... Well now you made my creative juices flow:
In today's special, we talk with a man who has been a member of most of the major criminal organizations in the past couple decades. To begin, we have promised anonymity, but can you tell us a bit about your background?
GRUNT: I grew up in Goldenrod, Johto on the "wrong side of the tracks". Family didn't have a lot of money, dad left us when I was still in the single digits, mom always working and tired. I attended public school until middle school when I both dropped out and left home. Some people think it's unthinkable, they dream of living in Goldrenrod; my dream was leaving it.
REPORTER: Where did you go once you left home? Joined Team Rocket?
GRUNT: Joining Team Rocket was how I got out of Goldenrod. I had no education, I had no skills, no one was willing to hire a guy off from the streets. Wanted to adventure out but when I was home I at least had a rood over my head and food when I was hungry. That's when I heard about it, some shady guys near an alley talking about someone "recruiting" going on in the back. They were scared, but I was intrigued. So I checked it out and there it was: a Team Rocket recruiting agent. When I approached he saw me and flashed a smile, didn't get those quite often. We talked, hyping up Team Rocket like it was the next coming of Arceus. Asked me what I wanted and told him to get out or Goldenrod. He chuckled and said Team Rocket can do that and so much more: food, housing, wealth, powerful Pokemon, a place to "belong" and have "purpose". Sounds like pie in the sky, but I wasn't getting anywhere on my current life path, so I signed up and few days later riding in a back of a truck with some other guys to Viridian, Kanto.
REPORTER: What was it like to be a part of Team Rocket?
GRUNT: Wasn't as glorius as the recruiter made it down, but can't say they lied either. I may have shared it with a few guys but had a clean bed, the food was good if sometimes school lunch quality, and they gave me my first Pokemon and put us newbies through some basic training. I also got to know a lot of the other grunts, on day one we were even told get to know the guys next to you because you'll be seeing their faces a whole lot. I wasn't the social type, but with training drills where you had to partner or group up and all the grunt-allowed rooms packed with guys, and there were gals too I probably should mention, you do get to know them as you would classmates in a school. I'd talk to them, a lot came from a similar place as me, so we saw eye-to-eye even if many of use never became buddy-buddy. That was the "belonging" the recruiter talked about, so then came the "purpose".
REPORTER: How much interaction did you have with the Team Rocket Bosses?
GRUNT: Everyday bosses were called executives, they liked to run Team Rocket like it was a business instead of criminal group. They gave us the orders, no questions asked. Rarely would we see the big boss himself, usually only big gatherings where he would give a speech. Rarely would you see a glimpse of him talking near the grunt areas with the executives and the "elite" grunts he had as bodyguards. Never gave me or many of us grunts direct orders, but you just knew all orders from the Executives were passed down from him.
REPORTER: Interesting, so let's jump forward to when Team Rocket disbanded, what did you do?
GRUNT: I was in our Celadon base underneath the Game Corner cleaning up after some kid busted our whole gambling ring wide open. We were destroying evidence when the word came in over the radio from the boss himself: Team Rocket was disbanded. All of us were speechless, some even had panic attacks wondering what we would do now. I didn't have a breakdown but I did feel like the rug was pulled from under me. The lot of us got into a pretty heated argument and went our seperate ways, I and a few others ditching our uniforms. I had saved up enough money in my bank I'd be good for a while, but it was only a few days I began feeling a knot in my stomach. I really felt aimless and alone, I had no "belonging" nor no "purpose" now and left me feeling hollow.
REPORTER: And that's when you went to join Team Magma? How did that happen?
GRUNT: There was "rumors" of two warring organizations in Hoenn; Team Rocket had spies keeping an eye on things and word eventually slips down the grapevine. At the time we all agreed a team vs team fight was stupid and only result in a lot of guys dead. But that was then, there I was, teamless, alone, not really knowing where I wanted to do. So, I decided, thinking back to how I felt like when I joined Team Rocket, I bought a ticket to Hoenn and through some contacts was able to join Team Magma.
REPORTER: Was Team Magma any different from Team Rocket?
GRUNT: Oh yeah, Magma's goals were completely different from Rocket's. Magma was really social, they even had education classes you were encouraged to sign up for. It really felt like an academy, I guess. The Magma Boss was also more personal with the grunts, unlike in Rocket where we got our orders from the Executives, everyday the Magma Boss would gather the entire organization, tell us today's plans, and assign us to either a squad, Admin, and sometimes they would directly lead. In Rocket I had teammates, but in Magma I did actually feel like I had friends. But that could be because I also had people I considered enemies.
REPORTER: Team Aqua. Why didn't you join them?
GRUNT: Before joining them here's what I knew about each: Team Magma wanted to make more land, Team Aqua wanted to raise the sea levels. I walk on land, so there ya go. Honestly, looking back at it now both were pretty much the same extreme just on different ends. Sure I walk on land, but I need to drink and shower too. But that didn't matter at the time to me, and while its a good feeling to have friends, there's also this exhilarating feeling having some group to REALLY hate. At first I didn't see Aqua as anymore than an obstacle, but as I settled in and listened to the Magma Bosses' seminars, especially drilling into you how "wrong" and "backwards" thinking Team Aqua is, I just began seeing them less and less as people and more like wild beasts who needed to be put down before they hurt anyone with thier wrong thinking. Yeah, I drank the Berry-Aid hard on that one.
