Odin and Lucy turned around and started heading toward Center Nr. 1 to finalize their departure. As their boots clicked against the metallic floor, Odin casually leaned in, hands lazily tucked into his pockets.
"Oh right, so anyway," Odin smirked, glancing over at her. "Ariana personally gave me an exclusive mission for Mt. Moon. Apparently, I need to collect some Moon Stones for her."
Lucy let out a loud, dramatic scoff, rolling her eyes so hard it looked painful. "Are you serious? Ariana acts like Moon Stones are just common pebbles sitting on the side of the road! Do you know how rare those things are? People spend weeks digging inside that dark cave just to find a single shard, and she just hands it out like a grocery list item."
Suddenly, Odin stopped dead in his tracks. He blinked once, twice, looking at the ceiling of the corridor.
Wait a damn minute... he thought to himself. Why the hell am I even walking to the mission center? I'm literally an Officer now. I have a modern Pokégear. I can just take on and log missions directly through the device. Silly old me.
Without missing a beat, Odin whipped out his sleek Pokégear, tapped the screen, and opened the official Team Rocket App. Sure enough, right at the top of his dashboard, a flashing private notification popped up. Ariana had already created an exclusive, high-clearance private commission specifically for him, complete with all the classified details.
Odin tapped 'Accept.' A smug grin spread across his face as he looked at the screen. Unlike his previous gig of just selling high-potential Pokémon for credits, this was an official, high-tier mission. Completing this would add massive, permanent contribution points directly to his official name and rank profile.
Sensing Lucy's suspicious glare, Odin quickly hid his mistake. He turned to her, plastering a completely fake, sweet, and timid smile on his face.
"Oh, look at that," Odin cooed playfully, waving the device in her face. "I was just messing with you, Lucy! I totally knew I could do this from my phone the whole time. I definitely didn't forget or anything... totally. It was just a test to see if you were paying attention."
Lucy stared at him with pure skepticism. "Right. Sure you did, slacker."
"Anyway, Lucy, I actually have something important to discuss with you," Odin switched gears seamlessly, pocketing the device. "Come on, let's head out to Mt. Moon. I'll explain everything to you on the road."
Before leaving the base perimeter, Odin used his newly upgraded Officer credits to buy a handful of standard Pokéballs, just in case his System scanned something incredibly valuable that he absolutely needed to catch for himself.
A short while later, the duo officially exited the rocky borders of Pewter City and stepped onto the dirt paths of Route 3. The sun was shining, the wild Pidgey were chirping, and the towering silhouette of Mt. Moon loomed in the distance.
As they walked, Odin casually cleared his throat to drop the bombshell.
"So, about that discussion," Odin started, his voice completely nonchalant. "I actually left my Koffing at home. With Angel. So right now, I don't have a single Pokémon on my person. I literally cannot defend myself. I am officially a very arrogant damsel in distress."
Lucy froze in her tracks. She slowly turned her head to look at him, her jaw dropping. "You... you did what?"
"You heard me," Odin laughed, flashing a brilliant, punchable smile. "So from now on, Officer Lucy, you better do your absolute best to protect my beautiful self with your very pathetic life. Meanwhile, I am going to arrogantly pretend to be a wealthy tourist and go sightseeing all over Mt. Moon. Have fun carrying the team!"
The moment Lucy realized Odin was completely defenseless, her submissive persona and the golden locker time embarrassment completely vanished. Her fiery aura ignited instantly, her eyes flashing with wicked, triumphant delight. He was completely at her mercy now! Without a Pokémon, he couldn't do a single thing if she decided to push him into a ditch.
She immediately began rigidly preparing an endless, relentless stream of roasts and verbal bullying, eager to finally get her revenge. "Oh, you absolute moron! You arrogant, brainless idiot! You think I'm your bodyguard? If a wild Geodude tackles you, I might just sit back and watch you get flattened! You're lucky I don't feed you to my Arbok right now, you lazy, helpless little—"
But Odin didn't care. He locked right into his super important, ultra-rich second-generation young master act. He completely and utterly ignored the living shit out of her, treating her furious rants like background noise.
Instead, he began pointing lazily at every random object, tree, and creature in sight with wide, fake-excited eyes.
