Chapter 26: The Johto Force
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A sharp autumn wind cut through the air, tossing my hair into my face and forcing me to hold it back. I was seated on a bench in the middle of a training park in southern Viridian—the only familiar sight I’d allowed myself throughout this entire ordeal surrounding the Viridian base. Rudy and I always used to come here to watch matches between kids older than us—or rather, older than him—who had already started their journeys. In the summer, it was so popular that battles often cropped up over who could train on which field—with the field at the top of the hill at the center of the park being the most heavily contested spot. We’d make meaningless bets on the combatants and excitedly call out whenever anyone sent out a Pokémon that was definitely going on our team someday.
It was a place full of memories from a time when the biggest concern in my life was whether or not I’d finally pass the training exam and be able to join that world. It was also the place where I’d decided to break the news to my Pokémon regarding what had just happened not more than an hour ago. And where I’d received pretty much exactly the response I’d been expecting:
“*You’re kidding.*”
They didn’t even need to say anything—the reaction was plain from their faces and body language. Aros flared his wings like the news was a personal attack. Stygian drew herself back, eyes narrowed, claws digging into the dirt. Swift cocked his head to the side, his gaze soft but concerned. Firestorm stared downward, more confused than upset, although he couldn’t keep his tail flame from crackling in agitation.
Yep, couldn’t say I was surprised at all.
“*Say it again,*” Stygian said, her voice low and dangerous.
I took a deep breath. “The head of the combat unit betrayed Team Rocket and joined our side.”
The dark-type’s piercing, crimson eyes dug into me. “*And it hasn’t remotely occurred to you that this is a trap?*”
Of course it hadn’t. Because the idea of it being a trap was completely absurd. My right eye twitched, and I fought to keep a stern face as I said, “Did you miss the part where I said the boss himself has rejected her?” The Absol gave a dismissive huff and turned away sharply.
“*So what if she’s a traitor now?*” Aros growled, baring his teeth. “*I’m more concerned with all the shit she’s pulled in the past.*” My eyes couldn’t help tracing all the faint marks on the dragon’s scales from where Starr’s Arcanine had viciously torn through him not even a month ago.
“I’m not asking you to forgive all of that stuff,” I said plainly. Hell, I wasn’t so sure if I’d forgiven any of it yet, even if I did want to move past it. “I just want you not to attack her on sight.”
“*She attacked us first,*” the Flygon shot back, lashing his tail from side to side.
“*Many of our allies have attacked us. Chibi tried to kill us when we first met him,*” Swift chirped, obviously trying his hardest to sound calm and measured. Maybe a bit too hard, but the effort was appreciated.
Aros tilted his head, antennae twitching. “*Was he even sane at the time?*”
Swift paused, shifting his wings a bit. “*I suppose not.*”
The Flygon snorted in a ‘well, there you go’ sort of way.
“*She didn’t just attack us,*” Firestorm spoke up suddenly before fixing me with a serious look. “*She attacked you. That doesn’t make any sense, if you say she was your old friend.*”
I groaned, rubbing my eyelids in frustration. “Look, I know this sounds weird as hell. But you guys weren’t there. You can’t imagine what it was like. She risked her life to help me and Ajia. She was… she was willing to throw her life away rather than betray us,” I said, feeling my throat clench up from the memory of it.
No one had an easy retort for that. Aros opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but decided against it. Firestorm made eye contact with me, his brow furrowed. Skeptically at first, but then slowly relaxing into something more… uncertain.
“*She risked her life for you…?*” the fire lizard asked.
I nodded as forcefully as I could, hoping that as least some of that force would show how adamant I was about this. “Yes. Definitely.”
The four Pokémon shot confused glances at each other. The head of the combat unit, risking herself for me. Even I had to admit it sounded strange.
“*I still think you’re insane,*” Aros said, folding his wings.
I closed my eyes. “I know.”
“*If this bites you in the ass, I’m not saving you.*”
“That’s fine,” I said, standing up from the bench and stretching my legs. I walked a few steps and then pivoted to face the others. “I’m gonna go back and talk to her now. I’ll let you know if anything else comes up.” With that, I recalled them.
Good thing I’d decided to have that conversation with them away from Starr. Not that I could really blame any of them for having that reaction. After all the things she’d done… A shiver ran through me, and I suppressed the memory. Didn’t want to think about any of that now.
I cast one last wistful glance around the park before turning and walking down the trail in the direction I’d originally come. On the other side of the park, Starr was doing much that same as I had done—informing her Pokémon of what had just happened. Which was far more important for her team than it was for mine, considering that her entire life was going to be different now.