REPORTER: You make it sound like they were like a cult.
GRUNT: Yeah, I guess Team Magma was more cult-like, looking back. Team Rocket was very business as I said. You hung out with people on your level, took orders from executives above, and never got to see the boss. Magma made everything feel so personal, we were convinced we were saving the Hoenn region, like we were the heroes. Rocket you knew you were bad but just accepted it as part of survival.
REPORTER: What happened after Team Magma's break-up?
GRUNT: Technically they didn't break-up, neither did Aqua. After almost destroying the Hoenn region, huh oops, both teams retreated back to our respective bases. It was announced by the boss and admins they have given up on their goal and swithcing focus to not only work with the Hoenn officials but also make peace with Team Aqua. Both statements caused a riot. Some thought they were going to throw them under the sub to save their own skin. Others saw making peace with Aqua an absolute betrayal. I hate to say I was with the latter group, after I heard that I threw away my Magma cowl and was gone. I felt heartbroken. Disgusted and furious. I knew I had to move on or I'd start something up.
REPORTER: At the time of the break-up a group of former Team Rocket members were gathering together, were you a part of that?
GRUNT: Simple answer, no. Complex, *sigh*, I heard about it and feeling emotionally confused I rushed back to Johto to the team I felt didn't betray me. But by the time I got there I got my head together and saw what was going on. The group forming back together was the Rocket Bosses' fanatics and they wanted to get their boss back. Understand, the Rocket Boss was a very influential guy, very charismatic. I saw him as a figure to respect, even fear, but there were some grunts who thought he was the reincarnation of Arceus. Not helping was that the Executives who was reforming Team Rocket were some of the nuttier ones. I didn't stay beyond the pitch, the Rocket Boss was the one who broke up the team in the first place so I didn't get why they were putting him on a pedestal.
REPORTER: Team Galactic of Sinnoh was next then.
GRUNT: My head was together but was still feeling pretty betrayed now by two teams. Former grunts weren't the only people the Team Rocket gathering attracted. Another recruiter, this time for Galactic. He saw me storm out of the building and said he could tell I wasn't like those other Rocket grunts begging for a leader who would never return back. Getting a bit angry, I told the recruiter I was sick of people tricking me, pretending I was a part of a group, only for the boss and admins to betray everyone. And then with a smile, he told me does he have the team for me. Off to Sinnoh.
REPORTER: And how was Team Galactic different?
GRUNT: You remember how you said Team Magma was cultish? Thinking about it now, I change my mind on that, Galactic was cultish. Actually, no, it WAS a cult. Felt like I was teleported to a different dimension, everything was impersonal, a complete 180 from Magma. But it wasn't business-like like Rocket, it felt, how do I put this, centralized? Like, we were told our goal was using the power of the Sinnoh's Legendaries to create a source of infinite energy. Now, messing with Legendaries already was a red flag for me, but I was assured that Magma and Aqua were sloppy with controlling the Legendary, Galactic believed in leaving no room for error. I thought it was going to be hard to settle in, but instead I think I settled in the quickest with Galactic. You ever heard of the "job as hats" metaphor? In Magma and even Rocket, though we were just grunts, we were expected to wear multiple "hats". Galactic however, everyone only had ONE hat, and if you were given another hat, they would take away the one you were wearing. Going back to the words "belonging" and "purpose", Galactic made them feel like one and the same; your purpose was what made you belong.
REPORTER: So you didn't become teammates or friends with anyone on Team Galactic?
GRUNT: Let me put it this way: Rocket felt like a company and everyone a coworker. Magma felt like a school and everyone a schoolmate. Galactic sort of was like a drop-in, drop-out workshop, sure you get to know the faces of a few guys if they stay long enough but you're there for one purpose. I knew people in Galactic and had grunt areas where we gathered and talked, but it was more like water cooler talk than hanging out with friends at the club with a pint.
REPORTER: But despite that Team Galactic still fell apart.
GRUNT: I was lied to AGAIN! But this time the Galactic Boss also lied to his Commanders so it didn't feel like it was the higher-ups just messing with you. But this time I wasn't emotional about it. Could be because of the self-control conditioning we had to go through, or maybe because I'd gone through two already and became numb to the revelation. But this time I told myself I was DONE. I had to plot my own course in life and figure out what I wanted to do. And I liked feeling I was helping out, sure it turned out I wasn't but the feeling was genuine. I thought about actually staying with one of the Galactic Commanders who was looking for a new energy source or maybe even going back to Magma, but I knew I would just fall back into the grunt hole I wanted out of so got a ticket to fly to the otherside of the planet.
REPORTER: Let me guess, Unova?