"Oeehhh! What's that?!" Odin interrupted her loudly, pointing at a patch of tall grass. "OMG, look at that Pokémon! Who is that Pokémon?! Is it a rat? It's so ugly, just like your attitude!"
"It's a Rattata, you blind idiot!" Lucy shrieked, her veins popping. "Stop cutting me off!"
Odin completely ignored her reply, squinting his eyes as he pointed out toward a cluster of buildings visible in the far, hazy distance before the mountain foothills. "Ooh, what about that town over there in the far distance? Is that where the poor and pitiful people like you live?"
Lucy let out a long, exhausted sigh, realizing her bullying was completely useless against his thick-skinned arrogance. She crossed her arms, begrudgingly shifting into a serious tour-guide role just to get him to shut up
"That is Sable City," Lucy answered rigidly, her tone annoyed but informative. "It's just a tiny, minor city located right between Pewter City and Mt. Moon. Honestly, there is absolutely nothing important or interesting about that place. It's incredibly boring and very, very skippable. We aren't even stopping there."
"Perfect," Odin smirked, stepping forward as Route 3 began to slope upward toward the rocky terrain. "Because a young master like me only stops for luxury. Now keep moving, bodyguard. The mountain awaits."
○●○●○
As the duo made their way up the sloping hills of Route 3, a trio of pesky League trainers suddenly stepped out from behind the boulders, blocking the path with confident smirks.
"Hold it right there, Team Rocket!" the leader shouted, unclipping a Pokéball. "You're not going any further!"
Lucy's eyes narrowed, her fiery aura instantly flaring up as she stepped forward. "Oh, perfect. I needed to blow off some steam anyway. Get ready to be crushed, kids."
Odin, didn't even flinch. He scanned the area, found a nice, comfortable flat rock to sit on, and lazily sat down. He unzipped his bag and was thoroughly delighted to find a chilled bottle of fresh Oran Berry juice that Angel had thoughtfully prepared for him. "This is about to be fun."
But Odin being Odin, there was absolutely no way he was going to be content with just quietly sipping his juice and watching the battle. He was a natural-born menace.
As Lucy threw out her powerful Arbok and the trainers summoned their Pokémon, Odin activated his System. Instantly, clear holographic screens floated in his vision, displaying the exact stats, potentials, and complete move sets of Lucy's Arbok and every single one of the opponents' Pokémon. With a wicked grin, he began annoying the living shit out of both parties.
"Go get 'em, Lucy!" Odin cheered loudly, waving his juice bottle like a pom-pom. "Show them what a highly capable, slightly disheveled Elite Officer can do! Don't let your wobbly legs get in the way of a victory!"
"Shut up, Odin!" Lucy shrieked mid-command, her face burning red.
Then, Odin turned his attention to the League trainers, leaning forward with an overly helpful, arrogant expression. "Hey, kid with the Raticate! Quick tip from a master: Lucy's Arbok is preparing a Poison Sting, but its left blind spot is completely open right now. If you use Quick Attack at a forty-five-degree angle, you might actually last another five seconds! Try not to screw it up!"
The trainer blinked, completely confused as to why a Team Rocket member was helping him. "Uh... thanks?"
"Don't mention it," Odin smirked, taking a slow sip of his juice. "Wow, look at you go. Your strategy is truly fascinating. It takes real, undeniable talent to command a Pokémon with such a perfectly uniform lack of competence. I've never seen someone fail so consistently with such confidence. It's genuinely inspiring."
The trainer smiled proudly for a second, before his brain actually processed the words. His face fell as he realized Odin hadn't complimented him at all—he had just blatantly roasted him in broad daylight, masking the insult as advice.
This back-and-forth went on relentlessly. Odin played the most obnoxious cheerleader for Lucy—constantly throwing out sarcastic remarks, cheerleading, backhanded compliments, and occasionally booing her whenever Arbok missed a strike. At the exact same time, he kept feeding the opponents actual counter-strategies based on his System data, only to brutally roast them with double-edged compliments the moment they failed to execute them. Both Lucy and the League trainers hated every single agonizing second of the performance.
Despite Odin's chaotic sabotage, Lucy's sheer rank and power as an Elite Officer carried the day. Arbok violently slammed the final opposing Pokémon into the dirt, leaving all three League trainers utterly defeated and crushed.
