12 Banquet Of Devils
Noah disappeared as the ones that came before him, wherein he found himself on a small platform in the center of a large spacious white room.
Noah reflexively held his hands up as if he were defending against the sudden change in environment, and that's when he heard the light music playing, and saw the plates of food, and nice cutlery. These items were all held on well-dressed tables that surrounded the platform. It was as if he were at a banquet with many laughing partygoers, and the contrast made him blink several times.
Two men sat at a nearby table, then one of them spoke loudly, "Oh, he's out, he waited so long I thought he would be barbequed for sure, everyone let's give Noah a round of applause!"
A well-dressed woman forcibly ushered Noah off the platform as the unknown banquet goers gave mocking cheers and a few claps as Noah walked down, and from the corner of his eye, he found what they had been looking at, and then he caught sight of the four large screens that came down from the ceiling a few feet away from the platform.
What the screens displayed was none other than the pit he just came from, they were all here sipping wine, and eating cake while watching a deathmatch as if it were nothing more than entertainment.
Noah stumbled in disbelief, as he continued to clutch Top's pokeball tightly, the ball was warm, so he knew Top had somehow been returned to it through unknown methods, and all during a brief moment of teleportation.
A melodious voice then approached him while he was distracted, "You won't be able to release your pokemon here without permission... you may call me Mrs. Mirrisa by the way."
Dazed, Noah turns to find a beautiful Red-haired woman looking down at him smilingly, and offering a handshake.
On her chest was a white R-shaped badge, but as for the rank, Noah didn't yet know.
Having just ordered the death of one of his only friends, Noah wasn't in a good state of mind but he managed to grab her hand, as she shook it "Mmm, Congratulations on your victory, you know, someone very important said he would like to meet you, he's usually never interested in recruits you know?"
"Who is this very important person?" If Noah cared to look, he'd find that Joey, the strange kid he had once defeated was being held by Mirissa's right arm, and he was the one who had just spoken.
Letting Joey go, she exclaimed mysteriously, as she kept her face close to his, "It's a surprise, but for now you should enjoy the show, normally only agents get to watch such a good show, and eat such good food and drink for free afterall~"
Her words elicited the crowd to cheer.
Noah felt defeated, as he lowered his head in realization, "It's just a show is it…"
.
Over time, more recruits were teleported in, and the crowd of agents gave a cheer for each newcomer, but despite the festive atmosphere, the kids that finished their matches were either silently sobbing, or staring off into the distance like a shell-shocked soldier.
From the platform, someone charged Noah swinging a fist, but he was held back by Mirissa with one arm, "Noah! I'll kill you for this!"
The crowd laughed, as one man jeered, "Ohoh, he's freshly blooded, but he's already hungry for more!"
"I say let em fight!"
"Go get em boy! hahaha"
.
The words riled up the crowd and thus increasing the newcomer's reception.
Shaking his head, Noah sluggishly stood up from where he sat, and spoke without any emotion, "I'm-" Mark's eyes were bloodshot, "SHUT UP, I DONT WANT TO HEAR YOUR DAMNED VOICE!"
Still keeping her open palm against Marks Head, Mirissa leaned her head closer, and began inspecting the newcomer with interest, not at all caring for his loud words, "This one must be Mark, I was waiting for you~"
Struggling against her arm, Mark tried and failed to throw away her hand, "LET GO OF ME YOU BITCH"
With a sudden kick, Mark bent over and puked up his lunch, which elicited "ooos" from the crowd.
Straightening her hair, Mirrisa put a finger to her chest, and her next words seemed to silence the surrounding crowd, "Do you know what this emblem means little boy? It means I could kill you here and nobody would bat an eye, if you want to live long here, you should remember my words well."
Turning away, she splayed her arms welcomingly, people began breathing out sighs of relief as if they just escaped danger, "But everyone knows I'm one of the nice ones, so be thankful okay~"
Still coughing, Mark pushed himself up, but Mirrisa's high heel keeps him down, he tried to throw his pokeball which then earned Mirrisa ire, and now her heel was digging painfully into his back, causing him to scream.
Seeing Mirrisa readying her fist to strike, Noah spoke up, while trying his best to appeal to Mirrisas ego, "Officer Mirissa I'm very thankful for your intervention, but a recruit like me should settle his own problems."
