"It's so nice of you to cook breakfast for us all, dear. It tastes wonderful. Do you cook often?"
Honey, Mustard, and a few students were gathered around a table at the dojo while Morai was busy in the kitchen. She had slept there while Giovanni was made to sleep in the cave.
"Thank you!" the trainer cheerfully replied. "I cook most of the food I eat. I like to keep it simple and be close what nature intended. Who knew you could make pancakes with only 5 ingredients?"
Bzzt!
G: Bring me some of whatever you're making over there.
M: No. You chose to come here. You can go forage for food.
G: That's stupid and a waste of valuable time. Don't be difficult, Morai.
M: Fine. But you don't get blueberries in your pancakes.
G: I'll try to survive
Sigh
"If you don't mind, I'm going to take some leftovers back to my camp for my Pokémon," the trainer said.
"Of course! Be careful out there, now!" Honey sweetly replied.
"These are cold. The dojo isn't that far away," Giovanni said with a frown as he poked at his breakfast with a fork.
"Oh, whoops! I guess I grabbed the wrong ones," Morai said, throwing her hands up.
The trainer knew that what she was doing was petty, but Morai couldn't help herself. She stifled a childish giggle and watched the boss of a giant villainous organization struggle with his cold pancakes. In the meantime, she brushed Espurr's shiny fur and cleaned her masks.
"So, it's day one out of seven. What's your big plan for today?" she asked.
"You're still unable to move well and it's going to rain for most of the day, so spending the day testing and improving your psychic abilities is our priority," Giovanni answered.
"Makes sense. I've never figured out how to improve anything other than what I call the 'Mind's Eye.' That's how I fought Mienshao. I can practice it pretty much anytime there's another living thing with eyes around. It's not very difficult."
"I see," the Rocket boss replied. "Take a page out of one of your journals and make a list of your known abilities. Then, on a scale of one to ten, judge them based on how well you can perform them without help."
I didn't take Giovanni for the type of person to make lists...other than blacklists, maybe. Okay, let's see...
Abilities
Mind Control: 1
Mind's Eye: 7
Foresight: 0?
"Done! Here you go," Morai said. Giovanni seemed eager for any chance to set his half-eaten pancakes aside. He looked at Morai's paper and gave it a quick once-over, still chewing the last bite he took.
"Alright. That's...fine. This is fine. It'll just take more work than I thought, is all."
Morai looked at him, not sure what to make of his reaction. Was it really that bad?
"Let's actually test these out, starting with your strongest," he continued. "Tell me how it works."
"Long story short, I can close my eyes and see from the perspective of another person, as long as their eyes are open. I think if I develop it enough, I won't even have to close my eyes."
"Okay, we'll keep this one simple and quick. Close your eyes and move your head to dodge my punches. I'll go slower since you're injured."
Morai did exactly as instructed and dodged everything that came at her, even as Giovanni increased his speed. He gave a nod of approval, and moved on.
"How can you have a '0' in foresight? What is it?" he asked.
"Well, I kind of fought myself in my dreams," Morai started, realizing that what she was about to explain sounded absurd when she said it out loud. "This particular version of me was able to predict and counter anything I did. I could tell it was different from simply using my own vision against me. It was being one or even more steps ahead of me constantly. It's like I understood how to do it after that, but I haven't had the chance to practice."
"Your dreams?" Giovanni asked. The usually stoic-faced man had a hint of confusion on his face.
"Alright, never mind, we'll save that for last," he continued. "That leaves your hypnosis. I'm sure you know that this is by far your most important skill, at least currently. So, let me motivate you to perfect it by telling you that your own safety and the safety of others will surely depend on your ability to do this and your other skills well. You've already caught the eye of some, but as you grow more powerful more and more will come after you. You have to be prepared."
"Oh great, thanks for that inspiring speech! What do you have planned to perfect this skill, then? I've been working on it for months now," Morai said. She stared into the face of one of her newly-shined masks and mimicked it's crazy wide smile.
"It's simple," Giovanni explained. "You're going to sit in front of me and look at me until you do it. Your masks can't help you now. It has to be just you. We'll sit here for as long as it takes. Don't break eye contact for anything."
Giovanni sat cross legged in front of Morai and looked at her. She stared back at him, slightly uncomfortable due to the fact that they were literally just sitting and staring at each other. Long seconds passed and turned into minutes. Morai was beginning to hate this exercise even more, but she didn't look away. Part of her hoped this would actually work. After more time passed, however, she started to grow restless.
Is he really going surrender his will to let me take control of his mind? Does he know how much I don't like him?
"I don't think this is going to—"
"Shh!"
Morai sighed and continued on. She was focusing as much as she could, and though her months of meditating in the forest helped, it produced no result. Still, Morai deeply wanted to master this skill.
