Rebuilding my life

Well, we have arrived at our destination. We arrived at Viridian City in 4 hours. I don't know what the hell the previous owner of this body thought. He definitely would have died if it weren't for the Horseas. The trip had been hard and uncomfortable, mostly because there were no more conversations with Shuppet, and the ghost stayed silent most of the tour. I don't know if it was out of caution for predators or because of his personality. It was like that.

Shuppet had done his job. As we entered civilization, I noticed looks of concern on the part of the inhabitants, except for some children who didn't know what Pokémon was and just looked at it like another Thursday.

Luckily, I remembered to take off my Team Rocket shirt before entering; I imagine that would have doubled the stares.

Speaking of civilizations, I was in Viridian City, home of Giovanni, head of Team Rocket.

"And here ends the little tour, human. I hope you liked it. Now I have some conditions to make if we are going to be partners."

"It's okay; I also have some conditions to make for you as a partner." I told the ghost, I don't have to fear him; if he had wanted me dead, I would already be dead. Now I just had to negotiate. Shuppet was at a good level, level 21, and that's it. It would be an easy start for me.

"Haha, you have courage, boy. I guess being on the verge of death does that to people. Very well, you start."

"Okay, I'll get to the point. Do you like to fight?"

"I love it whenever I win."

"Well, it's perfect because I plan to become an elite trainer. To be honest, it's kind of like training Pokémon and making them fight each other; the Pokémon seem to like it, and the great trainers make big profits."

"And what do I gain, the one who fights?" Shuppet said it with a serious expression.

"Pokemon get stronger; you also gain money and fame, although that will have to be shared," I said simply and sincerely.

The Pokémon was silent for a few seconds before responding.

"It seems good to me; one of my conditions was to get stronger and get off the ball as long as possible; you are much more lax than my old trainer."

What did you have with another trainer? Hey, I resisted the temptation to ask what happened to him because I knew that the answer would make me back down on my next proposal.

I tightened everything up and laid out my next part of the plan.

"Also, I would like you to help him clear my name in this city; was your previous owner from the Team Rocket?"

"Look, mom is talking to her Pokémon; can I see it closer?" A child interrupted the conversation between Shuppet and me; she was quickly dragged back by the mother, who looked at Shuppet and me cautiously.

The boy took me out of the conversation, and I noticed that we were in the middle of the square talking. Many people were watching us with curiosity, and some were looking at Shuppet with concern.

A middle-aged man stepped forward and spoke to me on behalf of a good number of people.

"Young man, this place is not for the free roam of Pokémon, much less vile creatures like ghosts. If you don't put it inside the Pokémon, I will have to stop you." The man showed from his waist how four Pokéballs were attached to his belt, a fifth in your dominant hand.

I ignored the insult and turned to Shuppet, deep down grateful for this new information. In this reality, the ghost and probably sinister type Pokémon were not well regarded by the population. In the Lore, the dark type Pokémon suffered from ostracism by humans, so it is logical that the ghost type receive the same treatment.

"We'll talk later at home."

Shuppet nodded, and I then returned him to the Pokéball.

The new house was a pigsty; that was the first thing that came to mind. As an orphan, the previous owner of this body was never taught manners, in addition to his low economic resources beyond the theft.

If Shuppet was upset by this, he didn't show it; he just waited for me to speak to close the deal.

"Well, boy, what is the second condition?"

"I want you to help me escape from Team Rocket. Being a member of Team Rocket and being an Ace trainer are incompatible objectives. I will need all the power at my disposal for that task. I know some important names."

"I doubt it; you can't make your bed, and I don't think you'll be able to get rid of the mafia."

"I have decided to change, and it is true. I know several leaders of Team Rocket by chance; maybe they will free me if I collaborate with the police."

The doll did not seem at all convinced of my words, despite them being true.

Proton, Pretel, Ariana Archer, and Giovanni

With four executives and the final boss, the fate of Team Rocket was in my power.

In my mind, I had already formulated a plan to capture one of them in exchange for washing my image in the same time. Although it is risky,.

The first thing would be to find out the location of one of the four executives.

"One more thing, you said 2 weeks to surprise you; right, give me one and I'll show you what I'm capable of." I gave him my best arrogant smile, imitating his.

Banette smiled back. "Deal, Mello"

"Okay, I just need a phone, and good luck."

