Croagunk nearly fell over on its first jump.
Adrian had expected improvement after removing the four training bands.
He hadn’t expected Croagunk to launch itself almost twice as far as intended.
The Poison-type sailed over the small marker Adrian had placed in the swamp training ground, landed several feet beyond it, and pitched forward.
Its hands struck the damp earth before its face could follow.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then Croagunk slowly looked back at him.
Adrian covered his mouth.
“Don’t.”
Croagunk’s eyes narrowed.
“I’m not laughing.”
“Croa.”
“I’m definitely not.”
The expression on Croagunk’s face suggested it didn’t believe him.
Adrian finally allowed himself a grin.
“Get up.
Again.”
Croagunk pushed itself upright and returned to the starting position.
For the past several days, nearly every physical exercise had been performed with the adjustable weights attached to its wrists and ankles.
Adrian hadn’t increased the load yet, wanting Croagunk to adapt before adding more.
Now they needed to determine whether the training had accomplished anything.
“Same distance.”
Croagunk crouched, more careful this time, and jumped.
The difference was obvious.
It crossed the distance effortlessly, landed beyond the marker, and turned.
No stumble.
No extra step.
Adrian nodded.
“Again.”
They repeated the exercise.
Forward.
Backward.
Left.
Right.
Diagonal.
At first Croagunk consistently used too much force.
Its body had adapted to compensating for the additional weight, and without it, every movement carried farther than intended.
That problem disappeared quickly.
Within twenty minutes, Croagunk had begun adjusting.
Within forty, Adrian was struggling to follow its movements with his eyes.
Not because Croagunk had suddenly become overwhelmingly fast.
It hadn’t.
But compared with the Pokémon he’d received less than a week ago, the improvement was undeniable.
“Fake Out.”
Croagunk vanished forward, its palm slamming into the training post with a sharp crack.
Adrian’s eyebrows rose.
“Again.”
Croagunk returned.
“Fake Out.” Another burst.
Faster.
The move had always produced sudden acceleration, but now the transition looked smoother.
Croagunk wasn’t fighting against the weight bands anymore.
Adrian stepped toward the post.
“Cross Chop.
Half strength.”
Croagunk crossed its arms and attacked.
The strike landed.
Its feet touched the ground.
Balanced.
Ready.
Exactly what they’d been working toward.
“Full.”
Croagunk looked at him.
“Let’s see it.”
Its stance changed.
Both arms crossed.
Croagunk lunged.
CRACK!
The upper half of the training post snapped backward, wood splintering across the clearing.
Croagunk landed.
One foot slid backward, its upper body dipped, then stopped.
No stumble.
Adrian’s smile widened.
That was progress.
Not a new move.
Not a dramatic level increase.
Just a weakness becoming smaller.
“Good.”
Croagunk looked at the broken target and flexed both arms.
“Don’t start.”
“Croa.”
“You broke a piece of wood.”
Croagunk pointed at the shattered post.
“A very impressive piece of wood.”
That seemed to satisfy it.
Adrian reached for the weights.
Croagunk backed away.
“They’re going back on.”
Another step backward.
“You knew this was temporary.”
Croagunk stared at him.
Adrian held up the bands.
“Either you put them on willingly, or I start charging you for food.”
Croagunk slowly approached.
Adrian suspected it understood far more human speech than it pretended to.
He secured the weights again.
“Now we work.”
The next several hours were devoted to something Adrian had neglected.
Defense.
Croagunk could attack.
That had never been the problem.
Cross Chop gave it tremendous close-range power for its current level.
Fake Out could disrupt opponents.
Poison Sting and Mud-Slap gave it ranged options.
But against Nidorino, they’d learned what happened when Croagunk actually got hit.
Against Beedrill, they’d been reminded.
Dodging everything wasn’t realistic.
Eventually, something would connect.
Adrian positioned Croagunk opposite one of the automated launchers available in the training area.
Instead of Pokémon attacks, the machine fired padded balls at adjustable speeds.
He set it to minimum.
“Don’t dodge.”
Croagunk turned toward him.
“Block.”
That was more acceptable.
Adrian activated the machine.
A padded ball shot forward.
Croagunk raised both arms.
Thump.
It barely moved.
Another came from the right.
Croagunk turned and blocked.
A third came low.
It blocked again.
Adrian increased the speed.
The machine fired.
Block.
Block.
Miss.
A ball bounced directly off Croagunk’s forehead.
Croagunk froze.
Adrian stared.
Croagunk slowly turned toward the machine.
“Don’t attack it.”
