Pokemon: Trail of Poison

Part One: The Plot, the Butterfree, and the Hunter

Jessie, James, and Meowth stood in the Team Rocket Headquarters, their postures stiff and their brows beaded with sweat. The particular room they occupied was designed to let in no light other than the light coming from the large, holographic screen in front of them. Panels painted black made up the walls of the room, almost as if to cast a shadow on the already deep darkness. From the outside, casual Kanto passerby would see nothing but the scenery behind the headquarters 360 degrees around. The building, though completely camouflaged, was rather large, so Team Rocket had Mr. Mimes, Hypnos, and other psychic type Pokémon patrolling the perimeter to ward off unwelcome guests. The walls were also designed to let in every sound coming from outside but contain every sound made inside. In every sense of the phrase, it was the perfect base.

On the inside, Team Rocket grunts wearing the black Team Rocket suits roamed the massive halls while they waited for their next mission. Scientists in white coats resided in the many labs of the headquarters, working on ways to better control the minds of Pokémon. It had once seemed that Team Rocket had mastered their control device, but after the disastrous Mewtwo incident and, subsequently, the loss of the gym and its research facility, the project was deemed a failure and was revisited to increase effectiveness. The white-suited troops named Jessie, James, and Meowth, however, were in none of these rooms. They resided in the boss' room. That meant they had another mission, and by the studious look resting on Giovanni's sharp, cruel face, the boss meant business.

Besides having the look of being entirely blacked out, the room itself was not very interesting. On one side laid a perfectly made birch bed, white sheets under a single black blanket made of dyed Mareep wool. Beside the bed was a small oak desk with the Team Rocket logo engraved into every side. Atop the desk, a single lamp stood with a bulb made from a Chinchou antenna and a book about halfway done resting on the edge. Below the desk lay a bed adorned with jewels and gold for the boss' Pokémon. A door sporting a large Team Rocket logo on the opposite side of the room supposedly led to the bathroom, but Giovanni was so secretive, it could have really gone anywhere. Aside from these items, a couch sat in the middle of the room directly in front of a much larger black desk.

The most interesting part of the room sat at the desk, stroking his Persian lightly across the back of its head. Giovanni, to say the least, was an imposing person. He had crisp, shortly cut black hair and a nose pointed enough to look uncomfortably unnatural. His face, squarish, held cold, penetrating eyes and high cheekbones. He wore black shoes, black pants, and a black vest with gold outlining on the buttons and along the seams. As Jessie, James, and Meowth gazed upon the immobile face and the commanding silhouette of Giovanni against the bright hologram, they saw themselves as inadequate and felt the sweat upon their brows increasing. They had only just been called in, but the look in their boss' eyes created the feeling that one of Team Rocket's most elite forces had been in that room forever. Giovanni looked up from Persian. Jessie, James, and Meowth somehow tensed further. The clearing of the boss' throat broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Jessie, James and Meowth. My top operatives. Jessie, you came from literally eating the snow off of the ground to feed yourself and have now miraculously managed to make your way up to the top of the Team Rocket ground force. Only a select few people have the strength and determination to get on their feet and come work for such a noble cause as ours after such a tragic beginning as yours.

Jessie wiped her forehead and adjusted her long, physics-defying pink hair. "Th-thank you, Sir!" she stuttered. "This, after all is m-much better than my life as a child. I would never go back, Sir!" 

"Precisely. That is, of course, the only acceptable decision. James, you had everything laid out in front of you. A rich family, good grades, your future in a high-paying field practically in your sight! But you left that all behind and joined Team Rocket. That takes immense courage, something that seems to be quite present in your character."