"Hello, am I speaking to the international police?"

"That's right, what do you want?" spoke a deep voice.

"I'm a member of Team Rocket; I'm currently in Viridian City; I wanted to talk to Agent Looker," I said clearly.

"Agent Looker is not available now."

"When he will be available, I don't want to talk to anyone but him."

I didn't want to take any chances; that character was the only canonical police character I could trust; the others might be bought.

"Approximately three days," the agent said, this time more interested in what he had to say.

"What region is it in, and when would it take to get here?"

"I can't say classified information."

"Okay, I'll call in 3 days; I'll continue in the same city; the quicker, the better for everyone."

"Wait e—" I quickly hung up.

"Was that your big plan? Reveal your identity to them. The ghost mocked me.

"My plan is to be a mole in exchange for resources with which to start my adventure."

"Your plan is to take a one-way ticket to prison."

"It's possible, but that's better than continuing to live as I've been doing. The truth is that I joined Team Rocket out of necessity. Releasing a small recruit in exchange for the big boys is something they will do if you have intelligence greater than that of them."," I said, rolling my eyes.

"As you say."

He definitely didn't trust me, but I couldn't blame him, and neither could I.

With Mello's memories, they showed me the way to Team Rocket's base, the casino.

Sooner or later, I would have to attend the Tuesday meeting of my category. The recruits were called to do missions, and those who stole the most Pokémon or Pokédollars were later reimbursed with rewards in the form of missions.

These missions were, generally, more thefts of Pokémon or money, but in a big way, making it possible to obtain even more money for each recruit who participated in the heist.

The recruits of our selection met every Tuesday to deliver what was stolen, receive orders in cases of need, and train.

Many of the recruits are orphans with nothing better to do than steal, and the members are given several years of training prior to their first Pokémon, as was the case with the previous owner of this body.

This organization was really scary; it was nothing like the anime; I would say it was more realistic; these people are the ones who have created or will create a clone of Mew and will have the balls to call it Mewtwo; they were full of resources; they didn't just steal Pokémon.

In a way, they were like a family—a family that is going to be destroyed, but a family.

My second plan was to get clues to unmask Giovanni, starting with an executive. But which one?

To do this, you will have to go to the base. The problem is that they were strict and only allowed me to enter the base on Tuesdays. And my status doesn't allow me to see the top brass of Team Rocket.

There were three categories: recruit, captain, and executive.

Captains command a squad of recruits, while these in turn are led by officers. Last but not least, there are executives, who are only sent in extreme circumstances.

The executives are comparable to gym leaders in theory; their power was top-notch, and sending them onto the battlefield meant victory for Team Rocket. Their identity is a secret; it is only known that they are very strong.

"Well, what are you going to do now with your supposed privileged information? I don't understand how a humble member like you has information about the whereabouts of an executive."

"I don't have it; that's why I need your help. Can you go through walls?"

"No, and I don't think it will help you."

"Hey"

"Hahaha, you said you had 1 week to surprise me; you won't do it with my help."

"But-" Shuppet cut me off. "No buts, this is my condition to be your Pokémon; unmask an executive in two weeks or surprise me by teaching me something."

Shit, well, now what do I do?

Without anything else, we'll have to play detective starting now. I have three days until I talk to Looker.

I know where Giovanni is; I don't know anything about the location of his henchmen. I could try the gym.

"Okay, but you said you liked fighting; do you want to try the Pokémon gym?

"Mm, well, that sounds fun."

Well, we eat and go; there is no time to waste.

Viridian City was a nice place; it was not like in the games with 4 houses and a few NPCs. Viridian City is a metropolis that brims with life in every corner. The city is strategically laid out, with wide streets and bustling avenues winding between buildings, filled with people rushing in every direction.

And in one of those directions, at the top is the Pokémon gym, where trainers from all over come to challenge the gym leader, Giovanni, to get the Earth badge.

Or is that the intention currently?

He had registered for the last established shift. I had duties to attend to, including washing my new house's dunghill and searching for the names of executives on 'PokeGoogle' with no results.

So here I was in the city gym, and there was nothing left to do. Just relax and learn.

"Mello Snow? It's time for your game." The receptionist spoke to me.

I nodded and left to see the gym and mob leader.

