Dethroned

“Honestly Cyan? I would run away too. I respect your boundaries.” 

Baby Blue flopped onto his side, nuzzling against Mau. His new friend was warm, and soft. 

Mimsy, on the other hand, was a little more tactful. They settled on their knees, removing a glove and offering her their hand- It was scarred. Burnt, scratched, their fingertips rubbed completely raw in places. The scarring continued up their arm, disappearing into their jacket sleeve. A stark contrast to the immaculate, glossy coat of Baby Blue. A pokemon is only as strong as its trainer, after all. 

“P-pokemon all have d- dif-different personalities. Each one is unique. … Preference for bat-battling is different, too.” 

They give Mau a gentle, brief stroke, noting just under their breath that she was beautiful.

After that, they stand back up and recall Baby Blue into his ball, glancing back toward the building they’d been lingering by. They should get back to work.. And go inside. They needed this man to leave, though. How .. 

“Th- th- thank you for showing me, but my fri-friend should be here soon.” Mimsy’s eyes focus on Mau for a moment, expression soft. “Good-bye, Mau.” They look up toward ‘Santiago,’ but not quite at him. “Good-bye, Santiago. … I hope you f- f-find what you were look-looking for. Be safe.” Spoken awkwardly, 

They’d heard people part ways like this before, but emulating it was difficult. They nearly winced at how poor it was.

Alfie was taken aback by the shooing, as he was the one that did the shooing most of the time, but he knew when he wasn’t wanted. He recalled Mau into her ball (not without her kicking up a fuss though) and bowed to the stranger. 

“Of course. I’ll be just fine with the map you’ve given me. I’m so lucky to have been around such a kind stranger. I’ll find a way to get your map back to you somehow. Don’t you worry about it.” With a last charming smile, he turns away from Mimsy and waves. While they were a tad awkward, it was enchanting how much effort they put into a goodbye while they were most definitely uncomfortable. 

It annoyed him that someone like Rocket had a grasp on them and not he. Wasn’t his company doing live saving research for pokemon while Rocket stashed them into who knows what conditions? It had to be the ideal environment for Mimsy, so why not steal them away? 

It only took a moment for him to get out of view and reach for his phone in his pocket, getting the information he needed to send Mimsy a letter. 

“Hello Mimsy, 

We met not too long ago on a route outside of Celadon City. You believed I was a traveler, lost without a map or phone to call for help. From our small interaction I can tell you’re full of potential. 

Potential I’d hate to let Team Rocket squander. 

I have plans for this region, and I want you to be a part of them. I’m offering a fully salaried position of your choosing. If you’re interested, send a resume. 

The only condition is that you must cut all ties with Team Rocket. 

You’re smart. Make the right decision. 

“Not possible man. My papa will definitely come looking for me and he won’t take you covering for me as an answer.” Shakes his head before pouting to a door. “Bathroom I’ll probably need to walk you back to.”

“Ah, I see.” 

Damn. He can hatch up a plan at any point, it was just a matter of time before another opportunity arose. 

He wasn’t in the bathroom long, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to find his way back, he didn’t think Silver would leave. He did take a moment to text Santiago, explaining the situation and getting back to the party. 

Mimsy’s dull expression lit up (Though that’s still a tad dramatic, given the subtlety of the change,) the moment they laid eyes on the Liepard, moving to crouch down. They were a little worried about her size, but figured she was happy as she was. 

Luxury ball. Mimsy had one, but it remained empty for the time being.. It was the only nice thing they purchased for themself. Took them a month of pay to afford it.

“She’s pretty.” They hummed, resisting every urge to reach out and pet her - They were working, and couldn’t stop to pet every pokemon they saw. 

…But she looked very soft. 

Sylveon, on the other hand, went right up to the Liepard, offering no greeting before merely sniffing at her, tail wagging calmly. Neither he, nor his trainer, seemed at all 

“I’ve h - had Baby- – Baby Blue since I was a kid.” They added after a bit of silence. “H- he’s been my best friend. He doesn’t like his b - ball much, so he’s al-always out.” …Unless the boss was around. Baby Blue could be a bit of a playful, mischievous pest sometimes. 

“Mau, right…?” Playing along wouldn’t hurt, right..? To ease suspicion. “She looks ve- very healthy. Her coat looks s-soft, too. Some m - more walks might do her g- good, though.” 

He wants to scrunch his face in disgust because how dare someone judge his sweet baby like this, but he composes himself. Mau simply liked to live lavish and she was perfectly healthy. 