She’d removed her hat, vest and gloves, all of which made her Rocket status pretty obvious. I shivered again upon seeing her sitting there in a tank top, but she didn’t seem too bothered by the cold. Then again, she was surrounded by fire-types.
“Need me to come back later?” I asked upon seeing that she was still in the middle of talking to her team.
Starr glanced in my direction. “No, I’m pretty much done,” she said, motioning for me to join her.
My eyes swept over her Pokémon warily as I stepped forward into their midst. Feraligatr jerked its head upward, leering suspiciously the entire time. Arcanine, on the other hand, refused to look at me—the firedog kept its hateful gaze firmly on a tree further down the trail, as though it were trying to set it on fire with just its eyes. Flareon glanced around at the others uneasily, folding its ears back and swishing its fluffy tail from side to side. Rapidash stood calmly off to the side, eyes closed and flames flickering gently in the wind. Raichu… I could hardly look at Raichu without feeling sick, so I didn’t.
At least not until the electric-type dashed up to me and I almost flew out of my skin.
“*So you’re not the enemy anymore!*” the mouse said cheerfully. Oh god why.
“*She’s not the enemy anymore because she pushed our trainer to treachery. Don’t forget that,*” Feraligatr growled.
“*I know that, I heard what Starr said,*” Raichu said, puffing out his cheeks in a pout.
“Alright, easy with the growling, Feraligatr,” Starr said, giving the water-type a stern look. The gator immediately stopped glaring and stood at attention.
Starr motioned for me to sit and I did, slowly relaxing onto the bench next to her, but keeping a wary eye on all of her Pokémon. Especially that one.
“I told them what’s up. They’ll, uh…”—she made eye contact with Feraligatr—“they’ll get used to it.” She hesitated a few seconds, then took a deep breath and added, “I’ll get used to it.”
“Might take a while for my team to do the same,” I admitted. “In the meantime, it’s… probably best if I not let them out around you.”
Feraligatr scoffed at my words. “*Might not like any of this, but wouldn’t ever disobey a direct order. Not much of a trainer, are you?*”
I bristled. There was something bizarre about being insulted by a Pokémon claiming I didn’t have enough control over my team. Granted… I really didn’t, but that was none of its business.
And then Raichu jumped into my lap and every muscle in my body tensed up instantly and every thought dissolved into a torrent of oh god, oh god, get him off, get him off.
“*I think it will be fun being on the same side,*” the mouse said, cocking his head to the side. “*Even if I don’t get to act scary anymore.*” God, why’d he have to talk like that, all bubbly and friendly like he wasn’t Starr’s torture Pokémon of choice. Didn’t he remember what she’d had him do to me?
“Does—does he have to sit here?” I stammered, desperately attempting to force my facial expression into something neutral even as every instinct devolved into an endless loop of nope.
“No, he doesn’t,” Starr said flatly, giving the electric-type an unimpressed stare—he instantly jumped over to her lap and I could breathe again. Raichu sat there drumming his paws on Starr’s arm and giving playful flicks of his tail, all while continuing to fix me with an oblivious grin. I looked away. That was really not the sort of thing I felt like dealing with right now. Maybe later. Or never.
“It’s still hard to believe that all of that actually happened,” Starr said distantly, staring at the clouded sky. “Part of me still thinks it’s a dream, and I’m gonna wake up and be back in my room. Part of me still wants that to be the case,” she added with a hollow laugh.
I clenched my teeth and glanced away. It was only natural for her to feel conflicted about it. But it was still an uncomfortable thought—imagining what would have happened if she hadn’t turned her back on Team Rocket.
“But this is real,” she went on. “I’m a traitor now. The thing I’ve spent the last five years hating with all my guts.” She sighed deeply. “Can’t afford to get caught now, so I’ve started thinking about what I’ve gotta do from now on,” she said, gesturing to a duffel bag on the ground by her feet. “I already pulled all the money out of my bank account. The team has that on record, so the last thing I need is them tracking me that way.” I blinked at it, taking more than a few seconds to realize that it was packed full of cash. When had she had time to do that?
“It’s gonna suck carrying so much cash around, but anyone stupid enough to try and rob me deserves what’s coming to them.” She scoffed at the thought. But then her expression hardened. “What I’m actually worried about is my license. They have contacts in the Pokémon League. They could have my trainer ID flagged for anything—and odds are it’ll be something I’ve actually done, too,” she added with a grimace. I didn’t even want to think about how long her list of arrestable offences probably was.