GRUNT: All I wanted was to help Pokemon. I decided that a cruel thing all the teams did was mistreat Pokemon, so I wanted to do the opposite. So I looked into local Pokemon humanitarian groups with a good public image... and came across Team Plasma. I just can't escape.
REPORTER: It's alright, unlike Team Galactic, Team Plasma was very secrative with their true motives.
GRUNT: HA! Yeah, right, and I'm a Darmanitan's uncle. Sure, on the surface they acted like knights for Pokemon, but on the inside they were no better than Galactic. Plasma had a very "holier than thou" attitude, if you weren't with them you were against them. A lot of that probably had to do with their leadership, seven "wise" sages led by an idealistic king. And when I say king I mean king, he wore a crown and cape and everything. The sages too looked like they came from the middle ages.
REPORTER: You sound very dismissive of Team Plasma, did that cause any trouble with them?
GRUNT: Now I am, but at the time it felt like I was doing good. As I said, they were only "holier than thou" if you weren't part of Plasma, but if you were it was like you were part of a secret club. They treated you like a brother, or a sister if you were a girl of course. Our mission was to take away Pokemon from abusive trainers, something I could get behind, and there was a lot of abusive trainers apparently. Except not, sure there were probably a few jerk trainers we rescued Pokemon from, but most were just from normal trainers who loved their Pokemon. But because we had a "king" whatever he said goes and his dream was the complete seperation of Pokemon from humans because humans are more likely to mistreat a Pokemon. Don't know where he got that idea but as long as we were told we're saving Pokemon and could flaunt that over the non-Plasma members we were hooked.
REPORTER: And how did you react when Team Plasma fell apart?
GRUNT: It didn't fall apart, at least not immediately. First it split. The Lead Sage betraying the "King" split the team into two groups: those with the Lead Sage and those who stood by the "king". Well, there was a third group: those who left, which I was with. I heard the Lead Sage was making a "Neo Team Plasma" but from what I heard the guy was a psychopath, the Pokemon we "saved" he ended up abusing! So, no. I heard that the "king" had a change of heart but he vanished with the Legendary and so had no proof of that.
REPORTER: That's four teams now, and yet after that you joined Team Flare?
GRUNT: ... So after I failed to help Pokemon, I was done with that too. I can help no one but myself, so you knew what, that was going to to be my only goal for now one; looking out for number one. Before I left Plasma I grabbed a whole bunch of tech they developed to take over the PC system and took the earliest flight I could to the farthest region. By the morning I was in Kalos. I obviously couldn't openly sell the stolen criminal tech I had so first had to get good with the black market. Didn't take long to find someone interested in the tech: Team Flare operatives. I initially blew off them and their silly orange suits, then they tried threatening me not to take them so lightly. I asked what they were going to do about it, but they asked what I had plan with the money I was going to make. Told them none of their business but they kept asking if I was going to donate some of that money to a charity. Told them no, and that's when they offered 5 million for the tech! Unable to resist, I agreed and they took me to their base in Lumiose City. That's when I met their boss, they told him about the tech I had and what they offered. After some silence and looking around, the Flare Boss asked me to sit down and told me their plans: they're going to end the world for everyone except Team Flare who will become immortal. I was getting ready to leave when they then invited me to SEE how they were going to end the world. When I went into their base in Geosenge I could already feel an unnatural dread building inside me, and then I saw their ultimate weapon and I was shaken to my core. 5 million wasn't a random offer, to join Team Flare members had to pay that much. Basically, if I gave them the tech, they'd let me join Team Flare. I still thought the orange suits were silly, but they're at least comfortable; and surprisingly the glasses didn't tint everything orange.
REPORTER: So you joined Team Flare out of a sense of survival? Did that impact how you operated with in the team?
GRUNT: No one joined Team Flare because they were told they were going to help the world. When you joined Team Flare, and payed that 5 million entrance fee, you knew what you were paying for. It felt similar to Plasma's "secret club", except instead of those who thought they were helping out with a side of egotism this is a ritzy club where it was ALL egotism. It took a long time to adjust, and I don't think I ever did. At least not with the rich folk part of Team Flare, but I did get along with those who gave up everythng to be part of Team Flare. There were some part of Team Flare who were actually working off paying their 5 million, the rich members would make fun of them how if they weren't careful they'd be locked outside when the Ultimate Weapon was fired; even though I'm pretty sure that wasn't the case for them, I had the oddest sense of relief knowing I at least don't have to worry about that being the slightest truth. And that's how it was in Team Flare, you had your group and just hoped the richer group left you alone to do your work as they picked on a poorer group. And not to get angry and possibly be tossed out, you just put your head down and ONLY paid attention to you group. They were probably the closest group of friends I had since Magma. Speaking of which, the Flare Boss sort of reminds me of the Magma Boss, and not just because they both have the same color preference; more of a reddish-orange now thinking about it. Though rich, the Flare Boss wasn't your typical selfish, rather, he REALLY cared about Kalos and the world but saw everyone on it as vermin. Says to make the world beautiful again they need to wipe everyone out except for Team Flare, those he considered "worthy" whatever that meant. He tried to relate himself to every group, guess trying to show he had no favorites, except hard not to notice how all the admins are the richest members.
