Red, Ariana

A/N: A small look at Red's perspective of things before we get back to Ariana~

-x-X-x-

Stepping out of the Rocket Game Corner, Silph Scope in hand, there's an ever so slight furrow to Red's brow. She wasn't used to dealing with this many… steps. Everything up until this point had been relatively straight forward. The Professor had laid it out for her, the order in which she should tackle Kanto's eight Gyms, in order to maximize efficiency and optimize the strength of her Pokemon.

Pewter City and its Boulder Badge had been first, despite Viridian having a Gym. Apparently, Viridian's Gym was too tough for her at the start, on account of being the gateway to the Indigo League where she would battle the Elite Four and the current Pokemon Champion to become the very… the very best.

After Pewter City, she'd gone to Cerulean and gotten the Cascade Badge. Simple enough, really. Mt. Moon had not been a challenge, after all. And then it was on to Vermilion City, where she got the Thunder Badge. Followed thereafter by a trip to the city she was in now, Celadon City, where she'd picked up the Rainbow Badge.

Four badges. Halfway there. Next up, Fuchsia City and its Soul Badge.

Except, there'd been a Pokemon blocking the road. A Snorlax. And so Red had gone in the other direction, only to run into a second Snorlax! She'd been about to have her Charizard use Flamethrower on the sleeping Pokemon, when one of the Professor's Aides had shown up.

The Professor had told her to listen to any of his aides that she met on her journey. And so, when he'd told her that what she really needed was a Poke Flute, she'd listened. When he'd told her that the only way for her to get the Poke Flute was to ascend the Pokemon Tower in Lavender Town, she'd listened. And when he'd told her that the only way to ascend the Pokemon Tower was to investigate the hidden secrets of the Rocket Game Corner in Celadon City… she'd listened.

Lips slightly thinned out; Red looks down at the Silph Scope in her hands. It would get her the Poke Flute, and that would let her get past the sleeping Pokemon and back on track on her Pokemon Journey. But… wouldn't it have been easier to just remove the sleeping Snorlax with her own Pokemon? She wasn't sure why she had to wake it up before attacking it.

… No, the Professor was always right. And he had told her to listen to his aides. And one of his aides had told her what to do. She had her instructions. If she wanted to be the very best, if she wanted to finish this test, then she needed to keep going.

Nodding decisively, Red slips the Silph Scope into her backpack and begins to walk forward, only to freeze in her tracks as she very nearly runs into someone else coming from the opposite direction. Wearing the Team Rocket Uniform, it's that Grunt again. The one that had had a Dratini, the last time they fought in Mt. Moon.

Their eyes meet, and Red finds herself frozen for a moment. She's not sure why, but he feels oddly familiar… and incredibly dangerous. And yet, despite knowing that the only thing in life worth doing was training her Pokemon to fight, she… she doesn't challenge him to a Pokemon Battle. She doesn't want to.

Something unspoken passes between the two of them then, and after a beat, the Rocket steps aside, standing in front of the Prize Corner door and leaving an open path for her to walk through. Feeling strangely relieved, Red hurries along, eager to put distance between her and him. He… he made her feel odd. She needed to stay on task. She needed to stay focused.

After all. She couldn't stop until she was the best. The very best.

-x-X-x-

"How?! How did this happen, Ariana?! We're supposed to be better than this! And this… this late-bloomer came in and trounced us! Like it was nothing!"

Ariana very carefully does not correct Giovanni, as the Team Rocket Boss paces back and forth, ranting. After all, the woman hadn't trounced THEM… she'd trounced HIM. But admittedly, Ariana had no desire to mention her absence at the time of the attack. If a one-woman wrecking crew apparently coming through their supposedly hidden hideout and beating every single Rocket in her path could be called an attack. Frankly, it sounded more like a slaughter, in Ariana's opinion.

Still, she'd stepped out for ONE minute to get some shopping done at the Celadon Department Store. And somehow, in that time, not just their Grunts, but Giovanni himself had gotten his ass handed to him. By, as he put it, a 'late-bloomer'.

"I've never been more humiliated in my life. At least if it had been Lance and the Elite Four, I'd still have some pride! Some dignity! But no! It was just some… some bitch!"

Shaking his head, Giovanni puts his face in his hands and groans.

"We underestimated her. Should have assassinated her when we had the chance. Now she's Four Badges in and with fully evolved Pokemon at her side. Who could have seen this coming?!"

