Raisin

Kids are like raisins: no one really likes them. People eat raisins because they're in your bread or your cereal or they're the only things lying around. They're convenient and sometimes necessary. Just not wanted.

I never wanted to raise a kid, and the only reason I had one was because of a slip. Those things happened. It was only after he was born that I decided having an heir to my recently founded Team Rocket name was truly a convenience that I hadn't considered before. I could raise the little devil to take over when I was no longer capable.

So, I took him in. Silver, I called him, like a silver bullet.

Though, of course, I had no idea how to raise a child, and this new team needed a leader now more than ever. I somehow found the time to read a parenting book, but the words in the book meant nothing to me. I didn't have anything I needed: no diapers, no bottles, nothing. Did they expect me to go to a store and buy some?

Pathetic. I would not succumb to such things, I decided, and sent one of my inferiors to the store to pick up the necessities. However, during the time that he was gone, the child quite wailing obnoxiously, screaming the whole time. I poked it and tried to make it be quiet, but the thing didn't appear to have an off-button.

"Boss, Sir, you do know you have to feed him, right, Sir, Boss?" my lackey informed me when he returned from the store with bags and bags and boxes and boxes in a stolen cart. Impressive. "And change his diaper and stuff? Because otherwise he'll cry all the time. I've gotten you some… er, Pampers Cruisers. And I got him some baby food, 'cause I think he's old enough to eat that stuff now. And I got a crib and a stroller… some toys."

"Excellent work." I pointed a finger at him, adding, "You could turn out to be an Admin one day. Keep up the good work."

"Thank you! Thank you, Boss, Sir, Boss!" He bowed at me a few times before backing out the door with a smile on his face. Good to know that I had just made someone's day.

Looking at the child in my arms, I poked him again, hoping that maybe—just maybe—he would shut up but to no avail. So, I grabbed a diaper from the box that my lackey had brought and put Silver down on the bed. Opening his old diaper, I was hit with a potent smell and nearly died.

"Oh, damn it!" I yelled, plugging my nose.

The lackey came running back into my room, barging in with a worried expression. "Yes, Sir, Boss?" he asked, looking around the room nervously. Then, sniffing the air, his face contorted, and he walked into the room towards the demon child as I backed away. "It's just poo, Boss, Sir. You have to change the diaper."

"I am not touching that."

"Babies do this a lot."

Damn. Well, then, I needed to find someone who would change the diaper for me. Because I definitely was not touching that. I was far too important and intelligent and handsome to take the time out of my day to be killed by some smelly poo in a child's diaper. I didn't know who the hell actually wanted to touch that stuff.

Then, an idea hit me. "Change the diaper for me, and you can become an Admin right now."

The lackey bowed again, and I grinned. Success! "Oh, I would be honored, Boss, Sir!"

Raising a child really wasn't that difficult after all.

There was something worse than a child's perpetual crying: perpetual talking. Silver never shut up once he got started. And there was nothing I could do about that. Now that he was potty-trained (finally) and could actually feed himself, I didn't have to worry about the crying unless he fell down or something. But even if that happened, I just told him to act like a man, and he would eventually calm down.

But with the talking, I couldn't stop it.

"Daddy, why do girls have cooties?" he'd ask.

"I don't know," I'd respond. But that would never stop the questions and the talking. It was just the simplest answer which required no thought.

"Why do girls have long hair?"

"I don't know."

"Can I have long hair?"

"Sure."

"Why is my hair red if your hair is black?"

"I don't know."

"Where's Mommy?"

That one came up a lot. Even though I had told him over and over again that I didn't know (and I really didn't know), he would keep asking, as if he knew that I had some idea about it. Yet I really had no clue where his mother was. Not that I'd tell him if I knew. Silver didn't need to know. He only needed to know the necessities.

"How come there are only old people here?"

I was slightly insulted. I was not old. But I played along, rolling my eyes at my son as I continued to work on financial paperwork. "Because. You're the heir to the Team Rocket organization. You'll take over when all the old people are gone. I'm number one in the world right now, and you'll be next."

"Oh. All right, Daddy, I'll be the best."

I looked down at my son, his wide red eyes staring brightly at me. I reached down, patting him on the head. "Of course you will."

Silver crossed his arms at me, his red hair falling over his eyes. "I heard that some of the Grunts lost to some Trainer at Mt. Moon," he said, narrowing his eyes at me as I looked up from my papers to meet his eyes. "I told you that you should have sent an Admin to control the situation. The Grunts have been pushing their training aside. I'm probably stronger than all of them by now."

