Hard Enough
Chapter 247: Interlude - Overpowered Investigations!

“Slippery Lewie! If I ain’t seen you in years!” said Meowth with a faux-friendly tone.

‘Slippery Lewie’ instantly started inching towards the exits that he’d already located in the room upon entry. Meowth’s smile only grew, and Lewie stopped.

“Your partners are waiting for me outside, aren’t they?” he probed carefully, eyes darting around to the windows, doors and even the roof light.

“Theys might be, but things don’t need to go that way Lewie, we’re all friends here, ain’t we?” Meowth said as he pulled out a wad of cash and spread it like he was revealing a winning hand at the poker tables.

Lewie licked his lips. “That’s a lot of poke,” he said. He jerked his chin up, “What’s the catch?”

Meowth began folding some of the cash. “Oh, you know how it is, you knows someone that we need to know, that sort of thing. We’re in town and we need to work out who the movers and shakers are, you know?”

Lewie, if anything, relaxed. “Oh, you’re just looking to get the lay of the land, then?”

“Bingo!” said Meowth as he folded up a pair of pokedollars and handed them to the furtive man.

The man took the notes, unfolded them and held them to the light to inspect them. He then tugged them, licked them and even went as far as to hold one edge to a flame. The pokedollar caught and Lewie flicked the note so that it went out with only a corner singed.

Meowth put a paw to his heart, but he was beaten to the punch by Jessie sauntering in from Lewie’s left. “You wound me with your accusations. Don’t you know we’re always good for it?” said the red-haired woman.

“You’re not Team Rocket anymore, Team Rocket is dead!” snapped Lewie. “You don’t have those deep pockets… but I suppose Rattata like yourselves know when to get off a sinking ship well enough,” he said with an oily smile.

James spun out of the shadows. “My, with compliments like that it’s no wonder you’re still single, Slippery, you old devil you,” he said with a wink.

Lewie licked his palm and slicked his singular tuft of hair back on his head. “Ladies or gentlemen would be lucky to catch me!” he declared, before guffawing at his joke.

Meowth merely gave the wet hand a pointed look before stepping to the other side so there was even less chance of having to deal with the dripping digits. “Right, so our info?” he said.

“Not much to say. Old Kruger did a good enough job cracking down on crime when he was mayor, since then a lot of the policies he’s enacted have kept things that reach the media’s attention as only small time.”

Jessie sighed. “We’re not a reporter looking for a scoop Lewie, we’re a team looking for info, stop holding out on us.”

Lewie rubbed his fingers together. “Might be I need something to help my memory,” he said.

Meowth flicked over another pair of bills. “You can start with why you’re checking our cash that much. No reason to do that if you’re not spooked.”

“There’s a counterfeit company going around. Word is that they have some sort of super Smeargle trained up to get every detail of the pokedollars, to the point they’ve been able to make themselves a flipping mould to make more bills. They have the Smeargle touch them up just in case, though!” he said.

James pursed his lips. “Meaning that the Smeargle’s ink is part of the end product, so the smoke or flame are different, doesn’t it?”

Lewie tapped his nose. “That’s what most keen-eyed folk have worked out. A singed dollar these days is a good thing to see. The banks don’t like seeing them, ‘course, ‘cause eventually people trade them in for fresh money. Supposedly there’s a bounty out on the folks doing it. You heard anything?”

Jessie scoffed. “You think we’d tell you anything if we did?”

Lewie grinend and waggled the money they’d paid him back at her and she scoffed. “Cute, but we’re not cartoon villains!” she snapped.

James and Meowth nodded along. “Yeah! We’ve got more respect than that!” they said together.

Lewie shrugged. “Whatever you say.”

Jessie made a ‘get on with it gesture’ and Lewie nodded. “So, there are still the smugglers like always, they’re running their scores up and down the coast, but they’ve gone international now. They’re getting shipments from Hoenn and Pummelo these days. Lots of good stock there, which they scrub the labels off and sell at markets for a steal. When they can’t sell it normally they find other ways, of course.”

