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"Are you even listening to me, Archer? I said the kid was no ordinary trainer! This girl just-"
"I'm tired of your excuses, Proton.", the blue-haired executive intervened. "Do you even realize what your incompetence has cost us? We needed the money from those Slowpoke tails and now we have to slow down on the radio wave project just because you lost to some ten year old."
Proton jumped from his chair and slammed his hands on Archer's desk. "The fact alone is already humiliating enough for me! I don't need your bickering to boot!"
His superior stayed calm, chin resting on one hand. "Fine, then. You are dismissed for today." With the other, he slid some papers in front of himself to continue his work. "I hope the next assignment I give you won't end in such disappointment. Your reputation as the cruelest member of Team Rocket is on the line, after all."
"As if I'm the only one of us who got beaten by that brat… incompetence, my ass." Proton left Archer's office with his teeth clenched. The embarrassment he felt from his defeat had already been sour enough, being taunted by Archer of all people was the last thing he had needed. Sure, he was the one who led Team Rocket with Ariana in Giovanni's absence, but the arrogance of that guy was still unbelievable!
A mischievous grin formed on Proton's face right as he thought about it. Maybe Archer could stand knowing what humiliation actually was like.
* * *
Later that day, Archer went back into his office after a coffee break. The pile of paper on his desk had tremendously grown in size after their loss at Slowpoke Well and he had to reassess their finances. Needless to say, his mood was not the best.
It only worsened after he sat in his chair and felt something cold beneath the bottom of his pants. "What the…"
He tried to lift himself up again only to realize that his pants were stuck on the seat and wouldn’t come loose. For a brief moment his mind went blank while he tried to comprehend what had just happened to him. He couldn't believe it. Did someone seriously put glue on there?
Laughter chimed from his open door and Proton passed by, waving one hand as he peeked into the room.
"I hope you like my little present. That's what you get for complaining all the time!", he said, obviously satisfied with what he had done. Then he disappeared again.
"Why, you… you'll pay for this!" Archer wasn't usually prone to impulsive reactions but his already high level of stress paired with this act of disrespect from a subordinate sent him over the edge. He tried to jump from his chair to chase after Proton only to stop when he heard the sound of ripping fabric.
Oh no.
For a moment he froze in place until he came to understand what had happened and slowly lowered his bottom back to his seat. There he remained, unable to move. He could feel the heat rushing to his face as Ariana suddenly entered the room from the other side of the corridor.
"I brought the documents you were asking for.", she said, placing them on his desk. "Proton just passed me and wouldn't stop laughing. Did something happen?" She was smiling but stopped immediately when she noticed the pained expression on Archer's face.
"Are you alright?"
"I… I may have brought myself into some kind of predicament…", he answered quietly, lowering his chin. He considered telling her what had happened but his pride was too strong. "I can handle it, though. Nevermind."
His colleague shrugged and turned around to leave, she was also very busy after all. Pushing his conflicted feelings aside, Archer stayed silent and stared at some empty spot in the room. In the end his gaze still darted towards her out of desperation.
"Ariana, wait!", he called out to her and reached for a key inside his pocket. "Could you… could you go to my room and… uh… fetch a new pair of pants for me?" His voice started to crack because of the sheer embarrassment he felt as she stared at him with widened eyes.
"…please?"
* * *
"Man, you should've seen the look on Archer's face! I totally got him!"
Proton talked cheerfully while he used a blowdryer on his hair. He was looking at Petrel who stood right beside him by the mirror and cleaned his face of any leftover makeup. The older executive had just recently returned from his post at the Goldenrod City radio tower where he posed as it’s director while Team Rocket kept the original one hostage.
They had quite a lot of luxuries at their hideout in Mahogany Town but private showers were not a part of it. Therefore they used two large bathrooms, each for their male and female members. Proton was already fully dressed, only his hat was still lying on the counter. After the mess he had gotten Archer into he had decided to take a shower so he could just relax fort he rest of the evening.
Petrel grinned at him after rinsing his face with water for the final time.
"I can imagine the whole thing. Too bad I wasn't there! You don't get to see Archer speechless every day." He chuckled while using a towel to dry himself off.
"Yeah. I think he needs to be taught a thing or two. He's acting all high and mighty but he's still just our interim boss." Right as he was finished with his hair, Proton grabbed his hat and put it on. He immediately noticed something was absolutely wrong as he felt a kinda sticky substance right on his hair and skin.
"The hell!" Shocked, he pulled his hat off again and looked into the mirror. There it was, a fine black circle going all around his forehead and hair. "Some jerk put paint on the brim of my hat!"
