barely getting past her ears. Freckles were sprinkled on her pale nose like a baker does with crumbled cookies on the cake. Gracefully. Professionally.

Sam tried to make a run for it, but was tackled down down by a stinking Raticate. He landed heavily on the floor and cut his chin on the foot of the table in the near-empty room.

"Move the wrong way, punk, and my Raticate is going to kill you, ain't that right, Tails?"

The Raticate chattered in hopeful sadistic delight.

He watched, through the corner of his eyes, as she upturned the contents of his bag. She paused to look at the items that fell out, and seemed to come to a conclusion. "Did nobody ever teach you that you shouldn't steal from the stealer, crook?"

She didn't wait for him to answer. Instead, she picked up the leek Sam had found at B1F and, without hesitation, knocked him out cold. When Sam opened his eyes a couple of hours later, he found himself bound and tied to a chair. 

And right in front of him sat the right hand of Team Rocket, Allton Kage.

~*~*~*~*~Some day in November 2021~*~*~*~*~

A/N: So I wrote this one on November, too—probably 10th, maybe 11th, since I wrote this and Game Corner together (Celadon city hit me with a heavy muse)—but edited on January 4, 2022. In case you didn't get it before, I am trying to organize and clean my writings of 2021. Make a nice foundation for this year, ya know? 

Now remember, constructive criticism is appreciated and comments are cherished! If you liked this drop a vote!

Have a great year ahead!

~Anony