“That’s just capitalism,” said James with a huff. “Tell us about the others!”

“Got the Machoke’s who’re running some security rackets, among other things,” Lewie mentioned. “Mostly target the big businesses and people looking to keep things running smoothly.”

“They running any scores?” James asked casually.

Lewie paused. “You’re not just here about the lay of the land, are you?” he asked, eying the trio before he stepped back, no longer comfortable. “Who are you working for these days, if Team Rocket’s gone under?” he asked furtively.

James scoffed. “We’re independent these days, run our own show.”

“That a Ponyta and Growlithe show, then? Go on! Pull the other one! Don’t try and take me for a spin. I know you mob, you’d find a nice hand to hold your lead in a jiffy, you would!” he said sternly.

Jessie narrowed her eyes. “I’m not some simpering pet!” she spat.

“I have more standards than that!” said James.

“I resent all commentary of the sort!” hissed Meowth.

Lewie eyed them all, weighing up their affronted looks. “Right, sorry, just had to check. You know how it is.”

Jessie sniffed. “I’m sure, get on with it,” she said.

“Got some snatchers doing small-time stuff on the streets, both for themselves, and they’ve got a good head on their shoulders and a finger on every pulse in the city.”

Meowth tilted his head at that. “You’re the one that’s said to have his finger on the pulse of the city, Lewie. You doin’ business there? Or are you calling shots and making moves?”

“Nah! Got me all wrong! I’m just an info man, I am!” he said with a wave of his hands.

James nodded along at that and Lewie’s smile turned evil. “Now if you wanted to talk about someone that will finger anything with a pulse.” He smiled lecherously at his wordplay. “Well, I could put in a word for you with Madam George.”

“Madam… George?” questioned Meowth.

Lewie nodded. “They’re complicated they are, but they run the working class girls group. If you catch what I’m telling you.”

“I don’t think I want to catch anything,” Jessie said as she continued to wave her hand. “Any big money movers?” she asked “People with too much money and not enough sense?”

Lewie sucked on his teeth. “You’re after someone. Who? Something’s gone done that’s impacted you?”

Jessie and James shared a look while Meowth just sighed. “Who’s contracting idiots like the Splash Bandits?”

Lewie stiffened, and that was the only warning the trio got before he threw himself through a fake wall to make his escape. “Scraps! After him, he knows something!” shouted Meowth as he jumped on James' shoulder to ride the taller man as he took off after Lewie.

Jessie turned and ran in a seemingly different direction, but Meowth knew better than to cuss her out. They were old hands at this game.

James sprinted through the back alleys that Lewie led them through like a seasoned hand, charging after the furreting man as he leapt over trash piles, caused trip hazards, and even at one point tossing a bag of marbles behind himself.

James matched the leaps over trash piles, danced through the trip hazards and literally glided atop the marbles as he snatched up a plank of wood to coast across them.

“Going in through that window on the left!” Meowth shouted, having kept track of their quarry.

James leapt through the window and Lewie glanced back to curse. “Damn it all, you’re persistent buggers, ain’t you?” he snarled as he sprinted up the stairs.

“Long ball special?” suggested James as they hit a hallway.

“If we get him on a straight!” Meowth said, preparing to tuck himself into a ball to make the play.

Lewie must have been wise to the trick though, and instead leapt through a window only to grab a waiting flagpole outside where he slid to the ground.

“Ha! Home free no-hurk!” he shouted as he landed and tried to sprint away, only to get clotheslined by a Mawile that was sitting at the bottom.

Jessie minced up to Mawile and petted the little pokemon on the head. “Well done girl, and well-done boys for leading him right to me,” she said.

She then gave Lewie a friendly smile that stank of insincerity. “Now then Lewie, I think you’re going to tell me who’s been making those plays. It’s obviously someone known to you.”

Mawile turned her back on Lewie, which for another pokemon might have allowed him to slip away, but with Mawile that meant her ponytail could split open to reveal a hungering maw.

