Team Rocket47's Next Fanfic
Chapter 4: Initiation

Dreana looked around as most of the members of Team Rocket47 had arranged themselves about
the large oak table in the meeting room. Joey, Ira and Jads were the only three who weren't there.
Majin was sitting on a chair next to her, watching everyone with curiosity. After a few moments,
she decided it was time to start the meeting.

"You're probably all wondering why I've bothered to call a second meeting today, and why there
are still bits of apple pie stuck in my fur."Michi giggled. "Ok, so the pie is there because I
accidentally dropped a slice on my head. But the reason I called this meeting is to inform anyone
who didn't already know, that Pelican has resigned from Team Rocket47. He kinda wussed out
when he heard that there'll be bounty hunters trying to kill us." She paused, and sighed softly.

Aly gave a quick smirk. "Staying down here for the next however long is probably going to be
worse then having bounty hunters after us." Her comment got a laugh from Kenny, but Dreana
glared at them both.

"It's not going to be all that bad," the pink mew replied, feeling slightly annoyed. "Anyway,
telling you that Pelican left was only half of the reason that I called this meeting. The other
reason is because I wanted to introduce you all to our almost newest member, Majin." She patted
the meowth on the head with her tail. "You can introduce yourself now."

Majin smiled, then waved a paw in greeting to everyone in the room. Then he stood up on his
chair. "Um, hi everyone. My name's Majin, and I've been wanting to join with you guys for
awhile now. My old trainer used to be a Team Rocket member, and he made me do lots of bad
things that I didn't want to do. I ran away a few months ago, and since then I've wanted to be a
Team Rocket47 member to make up for all the bad stuff I did."

Magick gave him a smile. "That seems like a good enough reason to join to me."

The meowth grinned, and sat back down in his chair. Everyone around the table introduced
themselves, except for Phido. Dreana introduced the flareon to Majin, because like most
everyone else, he couldn't understand her. Dreana also told him about Joey, Ira, and Jads,
because they weren't there to give their own introductions.

After everyone knew each other, Majin looked at Dreana. "Um... I was wondering what you
meant when you said that I was an almost newest member?"

"I meant that you were almost a member," she replied with an evil smirk, "because there's a test
you have to go through before you can become a full member."

Majin stared at her with an expression that was a mix of curiosity and excitement. "I'll do
anything you ask me to!"

"Good." Dreana bent down to grab a wicker basket from under the table. She set it down in front
of him, then explained, "For you initiation, you will have to fill this basket up with berries." By
this time the rest of Tr47 was watching Dreana curiously as well. "Now you have to get the good
tasting sweet berries, not the icky sour ones. Once you have completed this task, the first part of
your initiation will be completed."

Majin picked up the basket and stared at it with a serious expression. "I'll do it! Only the
sweetest berries for Team Rocket47!"

"Alright then, lets go!" Dreana exclaimed.

***

Up in the forest, a light rain had started to fall. It would probably get worse as the night
continued on, Dreana thought with a smirk. The rain wouldn't be a problem for her or the others
in Tr47, because she had created a shield to keep out the rain. But it probably would cause Majin
some trouble. This was going to be a lot of fun, and a cure for the boredom of one night at least.

"So what's the point of making Majin go through this whole initiation thing, Dreana?" Kenny
asked with curiosity. "You've never done anything like this in the past. You always just let
people in."

Dreana turned at looked at him. "Isn't it obvious? It's because I'm bored and need something to
do for the night." Her answer made Kenny sweatdrop. "It's not just that though," she added. "I
also don't want to deal with another member like Tac or Aphrodite. A little extra precaution
never hurt."

Kenny nodded in understanding, but Magick, Michi, and Phido all looked at the mew in
confusion. "Who's Aphrodite?" Magick asked.

"Oh, right. I suppose you new members wouldn't know who she was," Dreana answered, with a
sad look flashing over her face for a moment. "It's kind of a long story, but I guess I can give you
the short version.