Odin clapped lazily, standing up from his rock. "Bravo! Bravo! What a performance by my lovely bodyguard," he called out annoyingly. "Oh, and Lucy, don't forget to steal their Pokémon. I know their potentials are absolutely dog shit and they're worth pennies, but hey—money is money, am I right? A young master never leaves loose change on the floor."
Lucy, completely exhausted and deeply irritated, glared at him. "They're not even worth the weight in my bag, Odin."
Odin completely ignored her complaint and sauntered over to the three trainers, who were currently groaning on the ground next to their fainted Pokémon. With all the unearned cockiness in the world, Odin shamelessly stepped right into the center of them. He casually kicked one of the trainers in the side while they were already down, his face twisted into a mocking, superior sneer
"Man, I really outdid myself today," Odin boasted loudly, dusting off his pristine Officer uniform as if he had just fought a war. "You losers never stood a chance against my absolute genius tactics. Next time you see me, you better bow down. You're pathetic."
To add the ultimate insult to injury, Odin casually spat on the dirt right next to the leader's face, turned on his heel, and walked away with a loud, mocking laugh.
Lucy rubbed her temples, watching him strut ahead toward the cave. "I am literally going to lose my mind before we even get inside this mountain," she muttered, kicking her wobbly legs into motion to catch up with him.
Suddenly, the laughter, the sarcastic commentary, and the arrogant young master act vanished in an instant. Odin stopped dead in his tracks just a few steps away from the dark cave entrance. His body went rigid, and the playful smirk completely died on his face.
Suddenly, the ambient temperature on Route 3 seemed to plummet. A suffocating, ice-cold chill swept over the rocky path, carrying an oppressive, heavy murderous aura. The shift in the air was so sudden and violent that Lucy froze, her hairs standing on end. Her instincts screamed at her that an absolute apex predator was nearby. Panic flaring, she whipped her head around to find the source of the danger, expecting a massive wild Pokémon or a League ambush.
To her absolute shock, the terrifying intent was bleeding directly out of Odin.
"How can I forget," Odin murmured, his voice completely flat, drained of any emotion, and entirely unrecognizable. "I must be losing my edge. Never leave loose ends."
He turned on his heel and walked back toward the three groaning, beaten League trainers. He didn't look angry; he looked entirely empty, like a machine executing a routine command. He stood over the leader of the group, staring down at him with cold, dead eyes.
Thump!
Without a second of hesitation or warning, Odin brought his boot down with all of his terrifying physical strength. The impact echoed off the rocks as he stepped hard on the trainer's head, instantly crushing the skull. The groaning stopped instantly.
He didn't pause. He stepped over to the second trainer, and then the third, repeating the exact same brutal, efficient execution until all three lay completely still in the dirt.
Lucy stood frozen, horrified to her very core.
She was an Elite Officer in Team Rocket. She was a criminal. She had dabbled in her fair share of villainy, extortion, and underworld violence, but watching Odin commit these cold-blooded deeds sent a profound shockwave through her chest. It didn't sit right with her at all. Normally, she wouldn't care about the lives of some random League kids, but for some reason she couldn't comprehend, watching Odin's cruel behavior actually hurt her from the inside.
She was hurting for him, and the confusion of that feeling made it even worse.
She realized she wasn't prepared at all to see this dark, merciless side of him. Over the course of the morning, through their endless bickering, his ridiculous attitude, and the intimate time they had shared in the locker room, she had carefully built a specific image of Odin in her mind. He was supposed to be a chaotic, teasing, arrogant jackass who loved to push her buttons. This brutal display completely shattered that image, exposing a cold, calculated killer underneath.
He was only 18 years old. All the playful bantering they had done on the road had subconsciously softened her heart toward him, making her forget the brutal reality of the uniform they wore. Seeing an 18-year-old execute people without blinking an eye destroyed the comfortable dynamic they had just formed. She absolutely hated the heavy, aching feeling in her chest, but she couldn't pull her eyes away from the monster standing in front of her.
Odin casually wiped the dust off his boot against the dry grass, completely indifferent to the carnage, before turning back toward the cave.