“Maw~,” giggled the terrifying little fairy.

Lewie licked his lips, his eyes dilating as he realised he might become pokechowder. “It’s your damn rivals! Butch and Cassidy! But don’t tell them I told you anything or they’ll have me swimming with Carvanha!” he said fearfully.

“Butch and Cassidy? Nice try, they’re in prison with the other Team Rockets!” said Meowth, launching down to grab Lewie by the shirt and dragging him up so the man was whiskers to whiskers with him. “Pull the other one!”

“They’re like you! They escaped custody somehow!” wailed Lewie.

Jessie, James and Meowth all shared a look. “Know anyone else that escaped custody?”

“Only what everyone knows about old man Blaine vanishing! If there are others I don’t know ’em!” he said.

Jessie jerked her chin to the side. “Let him go, Meowth,” she said.

Meowth didn’t question her, he let the man go and Mawile stepped back slowly.

Jessie pointed down the street. “Get,” she said.

James ignored the man as he scampered away, but Meowth smirked, drawing the blue man’s attention. “What’s got you smirking?”

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Meowth produced a brown leather wallet that was thick with cash. “I still got it!” he said with a laugh.

Jessie and James groaned but shared a fond look. “Well, I guess we know who is shouting our next meal,” teased James.

Meowth grinned and wagged the wallet back and forth. “Yeah! Lewie!”

The trio began to walk down the street, their smiles and grins fading for thoughtful expressions. “So Cassidy and Butch made it through the Rocket Purge?” Jessie said.

Meowth stroked his whiskers as he walked. “Hmmm, I have some conflicted feelings about that. They were always a bit more cutthroat than us, so I would have thought there would have been more heat on them. Guess it shows that the cops ain’t as good as they like to pretend.”

Right as he did that a policebike turned the corner and the trio stiffened as a universal thought of ‘shit, did they hear us?’ rang through their minds as one.

The police biker idled past them and gave them a slow look over, only to nod and keep driving. The trio kept walking, knowing all too well to not relax just yet.

The bike kept driving and they shot each other looks of surprise. It wasn’t going to pull over and arbitrarily question them over something? Not even… how they might look suspiciously like some old wanted pictures that…

“Hey, we haven’t seen any wanted pictures of ourselves in a while, have we?” Jessie asked.

Meowth and James considered this, occasionally shooting the bike behind them careful looks. “No?” they said.

James tossed his hair. “Which is a shame, as I thought we looked very dashing!” he said.

Meowth nodded. “There hasn’t been any for ages actually… that might have been the boss’ work, initially.”

“Which one?” asked Jessie.

“Giovanni,” Meowth said. “Although ain’t it weird the only posters we ever saw were in Viridian City? The place he controlled?”

The trio all considered this before they collectively put their fingers to their temples as they developed headaches. “I can’t guess at his reasons! I feel like I’m overthinking it?”

“Please, you? Underthinking it, if anything!” Meowth shot back as he took a final glance over his shoulder. “Huh, looks like that cop is just patrolling,” he said.

The trio relaxed.

It was at that moment Jessie’s transceiver rang and the trio jolted, only to share a chuckle. Jessie picked up the call and smiled widely.

“Hello~! This is Jessadia…” she started to say in a falsetto tone, only for her words to choke off as the video feed showed Gym Leader Sabrina of all people on the other end of the call.

“Gym Leader Sabrina!” she gasped, causing the others to straighten up and shift so that they weren’t in the video screen’s capture zone.

Sabrina nodded. “Brock informed me of his deal with you, I am looking to liaise and speed up the process to determine who has tried to steal from Brock and also disturbed his family’s vacation.”

The trio shared a look. “Uhmmm, well we have made some ground on that ourselves,” said Jessie proudly. “We have determined through our sources that the people that hired the Splash Bandits—”

“Terrible name”, interjected Meowth, only to get nudged by James to shut up.

“—were none other than former… associates of ours, that go by the names Butch and Cassidy!”