Mark screamed, "PROBLEM? I'M THE LAST PROBLEM YOU'LL EVER HAVE!"
"Hmm," Unclenching her fist, Mirissa angled her head to Noah, as if pondering something, then she cracked a creepy smile, "I can see why the boss wants to shake your hand little boy, you do have a way with words."
She then gave Mark a swift kick to the head knocking him out, and once again straightened her hair as if what she did was insignificant.
This caused Noah to frown worriedly, but his worries were then somewhat eased,"Not to worry, he is a special guest, and for the time being, he will breathe."
Just then a red-haired boy teleported in and immediately fell to his knees.
Seeing that, Mirrissas eyes lit up, "Perfect, that makes four, now we can go!"
Picking up Mark like a cabbage, she pulled the newcomer with her free arm and began leading the four boys out.
As they got further away, Noah could hear an announcer making a speech from the empied platform, "Hello all I hope you enjoyed the show, I know many of y-"
The voice cut out as the door automatic door behind them closed.
.
Mirissa walked and talked nonstop, if one didn't know any better, they would think she was having a friendly outing, "Normally exceptional recruits like you lot are handled with the rest, and given a small promotion" Marissa winked at Noah, "But the boss made an exception, and he decided to handle you personally~ how nice!"
.
They were soon wedged into a small room, and once they are all inside Mirrissa closed the door, and began typing a few times on a side panel.
Nothing seemed to change, but then she opened the very same door, thus revealing bright stadium lights.
Shielding their eyes from the sudden increase in lightning, there appeared a large football stadium with large and small stone obstacles placed haphazardly, it had bleachers and everything, but it was empty, there were no fans, and there was no football team.
At one end of the stadium sat a large man in his high chair, like a king would to his subjects.
Beside him stood two people, and Noah assumed them to be his assistants.
Not only that but there was a single pokemon present, the bone mask it wore immediately made Noah know what it was.
His voice echoed loudly, "Good, I've been expecting you, come closer so that I may see you."
Mirrisa smiled and brought the kids forth until they stood ten meters below the steps.
The man then stood up, and came down the steps slowly, his boots echoed with each step.
All eyes were on the man except for Noah, as he had gaped in disbelief after studying the pokemon next to him. After focusing for a short while, he found it was an Elite stage pokemon, at level 61, and even more shockingly it had a potential 4.1x(High)!
Finally reaching the bottom of the steps, the man waved his arms grandly.
Bowing, Mirrisa walked away with the other attendants, and they stood a few meters to the side.
One of the boys instinctively offered a handshake, but the large white-suited man ignored the outstretched hand.
The boys looked at each other, but nobody spoke, they had been instructed by Mirrisa beforehand that they should not anger the man they would be meeting many under any circumstances.
The man examined the boys for a moment before his eyes rested on Noah, " The one known as Noah, I will allow you to shake my hand"
Extending his hand, Noah took it.
Mark, having been rudely shaken awake on their way over, was still glaring viciously at Noah, but the large man was all smiles, "Good, good, I am Georgio, an executive of Team Rocket and one of the five fingers of Giovanni's right hand, but I am also the acting gym leader of Viridian gym! I have seen your results in the recent test, and I am impressed, and here in Team Rocket, you will find that no good deed goes unpunished!"
Snapping his fingers, another attendant came from a side door, and in his hands, he held a silver tray.
On the tray were four R-shaped emblems of a copper coloring, the attendant handed one to the boys in turn, and then stood to the side at attention.
The man waved again, allowing the attendant to leave, "These emblems are your everything, it is the symbol of our organization, but it also denotes your status as Agent Trainees. I have placed faith in you four, and I hope you will one day bring glory to our family!"
Georgio then looked out towards the stadium and snapped his fingers, and suddenly the lights began to focus into the arena field's proper, "Today I will broaden your horizons, normally there would be a large audience, but today it will be just for you four." Giving one last look at Noah with a half-smile, Giorgio then began walking down a set of stairs that led all the way down.
From the right side, a blond-haired youth around seventeen could be seen entering from the other end.
A bright-eyed boy who had introduced himself as Miles whispered to Noah, "What do you think they are going to do?"
Noah kept his eyes on the newcomer as he spoke disinterestedly, "Yet another display of strength… probably."
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There were some minor wording changes, but the story remains ever unchanged.