"Not long after Joey became a member of Team Smak, Aphrodite joined up with us. She posed
as a normal human girl, but she really was a powerful pokemon created in Team Rocket
Laboratories sent to destroy us. She came really close too, but luckily she was stopped."

"Pity that I can't remember anything about almost being killed," Aly remarked.

Dreana smiled, then chuckled. "You wouldn't. Mainly because you were unconscious. Anyway,
that's all in the past. And now I'm going to make sure I don't make the same mistake again." She
turned at looked through the trees. "Right, Majin's moving along on his search. We'd better
follow him, because this'll be amusing."

Dreana closed her eyes in order to concentrate, then extended the barrier that was shielding them
from the rain around everyone until it created a giant bubble. Then to everyone's surprise, she
silently lifted the bubble up into the air, where it hovered. The mew opened her eyes again, and
looked to see where Majin had gone. Her bubble would prevent him from seeing any of them, but
they could all watch his trail. With one last bit of concentration, she set the bubble so it would
follow Majin wherever he went.

***

The rain trickled down through the fur on Majin's head, slowly soaking him to the skin. He truly
hated being wet. Water had to be one of the most horrible things on the planet. But he was just
going to have to put up with it. His membership in Team Rocket47 depended on it. A little water
wasn't going to stop him.

Slowly he trunched through the muddy ground, squinting as he searched the bushes looking for
berries. There didn't seem to be very many berries in this forest. It was definitely going to be
tough, especially if he had to find the sweet ones. It would normally be easy to tell which ones
were sweet and which weren't in the daylight, but it was the middle of the night and raining. He
would manage somehow.

It was kind of scary being out here alone though. He wasn't afraid of the dark or anything, it was
just that he didn't know this forest very well yet. He also couldn't shake the feeling that he was
being watched. It was a creepy tingling feeling that originated between his shoulder blades, and
slowly crawled down his spine. It wasn't a very good feeling, and it gave a dismaying tone to the
entire experience.

***

"This whole floating thing is weird," Michi whispered, sitting on the inside of Dreana's bubble,
looking down through the transparent pink surface below her.

Dreana, who was sitting on Aly's head, looked to the raichu in confusion. "Is it really? I suppose
I must just be used to it. Want down?"

Michi shrugged. "No, I'm just saying that it's weird."

"You kind of get used to it if you do it for awhile," Magick added.

The raichu looked over to Magick, "I really planned on floating around in a bubble all the time,"
she remarked sarcastically.

Before Magick could make a witty retort, Kenny picked a pine cone off of a nearby tree they
were floating next to. He grinned evilly, tossing it lightly into the air a few times. "Think it
would freak him out if I threw this?"

***
Joey sighed as she lay flopped on the big cushy arm chair, staring into the fire she had lit in the
hearth. It was four o'clock in the morning, and judging by the sound on the roof, it had started to
rain pretty hard. Jads and Ira were both sleeping in the cabin's only bedroom, but nocturnal
instincts kept the houndour awake. She figured she'd sleep all day and then get started with the
training tomorrow night. Dreana wasn't here to yell at her about the training schedule.

"I suppose Dreana and the others are all off having fun and doing silly things while I'm stuck up
here being bored," she mumbled to herself. "This is definitely going to suck. How did I get stuck
with doing this anyway?" She thought back to when Dreana had been extremely grumpy and
frowned. "Oh right."

Boredly the houndour rolled over onto her back, stretching out her tired legs as she found her
comfortable Zen. When she looked back at the room, it was upside down. Dust covered both the
wooden floor and the two rugs that were arranged on it. Already there was more black fur then
there had been in the room since they had gotten there a few hours ago. The fur had gathered a bit
more densely in the corners, and had a few small downy feathers mixed in with it. Other then the
large floofy chair that Joey sat in, the only pieces of furniture were a small wooden coffee table,
and a large couch. They were all centered around the brick fireplace that stood in the middle of
the wall. The walls themselves were wood paneled. The ceiling was pretty much empty, large
wooden beams crossed under the triangle shaped roof. Along the wall opposite of the fireplace
were the three doors that led to the bedroom, the closet, and the bathroom. To the left of that wall
was the kitchen, from which the light smell of fresh herbs drifted.