REPORTER: That sounds terrible. But the Ultimate Weapon failed and was destroyed. What happened after that?
GRUNT: Before I go on, I need to mention the next team I joined I have a gag order with. Even the region I went to I can't say else it be too obvious who I was talking about.
REPORTER: Understood.
GRUNT: Right. So, with Team Flare going up in smoke, like with Plasma I decided to get out of Kalos fast. So next morning I was in REGION X. But this time, instead of stolen tech, my baggage was something far less valuable but no more potent: extreme guilt. To not be ostracized from Team Flare, I turned the other cheek to some very bad things. I went back to thinking about my time with Team Plasma and how, though it wasn't true, it felt good when I thought I was helping Pokemon. And, speak of the Giratina, I see some of my old Plasma buddies! When I thought it was safe, I revealed myself to them and they were glad to see I was doing all right. They couldn't talk for long as they were working but, without missing a beat, asked if I was working. I told them no and they told me I should join with the group they were a part of now. A referral and interview later, I was a proud member of a Pokemon Help Group, we'll call them PHG.
REPORTER: I'm sorry to interrupt, but isn't aren't we talking about criminal organizations you joined? Unless the PHG was...
GRUNT: And now you know why there's a gag order. Yeah, at first the PHG was great. Finally, I was helping not just Pokemon but also people and the environment. The people I worked with were all friendly and shared a common interest. The leaders too were dedicated to helping Pokemon and often led research projects. And that's where troubles start. I don't know why I was included in, I have a feeling he somehow knew about my past, but one of the leaders PEAPOD started to include me on top secret projects; the type you don't put in science journals and financial records. Turns out the leader of the PHG, QUEEN, had an ulterior goal. At first I felt angry that I joined another criminal organization, but I then was told why QUEEN was doing this and my anger turned to sympathy for her. So though it was shifty, I still helped with the secret projects as well as my PHG duties. But from here I can't really say more without going into deeper details. All I can say in the end, QUEEN's motives changed for the worse. We hoped she would snap back to her normal self, but she than took things too far. A lot of what I heard came second-hand as I was out doing field work, but when things settled down I decided it was time to move on. I didn't care if things turned out alright and we were shutting down all secret projects, I just felt like instead of unloading my guilty baggage I added a carry-one bag on top of it. At least this time I didn't have to leave asap.
REPORTER: And that leads us to our final team, or rather a company that recently made headlines.
GRUNT: Yup, no gag order here. Another good thing about working for the PHG was it was something I could put on a resume. Tired of private organizations, I decided to apply for a job with a Pokemon League. Call me paranoid, but I didn't feel safe sending in an application for a region I had previously been to, so I found one with a big Pokemon League in a new region I could get myself lost in the shuffle: Galar. And the application was sent to: Macro Cosmos.
REPORTER: Were you one of the staff members who knew about President Rose's project?
GRUNT: Note entirely. Much of the Eternatus project was handled by the Macro Cosmos Energy subsidiary; I was initially part of the Pokemon League maintenance staff. Like in the PHG, all the other staffers I worked with were nice and very dedicated, just it was about the Pokemon League instead of helping Pokemon; not that they wouldn't, but you get the idea. I never met President Rose not in a group, whenever he visited a stadium we were working in we would gather around so he could tell us how important us and our work was to the League. Even today I still can't figure if he was being sincere or phony, after hearing so many criminal leaders I thought I would be good at that by now. Anyway, I had more interactions with the Vice President, Oleana. One day, I was told due to my dedication and hardwork, I was hand picked to be part of the Hammerlocke Stadium maintenance staff, an "honor" not many are picked for; I did feel pretty proud of the promotion but I suppose that's how corporations get you to be loyal to them. At first I assumed the reason they hand picked Hammerlocke Stadium staff was because its a heritage site and they only want the best taking care of it. Turns out, it was because underneath the stadium was an infinite energy spewing space dragon Macro Cosmos was siphoning energy from. I just took it in stride, and as my reward I then became one of Vice President Oleana's personal League Staff henchmen. She didn't call us henchmen, but that was who we were. And ugh, what a batch of strict stiffs they were, felt like I was back with Flare how inflated some of their egos were. I was in Rose Stadium when he released Eternatus; the previous day Vice President Oleana ordered us to stop a batch of Gym Challengers interrupting a meeting President Rose was having with Champion Leon. Can't say anymore then that without getting close to revealing my identity, but let's just saw it wasn't our proudest moment.
REPORTER: And I guess that brings us to this interview! Thank you very much for your time. Now you're no longer working with Macro Cosmos; I'm curious, if given the opportunity, would you join another criminal organization?
GRUNT: I'll admit, that's hard to say. I've been trying to stick to the straight and narrow, but as you see I just somehow keep getting sucked back into the thick of things. Between you and me, and I guess all the readers, what that Rocket recruiter said to me all those years ago still rings true: being part of a team makes me feel I belong and have a purpose. It would have to be for a cause I can back, or at least like it to be, but I would say I wouldn't turn it down immediately.