Suddenly, Giovanni broke the silence and snapped his fingers, his Persian leaping out from behind him with a roar as if it were about to finish Morai off in an insant. Morai gasped, shifted her gaze to Persian's eyes, and directed it to miss her by a hair. She could tell that she had control of it, but her shock was threatening to break her concentration.
No! Focus! I think I can do even more this time.
The trainer closed her eyes and started to see the world through the Pokémon's eyes. It ran out of the cave, gaining more and more speed as it dashed through the wetlands. She looked at the deep night sky and saw a sea of millions of stars laid out as far as she could see. She could almost feel the cool wind and sprinkling rain on her own skin. For the first time in a while, Morai actually felt free. She had been trapped in one way or another for months, whether it be to her own mind or her deals with other people. That train of thought led her to think of Giovanni, and realize what he had done. His Persian came back through another entrance and tackled him with its sharp claws out. It let out a roar of anger.
"Morai! Stop it!" the Rocket boss yelled. He was pinned under the strong paws of the cat, its claws starting to dig into his skin as its teeth got closer to his face. The feeling was exhilarating for Morai. She looked down and realized that there was actual fear in his eyes.
"Morai!" he yelled again.
With a small gasp, the trainer broke her control. Persian instantly got off of its master and began to meow worriedly. The ground under Morai seemed unsteady, and everything began to fade into a blur. Her heart was beating faster and faster and she was becoming more lightheaded until she fell over unconscious. The last thing she remembered was a loud ringing.
"So, Proton, how much do you want to bet our boss is surrounded by Interpol on that island before the week ends? Petrel? Ariana? Hm?"
All of the Rocket Executives were gathered in their boss's office at the Alolan headquarters, not quite sure of what to do with themselves since Giovanni had left.
"Nothing," Proton said. "He's planning on it happening, I'm sure. If his plan goes well, he has a ticket out of there. That said, finding those two in a cave would pretty much confirm that The Mask Maker and Team Rocket are affiliated."
Archer was looking out of a window that surveyed the training area for the team's grunts. He had been thinking of nothing but this situation since his boss had left, trying to view it from all angles. Was Morai really that important?
"I'm sure he's thought of that. Though, it would look quite strange to the International Police, really. He's setting himself up to be found at some point, and he'll be found with none other than the notorious young psychic trainer that has been missing for months. I never know what's going through his head," Ariana said. She was filing her nails, her focus split between the conversation and making sure all of them were even.
"I don't get what's so special about this kid, anyway. Sure, she's got psychic powers, but we literally created an extremely powerful Psychic-type Pokémon that puts her to shame. If it weren't for those masks we created, she wouldn't have gotten this far in the first place," Petrel said. He was just sitting on the couch, resting his chin on his hand. Sitting on the table in front of him was the sketch that Morai had given him of her Battle Subway uniform, which he had made some minor changes to in different colored ink.
"Well, think about it," Archer began. "She's a human, so she doesn't stand out as much if she doesn't wear those freaky masks and look at people too long. If her powers are developed enough, she could just waltz into any place and wreak havoc unnoticed. Her young impressionable mind is also more malleable and easier to manipulate. The kid has one foot in reality and the rest of her is off in who knows where. She's going to work on developing her skills anyway, so it's better to put some time and effort into keeping her on our side instead of her deciding to work against us."
Archer was still watching the trainees battle each other on the fields below, arms crossed behind him. He didn't bother moving during his entire explanation.
"Guys, do you not feel at least a little bad for her?" Proton said. "I mean, she just randomly got psychic powers and now she's dealing with all of these wacky changes. And she's being looked at and used as a tool for power. Every time we see her she's a little more...spacey...than last time."
Petrel began making new changes to the design.
"It's not like any of us are much better," he said. "The type of people that join Team Rocket or any similar organization for that matter, are usually not well-adjusted members of society who play nice and obey the rules. And we've managed to top the rest of them and become admins..."
The executive finished making his point as he made one big, sweeping mark across the page and surveyed his work.
"We're not living double lives," Proton argued. "We're bad and we know it, and so does the rest of the world. But Morai as we know her puts on a mask to hide her identity because she's afraid of her own dark side. Even when she takes off her physical masks, she puts on another one when she faces the world as the Champion of Alola and as a friend. She's never just herself."
"It's a strange situation all around. I suppose all we can do is trust in Giovanni's plans. He will do what's best for Team Rocket," Archer added. The Executive couldn't help but agree with Proton, even if just a little. He thought back to his time with Morai in Ultra Space, both trainers taking risks to save the other."
Should we really stand by and let her, too, be used for Team Rocket's plans?