Odin turned around, and in a fraction of a second, the suffocating, murderous aura vanished completely. The terrifying, dead look in his eyes dissolved, replaced instantly by his familiar, wide, mocking grin. He slung his hands behind his head, completely loose and relaxed, flipping the switch back to his arrogant, annoying young master persona as if he had just stepped on a couple of annoying bugs rather than taking three human lives.
"Ugh, finally! Glad that chore is out of the way," Odin complained loudly, rolling his shoulders and whining like a spoiled brat. "Do you know how hard it is to get blood out of these new leather boots, Lucy? Honestly, the League needs to start training cleaner losers. A masterpiece like me shouldn't have to deal with the cleanup crew."
The instant, flawless contrast in his behavior was absolutely terrifying for her. It was seamless. It was sociopathic. It proved that his entire playful, childish demeanor could be completely turned off and on at a whim.
Lucy felt a thick, painful lump form in her throat, and the heavy pressure in her chest became completely unbearable. Her wobbly legs moved on pure instinct. She didn't yell, she didn't roast him, and her fiery attitude was entirely gone. Instead, she stepped forward and threw her arms around him, burying her face into his chest and holding him in a tight, incredibly tender embrace. She was trembling slightly, holding onto him as if trying to shield him from the very darkness he had just displayed.
"Odin... Odin, you are still so young," Lucy whispered, her voice cracking with a raw, painful emotion she couldn't fully comprehend. She squeezed him tighter, her heart aching for the 18-year-old boy hidden behind the uniform. "Why... why are you so ruthless? You shouldn't have to do things like that. You don't need to carry that kind of weight."
She pulled back just enough to look up into his arrogant face, her eyes filled with a desperate, protective pleading.
"Next time, let someone like me take responsibility for those deeds, okay?" Lucy pleaded, her hand resting gently against his chest. "I'm an Elite Officer. I've done dirty work before. Just... just worry about acting like a rich, arrogant kid. Be cocky. Be a douchebag. Just be my little asshole and jackass... okay? Leave the heavy stuff to me."
Odin froze. The sudden warmth of her body, the tightness of her grip, and the sheer, raw tenderness in her voice caught him completely off guard. For a split second, his mind went blank. Her words actually managed to pierce right through his thick armor, striking a chord deep inside him.
But there was absolutely no way in hell he was going to let her see that.
His tsundere side kicked in like a defense mechanism. His face instantly contorted into an expression of pure, unadulterated disgust, and he aggressively went into full roast mode to hide how flustered he actually was. He grabbed her wrists, roughly pulling her arms off his chest and shoving her back with an annoyed huff.
"Ew! Gross! Get the hell off me, you crazy bitch!" Odin barked, his voice loud, aggressive, and dripping with defensive malice. He wiped his uniform where she had been leaning, acting like she had just covered him in toxic sludge. "What the actual fuck is wrong with you? Are you malfunctioning?!"
He threw his hands in the air, pacing around the cave entrance as he seriously questioned his entire existence.
"First of all, why the hell are all the women around me so damn weird?!" Odin shouted, throwing a hand toward the Pewter City direction. "First Angel goes all psycho-protective, and now you, an Elite Officer, are hugging me like a grieving widow on a soap opera! What is in the water in this region?!"
He stopped, glaring at Lucy with a judging, condescending look, crossing his arms tightly.
"Second of all, you are severely overreacting," he scoffed, rolling his eyes hard. "All I did was just kill them. It's casual Team Rocket stuff, come on! Don't act like you haven't fed anyone to your Arbok before, you massive hypocrite. It's a weekday afternoon, it's practically standard procedure. I mean, I'm certainly going to do it once I get my Ekans from Ariana and evolve it into an Arbok. So stop crying about a few dead League losers!"
He stepped right into her personal space, looming over her with an arrogant, mocking grin, though his eyes were still flashing with defensive irritation.
"And third of all... what is with this complete 180 personality switch?!" Odin taunted, flicking her forehead lightly. "Where did the fiery, loud-mouthed, argumentative Elite Officer go? One minute you're trying to bully me because I don't have a Pokémon, and the next you're begging to be my mommy bodyguard? Pick a struggle, sweetheart! It's embarrassing. Now put your big girl boots back on and let's go. I have an empire to build and you're ruining the vibe."
