The Road to our Destiny

Chapter 20

Giovanni is sitting on his desk, studying files and records about Arceus and other mythical and legendary Pokemon carefully on his computer. He reads each one until he knows it by heart and then proceeds to the next one. Persian lies on the couch next to his desk and yawns, bored with Giovanni so focused on his work.

"Meoooowwww," Persian groans.

"Not right now, my pet," Giovanni says bluntly without looking away from the monitor. "I need to focus."

Persian growls bitterly, having heard him say the same thing multiple times in the past couple of weeks. The leader of Team Rocket has been so confident that he will get the Gieldanstone and control Arceus that he must know everything about all of the other legendary and mythical Pokemon that he plans to control with it. All day he has been reading the files forward and backward and barely notices his pet anymore.

Suddenly, Giovanni and Persian hear a knock on the door, and Giovanni finally gazes from the screen and turns off the monitor.

"Enter," he says.

The door opens to reveal Matori entering the room carrying a folder of files and stopping a few feet away from the desk to salute her leader.

"Report," Giovanni says bluntly.

Matori nods and with a serious face reports, "Sir, all our agents across the Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn regions have received their orders and stand ready. Our agents in the Sinnoh and Unova regions have reported progress in recruiting new members in those respective regions, most of which are notable gangs and Pokemon poachers."

Giovanni merely smirks and says, "Excellent. Our numbers are rising across the other regions as planned."

"Yes, sir," Matori says. "Also, the team you sent to Kalos wishes to report an update."

Giovanni raises his eyebrow, suddenly intrigued.

"Very well. Patch them over to me," he orders.

"Yes, sir," Matori says before leaving the room.

Giovanni waits for a moment until he hears a ringing on his holo communicator and presses a button. The lights in the room grow dark, and Persian leaves its lying spot and walks over next to its master intrigued. A holographic screen appears on Giovanni's desk to reveal a thirty-year-old man appearing on the screen. He is wearing a large, black trench coat with a red "R" on the left side and has a robotic left eye and arm and burn scars all over the left side of his face.

"Agent Basker. Good to hear from you already," Giovanni says with a smile. "I take it you've made some significant progress?"

"Yes, sir," Agent Basker answers with a smirk. "Despite it being heavily guarded by the police, I have successfully snuck my way into Team Flare's headquarters."

"And?" Giovanni asks eagerly.

"The Kalos police confiscated much of the equipment, but they left behind the computer in the main lab, which includes blueprints to the device they created to control the Zygarde," Agent Basker answers.

"Wonderful," Giovanni says excitedly. "Have you copied and analyzed them through your robotic eye?"

"I have," Agent Basker says. "They collected energy from mega evolution to power their device. I'm sending you pictures through my eye's mainframe now."

Almost as soon as Agent Basker finished his sentence, several pictures of blueprints appear on the holographic screen. Giovanni frowns and scratches his chin in thought.

"That does present a problem. There aren't many people who have the power of mega evolution here in Kanto apart from some gym leaders," he says. "Perhaps Dr. Zager can make adjustments to it so that a different energy source can power it. Send these to him immediately."

"Yes, sir," Agent Basker responds.

"Is there anything else?" Giovanni asks.

"I'm afraid not," Agent Basker replies. "I tried looking through the security cameras, but the most I got was footage of our two members with the talking Meowth fighting some of Lysander's men. Showing you now."

Several events appear in the hologram, showing Jessie, James, and Meowth fighting Team Flare members just as Agent Basker said.

Giovanni smirks and says, "I don't recall them saying they infiltrated Team Flare's base in their report. They must have forgotten amid everything else they did to secure Team Rocket victory."

"Perhaps," Agent Basker says with a suspicious frown. "Speaking of victory, I hope you don't mind me saying that I hope to return to Kanto soon."

Giovanni raises his eyebrow curiously until he smirks in understanding.

"I see. You heard about Timothy Durbin defeating the Johto champion, and so you want your revenge for your failure even more?" he asks.

"It has been 18 years, and I still haven't gotten him back for what he did! I can't let that slide any longer! " Agent Basker growls. "And besides, as far as I'm concerned, he could be a bigger threat to Team Rocket if he's grown so powerful after all this time! If there's any time to gain my revenge for myself and in the glorious name of Team Rocket, it's now!"

Giovanni chuckles with his mouth closed and says, "Oh, young man, you have worked so hard to regain my good graces ever since that day. I must admit you showed potential when we replaced your damaged eye and arm to take pictures, record videos, and download information for your past missions. Indeed, I don't think anyone is as passionate to show their devotion to our cause as you are. Not even Butch and Cassidy or 009 in a way. But only a fool would fail to realize that behind all of your accomplishments, nice gadgets, and calling yourself Agent Basker, you're still just an 11-year-old bully named Trent Lane holding a grudge against someone who has done nothing to further interfere with our goals and likely never will."

"You don't know that," Agent Basker growls childishly. "If Durbin has any idea what we're doing, he very well could -"

"Enough!" Giovanni barks. "I will hear no more about your pathetic vendetta. What we must achieve is something far more important, and I will not tolerate anyone getting distracted by such nonsense. You will drop this ridiculous grudge and never speak of it to me again. Is that clear?"

Agent Basker grinds his teeth, wanting to say something that would convince his leader otherwise. After a moment, he huffs bitterly and grumbles, "Yes, sir."

"I can't hear you," Giovanni hisses.

Agent Basker fights back the urge to yell, and with a forced professional voice, he turns to the screen and clearly says, "Yes, sir."

Giovanni nods and says, "Very good. Continue your investigation. Do not cut corners under any circumstances."

"Understood," Agent Basker says. "Basker out."

The image of Agent Basker disappears, and the lights come back up. Giovanni sighs and rubs his forehead, annoyed. Persian nudges Giovanni's arm with its head to gain attention, and the man starts petting it without looking at it.

"Honestly, my pet, it confounds me how incompetent even some of my best people can be," he grumbles. "For years, I have spent countless money and gathered many resources to prove how my mother was a fool for not seeing the potential behind stealing Pokemon. And even if my organization has made some accomplishments in the past, it seems almost frequent that I will come across something like Butch and Cassidy imprisoned again or hearing a group of trainers destroy an operation even with two hundred grunts guarding it. And who knows if that stupid boy will comply with letting go of his vendetta. No matter how devoted they are to carry out my desires, every single member of Team Rocket has done something to ruin my ultimate goal. My mother would laugh at my general lack of major progress and call me a 'brat boy' again!"

He slams his fist onto the desk and grinds his teeth angrily. Persian becomes uneasy with its trainer acting to venomous. Thankfully, Giovanni restraints himself and takes a deep breath to bring back his stone-cold face.

"Still, it won't be much longer now," he says. "Whether Brandon has the Gieldanstone or not, I will find Arceus and with it all the Pokemon in the entire world. And no one - whether for or against Team Rocket is going to stop me."

Persian smiles, sharing its master's confidence and dreams as Giovanni goes back to his computer and starts studying again while still petting his pet.