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Open Life After Team Rocket

It was softly raining that night in Saffron City.

Solomon took one last look at his wife and the home they had built together. After 2 years of living together, he could no longer keep the truth about his work a secret. And her decision had been made.

Solomon had known that the two of them would need to have this conversation for a long time. She was a smart woman, not the kind of person that he could continue to lie to forever. But, when the dissolution of Team Rocket had become public knowledge, and a list of those confirmed to be affiliated with the criminal organization had been published with his name appearing on it, Solomon lost his chance to finally tell his wife the truth.

Now, he could not even look at her for the shame. He was, at least, grateful that she had not called the police. Solomon took his briefcase containing the Pokeballs of his last remaining friends, and his heavy old lab coat and left without saying goodbye.

As he strode through the lamp-lit streets of rainy Saffron, Solomon habitually passed by the Silph CO HQ building. He supposed that he would not be able to return to work in the morning as if nothing had changed. The fact was that Solomon was a criminal now.

He had never meant to be one, not that it should matter. He was just a Pokemon scientist who had no interest in where the grant money had been coming from, so long as he could continue to fund his research. Solomon thought for one last moment as the words, "Super-Pokemon Project" escaped his trembling lips.

With no plan and almost no hope, Solomon sat down on a bus stop bench to escape the rain, took a deep reflective breath, and waited for a miracle.
 
A figure atop a building watched over the normally busy city of Saffron. The building gave a great view, being the tallest building in Kanto - Silph Co. This figure wore a black ninja suit and had two wakizashis on his back, blending in to the wet and dark night.

Ever since he helped uncover the roots of Team Rocket, the young man has been doing his best to find all the stragglers who haven't gotten caught yet. Of course, he wasn't much help in the catching of them, so he had been on the lookout for one such individual. He at least needed to catch them and turn them in. That's all he needed to do.

The young man's figure then spotted something moving down below. A flash of light appeared at the top of the building as an Ariados emerged from the light. She knew what was to be done. She crawled on the ninja's back and tied a tough sticky webbing around his waist and then trailed that to a sturdy pipe in which she tied up. She then went back to the ninja's back and made the silk even longer.

Now, it was time to see if he can catch this man, as he stopped to sit at a bus stop. His Ariados gave the signal and he jumped.

The wind coursed through his body as his lithe figure fell faster than the raindrops around him. When he made it halfway down the building, the red spider threw out a string at the light post and cut the string that was on the Silph Co.'s building, allowing the ninja to swing where he needed to be, curving so that he was going to land behind the bench. As he flew up, the spider clipped the second string and allowed her master to fall. She hopped off before he landed on the ground, the vigilante somersaulting to disperse the blow of landing around his body.

He looked to see he was behind the man and his landing wasn't at all too loud. He decided to be comical, and pointed at the underside of the bench. While the Ariados moved to sit below the bench, the ninja casually, and silently, walked up to the bench and sat down, being a little ways away from the man.

That's when he noticed something. He noticed the look on this man's face. The face of having lost everything and not knowing what to do. For a moment, the young ninja felt bad for the man, and thought about cutting him some slack. So, he bided his time and thought about what to do with him as he made small talk.

"Hey, it's pretty rainy out." He looked over at him, studying him over before continuing, his voice very polite-sounding and gentlemanly. "What are you doing out here, where it's nothing but dreary?"

While not having a picture for the name he found on the newspaper, this guy's appearance was too much of a coincidence. As soon as those names came out, he's out here all alone, looking like he's about to make a long move somewhere? Yea, it might be him.
 
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Initially, Sol was unnerved by the young man. Having a ninja approach and proceed to making small talk did tend to make people like Sol uncomfortable at first. Having no involvement in the uncovering and ousting of Team Rocket, Sol did not recognize the young man as the danger he could have been. He, instead, reasoned that this fellow must have been one of those gym trainers serving under Koga in Fuchsia City down south. Yes, that must have been it.

Being short on friends, even more so than usual, Sol did as best he could to be courteous to this odd ninja.

"I'm just out for a walk with my Pokemon." Sol said, hoping to avoid suspicion. He took one of the two Pokeballs from his briefcase and held it fondly in his cupped hands. Taking a moment to wipe the rain from his glasses, Sol continued, "Magnemite so enjoys thunderstorms, it's a shame there doesn't seem to be much lightning." Sol paused and sadly looked down at the puddles forming around their feet and muttered, "only rain tonight..."

Clearing his throat, Sol tried to perk up and pressed the questions onto this curious stranger. "And you? I can see by your outfit that you are a ninja." Sol let loose a brief chuckle at saying this out loud. Not wanting to insult the young man, he quickly continued, "Are you perhaps lost? I'd be happy to show you where anything is here in Saffron."

Sol stood up and attempted to casually stretch his arm and shoulders, letting out a slight groan as he did so. Eight years of university and nearly twelve of being trapped behind a desk had not left Sol a terribly athletic man. "I expect a young man like yourself would be wanting to visit our Pokemon League Gym. I'll bet they're closed down for the night, but I could show you the way."
 