Sabrina frowned minutely at this, but a frown of any level from Sabrina somehow felt like you’d garnered the disapproval of a CEO while you were merely an intern.

“That… is more than I’d been able to determine, but it explains why my attempts at scrying or psychometry have failed. They are not just crooks, but crooks who have the means and education to be aware of some tricks to stymie me.

“We shall rendevous and I will assist your search. I hope to have this wrapped up within the day,” she declared. “I shall meet you—”

A gurgle from James and Meowth’s stomachs cut through the psychic's words and her eyebrows raised in surprise.

Jessie felt her face drain of blood in mortification. This was practically the worst person in all of Indigo to offend! She shot them venom-filled looks that would have lesser beings convulsing and foaming at the mouth.

Instead, the pair cowered.

Tch, her glare was wasted on idiots like them!

Sabrina inclined her head. “There is a small cafe around the corner from you, don’t mind the company there, order yourselves some breakfast and I shall be along soon.” With that done she disconnected the line and the trio exhaled.

Meowth then stiffened. “How’d she know where we were?”

The trio shared a look and slowly walked around the corner. There they found an idyllic little cafe, with a large number of bikes standing out the front. Half of which were police bikes.

“That’s… mildly terrifying,” said James.

“Are our dark emitters not working?” said Jessie, grabbing at her belt to check if the small clip on her belt was in working order. Meowth for his part pulled out a small tag that he hid in his fur. James pulled out a necklace.

“Mine’s working?” said James.

Jessie and Meowth both just nodded. The trio made their way into the cafe, only to find Sabrina already seated at a booth that had a degree of privacy.

Most of the other diners were shooting her furtive looks, including the cadre of police.

The trio made their way up to Sabrina and she gestured for them to sit.

“Tell me everything you know about Butch and Cassidy,” she said without preamble as menus rose into the air and deposited themselves in front of the trio. “My shout,” she said with a smile that barely reached her eyes.

The trio shared a look and put the menus away. “We’re… not hungry?” they said.

Sabrina considered them for a long moment. The trio twitched, feeling like they were under a microscope while sitting with her.

A waitress chose that moment to save them. “Howdy there! Can I be taken your orders?” she said with a drawl.

“They will have the Big Snorlax breakfast, the Chateau Creme, and the Breakfast Burger, but hold the pickles, along with a pair of large coffees and an orange peko tea,” Sabrina said firmly. “And I will have a refill please,” she said, offering up her own cup which the waitress took away with a friendly smile.

The trio grew still and before they could say anything the waitress was back at their table with Sabrina’s drink.

“How?” James said.

“Flicks of the eyes, a slight tightening of the pupils, twitches of lips and flaring of the nostrils,” Sabrina replied before taking a sip of her drink. “I didn’t use any tricks to read your mind, I just read your body language.”

James and Jessie shared a look while Meowth opened his mouth. “You realise that makes you more terrifying, not less, right?”

Sabrina glanced at him and he shrank back into his chair. “Just… heheh, just saying?”

“Ah, I apologise for that. I wished to convey my skills and show that I would be valuable even when the criminals we’re pursuing have methods to hinder me.” Her nostrils flared. “I find it annoying that I have had to waste so much time chasing dead leads around the drop box.”

Jessie relaxed marginally. “Oh, I see,” she said. “So, I should say that Butch and Cassidy aren’t the sort to initiate this sort of action on their own. This is… too ambitious for them. Too much heat. There must be someone pulling the strings.”

Sabrina nodded. “Hmmm, so you can infer more from past experiences with them?”

Meowth nodded. “One method we might use is the brag and bait.”

Sabrina raised an eyebrow at this and Meowth elaborated. “They’re braggarts that we are hoping to draw out by announcing how impressed we are about the attempt. Their rivalry with us will make them want to come and rub our noses in it. So we sit pretty and we might catch them.”

James scratched his cheek. “It will depend on who their boss is.”