GRUNT: I grew up in Goldenrod, Johto on the "wrong side of the tracks". Family didn't have a lot of money, dad left us when I was still in the single digits, mom always working and tired. I attended public school until middle school when I both dropped out and left home. Some people think it's unthinkable, they dream of living in Goldrenrod; my dream was leaving it.
REPORTER: Where did you go once you left home? Joined Team Rocket?
GRUNT: Joining Team Rocket was how I got out of Goldenrod. I had no education, I had no skills, no one was willing to hire a guy off from the streets. Wanted to adventure out but when I was home I at least had a rood over my head and food when I was hungry. That's when I heard about it, some shady guys near an alley talking about someone "recruiting" going on in the back. They were scared, but I was intrigued. So I checked it out and there it was: a Team Rocket recruiting agent. When I approached he saw me and flashed a smile, didn't get those quite often. We talked, hyping up Team Rocket like it was the next coming of Arceus. Asked me what I wanted and told him to get out or Goldenrod. He chuckled and said Team Rocket can do that and so much more: food, housing, wealth, powerful Pokemon, a place to "belong" and have "purpose". Sounds like pie in the sky, but I wasn't getting anywhere on my current life path, so I signed up and few days later riding in a back of a truck with some other guys to Viridian, Kanto.
REPORTER: What was it like to be a part of Team Rocket?
GRUNT: Wasn't as glorius as the recruiter made it down, but can't say they lied either. I may have shared it with a few guys but had a clean bed, the food was good if sometimes school lunch quality, and they gave me my first Pokemon and put us newbies through some basic training. I also got to know a lot of the other grunts, on day one we were even told get to know the guys next to you because you'll be seeing their faces a whole lot. I wasn't the social type, but with training drills where you had to partner or group up and all the grunt-allowed rooms packed with guys, and there were gals too I probably should mention, you do get to know them as you would classmates in a school. I'd talk to them, a lot came from a similar place as me, so we saw eye-to-eye even if many of use never became buddy-buddy. That was the "belonging" the recruiter talked about, so then came the "purpose".
REPORTER: How much interaction did you have with the Team Rocket Bosses?
GRUNT: Everyday bosses were called executives, they liked to run Team Rocket like it was a business instead of criminal group. They gave us the orders, no questions asked. Rarely would we see the big boss himself, usually only big gatherings where he would give a speech. Rarely would you see a glimpse of him talking near the grunt areas with the executives and the "elite" grunts he had as bodyguards. Never gave me or many of us grunts direct orders, but you just knew all orders from the Executives were passed down from him.
REPORTER: Interesting, so let's jump forward to when Team Rocket disbanded, what did you do?
GRUNT: I was in our Celadon base underneath the Game Corner cleaning up after some kid busted our whole gambling ring wide open. We were destroying evidence when the word came in over the radio from the boss himself: Team Rocket was disbanded. All of us were speechless, some even had panic attacks wondering what we would do now. I didn't have a breakdown but I did feel like the rug was pulled from under me. The lot of us got into a pretty heated argument and went our seperate ways, I and a few others ditching our uniforms. I had saved up enough money in my bank I'd be good for a while, but it was only a few days I began feeling a knot in my stomach. I really felt aimless and alone, I had no "belonging" nor no "purpose" now and left me feeling hollow.
REPORTER: And that's when you went to join Team Magma? How did that happen?
GRUNT: There was "rumors" of two warring organizations in Hoenn; Team Rocket had spies keeping an eye on things and word eventually slips down the grapevine. At the time we all agreed a team vs team fight was stupid and only result in a lot of guys dead. But that was then, there I was, teamless, alone, not really knowing where I wanted to do. So, I decided, thinking back to how I felt like when I joined Team Rocket, I bought a ticket to Hoenn and through some contacts was able to join Team Magma.
REPORTER: Was Team Magma any different from Team Rocket?
GRUNT: Oh yeah, Magma's goals were completely different from Rocket's. Magma was really social, they even had education classes you were encouraged to sign up for. It really felt like an academy, I guess. The Magma Boss was also more personal with the grunts, unlike in Rocket where we got our orders from the Executives, everyday the Magma Boss would gather the entire organization, tell us today's plans, and assign us to either a squad, Admin, and sometimes they would directly lead. In Rocket I had teammates, but in Magma I did actually feel like I had friends. But that could be because I also had people I considered enemies.
REPORTER: Team Aqua. Why didn't you join them?
GRUNT: Before joining them here's what I knew about each: Team Magma wanted to make more land, Team Aqua wanted to raise the sea levels. I walk on land, so there ya go. Honestly, looking back at it now both were pretty much the same extreme just on different ends. Sure I walk on land, but I need to drink and shower too. But that didn't matter at the time to me, and while its a good feeling to have friends, there's also this exhilarating feeling having some group to REALLY hate. At first I didn't see Aqua as anymore than an obstacle, but as I settled in and listened to the Magma Bosses' seminars, especially drilling into you how "wrong" and "backwards" thinking Team Aqua is, I just began seeing them less and less as people and more like wild beasts who needed to be put down before they hurt anyone with thier wrong thinking. Yeah, I drank the Berry-Aid hard on that one.