Joey hadn't been here in over four years, but it still felt familiar. She had spent most of her time
here when she was learning how to be a Team Rocket47 member with Dreana, and when Suraci
tried to teach her how to use Majik. The latter always brought back lots of memories when she
thought about it, both the good and the bad. With Dreana she had learned lots of valuable things,
mainly how not to get herself killed.

Again she turned over to find a more comfortable position. With a deep sigh that produced a few
tiny flames, Joey wondered what happened to the meowth she had met on the way up here.

***

This whole business of finding berries was turning out to be much harder the Majin had
originally intended. The rain had only gotten worse, as had the feeling of being followed. He was
constantly looking over his shoulder, worried that some houndour was going to run out at him
again. The one he had met earlier that night could be stalking around, ready to eat him.

Without any warning, something hit the ground right behind his feet, causing him to jump into
the air in surprise. When he had landed, the fur on his tail and back had poofed out. Quickly he
looked around for what had attacked him, and found a pine cone sitting right where he was
standing. He relaxed slightly, but his fur continued to stand on end. Slowly he crawled toward the
cone of pine, and sniffed it. It smelled like pine. He poked it a few times, then looked around
suspiciously. The only thing he saw was the basket of berries, standing right where he had put it
down.

"Something isn't right here..." He mused to himself, scanning the area.

A few giggles were heard behind him, and when he turned around he found the members of
Team Rocket47 standing and looking amused. Majin instantly found himself feeling like a
complete idiot. "You guys were following me the whole time?" he asked, trying not to sound
completely shocked.

Dreana giggled, "Yup! We were bored."

"And the pinecone?" The meowth was suddenly aware of his fur still standing on end, and willed
it to flatten.

"That was me, sorry," Kenny replied. "I couldn't help it, and you looked so hilarious when it
landed behind you."

Majin blushed, the redness showing through his cream coloured fur. "I guess you guys got me
then," he admitted with half a smile. "What about the berries?"

Dreana floated over, and looked in the basket. "You did much better then I expected you too,
thanks. But this isn't all of the initiation test, you know."

"There's more?" The question came from Michi.

"Yes! We must return to the base!"

***

They returned to the base via Dreana's floating anti-rain bubble. Once they were down there,
Dreana kept Majin in the bubble after letting everyone else out, so he wouldn't track mud all over
the nice clean floor.

"So what's the next part of the test?" Majin asked, while poking the solid surface of the bubble.

Dreana looked up at him. "It's not hard, only a test of endurance. If you survive this trial, then
you get to be a member."

Following Dreana, only Michi and headed down to the small room on the second floor that
served as the laundry room. There the pink mew let Majin out of the bubble. Then she opened up
the door to the washing machine, and handed the Meowth a snorkel. "You must survive the spin
cycle," she announced with a grin.

Majin sweatdropped, taking the snorkel and looking at it. "Are you sure this won't kill me?"

"Mostly sure," was Dreana's reply. "I've done it to Joey a few times, and she hasn't died yet."

"Well ok..." Reluctantly, Majin put the snorkel on over his face and climbed into the washing
machine. Before closing the door after him, Dreana added a carefully measured amount of soap.
Then she floated to the top of the machine and turned it on.

"Isn't this cruel and unusual punishment?" Magick asked, raising an eyebrow.

Dreana was still grinning. "Not really. It's not punishment for one thing, and I don't think it's all
that unusual. I've done it to Joey lots of times, like I said before. It's a really effective way of
getting mud out of your fur."

Magick sweatdropped. "I'll have to remember not to get mud on me then."

"Disneyland!"

In about 15 minutes, a bell announced that the washing machine had stopped. Dreana opened up
the door and a very wet and dizzy Majin fell out.

"Is it over yet?" he mumbled, after spitting out the snorkel.

"Not yet. We can't have you walking around the base while you're soaking wet." Dreana lifted
him up and carried him over to the drying machine. She set him down inside, then closed the
door. Then she set it on low heat and turned it on.