Lucy's face exploded into a deep, furious crimson. The tender, protective aura shattered instantly as she snapped right back into her fiery persona, yelling at the top of her lungs to mask her absolute embarrassment.
"Who the hell are you calling a grieving widow, you ungrateful little brat?!" Lucy shrieked, stomping her foot so hard the loose gravel rattled. "I was trying to be nice! I was trying to look out for your stupid, defenseless ass! Forget it! I hope a wild Parasect clamps its claws around your throat and drags you into the dark! See if I care!"
"Oh, please," Odin chuckled, waving his hand dismissively as he turned back toward the cave. "You'd be crying yourself to sleep if anything happened to this face. Admit it, bodyguard, you're obsessed."
They bickered back and forth for another minute, throwing insults like tennis balls. But beneath the shouting, something had undeniably shifted. Lucy's tone was no longer genuinely biting. She was still yelling, but her demeanor was visibly gentler, the rough edges of her Elite Officer pride completely softened around him. Deep down, she felt a profound wave of relief. The cold, mechanical killer was gone. His playful, arrogant, insufferable self was back, and that was exactly how she liked him. With a quiet huff, she accepted the tail end of his roast, rolled her eyes, and fell into step right behind him.
...
As they finally crossed the threshold, stepping out of the bright afternoon sun and into the cool, echoey darkness of Mt. Moon, Odin's earlier words finally clicked in her brain. Her eyes lit up with sudden curiosity.
"Wait, back up a second," Lucy said, her voice echoing slightly against the damp cavern walls. "Did you say Ariana is personally bringing you an Ekans egg later today?"
"Did it only just clicked now? God you're slow, But, Yup," Odin bragged, popping the 'P' as he walked blindly into the dark, entirely relying on her to watch his back. "The final egg from her personal, Platinum-potential Arbok. She's delivering it to Pewter City this afternoon."
"Are you serious?!" Lucy gasped, her fiery attitude completely replaced by genuine excitement as a fellow snake-trainer. "Odin, do you have any idea how insane the bloodline of Ariana's Arbok is? The sheer poison toxicity and muscle constriction capability of her line are legendary in Team Rocket!, i believe in team rocket specifically, she has the strongest Arbok out of everyone"
She reached to her belt, tapping the Pokéball of her own massive Arbok with a proud smile. "My Arbok is a beast, but even I'm jealous. Poison-types are all about dominance and shedding restrictions. If that egg hatches into a natural Platinum or breaks through to Diamond potential like your Dugtrio did... you're going to have a literal monster on your hands. You better train it right, or it'll swallow you whole."
As they walked deeper into the cool, damp tunnels of Mt. Moon, the ambient light faded completely, leaving only the soft glow of the rocky walls. Lucy took the lead, stepping into her role as an experienced Elite Officer. Her voice echoed softly in the cavern as she began to meticulously teach Odin about the Ekans line, specifically focusing on the terrifying characteristics of an Arbok.
"Listen to me carefully, Odin," Lucy warned, her tone dropping into something incredibly serious. "Arbok are cruel, vile, and completely merciless. Out of the four classic Poison-types that Team Rocket officially issues to its members, the Ekans line has the absolute highest trainer mortality rate. It's not because they are weak. It's because they will literally eat their own trainer alive the exact moment that trainer shows an ounce of weakness or fails to prove themselves worthy and strong."
She glanced back at him over her shoulder, the faint light catching the sharp curves of her face. "They are notoriously hard to tame. That's why Rocket members who successfully manage an Ekans or an Arbok tend to be way more cruel, twisted, and dominant than the rest of the grunts. You can't be soft with them."
Then, Lucy's tone shifted, losing its harsh edge as she began talking about her own partner. "My Arbok was my starter. Back when it was just an Ekans, it only had a Silver-Potential. But it was incredibly unique—it was literally just one single IV point away from breaking through into Gold-Potential. I saved up every single credit I had to buy premium Carbos. After feeding it enough of the supplement, its speed IV permanently rose by that one missing point, and its entire potential shattered its limits, breaking through into a true Gold-Potential."
Suddenly, Lucy stopped walking. Her fiery aura completely melted away, replaced by a sheepish, incredibly timid expression. She looked down at the cavern floor, her fingers nervously tracing the Pokéball on her belt.