Admittedly, this was probably true. Silver had been training with some of the weak Pokémon, but he was strong. "I'm sure you are. But if you want to take over this organization in the future, you need to be number one: the strongest. So, don't worry about a few lowly Grunts. Worry about yourself and the team as a whole. As long as the whole is standing, it doesn't matter if we lost a few supporting beams."

Silver shuffled his feet awkwardly, folding his hands together. "I've been thinking… what if I don't want to take over Team Rocket? What if I want to go challenge the Gyms and the Pokémon League instead? If I was Champion, I could be number one there, and—"

"No!" I shouted, banging my fists on the table. Silver jumped, dropping his hands to his sides and staring at me with wide eyes. I sighed, brushing my hand through my hair. "I mean… no. You have a duty to yourself and to me and to everyone here to take Team Rocket to even greater heights under your reign as Boss. You have to. No Champion could even beat us. They are not the best."

"But… what we do here… it's not right, is it? I mean, I've heard things—"

"Ignore what you've heard, Silver! We are here to improve the world for Pokémon and for us. Just because some people disagree with our methods is a minor detail. No one always agrees with everyone." I nodded at him, staring at him with a cool gaze. "Please leave. Go back to your training."

Silver sighed, muttering to himself before exiting the room. He was just going through a phase; I read about it in one of the parenting books. This would pass soon.

"A kid? A kid beat you at your own hideout." Silver laughed cockily, and I narrowed my eyes at him. "Jeez, and I thought you were the best of the best."

"Silence."

"You can't even beat a kid. I bet I could beat you. I probably could."

"Shut up, Silver."

Silver just continued, "Come on, challenge me. I'd win."

"Be quiet!" I yelled, slapping my son across the face. He froze, looking horrified, and backed away from me. "How dare you speak to me like that? Do not insult me like that. You're a pathetic excuse for a son."

He continued to back away towards the door behind him. "You're the pathetic one!" he retorted before turning and sprinting out of the room.

"You told me… you were the number one in the world! Are you gonna quit? What are you going to do now?"

I didn't respond right away. I had just lost everything I had ever worked for, and I didn't know exactly what I would do. Losing to a child my own son's age was embarrassing enough as it was, and now being confronted by my son… I needed time to sort things out. To become stronger and invincible. To become the number one in the world.

So, I settled on saying, "One must acknowledge one's defeat before he can move on… I will go solo… for now. So, that one day I will form a stronger organization!" I pounded my fist into my other hand, determination rising within me. Yes, that was what I would do. Training by myself for some time would be beneficial.

"What aspect of you was number one?" Silver demanded, his voice rising angrily. He spread his arms out, looking completely overwhelmed. Then, laughing coldly, he kicked dirt at my feet, looking disgusted with me. "Gathering so many only to be defeated by a mere child?" I could hear the silent "pathetic" he added to that.

He didn't understand. If anyone was pathetic, it was my own son. I had raised a foolish boy who didn't understand the magnificent designs of my organization. Team Rocket had been unstoppable until that boy Red came along. But his power was unmatched. If I could beat Red, I could beat anyone.

"Putting together the potential of many is how you produce a huge power…" I explained, though I had told him this once. A uniformed organization with powers surpassing what we already had could destroy Red. A team was greater than any power of an individual spirit. But I had failed to recognize my team's potential. "That's what an organization is… That's the strength of an organization! I failed… to make the best use of my subordinates' potential! But you shall witness one day the revival of me and my Team Rocket!"

Silver took a step closer, his eyes telling me all. "I don't understand you! You don't make any sense!" he yelled at me, his face so readable.

I turned my back on him. I turned my back on my own son. "One day you will understand." And without looking back at him, I left. He would rise someday and become a man, but that day was not today. And I didn't want to wait.

"I don't want to understand you!" I heard him shout. "I will never become someone like you! A coward when you're alone and acting like a tyrant when you're in front of other cowards! I will become strong! I will become a stronger man all by myself!" I laughed in spite of him as I continued walking away. "All by myself!"

Yes. He didn't understand now. But he would.

It was uncharacteristic of me to miss him. But I did.

I have a confession: raisins are my favorite.

Author's Note: Written for Goose-chan! It was her one-year anniversary of being on FFN last Tuesday, and I agreed to write a Giovanni-Silver father-son super-awesome fanfiction for her.

Well, I did that, minus the super-awesome part. This is… ugh, and Giovanni is totally hard to write. But whatever. I can't write non-romance things! (Which really makes no sense at all… all things considered…) XD

I won't blame my sickness right now for this terrible piece. I'll blame my inability to write about Giovanni.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.