Chapter 14: Surprise Motherf*cker

[A/N: This chapter is about 3k words, a bit longer, but I hope you all won't mind]

-0-

Viridian Forest.

In an underground room without objects except for a locker, a dark-skinned girl slept peacefully while a black-haired boy was guarding her.

It had been three days since The Syndicate kidnaped Aeron. So far, the duo had not made any suspicious movements that would lead to trouble.

Over the last three days, Aeron had thought about many things. This included getting out of their mess, followed by his extraordinary calmness during different situations. He had yet to reach any conclusion. Was it normal to be so calm, or was he overthinking? He was inclined to believe that he was indeed overthinking it.

However, the feeling of having something in his grasp and yet not kept him over the edge.

"Your food is here." Jinga, the 'Boss's' right-hand man, kicked open the door.

He was followed by a few grunts dragging a trolley filled with food. Every day at the same time, the same people would bring food to all the kidnapped trainers under Jinga's watch. They were always on time.

Jinga looked at Nessa, who was sleeping and then at Aeron.

"How is our hospitality." Jinga walked forward and stood before the iron bars.

"League will find you and ensure Team Rocket pays for this." With an angry look on his face, Aeron yelled those words.

"Keke." Jinga made a wide grin, showing his yellow teeth that would disgust just about anyone, "Yes. The League will punish Team Rocket. Keke."

Jinga gave an evil laugh. Except for them and the League, no one else knew they were not Team Rocket. But the name of Kanto and Johto's infamous Team Rocket was well known among the people of the two regions, helping them create fear to control the young trainers without much trouble.

He loved hearing the desperate threats of these fledglings who knew nothing about what fate had in store for them.

"Eat while you can. Keke."

Jinga turned around and walked out of the room. One of the grunts soon came in with two plates filled with lunch.

"You must be honoured." The grunt snickered before walking out of the room, closing the door behind them.

Aeron looked at the dishes presented to them and began eating. Nessa, who was sleeping, stood up and followed Aeron.

"Is it today?" She asked while gulping down the food, and Aeron nodded his head

Aeron was still determining if the food was poisoned; however, they had no choice but to eat if they wanted to survive and have the strength to run. They were screwed; at least being at full strength would increase their chances of running away. And why would the 'Team Rocket' go through the trouble of poisoning them when they could kill them anytime they wanted?

It also led Aeron to another conclusion, which, in his opinion, had an 80% chance of being correct.

'They don't want to kill us.'

Every day besides three meals, all the trainers were allowed to use the washroom twice daily. Aeron could make a rough map of the floor they were on in his head.

There were about twenty rooms, and about ten of them were filled with kidnapped trainers. Their room was in the middle of the floor. The washrooms were on the right of this room, and to the left, at the end of the hallway, was the exit that led upstairs.

He saw a grunt using a key card to open a door with stairs that led upstairs.

Every kidnapper carried the key card with them, and Aeron's target was to get one of those key cards, especially Jinga's. How would they get it? He already had a plan that allowed them to take the midget out.

About thirty minutes later, the grunts returned to take the dishes back.

Once they collected the empty dishes from every room, they left the underground compound, leaving Jinga responsible for watching over the brats.

It had been three days since he was given this duty, and he was getting bored. Although he trusted his boss, the little shits were trapped behind iron cages, and there was no way they could get out of this place. He had to babysit these shits, making none of them cause trouble when they went to release themselves.

As pissed as he was, he did not complain since he knew how important these brats were for The Syndicate.

-0-

"Are you ready?"

Aeron looked at Nessa, who had a nervous expression. The dark-skinned girl closed her eyes before opening them once again. She had forcefully calmed herself down.

"I will keep him busy for as long as possible," Nessa promised before looking toward the door. "I NEED TO USE THE WASHROOM."

A pink blush appeared on her face after shouting something this embarrassing.

*Bang*

"Can you shut your mouth?"

Jinga entered the room with an annoyed look on his face. It was the middle of the night, and this bitch had scared him with that shout. Thankfully, the underground compound was in a separate area, or his Boss would have killed him if his sleep had been disturbed.

Jinga hurriedly replied before glaring at Nessa. "Wear these."

He took a pair of handcuffs. Without questioning, Aeron and Nessa walked forward till they were at the edge of the cage. Jinga cuffed their hands and opened the door.

"You better sit where you are." Jinga glared at Aeron as he took Nessa out of the room.

Aeron raised his hands, pulling on the cuffs before Jinga's eyes, showing his helplessness with those on.

With nothing more said, Jinga followed after Nessa, making sure the girl did not try to run away, not that she could. He did not notice the eye contact Nessa and Aeron made as the door closed, leaving only Aeron behind.

A smile formed on Aeron's face, but he did not move for at least a minute.

-0-

Jinga walked back and forth in front of the washroom. It had been fifteen minutes since the girl went inside, and from the looks of it, she was not planning to come out anytime soon. It was already past twelve, and he was sleepy, yet the dark blue-haired girl was making him wait.

