Day: Wednesday (12th of September)

( Jessie's POV )

Unfortunately learning about different weapons and what was best in which situation was also part of the training. As if I was gonna look which gun I was using when hurting someone. But I knew there were always ups and downs everywhere you went. And the ups here were high enough to overpower the downs. Instead of Tyson, the woman that brought me here in the first place was teaching us about this stuff. Which was good, because I didn't particularly like Tyson.

"For the newbies, the name is Oakley."the woman said with the same smile she had given me before. Though I wondered how genuine that smile was. "I'm gonna explain to you what kind of weapons there are, and any useful information for when you have to use them. Why not just Tyson? Because that idiot also has a schedule and can't be here around this time." She sighed as she sat down in the most inappropriate way possible. "So are there any questions, or can I start your knowledge training?" A hand flew in the air. "This is no school, just talk."

"It feels like school."a girl said back. I saw Paige sitting next to her. The girl had brown hair and remarkably beautiful green eyes. "But I wondered why we've only learnt about guns up until now. There are other weapons perfectly capable of hurting someone, maybe even more than a gun."

"Yeah, so?"Oakley replied, raising an eyebrow. Cassidy rolled her eyes beside me. "Guns are definitely the most painful weapons, and the most intimidating. Team Rocket exists to go on missions that will help the Boss for his untold intentions. To be intimidating might just save you a tough fight."

"Why would we do missions for an unknown goal?"the girl said back, slightly annoyed.

"Because it's not unknown when we've proven you're worthy to know."Oakley snarled. "And I suggest you shut your mouth now, because I'm gonna start telling you all about this lovely object." She held a gun in her hand. The first thought coming up in my mind was sharpshooting. And that wasn't exactly my favorite type of gun use. Not with what had happened... "I sincerely hope you know what type of gun this is."

Someone came forward, looking at the gun from close up. "Wow, a real Steyr SSG 69!"the guy exclaimed. "An Austrian sniper rifle, designed in 1969. It has a wonderful accuracy, and is used all over the world, mostly by military or law enforcement forces. The synthetic materials are for light weight and cold hammer-forged barrels for durability. Made of fiberglass, and truly remarkable. The rifle is effective out to 800 meters (875 yd). Even with all this, the SSG 69 lacks a proper pistol grip, fully adjustable stock or Picatinny-type rails and is with that no match to more modern sharpshooter guns."

"Ah,"Oakley exclaimed. "You seem to know a good amount of information. Tell me, what is the SSG 69 well known for?"

"It's accuracy of course."the guy answered. He looked excited.

"Are you new here, kid?"Oakley asked, smiling. To know that much information just by looking at a gun. The guy must've studied hard, even though he didn't really look like the type to study at all.

"I am."the guy replied, bowing carefully. "I'm Wesley." So this must be the guy that had joined Team Rocket at the same time as I had. He looked good, and seemed to know a thing or two about guns. If new people already knew that much about this stuff... I might not be good enough for Team Rocket after all. I didn't know this much. I didn't know any of it.

"Well done, Wesley. I can see you worked hard."Oakley said. Then she looked at the group that were watching silently. "It is indeed a sharpshooting gun. It weighs only 3.8 kilogram (8.4 Ib). With a length of 1,003 millimeters (39.5 in). A barrel length of 409 millimeters (16.1 in). However still being used, in 2015 an improved design was created. The accuracy being sub 0.5 MOA. The bolt action uses rear-locking, instead of the front-locking lugs. Designed to fire the 7.62x51 millimeters NATO cartridge. It is designed as a military weapon, though it is also used by law enforcement forces, the police and for hunting. One rather unusual feature is the standard rotary 5-round magazine. A 10-round staggered box is available as an accessory. Even with the fact that this is an outdated gun, it still is very useful, and we will use it during the Team Rocket training. Any questions?"

Silence.

It was just a heap of information I couldn't understand. And by looking at the faces my teammates made, I doubted they did understand. Oakley got an annoyed look on her face.

"Um... I have one."Paige said. I looked at the blond girl as she stepped forward. "Is there any specific reason as to why we need to know this kind of stuff? Is it different from using any other sharpshooting gun?" Oakley's eyes turned a bit dangerous. Some people looked afraid, but Paige didn't crawl back. Oakley took a deep sigh.

"This information is important for when using a sniper rifle. Without knowledge about these things, you won't have any idea as to how to use your rifle. Unless you want to fail your job, and disappoint the Boss." Paige shook her head. "That's what I thought." Oakley turned around gracefully and picked up some documents. She gave everyone one. "I suggest you study this all, for tomorrow I will ask you to use this rifle without any more information as to how to use it. Good luck." Everyone nodded.