Mau let the other pokemon approach, having been calm most of her life. Still, Alfie kept an eye on her. Liepard were known for being incredibly moody. “You can pet her if you want. She likes to be a lap pet if you ask me, but she does battle on occasion. It would do her some good to be socialized.” 

delascenizass‌:

“Oh, what color?” 

He can’t help but feel relieved that the other is visibly nervous when they’re alone as well. It made him human in a sense. It wasn’t the kind of thing he expected from a prince of crime. 

“I painted mine blue.” 

“Pink.” 

He yawns a bit, He feels so exhausted from all this. He wasn’t able to nap after any of the meetings before this. He wanted to just ditch this stupid party and lay down.

He ponders for a moment, still walking down the massive hallway. “You seem tired. When you’re done taking me back to the main event, you should go to sleep.” 

Half of it was genuine concern. He did look sleepy. The other half of his intention was to make it seem like Silver couldn’t be bothered to spend the entire duration of the party with him. Both parties would come to the conclusion that it wasn’t working. End of story. 

Once they’re out of view others Silver fidgets more, plucking at his jacket or messing with his hair. He’s seemingly very distracted. He doesn’t stand as tall as previously as he did when around everyone else. He almost looks completely different. 

“Not really just once when I was little.” He says it very absentmindedly. He’s distracted counting the doors for a bit still trying to make sure they didn’t get lost or anything.

“Oh, what color?” 

He can’t help but feel relieved that the other is visibly nervous when they’re alone as well. It made him human in a sense. It wasn’t the kind of thing he expected from a prince of crime. 

He was only partly paying much attention to the other since every few moments someone else had his attention over trying to talk about the arrangement. It was honestly probably surprising he didn’t blow up at any of them with how many repeat questions he got. 

His hands play idly with the glass while talking and when he hears Alfie speaks to him again he glances over and tilts his head for a moment. “Just follow me. You’ll get lost on the way.” He doesn’t mean that as anything rude he’s actually serious. He still gets confused in big places like this where all the doors look the same.

“Ah of course.” He hopes their exit doesn’t look too suspicious. 

Walking through the halls, he feels overwhelmed. There are so many doors, too many. It’s dark, at the same time it’s too bright in the party room. The house is big but the region is too small. He’s lonely and busy at the same time too. There’s so much he had yet to think about.

He’ll call Santiago in the bathroom. Maybe he would have a way out of this. But he couldn’t act afraid in front of Silver. His pride prevented him from letting the other have the upper hand in his situation. 

He’d probably think the others eagerness to get a drink was off-putting in this situation normally. But he was also stuck in this and he got it. He usually only drank after to many meetings or for long parties so this should be fine.

He sighs when he comes back and takes the glass from him. “Yeah, whiskey.” Interestingly without any ice. He quickly throws back the drink, probably to quickly for most people.

“Oh? Interesting.” At least he’s a man of taste. 

Alfie sighs, sipping his wine once again. He’s trying to resist the overwhelming feeling of aloneness he feels in the packed room. Standing next to Silver, he realizes that the other doesn’t seem too terribly cruel. He’s not rude either. Just blunt. But, these were all first impressions.  As he stands quietly, he begins to think. Would this be his home? Or would Silver move to Unova? He doesn’t even know where the restroom is here. Only the bar was obvious. Oh, he really has to use the bathroom now.

Mimsy stares. Silent, and unreadable for a moment.  They look down at their Sylveon for a moment. “Mm. Rocket?” Their weight shifted to one leg, notably out of discomfort - They’d been standing for quite a while, and their feet hurt… But it might have looked different to someone else. 

They weren’t good at lying… They thought for an uncomfortable amount of time. Don’t claim anything that isn’t true, right?

“Mm. You sh - sh - should be okay. Haven’t … haven’t heard much from ‘em in a whi - while.” Not a lie. The group had being lying low as of late. Mimsy was just stationed to keep an eye on one of the smaller satellite hideouts. 

Though.. Pokemon… They lift their head again, interest piqued, 

but an ultimately innocent sparkle was in their eyes. “What kind of p - po- pokemon do you have?” 

In reality, they didn’t have any ulterior motive for asking. They just wanted to see! Their Sylveon, however, merely nudged them and gave them a Look, prompting Mimsy to glance back down, then back at ‘Santiago.’ 

“S - sorry.” 

“Oh no it’s okay. I was just afraid.” He takes out a pokeball, smiling. “This is Mau. She is my best friend, I’ve had her since I was a teenager.” 

His suspicions were confirmed. This person was a part of Team Rocket. The amount of time they took to answer said enough. At least his current information was right and they were staying low for the time being.