'Is she planning something?' Jinga frowned but then shook his head. It was not the first time this one had taken so long inside. He did not know what the girls did inside, but they took their sweet time. On the other days, it was in the afternoon, but now that it was night, every second felt like an hour.

Running around the whole day made him dead-tiered. But he could not ask for any extra men since they were already short on manpower until the reinforcements arrived in three days.

"*Bang* *Bang* How long will you take?" He could not help but bang on the door after a few more minutes. 'Is she shitting or making sandcastles with it. Dammit?'

With an annoyed look, Nessa opened the door and came out of the washroom with an annoyed look.

"Do you have no shame?"

"Get a move on."

Jinga snickered and asked Nessa to walk in front. He did not want to risk being attacked by the girl if she was at the back. 'Dammit, I am feeling sleepy.' Jinga yawned and stretched his arms. 'At least the view is nice.'

He looked at Nessa, who was walking ahead. He yawned once again as the duo reached the door.

"How long are you going to keep us here?" Nessa turned around and looked at Jinga. Her oceanic blue eyes had tears in them.

Jinga could not help but snicker once again. "At least a few more days. Do you think I want to babysit brats? Now get inside, so I can lock you up and sleep."

With a hateful look, Nessa turned her head to the other side. Jinga could see tears welling up in the girl's eyes, but he could care less. Yawning once again, he walked ahead and opened the door.

"Hmm?"

As soon as he opened the door, the sleepiness in his eyes was gone as they widened in disbelief.

He ran into the room and looked at the cage, which was empty with no one inside. The boy was here just a few moments ago, and now he was not. He would be in a deep mess if his boss discovered it.

Anger bubbled up inside him, and his face became red. His eyes landed on the corner of the cage. It was missing a few bars, making enough space for someone to get out of it.

"Where is that little shit?" Jinga shouted, and his right hand went toward the Pokeball on his waist.

"Surprise, Motherf*cker."

"Huh?"

He heard a voice from behind, but before he could see who it was, his vision blurred as he felt a sharp pain in his head.

-0- (Back to the moment when Nessa left the cell)

Aeron looked at the door close before him.

He had already formulated a general plan about what they had to do to escape the basement compound. The problem was, what would they do after that? They had no clue what lay beyond this compound where they were trapped and how many more grunts were there.

Even if Jinga was taken out and Aeron rescued everyone from the compound, escaping from this place would be shooting an arrow in the dark. It might hit the target, and it might not.

They had the option to do nothing and wait till League came to their rescue, but trainers were being kidnapped for a whole month, and League had not made any move. He did not know what they were waiting for but could not leave his fate in League's hands. What if they decided to wait another month and the kidnapper's plan was complete?

The plan he had formulated was good enough only within this compound. Anything after, they would have to improvise. How good? It would depend on others and what information he could get from Jinga.

Once a minute was over, Aeron raised his handcuffed arms and took out Axew's Pokeball.

The young Dragon had been trapped inside for too long now. Luckily, his Pokeball was anything but ordinary. It created a unique space for Dragon-type Pokémon and had some room to store food for the Pokémon.

He ensured the Pokeball was always filled with food, enough for Axew to survive for at least a week before it ran out.

Knowing Jinga would not return for a while, Aeron put the plan in motion.

Aeron scanned his fingers on the Pokeball and called Axew out. As soon as the young Dragon appeared, he leaped into Aeron's arms, but before it could speak, Aeron placed a hand on his mouth.

"Don't speak. We are in trouble."

Axew's muffled sound rang in the room, but he soon became quiet. He looked at Aeron's hands which were tied in handcuffs. He was still a young Dragon child, but he had a basic understanding to know Aeron was in trouble.

Without waiting for Aeron to say anything, he used [Cut] with his draconic claws and broke the handcuffs.

"Thank you."

Aeron patted Axew's head, and the Dragon enjoyed the head pats he had missed for many days.

"I am in trouble, and I need your help to get out of this place," Aeron spoke to his partner, and Axew clenched his fists while vigorously nodding his head.

"Good." Nodding his head, Aeron pointed to the cage made of vertical iron bars. "You see these? I want you to cut them off from the top and bottom."

"Axew."

With another nod, Axew walked toward the iron bars and jumped up. Even though he was young and in his first evolution, he was strong enough to jump a few meters easily. Humans could never compare to Pokémon when it came to strength. What was uncommon for humans might be a very common feat for Pokémon.

Axew's claws shone in white light, and it once again used [Cut].

Unlike the metallic dummy made for training, these iron bars were as soft as tofu before Axew's attack. The young Dragon made a clean cut on top and then at the bottom.

A smile formed on Aeron's face as he looked at four iron bars cut open by Axew. The cut was so smooth that it didn't even make a noise, and to keep it that way, Aeron caught the bars before they could drop on the floor.

