Chương 17: Spy

Vex took the poke-dollars from Cynthia's hand, his mismatched hues focusing on the blonde woman as he switched on his ability to spot auras. Not knowing this woman, even if she was regarded as a champion, Vex opted to keep his guard raised.

Arceus had made it very clear to trust no one too easily as doing so could quite easily become problematic. Betrayal and lies were easy if you let the wrong people in, allowing the person to collapse everything from the inside. While Vex wasn't going to immediately claim she was a member of Team Rocket, he wasn't about to let his guard down against someone that was obviously leagues more powerful than he was.

"Thank you," Vex replied with a smile, the aura around the woman springing into existence. "I'm grateful."

While he said those words, his eyes flicked over the colors briefly. There were only three emotions currently active and none of them were negative in the slightest. This didn't quite wipe out the chance for her being related to Team Rocket, but it did help a little as Vex deactivated his ability. He doubted he'd be attacked by someone who was happy and held no ill intentions towards him. Furthermore, Team Rocket shouldn't even know about him let alone care for him. Unless they somehow figured out that Vex possessed the Fighting Type Plate he reasoned that he was still fine for the time being.

"Cynthia," Caitlin said as she stepped forward. "Its been a while. How have you been?"

Cynthia smiled brightly as she stepped up, wrapping Caitlin in a hug which the young blonde easily accepted. "I've been great. Its good to see you."

Vex sighed inwardly as he stepped back, joining Serena and Brock as the two blondes began to exchange pleasantries, looking genuinely happy to see each other. The two began to start up a back and forth rapport and it looked like the conversation would take longer then Vex wanted to stand around for. To be quite honest, he really just wanted to go back to the camp and improve upon his strategies.

The duel with the trio had opened up a lot of flaws and dents in his strategies, imperfections that could be fixed as well as improved upon. Looking back, Vex felt that his skills during the battle were still rather haphazard, lacking a certain fluid finesse that Caitlin had managed to achieve while sparring with him. What he really wanted to do now was head back and work on some more strategies to up his game as well as increase the stats of his pokemon partners. There were so many ways for Vex to improve and there actually was something he wanted to try out.

Before, back when he had doin the two week training, he had tried to use two moves at the same time but to no avail. Apparently it was near impossible to do so and of course it had been attempted numerous times by others who were far more skilled and knowledgeable than he was and by pokemon far stronger and more experienced than his own. Still, he wanted to entertain the idea for a little longer, confident that there was indeed a way to succeed. If he could combine the use of moves then he could not only change the way he fought but also expand the strategies already at his fingertips.

He could already imagine combining [Quick Attack] with [Iron Tail] or [Water Gun] with [Rapid Spin]. Such moves would be a game changer in so many ways provided that he could achieve the concept he was calling Dual Moves.

As Vex stood there, continuing to plan out what his next move would be, someone was spying on him as well as the whole group. A spy so well placed that it would be hard to call out.

A lone figure stood off to the side, nonchalantly leaning against the side of a building while wearing a bright white shirt and black pants, an outfit neither that garnered no immediate attention. The figure looked completely at home, blending in with the crowd like a drop of water in the vast ocean.

No one had noticed when the figure had arrived and no one noticed when he disappeared into the crowd, easily slipping back in without so much as a disturbance.

"So thats the kid we're keeping our eye out for?" The figure muttered as he turned into an alley, walking in deep to keep his voice from being overheard. "Seems like a simple brat to me. Cant believe the best team in the company couldn't capture such an easy target by themselves."

The figure took something out of his pocket, a small rectangular device similar to a cellphone but with a small button located on the bottom left corner. Pressing the button on the side, the screen lit up, allowing the figure to fiddle with the touchscreen for a bit, the contraption actually operating similar to a phone as he pulled up a dial screen.

"He did have some impressive techniques for a newbie though," The man admitted to himself as he used one of his thumbs to type in a number. "It might be worth mentioning in my report. Not that it matters. He'll be dead in a week anyways."

Pressing the call button after typing in the number, the man waited for someone to pick up. After the second ring, there was a click followed by a rather deep, distorted voice that caused the figure to wince slightly.

"Hello?"

"Spectre #2? This is Spectre #204," The man moved further into the alley, banking a right and moving into the shadows. "Ive located the target. He's still in Viridian City."

"Oh? Can you follow him?" James actually sounded rather satisfied as he responded, his distorted voice reaching Spectre #204 loud and clear.

"Target is currently in range of Sinnoh Champion Cynthia Stratos and Unova Elite Four Caitlin. Tailing them would be difficult."

Spectre #204 truthfully didn't really want to risk exposing himself by following them as getting caught would most likely cause the targets to abandon the city. In addition, based on the data compiled of all the Elite Four from every region, Caitlin was by far one of the more stronger ones, a top tier threat that even the strongest team, Team Alpha, was wary of. Even without her pokemon, the young blonde was still a huge problem due to her immense psychic powers. Attempting to tail them would be a potential danger that could very well get him killed or subdued which wasn't a great way to end his week.

"Do you have the tracking device?" James asked, his voice getting impatient.

"Affirmative," Spectre #204 as he tapped his left pants pocket.

"Then use it. I shouldn't have to spell out what you need to do next. Unless you want me to come and hold your hand...Adrian" James's distorted voice suddenly became ominous as Spectre #204 gave a small shiver.

"No need sir," Adrian said calmly. "Consider it done.

"Very good, I await your good news."

The phone call ended with a click, allowing Adrian to take a breath. He turned off the device and shoved it back into his pocket, his face now dead serious.

"That guy freakin terrifies me," Adrian muttered as he dug into his other pocket. The man pulled out a gold necklace with an intricate design, a cleverly disguised tracking device that every spy in Team Rocket is given for just this exact situation. "Let's just get this over with."

Strolling back out if the alley nonchalantly, at a pace and in a way that wouldn't arouse suspicion or attention, Adrian casually looked around, his eyes taking in everything. Nothing had changed much in the short moment he had left. The small group with the youth known as Vex Masters was still there, the young man himself just standing there listening and looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.

(("Now, how am I supposed to slip the device onto him?")) Adrian shifted the necklace in his hand as his eyes flicked quickly before landing on something that made him break out into a smile. (("It seems luck is on my side today."))

What Adrian had spotted some distance away, just sitting on the sidewalk with people strolling around it were four shopping bags. Of course the man knew who they belonged to as he had been tailing the group almost since the moment they started shopping, watching them walk around and gather everything they needed. Those bags were perfect, a simple way of slipping the device to the group.

Logically speaking it was a great plan. Though the inside of the necklace contained the device, the outside was actually made of real gold. The chances of them throwing it away were small and it was much more likely someone from the group would wear it, allowing Team Alpha to always know the groups exact location at all times.

All Adrian had to do was sneak it into the bags and his problems would be solved.

//Sorry for the rather short chapter. It'll be much bigger on the next one. Things are progressing slowly again but don't worry, it'll pick up soon.

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