Prepare for Trouble! [RPThread]

[VampirateMace]

Sophie
Puff (Woobat, F) 1DER (Porygon, X)

“Uh hey,” replied Sophie awkwardly when an enthusiastic girl joined their ranks in a not to be ignored sort of way. She was followed by the girl Sophie had sat across from yesterday, who was now sporting a black eye, and a fierce attitude. Though Sophie found it hard to feel bad for their rambling guide when she snapped at her. Plus she was kind of ready for the woman to shut up herself. Other grunts that had gathered around started complaining as well. At least this was some sort of camaraderie for their group.

The. Woman. Just. Kept. Talking.

Sophie finally had had enough. She cranked up the volume on her headphones as they were led out and instructed to get ready. Her street clothes pretty much had the same aesthetic as the team rocket uniform, black sweatshirt with a logo, but jeans instead of slacks. Now they were just a busload of ill-matched high school kids. Really the age range here was pretty decent if you wanted to pretend it was just a school trip.

The ride was thankfully quite, as their guide didn't seem to notice, or maybe not care that her microphone wasn't working. And nobody in their right mind was about to point that out, although there may be some confusion about what they were supposed to be doing later. Sophie didn't care, she left her music up high enough to drown the woman out. Instead she took the time as an opportunity to gently brush all the little tangles out of Puff's plush fur. The woobat cooed appreciatively.

It was even better when they got on the ferry and she could space herself out away from pretty much everyone. But all good things come to an end, and a man dressed as a nurse came to rescue them from their guide. He also thankfully reexplained the mission in a much more to the point manner; find out how to operate the fossil reviving machines. Damn, they really had been brought here to play high school field trip.

One of the boys asked the others what to do, and another started hatching a plan. Sophie lowered her headphones, speaking up. Well, sort of, her voice was still kinda soft, “Um, excuse me, I think you're overlooking the obvious angle. We're all the right age to just walk right in there and ask to interview them for a school project.”

 

[GoldenHouou]

Jack McGregor
En Route -> Cinnabar Island, Kanto

The bus ride to Fuchsia City was peaceful, a nice change of pace from the endless ramblings of their superior. All thanks to the bus driver, the uncontested hero of the day. Without a microphone, Vanessa's blathering was easy enough to drown out with a pair of headphones and some music.

The trip was long though, and when they finally got out of the bus, they were ushered into a ferry instead. Jack was starting to get antsy. He couldn't help but wonder if Team Rocket was saving money where they shouldn't be - wouldn't a flight have been much faster? He didn't like the feeling of sitting idle.

Once they finally arrived, they received the details of their mission promptly enough. Get into the local laboratory, steal blueprints for their machines, grab any fossils they might come across. Simple and to the point. Jack liked that.

... Wasn't it a bit inconvenient to have such a big group working on a mission like that, though? Whatever, he was just an employee.

As the group got back outside, one of them asked for ideas on how to proceed - and another jumped the opportunity to answer. The black haired boy went on to detail a plan straight out of a spy movie, complete with mentions of 'dealing with' people that might spot them. He sounded - and looked - impatient, like a kid outside an amusement park. But this was no game - this was their job.

Jack stepped up next to him, hands in his pockets.

"I'm just as eager for action as you are, trust me," though his detached tone and borderline bored expression might've suggested otherwise, "But Goldenrod wasn't built in a day. We spent ages on the road. We can afford a few minutes more to discuss the plan."

"You, girl," he gestured towards the bright-haired girl with headphones. "You're onto something there. Unless one of us happens to be an expert on infiltration, we're better off approaching this from a less flashy angle."

Satan flopped down onto Jack's head from Arceus-knew-where to offer his contribution to the conversation, "Caw! Countries! Gentlemen! Team up for your common goal, making poverty history!"

"He agrees," Jack clarified.

 

[Tangeh]

Brynn Sartell
Team Rocket HQ - Saffron City

The others in their group were slowly gathering, including the guy who had stopped Harley from killing her yesterday. Suddenly remembering Harley existed, she zoned out as she intently scanned the room, praying he wasn't going to be put in her group. Luckily she spotted him in another group, where he smirked at her and drew a line over his throat. Brynn glared back and shot him the bird.

Brynn hadn't really been listening to the verbal diarrhea their guide had been spouting, then suddenly the group was splitting up. Civilian clothes, pack essentials, meet back in an hour. Easy enough that they didn't need twenty minutes of dialogue to explain it – hopefully she wasn't missing anything else.

She changed into a baggy black t-shirt and old torn jeans. Brynn didn't have much control over her lackluster wardrobe, but she spent some time fixing her hair and even more time holding an ice pack to her swollen left eye. She briefly considered asking one of the other girls for makeup to help cover the bruising, but just the thought of doing that made her flush. She'd just have to wear it proudly for the next little while...