"To be completely honest with you... I only have this one single Pokémon," Lucy admitted quietly, her voice shrinking with a vulnerability she rarely showed anyone. "I never caught or bought anything else. Because of that, a lot of the Team Rocket Captains and Executives don't consider me worthy to be added to their personal squads or elite teams. To them, I'm just a useless Elite Officer who scraped by with a single Arbok and stopped growing. They think I have no real talent and absolutely no bright future in the organization."
She let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh. "That's the real reason I work as a receptionist at Center Nr. 1 as a side job. I needed to earn extra cash on the side just to survive and save up enough to buy a second Pokémon of my choice. I've always desperately wanted a female Nidoran. But they are practically Kanto royalty, Odin. The Nidoking and Nidoqueen lines are so heavily controlled that any Nidoran with a decent potential is astronomically expensive. I could never afford one on a standard grunt or low-tier officer salary."
Then, she looked up at Odin, her eyes shimmering with absolute sincerity and deep emotion.
"But now... because of you, everything changed," Lucy said, her voice trembling slightly as she poured her entire heart into her words. "You chose me to be your main, number-one receptionist for your massive Dugtrio trade. The commission cut I made from your millions earned me so much money it completely blew my mind. Once you help me find this Gold-potential Nidoran today, I finally have the wealth to buy all the Proteins, Irons, evolutionary stones, and high-quality specialized food I will ever need. I can finally train a full, powerful team properly and keep them in peak physical strength."
She took a step closer to him in the dim cave, her chest rising and falling as she looked him dead in the eyes, completely stripped of her usual bickering defense mechanisms.
"So... thank you, Odin," Lucy whispered from the very bottom of her soul, her gaze locked onto his. "Seriously. Thank you for giving a useless receptionist a real chance at a future."
Odin's face went slightly stiff as her raw, heartfelt words echoed through the dim tunnel. Hearing her pour her entire soul out like that actually hit him right in the chest, sending a genuine jolt of impact through his system.
Naturally, his immediate defense mechanism was to explode into full, hyper-aggressive tsundere mode to mask it.
"Oh my god, will you shut the hell up already?!" Odin barked out, throwing his head back with an exaggerated groan of pure disgust. His face flushed slightly in the shadows as he aggressively mocked her. "Are you seriously crying over a little bit of pocket change? Wow! Pathetic! A few hundred thousand credits and the fierce Elite Officer turns into a weeping puddle. You are so incredibly weak it's making me nauseous!"
But he didn't push her away. Instead, he seamlessly pivoted into shamelessly exploiting every single ounce of her immense gratitude.
With a wicked, dominant grin, Odin stepped forward and heavily wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her wobbly body tightly against his side. He leaned down, his breath brushing against her ear as his voice dropped into an arrogant, absolute declaration of ownership.
"But hey, since you brought it up... let's make one thing perfectly clear, sweetheart," Odin purred, his tone dripping with sheer, unadulterated jackass flavor. "You are completely, utterly indebted to me forever now. I didn't just buy you a future—I bought you. You belong to me now. Every single piece of you."
To drive the point home, Odin's hand slid down from her shoulder, past her waist, and landed heavily right onto her plump, soft butt. He didn't just tap it—he gave it a massive, tight, and incredibly intimate squeeze, firmly burying his fingers into her flesh and holding onto her cheek with absolute authority.
"Everything about you belongs to me from this moment on," Odin chuckled darkly, giving her backside another possessive squeeze that made her gasp out loud in the quiet cavern. "Your body, your wobbly legs, your receptionist skills, and whatever shiny new Pokémon I find for you. You're my personal property now, Officer Lucy. Got it?"
Lucy's face turned an astronomical shade of red, completely caught between the embarrassment of his relentless roast and the intense, possessive thrill of his tight grip on her ass. She squirmed slightly against his side but didn't dare push his hand away, her fiery attitude entirely melting into complete, blushing compliance under his dominant touch.
"You... you absolute jerk," Lucy mumbled, hiding her burning face against his shoulder while his hand remained firmly locked onto her butt. "You really are a piece of work, Odin..."
"I'm a masterpiece," Odin corrected her loudly, thoroughly enjoying her total submission. "Now, keep your eyes peeled, my loyal little servant. Let's find you that Kanto royalty."