Stakes

It had been a while since there had been some rumours spreading about trainers that were slowly making a name for themselves in the routes around Saffron City.

One was a new trainer that had been quickly gaining victory after victory and was completing many kinds of tasks which was Kimi.

Another one was Luci who was more mysterious and had attracted the attention of others due to her unusual Pokémon that was Scizor.

Team Rocket higher ups may have known a little about Scizor from their infiltration into Johto but those lower down had very little information about it.

When there were some rumours spreading out about the unusual Pokémon, it was a matter of time before they went looking for the trainer that had it.

Luci rarely appeared and when she did do so, she had never appeared in the same location again for a second time the next day.

Kimi had visited different routes each time she went out so it made it more unpredictable where she would show up each day.

If she did attract unwanted attention then it was less likely that she would be found and confronted by such threats unless the other side were lucky to encounter her or spread out their forces more.

Several days before was when a small meeting had happened between a small group of Team Rocket members.

A group leader had stood before several grunts and spoke in a commanding tone. "You all have a task to carry out this time. Find the rumoured person for me along with their unknown red Pokémon. If possible then capture them both but if there is any resistance then you know what to do."

"Yes leader!"

"Yes boss!"

"A new target this time huh?"

There was a ruthless tone in his voice as he finished speaking. "Do not fail me."

He was brought up by the organisation and had rose up a little in Team Rocket due to him having an older brother that had a higher position and had given him support.

The arrangements that had been made had put several grunts underneath him and he was in charge of relaying orders from above to them and he could use them for his own purposes at times so long as he did not pose problems to the organisation.

If a Pokémon caught his fancy or if there was something that he spotted that could help him elevate his position then he would send those below him to do the difficult work.

Scizor was far too attractive for him to just ignore so he had deployed those beneath him to locate Luci.

Since she possessed such a rare Pokémon that he knew nothing about then she was just as valuable as the Pokémon itself.

It was likely that Luci was supported by some rich family or possessed useful information so he had considered taking her alive if there was not too much resistance from her.

If she was supported by someone then she must have been highly valued and could be used to gain more things if used correctly.

If she possessed knowledge that most did not have then it could be put to use for his own or the organisations purposes.

Either option could benefit himself or the organisation in some way if everything went according to plan.

If she could not be acquired due to there being a bigger risk of exposure of their activities or there being losses on their side then he was prepared to abandon those things for the sake of gaining Scizor and anything else that was in the possession of Luci.

Anything in her possession would be taken away and if she had been captured alive then it would lead to extracting information and then going to where she lived or places she used to reap more rewards if it was worth it to send people there or go himself.

He pictured himself keeping such a rare Pokémon for himself or gaining a promotion due to contributing it to Team Rocket which made him a little excited.

The days had passed and his people had been spread out until some people had picked up on information about Luci showing up so some had went in search of her.

Three had spotted a masked person walking their way with their hood up so they immediately guessed that it was Luci. "It could be her."

"Attack"

"Go Arbok!"

"Go Koffing!"

"Go Ratticate!"

They had hoped to catch her off guard and summoned a Pokémon right away but did not expect Luci to be so quick to summon her own and attacked them first.

They had to watch on as Arbok tried to offer support to Koffing and barely harmed or touched Scizor. "Poison Sting!"

"Smog!"

"Smokescreen!"

"Acid!"

"Bite!"

"Quick Attack!"

They saw that most of their attacks seemed to not affect Scizor who was unaffected by poison and had a hard metallic coat protecting it.

Grimer had kept throwing mud and sludge to further harm those in their team and disrupt them. "Damnit!"

Ratticate could not hit Nidoran unless Quick Attack was used so it was quickly taken down.

They reached out towards the Pokéballs on their waist to summon new Pokémon to aid them but a sudden attack came without warning towards them.

Toxic Sludge had been aimed towards them once there was no longer anything protecting them or blocking their path. "Gah!"

"Argh!"

They had to change their priorities right away due to being poisoned and started to reach towards the potions on their utility belts. "Damnit.."

A metallic claw had came towards each of them during the time they were trying to cure themselves and the surroundings had become silent once more.

Kimi walked over when it was safe to do so and started to remove their valuables. "If you are living this kind of life then do not expect others to be so soft on you. If you can rob and harm others then you should expect the same to happen to you."

A thought had come to mind and a smile had formed on her lips as she had watched as they were dragged away by Scizor so they were ready to be tied up to a tree by her. 'Hmm.. perhaps this is my path and can be the path for others too.'

A small idea had formed in her mind for a moment but her thoughts went back towards the people in front of her as she woke one up and started to gather information from them.

It was true that everyone was far too soft on criminals and held back a lot so the criminals often got the upper hand to to using sneak attacks, vicious moves and even going as far as inflicting harm upon the trainers too during a Pokémon battle.

If they were ruthless enough then people would be killed by them and most people dealing with them were bound to the law or their own ideals to respond to their opponents who used such methods.

Even if they had defeated such opponents, they would still find ways to let their opponents get free or be handed over to the the right places without gaining any kind of benefit from it.

If someone was willing to take someone else's life or rob them then they should expect the same kind of treatment.

If there was something at stake for one side then the other side should be willing to put out something of equal value and be prepared to lose it if they lost but if they won then they could be the ones to reap the benefits and control the end result.

Kimi was doing just that as she started to take everything of value on them just like they would have done to her and had gone on to extract whatever useful information they had. "Argh…"

"Please.. do not poison me again.."

"I will talk."

"That is all I know.. I swear.. please let me live."