Croagunk’s fists tightened.
“It’s equipment.”
Croagunk advanced.
“Croagunk.”
After a moment, it returned to position.
Adrian made a note in his book.
Doesn’t appreciate being hit in the face.
He underlined it.
Croagunk noticed.
Adrian closed the notebook before it could investigate.
“Again.”
By afternoon, Croagunk was exhausted.
Adrian ended training before fatigue turned useful repetitions into sloppy habits.
They ate in the base cafeteria before heading toward the Mission Hall.
He had seventy TRP.
Enough to start considering another purchase, but nothing Adrian desperately needed.
The weights were doing their job.
Croagunk’s food was adequate.
Medical care for recruits’ Pokémon was provided by the base.
Buying something simply because he could would waste points.
Adrian checked the board.
The worthwhile F-Rank missions were mostly gone.
He was about to leave when shouting near one of the terminals caught his attention.
“That’s bullshit!”
A recruit slammed his hand against the counter.
The Rocket employee behind it didn’t react.
“You accepted the mission.”
“The information was wrong!”
“The information was incomplete.”
“That’s the same thing!”
“No.”
The recruit’s face reddened.
Adrian recognized him vaguely from the first trial.
His starter was a Spearow.
The employee pushed the recruit’s Rocket ID back across the counter.
“Mission failed.
Five-point penalty.”
“You expect me to pay because your information was bad?”
“Yes.”
The recruit stared.
The employee leaned forward slightly.
“Intelligence is rarely complete.
If you require certainty, stop taking field missions.”
That ended the argument.
The recruit snatched his card and stormed away.
Adrian watched him go.
Nidorino came to mind.
The warehouse mission had only listed Rattata.
Team Rocket hadn’t compensated Adrian for encountering something much more dangerous.
At the time, he’d assumed it was simply bad information.
That was intentional.
Not necessarily the incorrect report.
The expectation.
Rocket members were supposed to adapt.
Adrian turned back toward the board.
A newly posted mission appeared.
Escort Request
Authorization: F-Rank Objective: Escort Rocket Research Assistant to collection site and return.
Location: Route 25 Expected Duration: 4–6 Hours Reward: 45 TRP Warning: Wild Pokémon encounters likely.
Forty-five.
Higher than anything else currently available.
Adrian opened the details.
The researcher wanted plant samples from an area northeast of Cerulean.
The escort’s responsibility was protection rather than collection.
Only one recruit could accept it.
Adrian placed his ID against the terminal.
Mission Accepted.
A meeting location appeared.
Tomorrow.
07:00.
Adrian smiled.
That solved tomorrow’s plans.
The researcher was late.
Adrian stood outside a small storage facility near Cerulean’s northern edge the following morning with Croagunk beside him.
07:05.
07:10.
07:17.
At 07:21, the door finally opened.
A young woman emerged carrying an oversized backpack and two metal cases.
She couldn’t have been older than twenty.
Brown hair had been pulled into a messy ponytail, and protective goggles rested above her forehead.
She looked at Adrian.
Then Croagunk.
Then Adrian again.
“You’re my escort?”
“Apparently.”
“How old are you?”
“Fifteen.”
She closed her eyes.
“Rocket is trying to kill me.”
“Probably.”
Her eyes opened.
Adrian extended a hand toward one of the cases.
“You want help with that?”
She handed it over.
“Dr.
Mira Voss.”
“Adrian.”
“Rank?”
“Recruit.”
She stopped walking.
“Recruit?”
“You accepted a White…” Adrian caught himself.
“An F-Rank mission.”
“I assumed they’d send a grunt.”
Adrian continued past her.
“Then you should’ve posted a B-Rank mission.”
Mira stared after him before hurrying to catch up.
“I hate this organization.”
“You’re still here.”
“They fund my research.”
“Then you don’t hate it that much.”
She considered that.
“Fair.”
They headed north.
Route 25 was busier than Adrian expected.
Trainers traveled along the main path, forcing Adrian and Mira to remain inconspicuous.
Neither wore Rocket uniforms.
To anyone watching, they looked like a young trainer accompanying a researcher.
Which, technically, they were.
“What are we collecting?” Adrian asked.
“Samples.”
“Of?”
“Plants.”
Adrian looked at her.
Mira sighed.
“Moonwort.”
“Never heard of it.”
“Most people haven’t.
It absorbs trace minerals from soil altered by prolonged exposure to Fairy-type energy.”
That caught Adrian’s attention.
“What do you use it for?”
“That’s classified.”
