Love so Legendary (A Team Rocket Story)

Chapter seven

Neither Ellie nor Giovanni said anything. Not as they boarded the blimp, not as she took a seat, not for the first half of the ride. Her tears were falling silently, as if no one knew how afraid she was. Either that, or no one cared. She put her hand into her purse, clutching Lullabye's pokeball. She still had her Teddiursa. And as long as Giovanni wasn't aware of that, she wouldn't have to give her up.

Ellie looked to her left to see Inkay, Meowth, Wobbuffet, and Gorgheist chattering angrily and tied in a net. She had to admit, it confused her a bit. She knew that her father had handed over Inkay's pokeball, so why didn't Giovanni just put it back in the pokeball? Meowth finally turned his head from Inkay and looked to see Ellie.

"Wha-?!" He began, and then turned to Giovanni. "Okay, boss, you've gone too far!!! Why is Ellie here?! What didja do to James???"

"James got what was coming to him." Giovanni replied from the steering wheel. "As for the girl, she's our new recruit. I have a partner and counselor assigned to her already."

"Whaddaya mean recruit?" Meowth asked, seeing the surprised and fearful look on Ellie's face. "Ellie needs nothing to do with team rocket! Why do you think Jessie and James kept her a secret so long? They didn't want her involved with it!"

"Huh, interesting how that turned out for them." Giovanni remarked, still not looking at the two.

"Jessie and James are gonna come get her." Meowth said. "You're gonna be sorry."

"I'd be surprised if Jessie and James are alive, right now." Giovanni said, and Meowth's mouth hung open. Ellie looked at Meowth.

"Daddy got blasted with hyper beam by Persian." She said in a small voice. "I don't know where he is...or if he's even alive. What happened to Mama?"

Meowth sat there a bit in shock before responding, "Giovanni followed after her, first. When he found that you weren't with her, he took me, Wobbuffet, and Gorgheist, and then used fire blast against her to keep her from retaliating. She fainted right then and there, and then he left. She may still be there, now."

"Mama...was hit with fire blast?" Ellie asked, her voice shaking. She turned her head to Giovanni. "What do you want with me?! Why did you hurt my parents???"

"They kept a secret from me, young lady." Giovanni replied, using the tone that James sometimes did when he was being strict with Ellie. "They must pay for it. They must give me everything that's mine."

"I'm not yours though!!! I don't belong to you! I'm not a piece of property, you meanie!!!" Ellie shot back. "Let me go back to Mama and Daddy!!!"

"No can do." Giovanni said, his tone and expression not changing whatsoever. "Jessie and James are no longer a part of team rocket, and therefore, are no longer my employees. I don't owe them anything."

"Neither do they owe you anything." Ellie said, still intent on getting back to her parents. "They may have met through team rocket, but whatever choices they decided to make after that had nothing to do with you."

"You talk too much." Giovanni muttered, tapping into a panel near his right hand. "Rhodes," he began, "do you copy?"

"Agent Rhodes, reporting for duty, sir." Came a younger, feminine voice from the panel.

"I'm coming back to base with a new recruit. I want you to be the one to train her. Train her alongside Pierce." Giovanni ordered.

"Sir, forgive me if I'm wrong, I thought that you were off to fire Jessie and James?" The feminine voice, Rhodes, asked. "Why do you have a new recruit?"

"The girl's Jessie and James's daughter, Rhodes. Part of the package I'm picking up."

Rhodes was quiet for a moment, before speaking again. "With all due respect, sir, don't you think it's a bit extreme to not only fire Jessie and James, but also take their daughter without their, or her, compliance? How old is the girl?"

"According to the records, she's around five years old. She'll be six in September."

"Five?!" You could hear a bit of shock and alarm in Rhodes's voice. "Isn't it a bit extreme, sir? You're technically kidnapping a child."

"Breaking the law never bothered me before." Giovanni shrugged. "Do I need to make someone else my second-in-command, Rhodes? Or find someone more fit for the job?"

Rhodes was quiet for a moment before saying, "No, sir. When you get back to base, I'll begin her training with Pierce."

"Thank you for your compliance, Rhodes. We'll be there with a few new Pokémon in about a half hour." Giovanni said, making the hair on the back of Ellie's neck stand up. Giovanni was going to...distribute her parents' Pokémon among other team rocket members.

"Yes, sir. We'll be waiting." Rhodes replied with a bit of a shaky tone, before saying goodbye to Giovanni and hanging up.

And just like that, Ellie, the Pokémon, and Giovanni sat in silence once again.