“I could always get a new ID under the table, but all the providers I know have ties to Rockets,” Starr said, setting Raichu on the ground and then leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. “We’ve got the region’s black market on lockdown, pretty much, so any rival dealers are gonna be hard to track down. Maybe we could take a quick trip to another region? Figure out who runs the show there…?” She shot an inquisitive look my way as though hoping to see what I thought of that idea. But I just stared at her blankly.
Starr raised an eyebrow at my clueless response. “What? It’s not that hard if you know what to look for. There are a lot of tells. Like if you go up to a shop and they’ve got—”
“You sure know a lot about this kind of stuff.” The words were out of my mouth before I’d really thought them through.
Starr paused, blinking. A crooked grin slowly crossed her face, and she gave a slight laugh. “Come on, I’m—I was an executive. I know there’s that stereotype that combat unit execs are only good at bashing skulls in, but we had to know our stuff too.”
“Mm,” was the only response I gave to that, shuffling a foot awkwardly against the dirt. The less I thought about combat unit execs bashing skulls in, the better.
Starr leaned back against the bench, crossing her arms behind her head. “Anyway, point is, it might take me awhile to get a new license, so I won’t be able to book us a Pokécenter room. The real question is whether your ID was compromised,” she said, giving me a sideways glance.
I snorted. “Well that’d be hard considering I don’t have one.”
It took several seconds for the full implications of what I said to hit her. But it was obvious when it did—her eyes snapped open and she suddenly turned to face me, one eyebrow raised as high as it would go. “You’re joking.”
I just responded with a deadpan stare. Slowly, her face split into an incredulous smirk, until she finally burst out laughing.
“Seriously, you’ve been training Pokémon illegally this whole time? Oh man, that’s rich!”
I felt my cheeks go red. “Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m an idiot.”
“No, I’m serious, I’m legit impressed,” she said, elbowing me. “I never would’ve expected that from you.”
I shoved my hands in my pockets. “Yeah, well, I only got this far because of the Rebellion’s resources. I never would’ve been able to do it on my own.”
“Okay, okay, that’s fair. Still hilarious though. Anyway, let’s hit Goldenrod first. It might be a Rocket hotspot, but it’s also frickin’ huge, so I think I have a decent shot of finding what I need there.”
I shrugged. “Fine with me. But how should we get there? Flying?” Starr didn’t have any flying Pokémon, to my knowledge. We could both probably fit on Aros? But that’d be pushing him too hard, especially for long-distance flight. Not to mention he didn’t trust her at all.
Fortunately, Starr cut down that train of thought immediately. “Hell no, do you have any idea how far that is? We’re taking the bullet train.”
I blanched. “All the way to Goldenrod? Aren’t the tickets like 10,000 pyen?”
Starr gave me a look that plainly said I was an idiot while gesturing both hands at the duffel bag full of money.
“Eh… right.”
It had been years since the last time I’d ridden a high-speed bullet train. While the southern Pokansen line wasn’t near as fast as the northern line that ran directly from Saffron to Goldenrod in an hour, it had the perk of making additional stops, one of which was near Viridian. Starr bought the tickets, and we boarded the train, where I wasted no time in finding a seat to collapse into. Honestly, I was just plain exhausted. I hadn’t exactly slept much the previous night because of the looming anxiety of the Mewtwo mission, and I’d been running on fumes ever since the adrenaline from the mission had worn off. I wound up sleeping through most of the trip. Not like I missed out on much scenery. The forests on the southern edge of the Tohjo Mountains were gorgeous most of the year, but by now they’d lost most of their leaves, leaving the surrounding draped in shades of brown and gray. And it was too foggy to see Mt. Silver anyway.
Three hours later, I awoke to Starr grabbing my shoulder and shaking it to pull me out of a shallow half-sleep. I blinked groggily, taking more than a few seconds to realize that the train had stopped and almost all the other passengers had already left. I grabbed my bag and followed her off the train and onto a huge, densely-packed platform. Starr led the way through the station, weaving around the crowds effortlessly while I trailed after her. And then we set foot outside onto the streets of Goldenrod.
Sunlight glimmered off the windows of the tall buildings around us. The dreary fog we’d left behind in Viridian had been replaced with an impossibly bright sky, forcing me to shield my eyes the moment we were outside. Or at least until we walked under the shadows of the huge arches supporting the overhead railways. No longer blinded, I could instead focus on the sounds of nearby traffic and the chattering crowds and overhead planes. I’d barely been here five minutes and I was already certain this was the busiest city I’d ever been to.
“Man, it has been a while since I’ve been here,” Starr said, stretching widely. “Course, the last time I was on vacation, not… whatever this is.” She sighed and turned to face me. “What about you? Ever been to Goldenrod?”