“Then why explain the first half?”
“Because you asked.”
Adrian decided not to pursue that logic.
Croagunk walked several feet ahead.
The weights were hidden beneath small cloth wraps.
Adrian didn’t want strangers asking why his Pokémon was wearing Rocket-issued training equipment.
Mira noticed them anyway.
“Weighted conditioning?”
“Yeah.”
“Several days.”
“Don’t overdo it.”
“Everyone keeps telling me that.”
“Because teenagers are idiots.”
“You’re what, twenty?”
“Twenty-two.”
“Ancient.”
Mira glared at him.
Croagunk made a strange choking noise.
Adrian looked down.
“Did you just laugh?”
Croagunk faced forward.
Mira smiled.
“I like him.”
“Don’t encourage him.”
They left the main road an hour later.
The collection site lay inside a wooded valley.
Mira began working.
Adrian didn’t.
He watched their surroundings.
Croagunk did the same.
They had been there perhaps fifteen minutes when Adrian noticed movement.
A Venonat emerged between two trees.
His system flashed.
Red potential.
Level five.
Harmless enough if left alone.
He ignored it.
Another appeared farther away.
Orange.
Then another.
Yellow.
Adrian frowned.
Three Venonat.
“Are they territorial?”
Mira looked up.
“What?”
“Venonat.”
“Not particularly.
Why?”
Adrian pointed.
She followed his finger.
The first Venonat had moved closer.
Then Adrian heard rustling behind them.
Croagunk turned.
Two more.
Five.
Mira slowly stood.
“That’s unusual.”
“Useful information.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
The Venonat weren’t attacking.
Yet.
Their large red eyes remained fixed on Mira’s collection bag.
Adrian noticed.
“What did you take?”
“Moonwort.”
“They want it.”
“They shouldn’t.”
“Nobody told them.”
One Venonat moved forward.
Croagunk stepped between it and Mira.
The Venonat stopped.
Then something buzzed overhead.
Adrian looked up.
A Venomoth descended from the trees.
His Scan activated.
Pokémon Scan
Species: Venomoth ♂ Level: 14.
Rank: Low Beginner Potential: Yellow Ability: Tinted Lens Moves: Gust · Supersonic · Confusion · Poison Powder · Stun Spore · Psybeam Status: Alert Evaluation: Good Individual
Adrian’s expression hardened.
Beginner.
Again.
Croagunk felt it too.
Anticipation triggered, and its stance lowered.
Mira whispered behind him.
“We should leave.”
Adrian didn’t take his eyes from Venomoth.
For once, someone had offered excellent advice.
“Slowly.”
They backed away.
The Venonat followed.
Venomoth remained overhead.
Ten steps.
Twenty.
Thirty.
The wild Pokémon weren’t attacking.
Adrian began to relax.
Then Mira stumbled.
One of the metal sample containers fell from her bag.
It struck a rock.
The lid opened.
A sweet scent spread through the clearing.
Every Venonat reacted.
Venomoth’s wings snapped outward.
Adrian closed his eyes for half a second.
Of course.
“Run.”
Mira didn’t argue.
The Venonat surged forward.
“Croagunk, Mud-Slap!”
Croagunk kicked a wave of dirt across the path.
The first two Venonat recoiled.
“Go!”
They ran.
Venomoth rose overhead, its wings beginning to glow.
Adrian recognized the attack from the Scan.
“Gust!
Behind the tree!”
Croagunk jumped aside.
Wind ripped through the clearing, leaves exploding into the air.
Mira ducked behind a trunk.
Adrian followed.
They couldn’t outrun Venomoth in open terrain.
Not while protecting Mira.
Adrian looked toward Croagunk, then at the weights hidden around its limbs.
Against Beedrill, they’d struggled because of aerial mobility.
Now they faced something stronger.
But they had trained since then.
And Croagunk had something it hadn’t possessed during that fight.
Adrian crouched.
“Come here.”
Croagunk approached.
Adrian removed the first ankle weight.
Then the second.
Croagunk’s eyes widened.
The wristbands followed.
Four weights landed in Adrian’s backpack.
Croagunk slowly stood.
It flexed its legs.
Venomoth descended between the trees.
Adrian watched his partner’s posture change.
For almost a week, Croagunk had trained, walked, and fought while carrying extra weight.
Now there was nothing holding it down.
Adrian smiled.
“Let’s see what all that work bought us.”
Croagunk crouched.
Venomoth’s wings began to glow.
And this time, when Croagunk moved, even Adrian nearly lost sight of it.