"It couldn't be that easy" Nick had gone straight to the Gym, but on the way, he found out about how their leader had got into the abandoned Mansion on the island for a "training".

"Who would live here?" There were strange statues all over the place, also there was a surprising amount of barriers, tourists and ...

"Quiet, give me all your money!" A bearded man with a suspicious and scruffy appearance threatened Nick.

"What about honor among criminals? There are a lot of tourists." Nick couldn't believe he was being mugged.

"For that reason, you must have your pockets loaded and I just have to take down your miserable Rattatas or Zubat" It seemed that he was not the first Rocket that he robbed.

"Just hand over everything, boy, you're unlucky to find me, I'm just hiding while my trail gets cold" He took out a Geodude, while gritting his teeth to remember that event, he had a good life (criminal) in Celadon City, but greed won him when he found a juicy target that seemed unprotected, when he just managed to take his Pokémon and some money, some giant guards with Rhydon chased him throughout the city.

Nick, ignoring the thief's internal ramblings, shook his head.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Maid happily jumped on the Geodude and a Grimer, unconscious

(Expected of a guy who attacks rookie Rockets)

"Y-You're not an ordinary Rocket, but I still have my secret weapon, I took it away from her…"

“Aqua jet” Nick didn't want to keep wasting time, this hardly counted as training.

With great joy Maid covered herself in water and knocked the thief down before he could free his Pokémon.

"Uh, th-that's not fair" Was the last thing she said before passing out.

Nick rolled his eyes and took the "secret weapon"

"Let's see if you're worth it later"

"Po, Popplio" (We are saving him from the bad man) The water type kept his spirits high.

Unable to hear the comment and the excitement of his Pokémon, Nick put the sphere away.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“I hope I don't have to go back to this place…. I have a strange Déjà vu” Had tried to assault Nick two more times and he almost hurt himself from having to jump from a second floor to the basement to keep moving forward.

"And of course he was in the last room." He had finally found Blaine.

"So you've finally come for me, Giovanni's pet."

"We like the term employee or subordinate"

"It was only a matter of time, I didn't want to get to this, but get ready boy!" The Gym Leader pulled out a Growtithe.

"Could you just answer the phone." Nick chose Maid again.

"You don't know anything ..." It seemed like Blaine was going to continue, but Popplio started to glow.

"This will simplify things" Nick commented happily

"Brionne!"Thanks to her evolution, her size increased, her blue color became lighter and she got a kind of white dress, along with some spots of the same color on the ends of her body

"Congratulations"

"Brio" Maid showed her joy by clapping her fins and performing her new attack which consists of throwing a blanket of snow through her mouth.

The old man was speechless, but he knew it would not be an easy fight.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Due to the new Maid power and the wall of water that is Surf, his opponent's Fire Pokémon were falling, not before causing damage to Nick's Pokémon.

"Dash" was the last thing he said before collapsing and being returned his Pokeball

"That Rapidash was amazing, I didn't think he would try to get through the surf with Flame Charge"

"Brio, ha, ne" Brionne looked a bit hurt and fatigued

"One should always expect whatever, especially against gym leaders." Blaine trusted the last Pokémon of his.

"Arcanine!" A large red dog with lush light fur appeared.

"Maid do you want to rest?"

"Brionne" Maid wanted to make Nick happy and responded with a Surf towards his opponent

"Take advantage of the terrain with extreme speed" With great speed Arcanine ran over the walls and dodged the wall of water to immediately crash into his opponent.

“Brion” Maid was still conscious, but you could tell she couldn't continue fighting

"Don't overdo it, you've been spectacular all day, you deserve a break." Nick gave her a smile as he returned it to her Pokeball.

Brionne also shared a smile before the red beam hit her to rest.

"I must admit, not many Rockets have such dedicated Pokemon."

"They are the best"

(I must stop her legs) Nick pulled Rue out.

"Flamethrower" A column of fire headed for the serpent.

"Dodge with Dig" Luckily they were already at the bottom of the mansion and Arbok was able to get under the ground avoiding the fire.

"Arcanine is watching for extreme speed." Blaine was a bit surprised, but it wasn't the first time he had seen such movement.

As soon as the dog felt a movement under him, he shot off at full speed, managing to avoid the attack.

"Now hit him" He turned around and seized the momentum, preparing to knock him down.

"Take a good look and Glare"

As Arcanine was heading straight for Rue he couldn't help but be affected by her gaze and ended up in a state of paralysis.

"Nine" Due to the effects of his state and the speed with which he was moving, he ended up losing control and stumbling.

"Take advantage, use Wrap and then Poison Sting" Rue quickly glided towards her goal

"Stand up and use flamethrower" he managed to stand up, but thanks to the paralysis he was unable to use the flamethrower before being caught by Arbok

"Arbok"

"Arcanine" The dog was shaking trying to get rid of Rue, who was holding tightly and shooting the poisonous needles.

Looking at the situation, Blaine knew he had to act fast.

"Use Flare Blitz against the wall" Blaine could not think otherwise

Arcanine set herself on fire, but Rue held her ground despite the flames and continued her attack as her opponent ran for the wall.

"Rue, you can let it go" But the shiny Pokémon continued her attack until the end.

"Boom" A cloud of smoke formed and when both opponents were up, Rue looked much more damaged, but Arcanine ...

"Nineeeee" he howled in pain because, apart from being paralyzed, he was now also poisoned.

"Your Pokémon is a beast"

Rue took it as a compliment and smiled.

"She's a tough girl, use -" Nick couldn't seize the moment.

"Roar" With a strong sound wave Rue was taken off the field and Fey came out who quickly understood the situation and made a quick attack on what seemed like her opponent.

"I was hoping those were your best Pokemon, let's do it your way" Blaine returned to Arcanine knowing he couldn't win and he didn't want his friend to continue to suffer.

"I ... believe in Team Rocket's cause as much as anyone, but I'm a gym leader and academic, we can't all throw our lives away for ideals of revenge." Blaine looked at Nick seriously.

"I am against the sword and the wall, Oak is going to give me away if I keep working for you and Giovanni is going to hurt me if I don't, it's a disaster" He sighed for a moment.

"Seeing you here, I suppose that Giovanni will fulfill his promise, if I must surrender to one side, I will stay with the one who will let me live in peace when he finishes"

(Mission accomplished) Nick was preparing to leave.

"As a show of good faith, let me tell you something"

(He's going to tell me about his life, right?)

"Since Giovanni sent you here, I suppose he told you about the experiments we did in this mansion"

(you guys lost a super pokemon that is loose in the world) Nick just nodded

"But I bet you didn't know this, after losing confidence in the Mewtwo project, Oak worked on his own project separately in a secret laboratory and I know it because he asked me for help to complete it, I rejected it at the time for the Mewtwo project, the work was progressing and I couldn't lose focus… you know how that ended. ”Blaine let out another disappointed sigh.

(Oak did another project ... I just need that he created a zombie virus or something like that)

"That Oak is a shady guy"

"I have the vague idea"

"You can tell Giovanni I'm ready for anything ... I need a break from the battles." Blaine set his gym key on a table and left.

"It's time to get out of place ... how do people get out of here without flying Pokemon?"