Rico was on the rooftop of Lilycove's famous department store, trying to take the best possible picture of the Tree of Life that stood fabulously in the far off distance, sprouting from the white crater that was Sootopolis. "Woo, this shot is gonna be perfect for POG's new ad campaign!" He mused, giggling to himself.

Just as he was about to take that perfect shot, something gigantic appeared on his lense. "A-a flying Wailord?!" The cerulean-haired youth blurted out, almost dropping his phone in his shock. His Meowth, Maddie, that had been napping on his shoulder stirred and let out a big yawn. "This is outrageous! I'll have no stupid whale photobombing me!" Rico angrily shook his fist in the air.

Practically fuming, he ran down to the ground floor with the speed of a cartoon character, and then barged out of the department store, a trail of smoke coming off behind him. "Where did that Wailord go? I wanna have a word with it!" He spat, stomping his way around the bustling crowd.

That is, until he ran into nina larson. Now that was a face he probably would have seen before back at the HQ. Those scars were hard to miss, after all. "Oh, hi! Fancy meeting you here, uuuuuhh..." He squinted and clicked his fingers repeatedly, trying to remember what his fellow Rocket's name was.

//rocket gang

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All Pokémon existed for the glory of Team Rocket, this buzzing swarm being no exception. Rico's mind was racing with ideas of how to best utilize those black-striped critters. Perhaps he could sell their honey for exorbitant prices. Or maybe he could capture a bunch of them and send them to Rocket's scientists, who would then extract their venom and use it for the construction of a DEADLY BEE WEAPON.



Armed with a comically oversized bug-catching net that had a Net Ball attached on its end, Rico charged straight into the swarm, yelling like an amazon that was attacking. "AYIYIYIYIYIYI!!" Truth be told, his eyes had gotten swollen due to his pollen allergy, so he couldn't actually see where he was aiming that net.

//bees. my god.

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"Dashing as always!" The azure-haired youth finger-gunned Danny is response, while flashing a glinting grin. He was so glad that his partner for this job shared his view that appearance was key. What's the point of villainy if you can't look fabulous while doing it?

Every villain needed a hero, though, and theirs arrived in the form of a deer-riding, tanned man, who demanded to know what the shady duo were doing with those Slowbro.

There was no point feigning innocence when he had a big red 'R' plastered on his shirt. Bass produced a single rose out of his sleeve and laughed haughtily. "Fufufu! Stay out of Team Rocket's way, twerp, or we might have to get... uncivil." He warned him, while pressing his foot against Slowpoke's tail to make sure it couldn't get away.

DANNY HALL, ollie morales

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The blue-haired youth squinted his eyes. Something about this Admin seemed familiar, like he had seen that face before somewhere. Before he could question it, his gaze fell upon the Classy Cat Pokémon that was resting on the cushion. "Woo, what a pretty Persian! Its fur looks so slick, I could just hug it!" He gushed, crouching on his knees to get a better look at the big cat.

Maddie, his Meowth, jumped off Rico's shoulder and curiously approached the Persian, walking on all fours. She looked up at the larger feline, raised her front paw near her head and meowed as if to say hello.

At Martín's request, Rico eventually got seated. He began tapping his foot against the floor, clearly still nervous, his love of cats having taken his mind off for just a moment. After a few silent seconds, he finally came up with a way to break the ice. "What do you think of my uniform, boss? I made it myself!" He proudly gestured at his white outfit.

Martín del Mar

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The demand for Gardevoir in the black market was high, their popularity being attributed to their rarity and battle prowess, and definitely no other factor. The hunt for Gardevoir was kind of a competition among members of Team Rocket. Whoever managed to catch or steal one first was in for a fat bonus. Cha-ching!

Rico had come up with an ingenious (in his own words) scheme: Renting a small space in Lilycove's bustling downtown area, he repurposed it into a beauty parlor for Pokémon, advertising it through social media in order to quickly spread the word around. That way he and his cohort could make a quick buck from trainers who wished to give their Pokémon a makeover, all the while waiting for a gullible trainer with a Gardevoir to show up.

"Welcome to Salon Roquet, where we take your Pokémon and make them look faaaabulous~! How may I help you?" Rico greeted their newest customer with a charming smile, his flamboyant mannerisms brought up to eleven in his beauty stylist persona. Maddie, his Meowth that was wearing a frilly, pink dress and red ribbons on each of her whiskers, raised a paw near her head and meowed.

"Can you do something about my poor Gardy?" The customer in question - a middle-aged, upper-class lady - asked. She pulled a Luxury Ball out of her designer purse, sending out... a Gardevoir. What were the odds? "Her hair's gotten all dry and dull. I don't know what to do."

"Jackpot..." Rico whispered under his smiling teeth, his hippie glasses glinting. "Oh my~ Gardevoir hair happens to be our specialty! Step this way, darlings, don't be shy!" He urged the duo to follow him inside the store, while gesturing for his fellow Rocket-in-disguise to bring a chair over. He had spontaneously decided that he would be his assistant.

Shi Mikhaylov, URIAH BLACK

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Even with Hoenn's political climate constantly shifting, Team Rocket's hunt for rare Pokémon never ceased. Under his superiors' orders, 'Bass' had gone to a small island on Route 127 in order to find wild Slowbro, force them to de-evolve by detaching the Shellder from their tails, and bring them to HQ so that they could evolve them into their much more sought-after Galarian counterparts.

"Hnnnngh! Get off, stupid Shellder!" The white-clad Rocket grunt grunted, while struggling to manually pull one of the sentient shells off. The Slowbro in question simply stared off into space, seemingly oblivious to the human's meddling.

After much sweating and swearing, Bass finally succeeded. The Slowbro turned back into a Slowpoke, while the detached Shellder reverted into its clam form, only to bite into the grunt's head. "EEYAAAAAGH!!" The blue-haired man let out a shrill, effeminate cry, frantically clawing at his head.

Finally prying the Bivalve Pokémon off of him, he tossed it into the ocean with an indignant huff. "Hmph. I never liked seafood... How's my hair? It's still gorgeous, right?" He asked his cohort, who may or may not have had better luck than him.

DANNY HALL, ollie morales

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POG Bank needed new seasonal ads, which meant that it was photoshoot time! Since this effusive, extravagant season was all about celebrating life - the miracle of nature - the new campaign was gonna be nature-themed!

With a camera in hand, Rico scouted the verdant area of Petalburg Woods. He wore civilian clothes, obviously, while his cerulean hair was tied behind his head in a short ponytail. One of his treasured Meowth was walking alongside him on all fours, curiously sniffing the flowers and bushes.

If he was the photographer, then who was the one getting photographed? Why, it was none other than Rico's favorite model, the beautiful Luka Chêne! After scanning the area, the blue-haired youth pointed at a large tree up ahead that stood out from the others. "This looks like a good spot! Could you stand under that tree, Luka-chan?" He cordially requested.

luka chêne

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