Pokémon: I’m Really Not a Team Rocket Spy

The current Sabrina was noticeably different from her portrayal in the original series. She wasn't as malevolent—at least, a handful of people could actually hold a conversation with her.

Or rather, when Sabrina was on the verge of losing control, only a select few could stop her.

One of them was, of course, Giovanni. Sabrina's decision to join Team Rocket largely stemmed from her admiration for Giovanni—or, more accurately, his unparalleled charisma. It was a trait shared among much of Team Rocket's upper echelon. Anyone who understood Giovanni knew he was a master of influence.

The other two individuals were her parents. After awakening her psychic powers, Sabrina showed more restraint than her anime counterpart, who had turned her mother into a doll.

Lastly, there was Maki, of course.

Their relationship could be described as childhood friends. Perhaps it was because Maki had been a consistent presence during her early years that Sabrina hadn't completely gone off the deep end.

As for Silver, his naturally tsundere personality made the idea of him forming a friendship with Sabrina laughable at best.

Though Sabrina's personality had softened somewhat compared to her original depiction, she was still far from easygoing. Anyone foolish enough to provoke her might as well tie a noose—they'd find death far more merciful.

Maki, however, had spent over a decade building trust and goodwill to reach his current standing with her.

After finishing the boxed meal he had purchased from the Pokémon Center, Maki sat at a nearby table, pulled out a notebook, and began outlining a training plan for his Charmander.

First on the list was Fire Fang. Charmander had already grasped the basics, so Maki estimated it would only take a few days of practice to master it entirely.

Next was refining its use of Ember, a foundational Fire-type move that Maki believed deserved extra attention.

Beyond that, Maki hoped Charmander could learn Dragon Breath as soon as possible.

Charmander, as a species, had natural ties to the Dragon type—anyone denying that was practically mocking Lance, the Dragon-type Champion!

Dragon Breath was an ideal move for familiarizing Charmander with Dragon-type energy. To aid this process, Maki had already prepared some Pokéblocks infused with Dragon-type energy. Feeding these to Charmander should yield significant results.

Then there was the matter of acquiring a new Pokémon. Unlike most trainers, Maki didn't have to worry about training resources. Even if he couldn't request supplies from Giovanni, his expertise in crafting Pokéblocks made earning money relatively easy.

As for his stamina, taking care of a single Charmander was still far from his limit. Once the initial training phase was complete, things should lighten up on that front.

The real problem was that Maki hadn't yet decided what kind of Pokémon to add to his team as his second primary partner.

Ideally, the new Pokémon's traits would synergize with Charmander's, preferably revolving around a Sun Team strategy.

If he were simply looking for a weather starter, the options narrowed to just two Pokémon: Torkoal and Ninetales. Other than Groudon, they were the only Pokémon with the Drought ability.

However, both of these Pokémon were pure Fire-types, which overlapped with Charmander's role. Maki had no intention of becoming a Fire-type specialist.

Ultimately, he decided to visit Viridian Forest when he had the chance. Perhaps he'd find a Pokémon that fit his needs.

Even if not, discovering a Pokémon with potential would still be worth cultivating.

Giovanni had given him a week's time, but the journey from Viridian City to Saffron City wouldn't take a day. This meant Maki had nearly a full week to train his Charmander.

Though he wasn't sure what Giovanni's exact plans for him were, Maki could feel the urgency of the situation. He had to grow stronger—fast.

When Maki first arrived in the Pokémon world, he had felt lost. But after ten years, he now knew exactly what he needed to do.

Having finalized his plan, Maki set his notebook aside. Noticing that Charmander had dozed off on its pillow after a full day of play, Maki gently draped a blanket over it. Exhausted, he collapsed onto the bed next to it and quickly fell asleep.

…

Meanwhile, in the same city, others were far from asleep—such as a certain foolish trio.

"HAHAHAHAHA! It's finally done! I'm such a genius!"

Inside an abandoned warehouse in Viridian City, James had just tossed aside his wrench and was standing triumphantly with his hands on his hips.

His moment of glory was cut short when Meowth leapt up and smacked him on the back of the head.

"Keep it down, Meow! There are still people outside, Meow! You wanna call them all over here!?"

This warehouse had been discovered by pure chance, and the trio had made it their temporary base. However, people occasionally passed by outside, which explained Meowth's caution.

Under normal circumstances, James would have retaliated against Meowth's swat with a "friendly discussion," but today he was in an exceptionally good mood. He simply rubbed the back of his head before pulling Meowth over to show off the massive robot he had built.

"Look at this! With this baby, we'll storm the Pokémon Center tomorrow and snag all the Pokémon inside—easy peasy!"

James continued rambling on about his master plan, but Meowth wasn't listening. The feline yawned loudly.

"Yaaawn~"

"Hey, by the way, where's Jessie?" James finally noticed her absence.

"She's been asleep over there for a while now, Meow. Can't you hear her snoring?"

Meowth pointed to a corner where Jessie was curled up in her sleeping bag, completely dead to the world. Not even James' earlier outburst had disturbed her.

"Wait, does that mean I'm the only one working my tail off!?" James stared in disbelief at Jessie's sleeping form and Meowth, who was already settling into his own sleeping bag.

"Relax, Meow~ When our plan works tomorrow, and I get rid of that nasty Persian and win Giovanni's favor, I'll put in a good word for you!" Meowth yawned again before disappearing into his sleeping bag.

"Huh... I guess that's not too bad."

Satisfied, James gave his creation one last proud look before calling it a night.

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