( time skip )

"Geez, what a democracy."Cassidy said sarcastically, chewing her food. I sighed.

"Well, it's not like we have a choice."I said softly. "After all, we need to be ready for whatever they're gonna throw at us after these two weeks." Dylan nodded in confirmation.

"Ah, that's right."Cassidy replied. "We only have two weeks until they're gonna test us. Won't that be hard on you, Jess? Considering you just arrived here, and know nothing about any martial arts or weapons."

"Well, of course it's gonna be quite a challenge."I admitted. "But even if they decide I'm not worthy of being in Team Rocket, it's not like I have anything to lose. Rather, I can only win. I came here purely to get taught how to stand up for myself. Even two weeks should be enough time to learn some self defense. And if I am deemed worthy, then I also have a place I can call home. I can't possibly lose at this pace." Cassidy smiled.

"It's still ambitious though."Dylan said to me. "Two weeks isn't a lot of time. If you want, we can help you in any way possible. Cassidy has an extraordinary talent for shooting and pokémon battles, and I know a thing or two about toxins."

"T-toxins?!"I exclaimed, a bit scared. Cassidy chuckled and Dylan simply smiled.

"We have quite a lot of training courses here, Jessie."Dylan said. Such a sweet smile appearing on his face. "You've only had shooting, stick fighting and weapon knowledge up until now. We've also got pokémon battles, chemistry, biology, knife throwing, swimming, running, unarmed fighting, self-defense and medication." My eyes widened, and silent fear crept into me.

"I... can never learn all of that in just two weeks."I said, surprised. Cassidy and Dylan gave me distant looks. Cassidy put her hand on my shoulder.

"It's alright. We've got your back."she said sweetly. "Besides, you should already be good at one of those things, right?" I smiled. That's right.

"I'm good at swimming, biology, running and medication." Dylan joined the happy smiling squad, and also smiled. "But I'm afraid I'm terrible at stick fighting, pokémon battles and unarmed fighting."

"That's not a problem."Dylan stated. "Cassidy is one of the best at both stick fighting and pokémon battles. You'll see. She's really unbelievable!" I looked at Cassidy, who got a slightly flushed face. I wondered if it was because Dylan said all those nice words, or because Dylan said all those nice words.

"But what about unarmed fighting?"Cassidy muttered. Dylan looked as if thunder had struck him.

"Er..."he got out. Cassidy looked at Dylan with an angry face.

"You mean you don't know?!"Cassidy yelled. Dylan made a nervous look, and bit his lip, trying to avoid eye contact with the scary woman yelling at him. I chuckled lightly. "You're a moron."Cassidy insulted Dylan. Though the honesty in that sentence seemed to completely vanish.

"What if we ask James for help?"Dylan asked after a while. Cassidy's eyes widened a bit and went to a violet haired boy in the room. He was sitting alone. Wasn't that the guy that had given me food and my Ekans when I just came here? He was unbelievably gorgeous, I had to give him that. But aside from that, he wasn't very social.

"Are you kidding me."Cassidy replied. "Not only doesn't he say anything to anybody, which most girls think is very cute and cool, but he is also scarily good at unarmed fighting. Everyone has noticed his unusually high level." I took another look at the guy. James was his name. Somehow, that name suited him.

"Yes, wouldn't that be perfect?"Dylan asked. "He can teach Jessie how to get good at unarmed fighting, maybe even within two weeks."

"Wouldn't that kind of create jealousy amongst the girls?"Cassidy asked. I didn't really understand why she thought that. James was indeed quite a catch for any girl, but he was also way too distant. It didn't really seem like he had any intention of getting involved in a romantic relationship. And it wasn't really like the girls had to be envious of me being his student.

Dylan smirked. "Are you saying you'd be jealous of Jessie?"he teased. And as a present he got slapped.

"Moron!" Dylan rolled his eyes.

"You're so predictable." Cassidy sat down with an angry and flushed face. And the atmosphere started to grow uncomfortable.

"I um... I'll talk to him then."I replied, trying to cut the tension between Dylan and Cassidy. And for now, that was all it took for Cassidy to talk freely again and Dylan gratefully took advantage of that.

( time skip )

I opened the door, sighing in exhaustion. This had already been one of the most tiring days in these last eight years. I walked to the halls. It was pretty chilly here around this time. Not that it was a problem, I had taken a jacket with me anyway. And half an hour should be enough time. Now I just needed to pray that I'd find James in time. Not around many people would be better, unless he was okay with unwanted attention.

