Ben really needs one, especially since the warmest cloth Hana can acquire is nothing but a patched-up blanket, as all they would go into are the stalls of some vendors and convenience stores; buying real coats in malls or garage sales will get them shooed away. They can't even go to a Poke Mart, though the Nurse Joy in the Pokémon Center is kind enough to check up on Ben's condition every time they get to come by there in their continuous journey around Pewter City for free; that's not the case for the clerks.
The blanket is just too small for them as Hana grew a little bit taller over the years, even though her growth is considered stunted on average.
But they can't really afford one that quickly since the price of a Pokeball is 200 Pokedollars and the money they scavenge in the trash and on the streets or pickpockets is just 50 Pokedollars at most. After all, people learn from their mistakes, and their spots where they maneuver will always have time when few people will go in fear of being pickpocketed; worse, they would bring out Pokemons that are way stronger and healthier than Persian, so their average is bound to get low.
This kind of money is just enough for the food of Ben and some for Hana, which is the reason why Ben, as a Pokemon similar to a cat, has more muscle mass than Hana, which is now currently only skin and bones. Plus, the said 'food' of Ben is just daily and not something that they can stockpile and hoard over a few days, so while they were faring better, it was only relative to the fact that they don't need spoiled food anymore.
_Pokemon trainers are too dangerous; their Pokemons are more trained. I don't know how to command Ben in a battle... Poke Marts won't let beggars and street kids enter their place... Pokeballs will get shattered immediately when a failed catching attempt happens... how should I approach this..._
Hana pondered this while staring at the Poke Mart across the corner of two buildings where she and Persian were currently resting. She knew how dangerous being cold is, as she saw street kids suddenly stop breathing overnight because they don't have blankets or a coat during the winter. It was a good thing that they froze over and didn't smell that bad until some of the Poison-type Pokemons in the sewers made the police station's Growlithes and Arcanines notice the cases.
This is also the reason why Hana made it a point to acquire a relatively clean blanket. However, as she said, with her having a semblance to growth spurt, the blanket they acquired when she was a wee child is not enough anymore.
"Perr..."
While Hana is silently looking at the Poke Mart, it seems that Ben understood her feelings as it forced itself to stop trembling and licked her face. However, Hana can still feel the coldness of her Pokemon's body, making her hug the Pokemon tighter whilst clenching her teeth, wallowing in guilt as she was unable to even make her Pokemon a little comfortable.
Suddenly, however, while Hana was curling herself up to stop herself from crying in front of her Pokemon, she suddenly heard a muffled thud in her back where a tall, wired fence was. Making her slide her butt to the ground using her feet, immediately retreating away from the sound without even looking at the source, which she had learned after years of being in the streets. When Hana was finally able to see the source, she immediately hastened her retreat phase; strangely enough, she seemed to have forgotten that she could stand up and run.
It was a man with several slash-and-burn marks on her clothes and body, and in her coat was the iconic R of the Team Rocket, the organization Hana heard about that has a knack for stealing Pokemons... and while Hana felt like that's dumb because they could have just caught wild ones like how normal trainers do, she knew that Persian is in grave danger. As Hana slowly stood up, the man suddenly slammed a metal-coated briefcase in front of her, making the girl jolt in shock.
"Kid... girl... what... what do I need to give you to put this briefcase in the address that's inside it? I don't have a lot, but it's more than what beggars like you have..."
Hana is not a bit insulted, for what the bloodied and dying man said was true. Normally, the clever girl would immediately ignore the dangerous proposal in front of her; after all, this man is part of Team Rocket, and him being on the verge of death means he's either on the run from the government or from Team Rocket itself. In this moment, however, she has a burden that needs immediate care.
Every winter as the snow gets heavier, the chances of Ben's small body freezing over increase. Hana doesn't want that, and thus the dangerous opportunity in front of her became a luscious temptation that seemed to kiss her with sweet poison, and without even thinking, she opened her mouth.
"Pokeball. An empty Pokeball and all the money you have. Also, I want you to get out of my sight after you put everything I just said on top of the briefcase."
Hana retreated once more, ready to run if the goon of Team Rocket in front of her found her conditions too much. To her surprise, however, instead of doing anything hostile, the Team Rocket member just grunted before putting all of the cash in his wallet, back pocket, and front pocket before putting a hollow-sounding Pokeball atop the briefcase before standing up.
"Ha... you're a clever girl. Don't worry, as you can see, I'm about to die, and I'm doing all of these out of spite for the Interpol. If the boy asked who sent you, say Peter."
The man, calling himself Peter, suddenly put up his phone and talked to someone in a hushed tone before looking at the girl and the Persian she had.
"You will be found if you didn't fulfill your promise, you hear me?"
Hana didn't reply; instead, she slowly approached the briefcase and stashed the cash in a pouch she had mended for herself as well as the little bits of coins. Hana, who was lucky enough to be able to learn how to count from the street kids who had some schooling before their mom and dad went bankrupt, was able to count 10 pieces of 1000 Pokedollar bills and another 10 pieces of 500 Pokedollar bills; in short, it's a total of 15,000 pokedollars. This is the biggest amount of money she has ever had in her person at the same time.