Poito nodded and smiled a little. Despite most of Team Rocket being bad, most of their grunts and scientists did enjoy their Pokemon's company and treated them like the only family they ever had. It was a quality he liked about them, despite his entire job fighting against them. He watched him from the corner of his eye and decided this guy might not be so bad after all. The cloth that kept his face hidden was now wet with rain and Poito so desperately wanted to remove it, but he knew that ninjas never did that. Not to their prey. Though the question Sol gave was quite interesting. He decided to tell the truth for now. Just because he kept secrets doesn't mean he became a pathological liar.

"No, I have earned this suit and have trained on the use of the ninja arts and sword play by the conservationalist committee of Kanto's history, where they deal a lot in the old history of ninjas and samurais and other such things." He smiled a little at the chuckle from Sol. He could tell the guy was loosening up around him, and that was good. But he almost felt bad for making small talk in the first place. Number one rule when being a mercenary is to keep contact with your victims short, so you don't have feelings for them, yet he was doing just that and miraculously failing. He mentally cursed himself for that. But what if he wasn't the guy he was looking for? His train of thought was interrupted when Sol thought he was lost. Letting out a hearty chuckle and shook his head. "I know Saffron City like the back of my hand. Hell, I know most of Kanto like the back of my hand. I have traveled around this region at least a 100 times as my job as being a conservationalist of the ninja and sword arts. And I have already collected all the Kanto badges. Me joining the Pokemon League Challenge would be a waste of time, due to me already earning my way into the Indigo League. Although, I haven't competed in any tournament of the League and I haven't fought the Elite Four members. Hmm... Something I should consider doing in the future." He put his hand on his cloth covered chin, as if he was actually contemplating on trying to get up there, but stretched and decided not to put any more thought on the matter.

"Although, I find it odd that you are still out here, and then are eager to leave and show me someplace." He decided this wasn't the best decision to do this, but he had to. He had to earn this guy's trust to figure out who he was. He took out the cloth covering his face, showing him who he was, if he was really at all familiar. He also removed his cloth covering his multicolored hair back in one fluid motion. His double colored hair was interesting for most people, and most other people knew who they were, especially his brother and sister. They made a name for themselves here in Kanto, and their father helped pave the way for them to do so with his inventions. Luckily, no one outside of his family knew what he did during most nights. He extended out his hand in a formal greeting. "Still, I'm beginning to like you now. The name's Poito. Poitoxi Darastrix. I know, weird name."
 
Tonight was the perfect night for Dee. Well, not for Dee herself, but it was perfect for Hyno, which was all that mattered. The combination of the darkened sky and the comforting rainfall was all that a Malamar could ask for. Dee however could be in a much better position. Wearing only a semi-formal shirt and a skirt doesn't quite protect her well enough from the elements. Most people would complain about this, but Hyno doesn't like when Dee complains, and she doesn't want to displease Hyno. And to top it all off, Dee was very tired. She got up at dawn, and hasn't stopped walking since. In fact, she's been walking for more than just a single day. Dee isn't quite sure why, but Hyno kept saying something about a rocket and how they aren't safe anymore. Dee didn't get it, but she didn't need to. Hyno was there, and always has been, making sure to think for her.
Eventually Hyno telepathically gave the order to Dee that she could rest. She looked around quickly, and noticed a bus stop that she could sit down at. Dee made her way there and took a seat. Dee didn't realize there was other people here until Hyno mentioned that he recognized one of them. Dee turned her head slightly towards the two men, and just stared in their general direction. Dee was waiting for Hyno to say something, anything so she knew what to do. This did not happen. Thus, Dee kept staring at the two men while they had there conversation.
 
As the young man took away his face covering and listed his Pokemon battling achievements, Sol felt older than he had felt in a long time. He had never really been much of a battle enthusiast. Even as a young man, Sol was less interested in Pokemon's application for battle as he was in their natural behaviors.

He'd always been fond of metal types like Magnemite, though.

After Poito's introduction, Sol raised an eyebrow in his curiosity. "It's an honor, Mr. Darastrix," Sol said with his most disarming smile. He gave a short but respectful bow, doing his best to follow what he could remember from his studies of traditional Kantonian history. Sol knew better than to shake the hand of a ninja, even a friendly one.

Sol cleared his thought softly as he considered his next move. He most definitely could not tell Poito the truth about why he was out in the rain tonight, he wasn't even sure about giving out his full name. But by the same token, Sol had already lost so much for the simple preservation of a lie. He felt so tired in that moment. He sighed and let the words, "Solomon, call me Sol" passively drift from his lips.

"You know," Sol's voice seemed distracted, "I used to work with a researcher called Dr. Darastrix during an excavation at Mt. Moon. Any relation?" Sol had, by this point, finally noticed the girl in the semi-formal dress staring at them.

She had the kind of expression that made Sol think she was waiting to meet up with someone, the fancy clothes seemed to confirm it. But, then why was she staring at them? Sol made a brief moment of acknowledging eye contact and even offered a little wave. He had hoped that this would snap her out of the little trance she seemed to be in, but it did little to dissuade her from staring.