I shook my head. “Furthest west I’ve ever been was visiting relatives in Cherrygrove when I was a kid.”
She clicked her tongue. “Huh. You’ve been on your own before, though, yeah? I mean, I’d have assumed yes, but if you’re not even a real trainer…” She trailed off, smirking.
I raised an eyebrow. “Yes, I’ve been on my own.”
Starr nodded. “Good, cause I gotta go check out some shady places, and I don’t want you coming with. Wanna say we’ll meet up at the central district Pokécenter?” I was about to respond, but she had grabbed a Pokéball and opened it. The flash of light took the shape of an oversized mouse, and I immediately averted my eyes.
“You’re letting Raichu out?” I asked, all too aware of how immediately tense I’d become.
“He’s my best defense if I get jumped,” she said, a bit defensively. “I’m kinda surprised you don’t have number nine out. You still have it, right?”
My stomach curled inward on itself. “Yeah. I have him.” I hadn’t talked to him since… since the morning after it happened. Which was only two days ago, but still. I’d deliberately kept him in his ball while explaining things to my team because I’d wanted to talk to him in private. But now I needed to actually go through with that.
“Hey, wake up. You good for meeting at the central Pokécenter? I dunno what time, but probably after sundown.” She stared at me expectantly.
I shook my head to clear it. “Oh, sure.”
“Alright, see you then,” she said, giving a slight wave before turning and walking off. She made it about ten steps before she spun around and called out, “Oh yeah, avoid the west side of town!” Five more steps and she added, “Oh, and the underground!”
I chuckled a bit under my breath. That probably wouldn’t be too hard. It seemed best to just head straight to the central district and kill time there.
Bus stops lined the streets outside the train station. It wasn’t hard to find one of the iconic red and white buses that led to the Pokécenter in most towns. No license meant fishing coins out of my pocket to pay the fare (and enduring the confused looks as to why someone my age wouldn’t just pay using a license), but I’d gotten used to that by now.
Twenty minutes later, I was standing in front of largest Pokécenter I’d ever seen—several stories tall and practically covered in posters showing off new trainer tech they had available inside. The nearby buildings weren’t much different, dwarfing their surroundings and lined with signs and ads. Central district was clearly the most popular destination for both tourists and trainers, as the streets were packed with both. It would’ve been nice to be here as a tourist. To just forget everything going on with Team Rocket and get lost in the sights and sounds of the city. But then again, was there anything stopping me from doing that, at least for the afternoon? It wasn’t like I had a destination. Heck, I still hadn’t even heard back from Stalker. The only thing stopping me from enjoying myself was, as usual, myself.
So it was decided. I was here as a tourist after all. With that, I set off in a random direction, cyclists weaving around me as I vaguely followed the flow of the foot traffic. My first priority was food. The last thing I’d eaten was a simple Pokécenter breakfast with Ajia six hours ago—although it felt closer to six days ago from how much had happened. But if there was ever a place to be looking for food, this was obviously it. Restaurants and food carts were everywhere, practically lining the streets no matter where I went in Central district. And each one had a line of trainers out front too. I bought something resembling a bacon pancake (a local specialty) from a food cart and then sought out one of the many training parks in the area. I soon found one on the edge of a river that cut through the city. Trees lined the walking paths, but the fields were wide, open, and full of short-cropped grass and dirt battlefields. I sat down at a picnic bench and ate while watching a group of trainers in the closest field as they practiced a tag team attack with a Growlithe, Wooper, and Chikorita.
It wasn’t until that moment that I managed to properly appreciate the fact that I was in Johto now. Not only that, but I was on my own in the biggest city in Johto. That would’ve been completely unthinkable five months ago.
At some point, I unclipped Chibi’s black Pokéball from my belt and rolled it around in my palm. It had only been two days since the attack on Midnight. Two days. And he had spent most of that time in stasis, inside his Pokéball. It’d be crazy to expect him to have recovered at all. At least, not emotionally. But still… I needed to talk to him. No matter how much he didn’t want me to. Even if he put himself back in the ball the moment I let him out… I had to try.
I held my breath and pressed the button. A flash of light, and the Zapdos-Pikachu hybrid materialized in the grass next to me. Slowly, he opened his eyes. He didn’t look at his surroundings, or even make eye contact with me. He just stared straight ahead and said, “*What do you want?*”
“I just want to talk,” I said gently.
“*What’s the point,*” he said. It wasn’t a question. His tone made it clear that he didn’t want an answer. But I was going to give him one whether he liked it or not.
