EPISODE 27: Neuro*

I lick my fleshy lips and grabbed a handful of oily hors d'oeuvres. They are little shrimps, fried to a crisp. I place a pile of shrimp on my plate and drenched them in creamy, sweet sauce. What could be better than a nice lunch, after a terrible defeat against Cliff?

The doors of heaven open, after taking a nibble from what the cafeteria has to offer. The flavor, spurts like a grenade of savory inside my mouth, as the shrimp adds a pinch of crisp.

"See! I told you the food here is amazing!" Charlotte exclaims while taking a nibble of her dish. Clearly, both of us are somewhat in heaven, a heaven that only lasted for the time being.

My mouth has never been satisfied like this before, truly this cafeteria is much better than the dining hall in Saffron City. My eyes ponder around, looking at all sorts of grunts and agents. Some are wearing a blue trainee uniform, while others like me and Charlotte are wearing the red trainee uniform. How I wish to have a blue uniform instead of the red one. After all, blue is my favorite color.

My eyes continue to ponder as if I am searching for something within. I see some Pokemons which I definitely don't want to mess with, and there are some agents that look like professionals to me. My eyes also catches a very bizarre Pokemon. There is this white Meowth who knows how to speak like a human, mother nature sure is strange isn't she?

"Who's that Charlotte?" I question while pointing towards a man with somewhat the same age as mine. His hair seems grey, while his eyes are green, and his outfit stands out from the rest. For some reason, this man is wearing a silver outfit, with a touch of black found in his boots and gloves.

"Oh him? You don't want to mess with that guy. His name is Xavier Kimberlite, a Stealth Agent of Team Rocket. Aside from being a stealth agent, his skills are profound when it comes to Pokemon battling.

No one wants to be with him, trust me. He's a very snobbish and strict person." Charlotte introduces. Just by his name, I could say, he's one of those guys who care for nothing except for themselves. What catches my attention is his powerful Mightyena and his tiny little Pawn Pokemon.

The bells ring, giving a conclusion to our lunch break. Everybody is back to their own agendas, except for me and Charlotte. She seems very nervous if the other pillars would still accept her rematch, and I on the other hand tries my best to recall everything that my mother said about fixing an aircon.

Yes, my mother thought me how to fix an aircon, and trust me, you're not going to like it. Listening to all these complicated motor stuff gives me a pain in the head, as if I am the one being fixed, and not the aircon.

"Please Mr.Arlo! Please let me participate one last time. Just one more, please." Charlotte begs with her baby doll eyes.

"Ah! Fine, I'll let you participate one last time, but this time you'll be going against Luna." Charlotte's eyes drains the hell out of Arlo's forbearance. He couldn't bear to take another look, he has no choice but sigh instead.

"Against me?!"

"Oh right... let me explain the mechanics of my assessment. All you have to do is to turn off that bomb. The one who turns it off first gets the spot.

Oh, and if you think it's going to be easy? You only have one minute to turn it off. Probably the both of you went to school right?"

"Um, sir... I've never heard of a school that teaches students how to dismantle bombs." Charlotte giggles while expressing her statement with sarcasm.

"Team Rocket teaches Neuro agents how to dismantle bombs. In my assessment, you have to use your stock knowledge about bombs and detonation devices, such as land mines."

"But sir... all we know about bombs is that they explode. Where are we going to get all these 'stock knowledge' about dismantling bombs? In the dark web?" Charlotte giggles once more while uttering sarcastically. I try to tell her to stop acting sarcastic with all her inappropriate jokes, but it looks like her meal gave her an extreme amount of energy.

"Hmph! Just do whatever you can. It's part of warfare, now go inside the room so I can turn on the timer already." Arlo's patience is pushed to the limit, good thing he's a calm person, with or without forbearance.

Charlotte has a point, where in the world are we suppose to learn how to dismantle bombs? I've got no choice but to put my lousy wiring skills to the test. If I fail this task, this leaves me to one more assessment left.

"The use of Pokemons is allowed! Your timer... starts now!" Arlo commences through the window while pressing the big red obvious button on the left side of his screen.

I go to the attached case and open it... Inside the case, I see a keyboard, a small computer screen, two square packets, and a series of wires. My physique kneels down and taps on the keyboard. Then a plethora of codes appeared on the screen.

[40 seconds] The intimidating sound of the ticking clock adds pressure to my sanity. For some reason, the room suddenly felt hot and barren, my neck feels irritated by the uniform, as sweat trickles down my spine. My body trembles with anxiety while pressing different kinds of buttons. My thoughts are all jumbled up, due to the dwelling panic within my skin.

<Pet! Petilil!>Lily starts to bite the wires, making things even more complicated. Ralts however, isn't a big help at all, she just stared at us, not having a single clue on what's happening around her.

[30 Seconds]

30 seconds remain on the clock, and our progress seems dull. The room becomes the sun, causing me and my Pokemons to perspire. Soon, panic turns into irritation, and irritation turns into frustration. My body is about to give up, when suddenly the timer stops to tick.

"Congratulations Charlotte, you were able to stop the bomb right on time." Arlo compliments while giving her a slow clap. My ears couldn't believe that she was able to stop the bomb, how could a rambunctious girl like her stop the detonation just in time?

"H... How?!" My voice stutters, not because of dysphemia, but because of awe. Was Charlotte, trying to cheat?

"Simple, I just read the codes, and it told me how to stop the detonation," Charlotte replies with an intoned and humble voice.

"Next time Luna, don't panic. You have to concentrate and observe your surroundings before dashing around and pressing all sorts of buttons found within the bomb. Sometimes, the answer you seek is in the enemy itself. Analyzation is important when it comes to dismantling foreign technologies.

Anyways... You can still have your assessment with Sierra, but I promise you, it's the hardest assessment out of all. As for Charlotte, congratulations, you are no longer a Trainee.

From now on, you are a Neuro agent of Team Rocket, I'll be recommending you to the boss later." If I lose once again, it's back to square one, and maybe participating in missions will just be a figment of my mere imagination.

"Cheer up Luna! Me and my Pokemons will be cheering for you during your simulator assessment! Actually, when I first tried Sierra's assessment, it feels kinda fun. It's like being teleported to a new location, when in fact you're in the same building. That's the power of advanced holographic imaging, it allows you to see things that they don't." Charlotte restores a bit of hope in my body. I've never tried a simulator before, except for the simulators which you download online.