“It’s supposed to be someone that is connected with the tournament Brock is partaking in.”

“Hmm, that’s still a big enough pool of people and no guarantee they're the boss and not just… customers?” said Meowth. When a tray of food was plonked down in front of them the trio perked up.

Meowth took his milk and creme and happily began lapping at it. “My compliments to the chef! They have marvellous skill!” he said grandly.

The waitress blinked. “He just poured it out of a bottle?”

“Ah, it may have looked that way, but he did it with love!” said Meowth as he took another lick of the bowl.

The waitress nodded, only to blink when Jessie swapped with James, taking the Big Snorlax breakfast for herself while James took the much smaller burger.

James smiled. “I’m watching my figure.”

The waitress’ eyes shot to Jessie, whose giant meal contained enough calories to sate a Snorlax for a minute or two.

Jessie bared her teeth. “Don’t hate on my metabolism 'cause you’re jealous!” she growled.

The waitress backed away as Sabrina merely observed the interactions with a small upward twitch of her lips. “You three are amusing,” she said.

“We have a good routine worked out for our Thursday to Saturday, sure,” Meowth said.

“Never try doing stand-up on Sundays, they’re the worst!” said James with a knowing nod.

Jessie rolled her eyes and swallowed her meal. “Ignore them, they’re the muscle for my brains, as I was saying, it might have just been a customer looking to steal the Stone.”

“Hmmmm, this is true,” Sabrina said. “Still, proving they made the request would eliminate a potential future threat.”

Jessie nodded. “Very well, Butch and Cassidy will probably not be moving around. I imagine your lack of appearance on television has them spooked. So they will probably be hunkering down, if not making for stage left, as we say in the business.”

“So we need to investigate methods of getting off the island?” she said. “Can you give me a clear enough image of the pair?”

James pulled up his transceiver and began flicking through old messages. “Here we are,” he said, showing off an image of a green-haired man and a blonde woman with her hair in twin tails, posing in a mocking way.

“You kept that?!” snapped Jessie, her head whipping up from her food to spray most of it at James. The spittle and debris of food shot forward, only to come to a stop in front of his face.

James shot Sabrina a glance and found her eyes glowing slightly. The food vanished with a flick of her wrist and Jessie coughed. “Sorry!” she said, realising who she’d almost splattered.

James shot Sabrina a thankful smile before addressing Jessie. “I kept it because it is frankly a terrible angle for them. They didn’t realise it at the time, but look at their faces!” he said with glee.

Jessie and Meowth leaned in, only to realise that both Butch and Cassidy had accidentally given themselves double chins due to the angle.

Meowth stopped licking at his bowl of cream. “We’re going to have that image posted all over Kanto…” he whispered in shock.

Jessie vibrated with glee. “Ha! That’ll teach them to gloat before learning how to take proper photos!” she crowed, drawing most of the diner’s occupants' attention.

She sank back down and made a show of eating, which quickly had people return to their own business.

Sabrina laughed once and offered up her own transceiver, which pinged once the image was transferred. “Excellent,” she said and she quickly had the image sent along to the relevant authorities. “With this, we will know if there are any signs of them trying to leave the island.”

“Ehhhh, I doubt it,” said Meowth. “They’re not bad hands at disguise,” he said before licking the last dollop of cream from his bowl.

“Nothing on us, of course,” said James with a flick of his hair.

Sabrina scrutinised him before nodding. “I will take your word for it, but the relevant parties I mentioned were able to pick out Carl and Sham when we took out the Rocket Academy.”

That caused the trio to stop eating and drinking to stare.

“Them? The masters of the craft of disguise? They got picked off?” said Jessie.

“They were scary! Remember that time they faked being mirrors in the dorms for people?” said James.

“I remember you screamed so loud you broke an actual mirror,” Meowth supplied.

James merely flicked his hair “I have good lungs and had the right sort of training as a child to reach those notes,” he said haughtily.

A beeping on Sabrina’s wrist drew the group’s attention and Sabrina stiffened as she answered it.