Hana looked around; the money in her hands made her look at every person or Pokemons that was near her with suspicion, as if everyone would snatch it away. She then dragged the briefcase towards a more secluded and shadowy part of the corner she was in and looked at the Pokeball, and by what she remembered from watching trainers and coordinators, Hana pressed the button in between the red and white sections of the ball, causing it to enlarge.
"Woah... Ben, go inside, go inside!"
Hana immediately coaxed her partner, who was still apprehensive about the briefcase and the whole situation. The said Pokemon sniffed the Pokeball before slightly tapping its head to the Pokeball, and as red light suffused from the Pokemon and the Pokeball, Hana's smile became more and more pronounced.
"Finally... Ben won't get cold anymore..."
After that, she opened the briefcase and saw a sticky note with a '3 right corners from the manhole in front of the Poke Mart'. Hana immediately knew that the man knew he wouldn't make it near the manhole, as he would become too dazzling since she was oozing blood. The briefcase had a single Pokeball on it, though it was a weird purple color with pink bumps and an 'M' near the enlargement button.
Hana didn't pry into what the matter might be and just went to the manhole, while promising herself that she would only deal with Team Rock once. With her money, she would be able to rent a house, bathe and make herself not smell like the sewers, and fix her life for the better. However, reality is crueler than dreams, for when she tried to rent one, even when she bathed in a public bathroom, she wasn't able to get approved, as she can't show them a valid ID that proves she's not someone banned or someone who has problems with the government.
Day by day, month by month, the once big money that Hana had in her hands dried up, and once again, day by day, month by month, the past of hers that dealt with Team Rocket whispered to her vehemently until one day she found herself carrying another briefcase, and such briefcase is the start of her spiral down the abyss of mafias and gangs.
From once a month, into once a week, into 3 times a week until she became a regular grunt of Team Rocket, being able to equip herself with fake identities that in turn made her able to rent an apartment. Furthermore, she was able to acquire a standard Zubat, which she trained and befriended through lots of trials and tribulations against Interpol and commissioned trainers that tried to hunt her down, making it evolve into a Crobat.
In this organization, Hana also met someone; he was called Vincent, and like her, he was an orphan who was able to have a decent life with the help of Team Rocket. Their story is actually quite common: some poor people wanting to make lots of money by just delivering stuff and sometimes stealing from shipments of the research labs while also bearing the danger of having dead or alive wanted notices from Interpol, and because of this similarity, their feelings developed more than friendship; they became a couple.
Together, Hana and Vincent saw the prime of team Rocket, how are they able to scape the tails of every single organization from the government and other evil organizations that tried to take over them within Indigo and other regions, being unrecognizable parts of it by being normal grunts and soon, base leaders of the Pewter City (which made them live a more peaceful life) until its near destruction in the hands of Hana Dover.
During these times, Hana and Vincent tried to escape Team Rocket; however, they continuously failed as they were leaders, and leaders are more strangled by their boss Giovanni than the grunts. This made Hana and Vincent unable to get out of Pewter even when they got married and had a child, which mellowed them down further whilst their desire to escape became more intense.
They waited and waited until one day they had the wind of the son of the woman who almost destroyed their organization to dust, foiling a desperate plan from their boss, and right after some days, a full-blown hunt of all Team Rocket members in all of Indigo was started.
"Finally... a chance..."
__________________
While going out of the Police Station after sorting out location and teammate assignment, Cynthia read through the mission notice, which includes the face of a couple named Hana and Vincent. They look like ordinary people from Indigo; Hana is a mix of Johto and Kanto, while Vincent is a pure Kanto man.
_This reminds me, Hana is a Johto region name..._
The description goes like this:
The last remnants of Team Rocket in Pewter who have attempted the failed fossil theft in Mt. Moon are its leaders: Hana and Vincent Hardy. They are responsible for all smuggling, plunder, money laundering, and other illegal happenings in Pewter, which includes but is not limited to Pokemon-related stuff.
While this mission demands dead or alive as always, the president of Interpol said that since the two are married and have a daughter named Felicia, all of you can hold back and just incapacitate them. From the intelligence we have gathered, the couple doesn't abuse their child, nor do they put her anywhere near the workings of Team Rocket, so it's a maximum priority for the child not to be hurt and for her trauma to be as little as possible, as it's impossible to make it 0 if she knew her parents are part of Team Rocket.
In this regard, Cynthia Celestica is allowed to release any Pokemons she has in order for the operation to have overwhelming force alongside the force that we already have. It's a given that her clause of being directly involved and ignoring orders if her Pokemons were harmed still stands.
The couple is last commanded to smuggle a Tyranitar to an outskirts base.
Good luck, agents of Interpol.
Cynthia read this while they walked before crumpling it and setting it ablaze using the ember of her partner's Growlithe, Alexandra Jenny. After doing so and entering her battle mode, she and Alexandra Jenny saw a child dropping an ecobag full of groceries and clothes into a manhole with great difficulty.