Petrel burst into laughter, amused by how suddenly all of this had happened. "Is that karma now or what?", he said between chuckles while wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.
"Not funny, man!"
"No, no. This is very funny indeed." Proton could hear a faint cackle behind him. Archer stood there when he turned around, sneering. "We're even now."
"I just came out of the shower you bastard!"
"Oh, please. Compared to ripping my pants and making even Ariana laugh at me? That's nothing. You should be glad I'm not punishing you."
"He… your pants even… what?!" Petrel started to wheeze and received an unamused glare from Archer.
Proton meanwhile let out a growl in frustration. "I didn't think you'd stoop so low."
"You're the one who started it. I guess it's the only language you actually understand." Archer shrugged. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go. Someone needs to act all high and mighty around here." His voice was dripping with sarcasm as he left.
"That son of a…!" While staring after his superior, Proton crushed his hat between his hands.
"What now? Going for another round?", said Petrel, looking at his colleague expectantly.
"You bet I will!"
* * *
Feeding his Pokémon was something Archer did more out of necessity and less because he actually enjoyed bonding with them while doing so. They needed to be in perfect health since they were his only means of defense after all.
That was why he took a detour towards the cafeteria before he got ready for bed. Houndour and Houndoom were closely following him, visibly excited at the prospect of food.
As soon as he opened the cafeteria door he heard the suspicious flapping of wings. With a raised brow, Archer looked up only to be greeted by a flood of cold Water crushing down on him. He cursed silently as he wiped the liquid from his face and stared directly at Proton afterwards, who stood before him with crossed arms and a grin on his face. His Golbat landed right behind him and placed a bucket on the table.
"You're not done yet, huh?" Archer’s voice seered with venom. "You'll regret this."
"Oh, really?" Proton lifted his head overconfidently. "I'd worry about that later if I were you."
Right as he said that Archer noticed the sweet smell on himself. "Wait… that's not just water, isn't it?" Cautiously, he smelled his clothes. The scent reminded him of the liquid found in lures to attract wild Pokémon looking for food. "You can't be serious…"
He could feel Houndour and Houndoom sniffing him. They were starting to affectionately bump their heads against his legs and licked the liquid off the fabric of his clothes.
"Oh no… no, no, no." Archer took a few steps back out into the corridor but his Pokémon were still following him, looking at him with a spark in their eyes. He swallowed. Right after, his two hellhounds took a leap at him, forcing him to run.
* * *
Proton had a pretty relaxing sleep knowing what he had accomplished. That changed suddenly when a loud bump woke him up early in the morning. His senses were still numb but he managed to pry his eyes open, only to see a figure in white clothing who held onto his boots.
"Archer!" He perked right up. "What on earth are you doing in my room at this hour?!"
"Ah, what a shame. I wasn't finished yet."
"Finished? With what?" He let his eyes dart through the dim light that shone from the corridor into his room through the open door. "Where are my clothes?"
"I hid them."
"Now that’s just getting silly!" Proton jumped out of his bed.
"You're one to talk. I don't care. I couldn't even sleep because of what you did to me. Do you realize how long it took to get that scent off of me?" Archer grinned mischievously. "Anyway, this should put an end to everything." With that, he ran once again and took the boots of his subordinate right with him.
"You jerk! I won't let you get away with this!" Proton followed directly after.
Everyone else except for the nightwatch was still asleep so their chase came to no halt. Even though he was still in his pyjamas and barefeet, Proton followed Archer right out of their hideout into the cold morning air of Mahogany Town. The sun had just started to rise and only showed itself as a deep orange line on the horizon while the stars were still visible on the clear sky above their heads.
Proton's breath formed small clouds as he was exhausting himself but he wouldn't let Archer get the better of him. Yes, he would catch up to him and then… then…
Then what?
Suddenly, he heard laughter. Archer was actually laughing. Not a fully light-hearted laugh but it also wasn't his usual condescending snickering. The other executive seemed to actually enjoy himself while they were running through the forest. Proton couldn't remember when he had last heard that tone in Archer's voice. Probably not since Giovanni had abandoned them.
A smile found it's way onto his lips.
"Get back heeereeee!", he called out with amusement as he tried to speed up his tempo.
Not far from them, a large orange dragon Pokémon lifted it's head and inspected it's surroundings cautiously.
"What's wrong, Dragonite? Did you hear something?" The red-haired man by it's side began to stroke it's scales with a smile. Dragonite looked at him quite confused and nodded in the direction of the noise it had heard. It's trainer only shook his head.
"We don't have the time to inspect the forest, I'm sorry. The Lake of Rage isn't far from here, we need to find out what Team Rocket is up to."