REPORTER: You make it sound like they were like a cult.
GRUNT: Yeah, I guess Team Magma was more cult-like, looking back. Team Rocket was very business as I said. You hung out with people on your level, took orders from executives above, and never got to see the boss. Magma made everything feel so personal, we were convinced we were saving the Hoenn region, like we were the heroes. Rocket you knew you were bad but just accepted it as part of survival.
REPORTER: What happened after Team Magma's break-up?
GRUNT: Technically they didn't break-up, neither did Aqua. After almost destroying the Hoenn region, huh oops, both teams retreated back to our respective bases. It was announced by the boss and admins they have given up on their goal and swithcing focus to not only work with the Hoenn officials but also make peace with Team Aqua. Both statements caused a riot. Some thought they were going to throw them under the sub to save their own skin. Others saw making peace with Aqua an absolute betrayal. I hate to say I was with the latter group, after I heard that I threw away my Magma cowl and was gone. I felt heartbroken. Disgusted and furious. I knew I had to move on or I'd start something up.
REPORTER: At the time of the break-up a group of former Team Rocket members were gathering together, were you a part of that?
GRUNT: Simple answer, no. Complex, *sigh*, I heard about it and feeling emotionally confused I rushed back to Johto to the team I felt didn't betray me. But by the time I got there I got my head together and saw what was going on. The group forming back together was the Rocket Bosses' fanatics and they wanted to get their boss back. Understand, the Rocket Boss was a very influential guy, very charismatic. I saw him as a figure to respect, even fear, but there were some grunts who thought he was the reincarnation of Arceus. Not helping was that the Executives who was reforming Team Rocket were some of the nuttier ones. I didn't stay beyond the pitch, the Rocket Boss was the one who broke up the team in the first place so I didn't get why they were putting him on a pedestal.
REPORTER: Team Galactic of Sinnoh was next then.
GRUNT: My head was together but was still feeling pretty betrayed now by two teams. Former grunts weren't the only people the Team Rocket gathering attracted. Another recruiter, this time for Galactic. He saw me storm out of the building and said he could tell I wasn't like those other Rocket grunts begging for a leader who would never return back. Getting a bit angry, I told the recruiter I was sick of people tricking me, pretending I was a part of a group, only for the boss and admins to betray everyone. And then with a smile, he told me does he have the team for me. Off to Sinnoh.
REPORTER: And how was Team Galactic different?
GRUNT: You remember how you said Team Magma was cultish? Thinking about it now, I change my mind on that, Galactic was cultish. Actually, no, it WAS a cult. Felt like I was teleported to a different dimension, everything was impersonal, a complete 180 from Magma. But it wasn't business-like like Rocket, it felt, how do I put this, centralized? Like, we were told our goal was using the power of the Sinnoh's Legendaries to create a source of infinite energy. Now, messing with Legendaries already was a red flag for me, but I was assured that Magma and Aqua were sloppy with controlling the Legendary, Galactic believed in leaving no room for error. I thought it was going to be hard to settle in, but instead I think I settled in the quickest with Galactic. You ever heard of the "job as hats" metaphor? In Magma and even Rocket, though we were just grunts, we were expected to wear multiple "hats". Galactic however, everyone only had ONE hat, and if you were given another hat, they would take away the one you were wearing. Going back to the words "belonging" and "purpose", Galactic made them feel like one and the same; your purpose was what made you belong.
REPORTER: So you didn't become teammates or friends with anyone on Team Galactic?
GRUNT: Let me put it this way: Rocket felt like a company and everyone a coworker. Magma felt like a school and everyone a schoolmate. Galactic sort of was like a drop-in, drop-out workshop, sure you get to know the faces of a few guys if they stay long enough but you're there for one purpose. I knew people in Galactic and had grunt areas where we gathered and talked, but it was more like water cooler talk than hanging out with friends at the club with a pint.
REPORTER: But despite that Team Galactic still fell apart.
GRUNT: I was lied to AGAIN! But this time the Galactic Boss also lied to his Commanders so it didn't feel like it was the higher-ups just messing with you. But this time I wasn't emotional about it. Could be because of the self-control conditioning we had to go through, or maybe because I'd gone through two already and became numb to the revelation. But this time I told myself I was DONE. I had to plot my own course in life and figure out what I wanted to do. And I liked feeling I was helping out, sure it turned out I wasn't but the feeling was genuine. I thought about actually staying with one of the Galactic Commanders who was looking for a new energy source or maybe even going back to Magma, but I knew I would just fall back into the grunt hole I wanted out of so got a ticket to fly to the otherside of the planet.
REPORTER: Let me guess, Unova?
GRUNT: All I wanted was to help Pokemon. I decided that a cruel thing all the teams did was mistreat Pokemon, so I wanted to do the opposite. So I looked into local Pokemon humanitarian groups with a good public image... and came across Team Plasma. I just can't escape.