After opening the door, I found him, with black hair dressed in a suit, in his forties. Giovanni was before me, luckily as a gym leader.

"Challenger, Mello Snow, am I wrong?" Greetings, Giovanni, with cordiality.

"That's how it is."

"Well, I'm not usually the first gym, let alone anyone's first official fight, and the reason is that I hate doing easy fights; if you're looking for me to let you win like some of my gym leader counterparts would do, you're wrong."

I nodded my head. After this gesture, Giovanni seemed to understand that I didn't come to talk, so he took out the Pokémon from him, and I did the same.

"The gym leader will take out Geodude," the referee said.

"Go Geodude," Giovani bellowed.

"Go Shuppet"

The referee didn't take long to explain the rules after this; it's interesting to see this for the first time.

"The winner will be the one who ends up without Pokémon. Challenger Mello, you have the first move." I just explained the referee.

I couldn't complain, and I commanded my Pokémon,

"Shadow Ball Shuppet"

"Dodge it and rollout."

Geodude did exactly as he was ordered and adopted a spinning form that tried to attack Shuppet, but he avoided it by levitating without saying it.

In games, unrolling is a movement that gains power each turn. It seems that it is the same here, that Pokémon is gaining more and more speed. Let's take advantage of it to our advantage.

"How we practice"

Before coming, I showed Shuppet a recording of Giovanni's fights as a gym leader. Knowing that he would start with Geodude, it didn't take long for us to carry out a counterstrategy.

Without further delay, Shuppet threw a shadow ball, breaking the floor where Geodude was going to pass, making him crash against the wall. After this Shuppet, again without having to say anything, put a disarm in what I think was his face.

An explosion occurred, causing the wall behind the impact to crack.

This time I noticed how a white aura left Geodude's body, followed by a loss of consciousness.

This confirmed my theory: in this world, all beings have an aura, including humans. That is why I survived the attack of that bedrill, something like the RWBY-style universe, where you lose when your aura runs out.

"Geodude us—"

"Now shadow sneak"

My Shuppet materialized into a shadow and approached the talking rock at high speed, knocking it out.

"Geodude is out; the first point goes to the challenger, Mello; both participants have one Pokémon left."

If Giovani cared about his defeat, he didn't show it; he simply returned his Geodude and took out his second Pokémon.

A Rhydorn

"Shuppet, fly high and use the shadow ball.

"Rhyhorn, don't let it use the stone edge."

Stone is a turn-based rock-type physical attack.

I didn't understand how the attack was physical. Now, yes, Rhydorn created a stone and pushed it faster than Shuppet; he used a shadow ball, and the outcome was predictable, after which I ordered Shuppet to dodge whatever he could.

The first summoned rock crashed into the shadow ball; the second was dodged, but Shuppet couldn't dodge a third or a fourth.

With that, he fell to the ground like a puppet—never better said, but still conscious.

"Can you continue?" I knew Shuppet didn't have very good defenses, at least in the game.

"Affirmative"

"If we throw Will-O-Wisp at him, we could still win."

Shuppet tried to throw a tiny flame at the rival Pokémon.

Banette's pre-evolution followed the advice, but unfortunately for us, he avoided the pathetic attack and continued with the stone.

We lost; there would be a lot to train, starting with will-o'-the-wisp.

"It was a good fight for the first time, boy. Don't give up; with two Pokémon, maybe you can make it," my boss said, although he probably didn't know that he was my boss.

"Thank you, sir. I hope one day to be a trainer as strong as you."

"Hahah, you still have to go, boy. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have eight more fights to do."

With that, I left and lost, but I didn't expect to win with a Pokémon.

You could say that I gained experience; now I know where my Shuppet is wrong.

Honestly, it would have been a big surprise if he won with just a newly caught Pokémon. I think the results were positive.

Shuppet was a pretty bad Pokémon; Banette was too; on the other hand, Mega-Banette was a beast, but there was still a lot left to do.

to get there.

Anyway, it was a refreshing experience. I love challenges, and Giovanni will definitely be my first badge, whatever the cost.

I thought that having been reincarnated and having obtained a system would give me victory in absolutely everything I did, as if I were a main character in a Shonen series.

I thank Giovani for getting me out of my bubble.

In fact, I'll appreciate it when I defeat Team Rocket and win the league.

I promise.