It was weird to walk through these halls on my own. Unusually quiet, even. It had only been quiet in my room since I had arrived. And even there I had the radio on half of the time. I looked out of the large window. Windows serving as corridor walls. At least they weren't afraid to be found out. Not like you could really see much of the woods Team Rocket's quarters were built in. At the moment the sky was a gray tint, slowly getting darker. It was late after all. And autumn days weren't incredibly long. In your biological time, at least.

I walked to a large door. Unnecessarily big. I carefully opened it, trying not to make too much noise. I stepped inside, looking at the room. Enormous. Thousands of books lying on the bookshelves. Incredibly tall, making the height of the door seem less unnecessary. I walked past one of the bookshelves, my fingers sliding over the covers. It was impossible to hide my excitement. I looked at the titles, trying to choose which I should read first.

"Do you like books?" I turned around, still wide-eyed. I nodded softly, looking into calm but sharp green eyes. Beautiful lavender hair just short enough not to touch his shoulders. A half-smile appeared on that extraordinarily beautiful face of his. "I'd recommend Shakespeare." I took a quick breath, trying to forget about his looks. He was a guy after all.

"Everyone seems to love Shakespeare, while real artists like J.R.R. Tolkien aren't given enough credit. Yes, Shakespeare has written beautiful books, but it's old fashioned. You won't get me with a sick love story about Romeo and Juliet anymore."I said back, keeping my chin high.

"But doesn't the tragedy get to you?"James asked. "The fact that they're love is deep enough that they'd die for each other, that they try this hard to see each other, even with their circumstances. It's an unrequited love, and beautifully written, too. Don't you think that books like Romeo and Juliet deserves the attention it gets?"

"The tragedy doesn't get to me at all."I stated. "Love that strong is simply a dream. Humans are too greedy and self absorbed. They wouldn't die for someone else. It simply goes against their natural instincts. It might've been written well, but it doesn't deserve this much attention at all. It's just one giant lie people just buy. Shakespeare sold lies. He got famous with lies."

"No, he got famous with dreams."James said, narrowing his eyes in interest. "Is it wrong to dream? It's what people like in those books. They don't want realistic books. They want hope."

"Dreams, hopes, lies. All the same thing. It comes down to famous books like Romeo and Juliet being based off of something unrealistic. And still they don't call it a fantasy book, do they?"

"It's only fantasy if unrealistic things like dragons would appear."

"Well, isn't undying love unrealistic?"

"Maybe. Maybe not." In James' eyes was a glimmer of fascination. It made his entire appearance even more stunning. I took a look at the book in his arms. A book about martial arts, The Book Of Five Rings. Right. I had to ask this person to teach me unarmed fighting. I was an idiot for getting sidetracked. "But something tells me you didn't intend to visit this library."

"Correct."I replied, a bit taken aback by his perceptiveness. "I accidentally found this library, and I believe I'll be paying more visits here later. But I was actually looking for you, funnily enough."

"Oh, really?"he asked, sitting down on one of the luxurious chairs. I had to admit that I hadn't paid much attention to him last time I talked to him. And he didn't really stand out during training, even with his unusually high level. "How can I help you then?"

"I want you to teach me unarmed fighting."I said, getting straight to the point. "I only have two weeks, and there is no way I can learn something like that in such a short time." James nodded, a thinking expression on his face. An expression which most girls here would probably describe as sexy. I'd just say of it as pretty. I wouldn't give him too much credit. As a guy, he would probably turn out to be a jerk anyway.

"What do I get from it?"he asked. So that's what kind of guy he was. Well, it was a way of looking at things of course. A game of giving and getting. Until it wasn't a game anymore. Well, I would just have to play along for now.

"I don't know, do you want something?"I asked. I didn't have much possessions. At least they weren't personal, so I could just give him about anything that was mine. I only had one knife I wouldn't let him touch. But that was the only thing. Or maybe I could help him with something. That should do the trick.

James sighed, that thinking expression on his face again. "I can't think of anything at the moment, but is it okay if you owe me for later when I can think of something?" I nodded. Even though I didn't like the feeling of being indebted to someone. Not like I really had a choice at this point. If I didn't agree to his terms, I wouldn't get that extra training. And I seriously needed that training. I would just have to deal with it.

"Thank you."I said. James smiled, and stood up.

"I'll see you tomorrow, after training, in my room."he replied. "We'll start off with something simple. Try to learn as much about judo before that." I nodded. He gave a short wave and walked away. I sighed. That would take quite some time. This would become two very long and hard weeks.

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Heeeeeeeeeeey, I actually kind of like this chapter! That's new.

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              -LapisLazulli2-