REPORTER: It's alright, unlike Team Galactic, Team Plasma was very secrative with their true motives.
GRUNT: HA! Yeah, right, and I'm a Darmanitan's uncle. Sure, on the surface they acted like knights for Pokemon, but on the inside they were no better than Galactic. Plasma had a very "holier than thou" attitude, if you weren't with them you were against them. A lot of that probably had to do with their leadership, seven "wise" sages led by an idealistic king. And when I say king I mean king, he wore a crown and cape and everything. The sages too looked like they came from the middle ages.
REPORTER: You sound very dismissive of Team Plasma, did that cause any trouble with them?
GRUNT: Now I am, but at the time it felt like I was doing good. As I said, they were only "holier than thou" if you weren't part of Plasma, but if you were it was like you were part of a secret club. They treated you like a brother, or a sister if you were a girl of course. Our mission was to take away Pokemon from abusive trainers, something I could get behind, and there was a lot of abusive trainers apparently. Except not, sure there were probably a few jerk trainers we rescued Pokemon from, but most were just from normal trainers who loved their Pokemon. But because we had a "king" whatever he said goes and his dream was the complete seperation of Pokemon from humans because humans are more likely to mistreat a Pokemon. Don't know where he got that idea but as long as we were told we're saving Pokemon and could flaunt that over the non-Plasma members we were hooked.
REPORTER: And how did you react when Team Plasma fell apart?
GRUNT: It didn't fall apart, at least not immediately. First it split. The Lead Sage betraying the "King" split the team into two groups: those with the Lead Sage and those who stood by the "king". Well, there was a third group: those who left, which I was with. I heard the Lead Sage was making a "Neo Team Plasma" but from what I heard the guy was a psychopath, the Pokemon we "saved" he ended up abusing! So, no. I heard that the "king" had a change of heart but he vanished with the Legendary and so had no proof of that.
REPORTER: That's four teams now, and yet after that you joined Team Flare?
GRUNT: ... So after I failed to help Pokemon, I was done with that too. I can help no one but myself, so you knew what, that was going to to be my only goal for now one; looking out for number one. Before I left Plasma I grabbed a whole bunch of tech they developed to take over the PC system and took the earliest flight I could to the farthest region. By the morning I was in Kalos. I obviously couldn't openly sell the stolen criminal tech I had so first had to get good with the black market. Didn't take long to find someone interested in the tech: Team Flare operatives. I initially blew off them and their silly orange suits, then they tried threatening me not to take them so lightly. I asked what they were going to do about it, but they asked what I had plan with the money I was going to make. Told them none of their business but they kept asking if I was going to donate some of that money to a charity. Told them no, and that's when they offered 5 million for the tech! Unable to resist, I agreed and they took me to their base in Lumiose City. That's when I met their boss, they told him about the tech I had and what they offered. After some silence and looking around, the Flare Boss asked me to sit down and told me their plans: they're going to end the world for everyone except Team Flare who will become immortal. I was getting ready to leave when they then invited me to SEE how they were going to end the world. When I went into their base in Geosenge I could already feel an unnatural dread building inside me, and then I saw their ultimate weapon and I was shaken to my core. 5 million wasn't a random offer, to join Team Flare members had to pay that much. Basically, if I gave them the tech, they'd let me join Team Flare. I still thought the orange suits were silly, but they're at least comfortable; and surprisingly the glasses didn't tint everything orange.
REPORTER: So you joined Team Flare out of a sense of survival? Did that impact how you operated with in the team?
GRUNT: No one joined Team Flare because they were told they were going to help the world. When you joined Team Flare, and payed that 5 million entrance fee, you knew what you were paying for. It felt similar to Plasma's "secret club", except instead of those who thought they were helping out with a side of egotism this is a ritzy club where it was ALL egotism. It took a long time to adjust, and I don't think I ever did. At least not with the rich folk part of Team Flare, but I did get along with those who gave up everythng to be part of Team Flare. There were some part of Team Flare who were actually working off paying their 5 million, the rich members would make fun of them how if they weren't careful they'd be locked outside when the Ultimate Weapon was fired; even though I'm pretty sure that wasn't the case for them, I had the oddest sense of relief knowing I at least don't have to worry about that being the slightest truth. And that's how it was in Team Flare, you had your group and just hoped the richer group left you alone to do your work as they picked on a poorer group. And not to get angry and possibly be tossed out, you just put your head down and ONLY paid attention to you group. They were probably the closest group of friends I had since Magma. Speaking of which, the Flare Boss sort of reminds me of the Magma Boss, and not just because they both have the same color preference; more of a reddish-orange now thinking about it. Though rich, the Flare Boss wasn't your typical selfish, rather, he REALLY cared about Kalos and the world but saw everyone on it as vermin. Says to make the world beautiful again they need to wipe everyone out except for Team Flare, those he considered "worthy" whatever that meant. He tried to relate himself to every group, guess trying to show he had no favorites, except hard not to notice how all the admins are the richest members.