The trio once more shot out of view of the camera but watched on as a sharp-looking detective was revealed. “Detective,” Sabrina said with a nod in greeting.

“Sabrina! Those two you requested information on triggered an alert, as they were two notable agents of Team Rocket! I have been running checks on all the exits from Chrysanthemum City personally!”

“Ah, my condolences,” Sabrina said. “I understand that—

The man waved off the comments. “I found them! They were disguised, of course, but there are some cues!”

The view shifted to play a video of a man and woman in what looked like a butler and maid outfit, marching behind a child.

Sabrina narrowed her eyes. “That’s Ace Trainer Carr from the competition,” she said.

The Detective’s face reappeared. “We know. We’ve done a call around already. Supposedly, he had a falling out with his accommodation after his loss to Karen and demolished the room in a fit of rage. He departed on a private yacht. We’re going to have to put out an APB on him. The log we pulled from the port authorities has him heading to Pumelo island.”

“Hmmm, we will need to question him,” Sabrina said. “He is now a person of interest.”

The detective nodded. “Believe me, we know. Good work getting that information. We had no idea Butch and Cassidy were in Chrysanthemum, but we’ll take it from here so things stay as clean as possible. If we have to bring you in we’ll send a request through the usual channels. Thanks again,” he said before signing off.

Sabrina turned her head and glared outside, her eyes glowing for a moment, only to click her tongue. “Of course, the ship is outfitted with dark emitters… That would be too easy.”

“... did they just run what has to be the fastest background check and information gathering I have ever heard of, while we were eating brunch?” Meowth said, his empty bowl in front of him standing testament to how fast things had proceeded.

Sabrina offered a smile. “The League is taking Team Rocket very seriously. They want to wrap things up.”

Jessie shifted in her seat. “We… wouldn’t also happen to have a League file on us, would we?” she asked.

Sabrina shook her head. “I checked before I contacted you. It’s been misfiled for now, so that people can’t find it.”

For a long moment, the trio stayed silent to process what it meant that the people they’d joined could have their files… ‘misplaced’.

“Is that a threat?” James asked, his eyes narrowing as the implication of such a file being held immediately made itself clear to him. The other two swallowed.

Sabrina shook her head. “It will not be anything, unless you make us use it. For now, we’re hoping to get more work out of you like today.” Sabrina waved a finger at them. “You certainly came through for us. Brock was right to put his faith in your skills.”

She tilted her head and considered them.

Meowth felt hs mind itch as he struggled to not think thoughts that would incriminate him, like that time he stole a wagon of cream! Or that time he—

“Care to do some other work? I would be interested in what is being hidden in Saffron and Pewter from my sight,” she offered an open hand, “If you’d be amenable to the idea, that is.”

The trio shared a look and shrugged. “Sure thing, you got a method of transport?”

Sabrina smiled and snapped her fingers twice in slow procession.

On the first snap, a wad of pokedollars appeared on the table. Meowth noted it was enough to cover their meal and then a healthy tip. It also served to draw the waitress’ attention to them.

On the second snap, they vanished, only to find themselves sitting at a park bench. The sun had shifted slightly and the atmosphere difference caused Meowth’s ears to pop.

He shook his head. “Jeez! Give a guy a bit of warning, will ya?” he said, scrubbing at his ears before looking around. “Where… oh… So it’s not a rumour then? You really can Teleport that far?” he said.

Sabrina merely smiled and stood up. “Come, let’s clean up my partner’s city while he’s busy, then we can make a start on my own,” she said.

The trio shared a look. They almost felt bad for the crooks they knew they’d be uncovering. Bringing Sabrina down on them was like bringing a fully evolved Blastoise to a water fight, pure overkill.

Meowth chuckled. “Heh, so this is what it’s like fighting on the good guys’ side.”

“What in Kanto are you talking about, Meowth?” hissed Jessie.

Meowth gestured at Sabrina. “They really don’t fight fair!” he said with a grin. “I love it!”