Loud thuds were heard as the meowth was tumbled around on the inside. Michi and Dreana both
winced, while Phido sniffed around the machine. Dreana just sat herself on top of a pile of soft
towels that was sitting on top of the dryer and waited.

"Are you sure he isn't going to be hurt in there?" Michi asked while looking at the dryer in
concern.

"Yeah, he should be, Dreana replied. "It'll probably just make him dizzy. And of course there's
that other side effect, but that won't hurt him."

Soon the dryer signaled it was finished, with a bell that was distinctly different then the one on
the washing machine. Once again Dreana opened the door to let him out, and Majin fell out
looking dizzy again but no longer wet. On the contrary, he was a giant poof ball.

Magick and Michi couldn't help but giggle when they saw Majin in the uber-poofed state in
addition to smelling like a field of flowers. Dreana helped him to his feet and announced,
"You're done!"

Majin looked around the room, feeling rather disoriented. "So I'm a member of Team Rocket47
now?" he asked.

"Yes you are," Dreana replied. "Welcome to the team."

"Thanks..." was all Majin could say before falling over in a fit of dizzyness.

***

When Jads and Ira woke up the next morning, it was about noon. They found Joey curled up
asleep on the large arm chair, and unwilling to wake up.

"Joey! You said we'd have stuff to do this morning!" Jads kept prodding the houndour, trying to
get some small response. She only rolled over in annoyance.

Ira crossed his arms, looking around the cabin. "I don't think that's going to work," he said more
loudly then usual. Jads looked at him in confusion. "We're just going to have to call Dreana and
tell her that Joey isn't doing anything."

At this, Joey's ears perked up. She opened her eyes to glare at him. "Don't you dare," she
mumbled sleepily. "I am doing something. Other then sleeping," she added.

"So what is it?" Jads asked.

Joey stretched out her front legs. "You two are going to clean up this base so it'll be more
livable. And tonight once I've gotten more sleep, we'll start doing some real training."

Ira glared back at her. "Why don't you help us clean?"

"Because I'm in charge and I said so," Joey replied, resuming the glaring contest. "Besides, it's
all part of my plan. We're going to be doing training at night, and there's no good in me not
getting enough sleep so I'm tired tonight."

"But what about us?" Jads exclaimed.

The houndour smiled slyly. "You guys will have to stay up anyway. That's why I let you sleep in.
Now get to cleaning before I tell Dreana that you're not listening to my orders. There should be
the stuff you need in the closet. It's the middle door."

Ira and Jads groaned, then pulled a few brooms out from the closet and started cleaning. Joey
watched them for a few minutes, then found a comfortable position on the chair and went back to
sleep.

***

Dreana flipped on the light to the old and dusty basement, and squinted. Once her eyes adjusted
to the unusually bright light, she looked at the large masses of boxes in front of her and sighed
tiredly. She had been awake for quite some time now, almost 24 hours. She would need to head
to bed soon, but not before she found what she was looking for in this mass of disorganization.

The only room that was available for Majin in the base without forcing him to share a room was
a small broom closet they had managed to convert in to a regular room with little work. It was
only about half as small as all the other bedrooms in the base though. Majin hadn't complained,
seeing as he was small as well, but Dreana still felt it was unfair to smush him in there, when she
was the same size as him and had quite a large room to herself.

So she was looking for the original blueprints for base. When it had been built they had made six
bedrooms, along with the one broom closet. At the time, when there were only three members, it
had seemed like a reasonable number. But they had made plans for more to be built if they were
to be needed. And that time had come last year, when she had let all the new members in. But
last year she hadn't been up to searching through the basement. Now seemed as good a time as
any, with new members being stuffed into the broom closet.

But finding the said blueprints was easier said then done. Dreana sighed again, thinking that she
might not get to bed as early as she had originally intended.

***
Author's Notes: This took way too long to post. I actually had it finished awhile ago, but it took
awhile to do the whole beta-reading thing. Expect Chapter 5 at no specific time.

© Joey Oak             May 3, 2004

Chapter 5
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