REPORTER: That sounds terrible. But the Ultimate Weapon failed and was destroyed. What happened after that?
GRUNT: Before I go on, I need to mention the next team I joined I have a gag order with. Even the region I went to I can't say else it be too obvious who I was talking about.
REPORTER: Understood.
GRUNT: Right. So, with Team Flare going up in smoke, like with Plasma I decided to get out of Kalos fast. So next morning I was in REGION X. But this time, instead of stolen tech, my baggage was something far less valuable but no more potent: extreme guilt. To not be ostracized from Team Flare, I turned the other cheek to some very bad things. I went back to thinking about my time with Team Plasma and how, though it wasn't true, it felt good when I thought I was helping Pokemon. And, speak of the Giratina, I see some of my old Plasma buddies! When I thought it was safe, I revealed myself to them and they were glad to see I was doing all right. They couldn't talk for long as they were working but, without missing a beat, asked if I was working. I told them no and they told me I should join with the group they were a part of now. A referral and interview later, I was a proud member of a Pokemon Help Group, we'll call them PHG.
REPORTER: I'm sorry to interrupt, but isn't aren't we talking about criminal organizations you joined? Unless the PHG was...
GRUNT: And now you know why there's a gag order. Yeah, at first the PHG was great. Finally, I was helping not just Pokemon but also people and the environment. The people I worked with were all friendly and shared a common interest. The leaders too were dedicated to helping Pokemon and often led research projects. And that's where troubles start. I don't know why I was included in, I have a feeling he somehow knew about my past, but one of the leaders PEAPOD started to include me on top secret projects; the type you don't put in science journals and financial records. Turns out the leader of the PHG, QUEEN, had an ulterior goal. At first I felt angry that I joined another criminal organization, but I then was told why QUEEN was doing this and my anger turned to sympathy for her. So though it was shifty, I still helped with the secret projects as well as my PHG duties. But from here I can't really say more without going into deeper details. All I can say in the end, QUEEN's motives changed for the worse. We hoped she would snap back to her normal self, but she than took things too far. A lot of what I heard came second-hand as I was out doing field work, but when things settled down I decided it was time to move on. I didn't care if things turned out alright and we were shutting down all secret projects, I just felt like instead of unloading my guilty baggage I added a carry-one bag on top of it. At least this time I didn't have to leave asap.
REPORTER: And that leads us to our final team, or rather a company that recently made headlines.
GRUNT: Yup, no gag order here. Another good thing about working for the PHG was it was something I could put on a resume. Tired of private organizations, I decided to apply for a job with a Pokemon League. Call me paranoid, but I didn't feel safe sending in an application for a region I had previously been to, so I found one with a big Pokemon League in a new region I could get myself lost in the shuffle: Galar. And the application was sent to: Macro Cosmos.
REPORTER: Were you one of the staff members who knew about President Rose's project?
GRUNT: Note entirely. Much of the Eternatus project was handled by the Macro Cosmos Energy subsidiary; I was initially part of the Pokemon League maintenance staff. Like in the PHG, all the other staffers I worked with were nice and very dedicated, just it was about the Pokemon League instead of helping Pokemon; not that they wouldn't, but you get the idea. I never met President Rose not in a group, whenever he visited a stadium we were working in we would gather around so he could tell us how important us and our work was to the League. Even today I still can't figure if he was being sincere or phony, after hearing so many criminal leaders I thought I would be good at that by now. Anyway, I had more interactions with the Vice President, Oleana. One day, I was told due to my dedication and hardwork, I was hand picked to be part of the Hammerlocke Stadium maintenance staff, an "honor" not many are picked for; I did feel pretty proud of the promotion but I suppose that's how corporations get you to be loyal to them. At first I assumed the reason they hand picked Hammerlocke Stadium staff was because its a heritage site and they only want the best taking care of it. Turns out, it was because underneath the stadium was an infinite energy spewing space dragon Macro Cosmos was siphoning energy from. I just took it in stride, and as my reward I then became one of Vice President Oleana's personal League Staff henchmen. She didn't call us henchmen, but that was who we were. And ugh, what a batch of strict stiffs they were, felt like I was back with Flare how inflated some of their egos were. I was in Rose Stadium when he released Eternatus; the previous day Vice President Oleana ordered us to stop a batch of Gym Challengers interrupting a meeting President Rose was having with Champion Leon. Can't say anymore then that without getting close to revealing my identity, but let's just saw it wasn't our proudest moment.
REPORTER: And I guess that brings us to this interview! Thank you very much for your time. Now you're no longer working with Macro Cosmos; I'm curious, if given the opportunity, would you join another criminal organization?
GRUNT: I'll admit, that's hard to say. I've been trying to stick to the straight and narrow, but as you see I just somehow keep getting sucked back into the thick of things. Between you and me, and I guess all the readers, what that Rocket recruiter said to me all those years ago still rings true: being part of a team makes me feel I belong and have a purpose. It would have to be for a cause I can back, or at least like it to be, but I would say I wouldn't turn it down immediately.
