Chapter 6: HQ 

"What the heck?" I said quietly. "Why bother make a building invisible if you just need an office?" 

We didn't move far away from the door, but saw a couple of cubicles with the norm- chairs, computers, dry erase board with complicated equations on them... yeah, normal. 

"They must sell Pidgey clocks or something," I said lightly. 

"Why would you say that?" Anthony asked. 

"They're obviously coo-coo." 

Anthony groaned at my cheesiness while Daniel held out his hand for a high five. "Nice one!" 

"You two have no real sense of humor, do you?" Amanda asked tiredly. 

Before I could reply, Anthony called for us. 

"Look." Anthony pointed to a mural on the wall. In the center was a giant black "R" outline in black. Two huge yellow eyes were painted on either side of it. The slanted, sinister look made me think that they belonged to some sort of feline Pokemon. 

"Creepy," Daniel commented, sounding extremely casual considering our situation. "I think I'm going to check out the break room or something. Maybe there's food lying around-" 

"Daniel, we're in a Team Rocket headquarters and you're thinking about food?" Anthony raised an eyebrow. 

"Well, snooping around IS hard to do on an empty stomach." 

"We just ate an hour ago," Amanda reminded him. 

"I'm kidding! Arceus, give me a break." Daniel rolled his eyes. 

"So, when are we supposed to head downstairs for the big revealing?" A masculine voice echoed from down the hall. 

We all froze, then dived into the nearest cubicle. I sought refuge under the desk while Daniel attempted to squeeze himself next to me through the small hole for people's feet. I glared at him while he frowned as if to say "As if I want my face right against your disapproving scowl." He adjusted so his mouth was super close to my neck and I tried to ignore his warm breath. For some reason I found myself holding onto the table leg as if it'd prevent me from getting caught. 

"I don't know," a different guy said, sounding very close to us. "I think midnight? They're not testing it till tomorrow as far as I know." 

"That's not what I heard, Carter. They don't want to attract attention from the cities since we're sucking their power without them knowing, so if they do it at night when no one's really using electricity it's not such a big deal. Less chance of blowing their power that way and drawing suspicion," the first man said. 

"They don't tell us anything. We might as well head downstairs now." Carter sighed. It seemed like they'd stopped moving right outside the cubicle. I looked at the others- Anthony was squished in between two filing cabinets and Amanda was behind a large potted plant. Thankfully we were all pretty well hidden. That is, if someone did a super-fast sweep of the room while squinting or had horrible near sightedness. If not, we were probably doomed. 

"I guess I'll bring down my camera to take pictures. Will there be a party afterward to celebrate, Jason? Remember that one time we stole all that booze from the pub in Olivine and went back to HQ with those girls?" I heard Carter's feet move towards us and into the cubicle. His shadow lingered under the desk. 

I grabbed Daniel's hand and squeezed to stop myself from screaming. He looked at me, surprised. Or at least that's what it felt like he tried to do since his face was still right against my neck. I heard Daniel sniff. My hair must have tickled his nose. 

Oh for the love of Arceus, please don't pick up Fenrir's allergies right now, I cursed in my head, hoping he wouldn't sneeze. 

"Yeah, that was fun Carter, but don't be ridiculous." Jason laughed. The feet stopped moving and Carter seemed to turn around. "Team Rocket has a strict 'No Photographs of Corporate Technology' rule. You'd get yourself kicked out faster than a Ninjask with Speed Boost. Besides, we're so close to a promotion. There's no way you should risk it." 

"Oh. I didn't really read the manual when we got shipped here. Thanks for reminding me," Carter said, his voice sounding farther away. "Ok, let's head downstairs." 

Their footsteps trailed down the hall again until I couldn't hear them anymore. Daniel sneezed, knocking his head into mine. 

"Ow," I said as quietly as possible. 

"Sorry." Daniel tried to get up, but ended up hitting his head on the desk. "Em, you have to let go of my hand or else we'll be stuck here forever." 

I looked down numbly to find I was still trying to use Vicegrip to choke his hand to death. "Oh." 

I let go as if his hand had burned me. Daniel shook his fingers out gingerly, giving me a curious look before crawling out from under the desk. 

"Bless you," Amanda said solemnly. 

"Thanks. You guys ok up here?" Daniel asked. 

"Yeah," Anthony said, unsquishing himself from in between the filing cabinets. I was surprised he didn't look like a Stunfisk. "Those guys are idiots. I can't believe they didn't even see us. It's not like we're Kecleon." 

"Who would think someone would break into an invisible Team Rocket HQ?" I asked, defending them a bit. "I'm glad they were idiots because if they weren't, we would have been caught right off the Zubat." 

"Good point," Amanda agreed. 

"I say we get out of here," Anthony said right at the same time Daniel said, "I say we go downstairs." 

"What, why?" Amanda and I both looked at the boys. 

"Because it's the smart thing to do," the guys said. 

"How is that smart?" the boys retorted at each other, yet again synchronized. 

Anthony was too shocked to say anything, so Daniel answered, "Because these guys are up to no good and it's our job to stop them." 

"Daniel," Anthony's voice trembled, "you're my best friend, but you're seriously going to get us all killed. These guys don't care what happens to a bunch of kids. Let's just let the police handle it." 

"No. Those guys said they're testing whatever it is tonight. What if it's a bomb or something? It could kill us all. We need to stop it for the sake of man and Pokemon kind." Daniel's eyes lit with determination. 

"But-" Anthony started, but Daniel interrupted, "No. This isn't a job for the police, it's a job for us. Listen, you're the smartest guy I know, Ant. You can do anything if you set your mind to it. All these Team Rocket guys are morons. You can take them ten at a time. 

"Amanda," Daniel continued. She jumped, surprised by the amount of raw emotion he was using to speak, "You're the most loving, gentle Pokemon Trainer I know. Your Pokemon understand exactly what you want and are always willing to fight for you no matter if it looks hopeless or not. Your love will totally knock these guys on their BUTTS." 

"Oh, um, thank you?" Amanda looked unsure if she should be flattered or not. 

"Emma," Daniel said pleadingly, "You're the toughest girl I know and you've raised Pokemon who are so amazing that I wouldn't be surprised if your team couldn't make a Legendary bow down before you and your awesomeness. These grunts have nothing on you." 

I remained quiet, staring at the floor. I tried not to think about how that's how my dad normally sounded when he talked about my talent instead of what he'd said a few hours ago. 

"And we have me, of course," Daniel added humbly as an afterthought. "I'm brave and can be super annoying, so they will think we're all idiots if we get caught." 

"Whoa, if?" Amanda's eyes widened. 

"Yeah, I don't want to get caught," Anthony muttered. 

"So who's with me?" Daniel put a hand out. 

We all remained quiet. 

"I am," I said, putting my hand in the middle. 

"Um, I guess I have no other option." Amanda smiled weakly. 

"We're all going to die," Anthony said, white faced, adding his hand on top of Amanda's.  

"That's the spirit, Anthony," Daniel said optimistically, seemingly empowered just by seeing all of our hands in the center. "Ok, here's the plan."

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-Flips