… Once again, Ariana holds her tongue. After all, she suspects Giovanni would not have liked her answer. SHE had seen it coming. SHE had recommended they send a kill squad after the woman. Sure, leave the little kid alone. But the girl? She was a grown woman running around with a Charmeleon of all things! She should never have been left to grow. And now… even Giovanni couldn't beat her.

"Soon enough, she might show up to Viridian with seven badges and demand the Gym Leader show himself! If that happens… Ariana, we'll have to be ready."

Straightening up, Ariana clasps her hands behind her back.

"I am always ready, Giovanni."

He nods, looking somewhat relieved at her competence. SOMEONE around here had to be. Though, speaking of which… Ariana's eyes dart to the side as Cam steps into the room, lighting up at the sight of the young Rocket Grunt. There's no doubt in her mind that he's come back successful once more.

"Cam!"

From the relief in Giovanni's voice, he feels the same way.

"Come here my boy, come here. I'll be honest… Fuji's particular brand of bullshit is the furthest thing from my mind at the moment. But lay it on me all the same."

"… Fuji is taken care of. Archer took over and sent me back."

Ariana's brow raises in surprise at the unusually verbose (for him) report. Giovanni, however, just nods.

"Good. Better than good, even. You've done well, Cam. So well, in fact, that I think it's about time I told you a little story."

Oh? Ariana's raised brow turns towards Giovanni, at that. He did this with every Rocket he planned to promote. Was it finally time?

"A lot happened in the final year of the war, all those years ago. And if you're going to be moving up in our organization, it's best you hear all the sordid details directly from me, rather than any… outside sources."

It's a story Ariana has heard before, but one that Cam probably needs to hear, if he's going to be an Admin. And frankly, Team Rocket needs competent men like him in leadership positions. So even if Ariana is disappointed in Giovanni himself and his performance today, she supports him telling this story, sitting back and watching as he regales Cam with the tale of just how Team Rocket came to be.

"Nineteen years ago, the war between Kanto and Johto was in full swing… and not going well for us. It was obvious that we needed something special, a trump card if you will. Lance and his dogs, both literal and figurative, were too much to handle. But… we did have something that he didn't have. Or so we thought."

Grimacing, Giovanni looks away for a moment before continuing.

"… We had science. Now, I'm no super genius. I'll be the first to tell you that my skill set lies in business, not the sciences. But Kanto has some of the brightest minds in the world. I believe that to this day. And with my money and their intelligence, I truly thought we could manage something special. Our team… our team consisted of six individuals."

Getting a far off look in his eye, Giovanni clears his throat.

"There was me, of course. I financed the whole operation with my considerable fortune. Then, there was Blaine, Bill, Fuji, Shigeki… and Samuel Oak. Together, we had great plans. We accomplished great things. We even captured the fabled legendary Pokemon, Mew. That was when we started 'The Mewtwo Project'."

Giovanni looks to Cam, who listens intently, eyes focused on the Team Rocket Boss and no one else. Seeming pleased by this, the older man smiles and continues on.

"You see, Cam… Mew, while immensely powerful, was pacifistic. It was no weapon, not like Johto's Legendary Beasts. So long as Lance could call upon the likes of Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, we were doomed on the battlefield. But if we could harness Mew's immense strength into a killing machine, then just imagine. We could have turned the tide of the war!"

…

"… Unfortunately, our work proved harder than expected. Despite putting in months of sleepless nights and exhausted days, the team of Kanto's best and brightest could only produce formless, half-dead pieces of flesh that resembled Mew not at all, not in looks or in power."

Looking away, Giovanni grimaces again in remembrance.

"One of those failures was… worse than the others. That one, we called 'The Catastrophe'. When it broke free, it could have been a true catastrophe… but luckily, only other failed experiments were killed in its escape. The thought that that thing might still be out there to this day… I won't lie, it haunts my dreams, Cam."

Ariana sits quietly, listening… and watching Cam more than anything. She's heard this story before after all, and truth be told, she's much more interested in what Cam thinks of it than anything else. But the young man is frankly unreadable, though still clearly listening.

"That failure was the beginning of the end. It scarred the scientists as much as it scarred me. And Oak… Oak began to drift away. Even as the others kept working on my dime, he disavowed the project. I suppose the warning signs were there even then… that he was becoming disenfranchised with leadership, that he was ready to surrender to Lance without a fight."

Gnashing his teeth together, Giovanni snarls.

"That damn coward! Despite his recalcitrance to continue, we did it! We completed the Mewtwo Project! Even without his help, the others found a way to combine their DNA with the DNA of Mew… creating a proper, fully formed Hybrid Pokemon. She was perfect, Cam. She was beautiful in every way. A powerful Psychic, a deadly warrior… and merciless and remorseless killer."