Aeron walked out of the iron cage and stretched his body. The next part needed him to exert strength, so he held one iron bar in his right hand, spinning it like a pole weapon.

"It is heavy enough. Should work just fine."

"Axew?"

Aeron smiled and looked at his partner, who was back on his shoulder. "You have grown heavier. If this keeps up, I don't think my shoulder can carry you so easily."

He patted his partner's head before pulling out the Pokeball.

"Go back for now."

"Axew…"

The Pokémon protested, but Aeron shook his head. "I need to do some fighting, and I don't want you to feel scared."

Aeron patted Axew's head showing genuine care and worry for his Pokémon. Axew could feel Aeron's sincerity but did not want to go inside. However, what could he do even if he stayed outside?

"I will call you back as soon as I am done. I promise."

Aeron's words frightened Axew's face before he sucked inside the Pokeball with a black light.

Now that he was free, Aeron looked at the locker. It was at the front of the room and the first thing that would catch one's eye as soon as they entered. For the past three days, Aeron had used the washroom as an excuse to make a lot of observations.

If he broke the locker, then his eyes would land on it as soon as Jinga opened the door for Nessa. There was a chance he would not enter the room.

As he thought about the dark-skinned girl, an unknown smile appeared on Aeron's face.

It might be too sudden, but he felt like he had found a great friend during the days they were trapped inside the cage. They talked about a lot of things, some personal, some not. When he shared his not-so-great escape plan, she immediately agreed to help in any way she could.

She had her selfish reason for it, but Aeron still admired her for her courage. No one would readily agree to take a risk just because there was a plan. She showed trust, which was hard to see in people you know for a few days.

For the last three days, Nessa had acted like she took much time in the washroom so that Jinga would form a misconception about it. Therefore, when they put their plan in motion at night, he would not suspect anything if Nessa took her sweet time while he was using Axew to free himself and set things up for the next part of the plan.

'Now I need to wait.'

Aeron walked to a corner and hid near the hinges of the door. After waiting a while, he finally heard Nessa's voice beside the door.

"How long are you going to keep us here?

"At least a few more days. Do you think I want to babysit brats? Now get inside, so I can lock you up and sleep."

It was already decided that Nessa would strike the conversation while Jinga was about to open the door to warn Aeron.

Aeron tightly held the iron pole. His heartbeat was fast enough to be heard a mile away, but he calmed down as soon as it went up.

'There it is again.'

He thought to himself, but his attention was still on the midget about to walk in anytime. And just as he expected, Jinga opened the door, and as soon as he saw the empty cage, his anger and thoughts of his boss skinning him alive started forming in his mind.

"Where is that little shit?" Jinga shouted, and his right hand went toward the Pokeball on his waist.

Aeron smirked and imagined the head of Jinga as a ball and the iron pole as a baseball bat; he swung with everything he had.

"Surprise, Motherf*cker"

"Huh?"

Jinga heard a voice from behind, but before he could see who it was, his vision blurred as an iron pole appeared straight toward his face.

*Bang*

Aeron hit Jinga in the head, sending the man flying to the other end of the room. But Jinga was still an experienced man who had been in fights before. Even while he was flying back, he reached for his Pokeball.

However, Aeron already expected him not to go down so quickly. So, as soon as he hit Jinga's head, instead of being carefree or drowning in 'victory,' he stepped forward and swung the iron poll toward Jinga's right arm.

"Aarrgh!"

Jinga screamed in pain as his brain registered both hits simultaneously. But before he could think of something else, he felt another sharp pain in his chest, the next target of Aeron's iron poll.

Aeron looked at Jinga lying on the ground, twitching in pain.

"That should be enough…right?"

He stepped forward and took Jinga's Pokeballs first. Then, he made sure to scour the man for anything he could use to his advantage. Unlike how they did a half-assed search, Aeron ensured he was thorough.

Once he took away Jinga's Pokeball and Pokedex, he stepped back, looking at Nessa, who was still standing at the door.

"That was an excellent swing."

"I am a fan of Magikarps ace hitter, Dante." Aeron shrugged his shoulders. Magikarps were the most successful and best baseball team in Kanto. Even though there were Electabuzz, who claimed to be the best, they were nothing compared to the Karps, who had won the championship three times in a row and had better chances of winning it again this year.

"Help me out, will ya?" Nessa raised her cuffed hands toward Aeron while walking inside.

Aeron scanned his finger on his Pokeball.

"I want to see who your starter is."

"Axe, come out."

With a black flash of light, Axew appeared once again.

"Axew!"

"A shiny?!!"

"A what?"

-------------------------End of Chapter-------------------------

Author's Note:

- I was not going to release any more chapters today, but I am releasing this chapter at the request of a reader named: Kevin_Barclay. GGs bro.

- Drop some Power Stones to support the book.

- Peace!