Chapter 2
Several Days Later
"Atlus!" Rachel called as she knocked softly on his door. "It's time for..." She cut herself off short as she opened the door to his room and saw that he was already dressed. With her spare time, Rachel had mended and cleaned his dark clothing while she was waiting for him to recover. Without further prompting, Atlus brushed by her and out the door, his trenchcoat trailing behind him. "Let's go," he said, not checking to see if she was following. "Well gee Mr Atlus," Rachel said with a sarcastic tone in her voice. "I didn't think you'd know where we were holding the meeting.". Turning in the opposite direction she walked down the hall calling out over her shoulder. "Too bad it's this way, hot shot.". Embarassed by his rashness he rushed after her.
They continued down the hall until they came to a door marked "Private". Rachel opened it up and they both entered. The room was already occupied by four other members of Team Target. The grey haired man Atlus had seen earlier was at the head of the table. Rachel nodded to the grey haired man as she took the last remaining empty seat at the table. "Atlus Parker..." the grey haired man started speaking, pressing his fingertips together. "That is your name, correct?". Atlus nodded in agreement. "I am Erick, leader of Team Target as you may already have surmised.". Erick shuffled through a manilla folder that lay in front of him, taking out a piece of notebook paper. "And according to what you told Rachel you are a...librarian? From Merbonne City?". Atlus stared coldly at Erick, taking his time to answer the question. Finally her nodded once again and gave a quiet "Yes.". Looking further down the page, Erick continued. "We checked out your story with Merbonne City Hall and they confirmed it. But...". Erick paused, shaking his head. "You don't look like a librarian.". Calmly, Atlus ran a hand through his hair, brushing it back, then replied flatly. "And you don't look like a terrorist leader.". A burly man that was sitting at the side of the table stood up suddenly, his faced flushed with anger.
"Why you little--?!" he shouted. Erick pounded his fist on the table, spilling a cup of coffee across his folder. "Corey! Sit down! You're out of line!". Corey ignored the command and grabbed Atlus by the collar of his shirt, glaring into his face. "We find you half dead in the middle of nowhere and bring you back here! We put alot on the line doing that! And you thank us by insulting us?!". Atlus looked down at Corey's hand for a moment then back to him, speaking softly. "Whether you're terrorists or not is not for me to judge. All I know is that you're all weak. Too weak to stop Team Psychic. Everything you do is futile and you all should just give up now.". Letting loose a low growl, Corey drew his fist back and took a swing at Atlus. Only the punch never reached its intended target. Atlus' hand shot up quickly and grabbed Corey's fist, followed by a quick elbow that sent Corey sprawling across the floor. "Thanks for the help," Atlus quipped as he left the room, leaving a room of stunned bystanders.
He was almost out the door when Rachel came out of the meeting room and shouted after him. "Atlus! Wait up!". Rachel was relieved to see him stop, although he did not turn around. "Atlus, you're right. We are weak. But what we lack in strength we more than make up for in spirit! Most people are blind to what Team Psychic does but not us! We're not going to let them exploit the populace any longer! And we won't stop at anything to do that.". Her words seemed to have no effect on Atlus but she continued. "Noone else there wanted to ask this but...Atlus will you join us?". The question caught Atlus offguard, he looked over his shoulder at her. "Why would you want the help of a simple librarian like me?". Reaching into her pocket, Rachel pulled out his Pokéball and balanced it in the palm of her hand. His attention now piqued, Atlus turned around to face her.
"When I found you, this was laying next to you in the snow. I know you're so much more than you let on. I didn't tell anyone else about it because I didn't want to give them any more reason to distrust you. But...". Rachel looked down at the Pokéball. "If you help us, I promise we'll do everything in our power to find your Pokémon.". They stared at eachother for a few tense moments before Atlus accepted her offer by walking back into the meeting room. She smiled to heself, pocketed the Pokéball, and hurried into the room after him.
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