Ariana knows what comes next. She's not surprised when Giovanni lets out a low sigh and deflates.

"… Unfortunately, we were missing one thing. A key component that perhaps Oak himself could have provided or pointed out, if only he had stuck around, if only he had believed in the cause like we did. We needed… loyalty. Mewtwo was the perfect weapon, but she was all blade and no handle. It was impossible to wield her. We'd thought… well, I'd hoped that she would bow to her creators, to her fathers really. The scientists had all given their DNA to create her, after all."

Giovanni shakes his head.

"But no. She was far too powerful for us, even as a newborn. She broke free just like the Catastrophe and left nothing but destruction in her wake. We couldn't control her. We didn't have a chance."

…

"And with that, it was all over. Oak surrendered to Lance not a week after Mewtwo's escape. The war ended not with any sort of noble final stand, but with Kanto's Champion stepping down without a fight. Fuji was the first after Oak to pledge his allegiance. Blaine and Bill held out a little longer but crumbled all the same. Only Shigeki did not bend the knee. He'd already disappeared, just before the end of the war."

Letting out a low, dry chuckle, Giovanni smiles mirthlessly.

"And me? I was removed from the Elite Four. I was disgraced and dishonored. And for what? Being a loyal Kanto Native. Being proud of my nation and its heritage. Wanting more for Kanto than to just be a lapdog to Lance and Johto. I established Team Rocket for one reason and one reason only, Cam. To take Kanto back, no matter the cost."

Straightening up, Giovanni pulls on his jacket and clears his throat.

"Which brings up to present day. It's far past time that Team Rocket stop being so passive. And that's where you come in, Cam. You're new blood… but you're also an example of the kind of competence that Team Rocket needs. That's why… it's my honor, to offer you a promotion to Rocket Admin. Will you accept?"

Ariana straightens in her chair and beams at the young pink-haired man, all but imploring him to accept. Why, if he doesn't, she'll-!"

"Yes."

As Cam nods his agreement, Giovanni gives a cheery grin.

"Wonderful! Then we'll get you your new uniform and onto your next mission."

"Ah, Giovanni, I can help with that."

Ariana knows that Giovanni knows what she's doing the moment he looks at her. For a long moment, the Rocket Boss pierces her through with his gaze. But they both know he's also not going to call her out on it. In the end, he simply nods.

"Very well. First, let me give you both your new missions. Ariana… I need you to go to Viridian and begin preparing the Gym. With this Red woman running around collecting badges left and right, we can't leave anything to chance."

"… As you wish, Giovanni."

Giving her one more nod, Giovanni looks to Cam.

"As for you Cam… I want you to go to Pallet Town. I want you to confront Oak personally about what he's been up to. Do whatever it takes to make him talk. The old coward was banned from Pokemon Battles by Lance himself, so it shouldn't be much of a challenge to put him in his place and extract the relevant information. As well… get all of the information that you possibly can on this Red chick as well. We're so far past the point where we need to deal with her that it's not even funny."

Looking to the side again, Giovanni's hands curl into fists and shake at his side, no doubt remembering his loss to the young woman only an hour before.

"Find out if she has any weaknesses that we can exploit. Even… even family, if you can find any."

Straightening up yet again, Giovanni clasps his hands behind his back, and for a moment looks like the proper, intimidating Criminal Gang Boss that he's supposed to be, at least to Ariana's eyes.

"Do you both understand your missions?"

"Yes, Giovanni."

"… Yes."

"Very good. Dismissed."

Letting a wicked smile spread across her lips, Ariana moves over to Cam's side and wraps her arms around one of his.

"Come on, Cam. Let's get you out of those clothes."

"Ariana."

Giovanni's exasperation is audible, as he says her name. Ariana's grin doesn't dim though, as she gives the Boss a wink.

"What? And into his new Admin Uniform. That's all I was going to say."

"… Right."

Giovanni clearly doesn't believe her, but at the same time he doesn't stop her from dragging Cam off. Which is good, because Ariana wasn't going to let anything stand in the way of her opportunity to celebrate Cam's promotion to Admin. Oh yes. They were going to celebrate MOST vigorously…

-x-X-x-

A/N: Cam's first promotion has arrived at long last. And of course, Ariana is going to make sure to reward him properly. Expect that next time~

As always, feedback is greatly appreciated! Comments and Likes sustain me!

And of course, the story remains TEN chapters ahead on my P atreon for early access!