Sol was profoundly uncomfortable. He began to think of a plan to get away from these people, but Sol had never been terribly adept at staying calm under pressure. This was getting bad.
 
A bow was returned to the scientist as the ninja smiled gentlemanly towards the seemingly odd scientist. When he uttered his own name, that was when Poito knew he was the man he was looking for. But this couldn't be the guy, right? He seemed too nice, and he almost seemed unaware of the true nature of Team Rocket. He surely wasn't expecting this. If this guy was hiding way more evil deeds underneath him, he'd be more scared and run, or he would be as cold as ice and not say a word. But no, he was kind enough to say his name, he didn't run, and he showed he was very nervous. Of course, when Poito saw Sol's gaze cast over his shoulder after the question, he couldn't help but feel like someone was behind him. He very slowly turned his head and his multicolored eyes saw the visage of a young lady with a Malamar. He knew what a Malamar could do, so he stayed on his guard and looked back at Sol. He decided to try and calm the man, unsure as to who the lady actually was and he made his body language show that he was a little unnerved at the lady's presence.

"Um.. I'm sorry I have no idea who she is. But anyway, Dr. Darastrix sounds like my sister. Yes, she mostly gathers information about genetics, but she also deals in behaviors of Pokemon. She's got three colors in her hair and eyes and usually has an Alolan Raichu and a Reuniclus out to aid in her research. One of her earlier excavations happened to be at Mt. Moon, as she heard there was an underground cavern that wasn't accessible by the public way of going through the mountain. So, she went in to see if any really rare Pokemon were there. I heard she was successful, but she didn't tell me anything because everything was being tested and sorted through before she put it in her science paper." Poito found that talking about his sister was quite easy. He said some additional details for the man to hear to help jog his memory on who she was. "Oh, and her name was Shade. I believe she asked her workers to just call her by that."

He then walked towards Sol, but made sure that he was obviously moving past him and not through him. As soon as they were right next to each other, he whispered to him. "I am not sure why this lady is here, so why not leave? I can help you away from her." He looked at him with a gentle gaze, meant to convey that he wasn't going to pull any fast ones soon, and he began walking away from the bus stop, expecting Sol to follow him.

Seeing her master walk away, an Ariados crawled out from under the bench and began scurrying after him, making little chittering noises passively before she caught up to him and crawled up his legs to rest on his back.
 
Sol let out a startled little yelp as the spider Pokemon revealed itself, having been so concealed beneath his seat this whole time.

He cleared his thought when it became obvious that the Ariados was with Poito, and thus not an immediate danger, catching up with Poito and continuing their chat. "I'd guess that the young lady is one of those Psychic Gym Trainers. Sabrina's training methods have a tendency to attract people who are a bit..." Sol paused as he searched his brain for a more polite expression, "... like that."

Seeing that Poito would walk with his Pokemon on his back, Sol decided to let out one of his own. If the Pokemon could make friends, then Sol would feel more assured in his own new friend. He considered sending out Clefairy, but reconsidered after remembering how Clefairy felt about Poison types...

There was still no lightning in the sky, which would be disappointing for Magnemite, but it would have less reason to be scared. Sol took Magnemite's Pokeball from his briefcase and let the Pokemon out.

With a small flash of light and a soft buzzing of electricity, Magnemite appeared and immediately began whirring around the air a few feet above Sol. After a moment, the Pokemon realized the absence of any large electrical fields in the storm and descended to meet Sol's eyes. Its own large central eye looking at Sol like a child who was promised ice cream looks at an empty handed parent.

Magnemite was quickly distracted by the new figure. It hovered over to Poito and began buzzing and whirring excitedly!
 
The ninja man smirked as he heard the man yelp. To be frank, it was kind of funny, and he never had that phobia for spiders or bugs in general. He found them fascinating, and he found those that are afraid of them even more fascinating. He listened to the man's suspicions and chuckled at the vocabulary used to describe people like her. He was right though, but he wasn't so sure if she was even a part of Sabrina's posse of Gym Trainers. He just shrugged his shoulders before letting out his own thoughts on the matter. "I don't recognize her as one of Sabrina's Gym Trainers, so I can't be too sure about that. But most people who have Psychic-Types and train them almost exclusively seem pretty weird. My sister is one, the biologist-genetist... I don't know, something with Pokemon bodies."

It was then that a flash of light interrupted him from starting his rambling and he looked over to see a Magnemite. It almost seemed like it was upset as the way it looked at its trainer seemed to be that of puppy dog-like sadness. He looked up at the sky and noted that Sol said he was waiting for a thunderstorm. Well, at least that wasn't a complete lie. He looked over to see that the ball of magnetism had now grown interested in him and his Pokemon. He smiled and raised his finger for Magnemite to interact with. "Why, hello little one. I know, the thunderstorms aren't out right now. But there is a way to make one." He looked over to Sol with a playful smirk. "You just ionize the clouds and they'll do all the work on their own. It's like building up static electricity. But in a room full of carpet."

Aria chittered at the magnetic steel ball and she waved one of her forelegs in greeting. In Pokespeak, she was saying "hello".
 
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