…​

Unfortunately, Vanessa was still with them when they got on the bus. Brynn nabbed a window seat on the left, and a redheaded guy sat next to her. Vanessa did roll call, and she lazily raised her hand in the air when her name was called. The guy next to her was named Daniel. She ignored him the entire ride, tilted her head to stare out the window, and uttered only an audible sigh of relief when the bus driver shut Vanessa up. Luckily the guy didn't bother her either, which she appreciated.

That wasn't the last leg of the journey, though, and shortly after disembarking the bus, she found herself on a ferry. Again, she kept her distance and spent the ride staring over the side of the boat in awe. Her first time seeing the ocean – and under such strange circumstances. The hum of the ferry's motor and the waves gently splashing against the hull were enough to keep her enthralled until they finally landed in Cinnabar.

Cinnabar Island, Kanto

They followed a sketchy man to the backroom of the Cinnabar pokemon centre. At first, Brynn watched the man with disinterest when he said they were being recruited for a simple fetching mission. Basic grunt stuff – boring. Getting intel on how their machines work. Alright, fine. Getting the blueprints for the machines...? Uh, little less plausible, but – stealing fossils?! Brynn's eyes were wide by this point. Wasn't this admin-level shit?! Before any of them could question him, he ushered them out of the pokemon centre and left them to their own devices.

After an awkward silence, Daniel asked if any of them had any idea what they were doing. Brynn facepalmed. Oh god, they were so screwed. Her hand slid slowly down her face as another one of their comrades – C.J. - prattled off the vaguest possible plan Brynn had ever heard and then confidently encouraged everyone onward. Brynn was quickly starting to believe this would be easier as a solo mission; they were seriously entrusting these guys to come up with a plan? To be fair, it wasn't like they had been given much intel.

The girl who had sat across from Brynn yesterday lowered her headphones (she had the right idea – Brynn didn't want to listen to this garbage either) and gently pointed out that they were the right age to just walk in and pretend to be doing a school project. Brynn opened her mouth to retort, but then she thought about it, and that was definitely the best plan so far. Huh. Who knew the quiet one would be so smart?

"You, girl.” The guy who had – ugh - “saved” Brynn yesterday gestured toward Sophie. "You're onto something there. Unless one of us happens to be an expert on infiltration, we're better off approaching this from a less flashy angle."

Brynn scoffed at him. “Yeah sure, we could all pass as high schoolers – except for you, grandpa. How old are you, anyway? Thirty?” She crossed her arms and gave him a once over. He towered over nearly everyone else in the group. “I guess you could be our teacher or something.”

Just then, Jack's jerkcrow fluttered down to sit on his head, spouting more nonsense just like it had the day before. Okay, so the thing was a little weird, but it threatened to stab Harvey in an area even she wouldn't dare go after, and for that, he had her respect. “What's with your jerkcrow, anyways?” she asked, her affrontal tone mixed with curiosity.

 

[Monster Guy]

Florian Pine
Team Rocket HQ - Saffron City

More people showed up that Pine didn’t care to pay attention to. Then the lady in charge kept on talking. It didn’t take long before Pine started to get bored, and just wanted to get on with it. Finally, they were told to get changed, pack the essentials, and meet back in an hour. It was about time.

Pine changed into a green T-shirt with daisies on them, jeans, and green and white high top sneakers. After that, he met up with the others, and got on the bus. After roll call, Pine sat there in silence playing Plants vs Zombies on his phone with earbuds in his ear. A boy that was called Cornelius durig roll call sat next to him. Neither of them acknowledged each other during the entire bus ride.

Cinnabar Island

Finally they arrived at the island. After a Ferry Ride, they headed to a Pokémon Center. Once there, they were given their instructions by a man in a nurse’s outfit. They were to go to a lab, learn how they revive fossils, find a blueprint of the revival machine, and steal any fossil they came across. Pine’s eyes lit up. He had read about some interesting Grass type Pokémon that existed back in ancient times. He would love to have one of them for himself. These scientists probably weren’t doing anything with all of them. Hell, they probably stole those fossils themselves. No harm in taking them back. It was a little strange that they wanted somebody else’s blueprints to build a revival machine, but Pine didn’t concern himself with that detail. These guys probably deserved what was coming to them.

After being briefed on their mission, they exited the Pokémon Center, and the process of planning began. Pine stood there with his arms crossed as everyone kept on yapping. It was decided that they could pretend they were there to do a school project. It sounded like a good idea on paper. Still, there were other issues that needed to be addressed.

Now it was Pine’s turn to speak up. “Yes yes, that’s all well and good. Pretend we’re school kids. That’ll get us inside.” Pine waved his hand dismissively. “There’s still the matter of actually getting the things we need. They’re not going to let a bunch of school kids help themselves. Now, my Bulbasaur can Sleep Powder any guards we may come across, but someone has to take out the security cameras and alarms. You can bet they’ll have all sorts of technology protecting their precious fossils and blueprints. You!” He pointed to the girl with the headphones. “I’ve seen you around with a Porygon. Do you think you can hack into their security and disable it?” The more Pine talked, the more excited he became about getting this mission underway.