“The point is that I want to help you through this.”
For several seconds, he didn’t say anything. He just stood there, unmoving aside from his eyes flickering back and forth as he considered his words.
“*What do you think…*”—his eyes slowly slid upward to meet mine—“*you can possibly say that will make anything better?*”
I almost flinched. His eyes were cold and dead, devoid of any energy. I took a deep breath to steel myself and said, “Nothing. I can’t fix this. I know that.”
“*Then why bother?*”
I swallowed hard. “Because I don’t want you to suffer through this all by yourself?” I said, trying to keep the edge out of my voice. “You suffered alone for how many years because they took him? I can’t let you go through that again.”
The Pikachu bristled. “*It’s none of your business.*”
“Of course it is,” I said, gripping my knees tightly. “You’re a part of my team. I’m not just going to ignore you. Not when I need to be there for you.”
He paused, flattening his ears. “*If you’re worried about whether or not I’ll still fight for you—*”
“You know that’s not what I’m worried about.”
“*—I’ll do it. I’ll fight.*”
My mouth hung open. That was completely not the answer I’d been expecting. “I’m… I’m not just going to throw you into danger while you’re like this.”
“*I can let myself out.*”
I put a hand to my forehead slowly, trying my hardest not to let the exasperation show. This wasn’t right. I was supposed to be comforting him, not getting frustrated with him.
“*I have to fight them,*” Chibi said, suddenly fixing me with a serious glare. “*Don’t you see? That’s why I exist.*”
My throat clenched up. “That’s… not true. I know we’re still going to be fighting them, but that’s not your purpose. You don’t have to—”
“*I called Razors a coward,*” he said, eyes wide and desperate. “*I accused him of hiding from the fight while the rest of us risked our lives. That’s the last thing I said to him before he died. That’s why he put himself at risk like that.*” He was shaking all over, fur standing on end. “*It’s my fault. I did this. It’s my fault,*” he muttered over and over to himself.
“It’s not—”
“*If I can’t hold myself to what I said to him, then what am I worth? I have to fight them. They have to pay. It’s the only reason I’m still here.*”
I exhaled slowly. “Don’t do this. You don’t have to live for revenge. He’d… he’d have wanted you to live for yourself.”
“*Don’t you dare try to say what he’d want,*” the hybrid snapped, suddenly livid. He jabbed his tail at me and said, “*I joined you because I knew it would give me the opportunity to fight them. That’s the only reason. And if that changes, then I have no reason to stay with you. I don’t need you. Don’t try to stop me.*”
He swung his tail around to hit his Pokéball and dissolved into it. I sat there, completely dumbstruck, staring at the place where he’d been as a burning pain wormed its way through my chest.
I didn’t feel like watching any of the trainers in the park anymore.
It was past 5 when I made my way back to the central Pokécenter, and the sun had already set, leaving the sky streaked with the red glow of twilight. The surrounding hadn’t darkened, though—far from it. Between the glow of the nearly-full moon and the overwhelming glare of the huge billboards and screens that lined the buildings, Goldenrod was somehow just as bright and lively as it had been a few hours ago. That fact was comforting. It was hard to imagine getting ambushed by Rockets in a place like this.
I was about to walk inside the Pokécenter when someone waving caught my eye in my peripheral vision. It was Starr, seated at one of the benches out front, although I almost didn’t recognize her. She’d gotten a haircut—shorter than it was before—and completely changed her outfit. She was now dressed in a leather jacket with gray leggings and a dark violet skirt. Her signature oversized combat boots were gone, replaced with lighter, lace-up boots.
“You look… really different,” I said as I walked up.
“Yeah? Well, that’s the idea. Make it harder for any Rockets to recognize me from a distance.” She paused for a bit, then added, “I think this is the first time you haven’t flinched when you saw me. First time in recent memory, anyway.”
I winced. “Really?” I hadn’t realized I’d been doing that.
“Yeah. I… I’m glad,” she said, glancing away.
It made sense. I’d hardly just be able to turn that instinct off. The instinct that associated her with nothing but pain and misery. The part of my mind that still couldn’t understand how she’d done those things.
“So, uh… no luck on the license,” Starr went on awkwardly. “This would be so much easier if I could just hit the underground, but that place is practically owned by Rockets.” She muttered some miscellaneous obscenities regarding the Johto force before continuing with, “With my luck, this’d be the one time they actually got their sorry asses in gear and came through on a hit issued by the Kanto force.”
Yet another weird bit of internal Rocket politics that I had no real say in.
“Whatever. No Pokécenter tonight, so we’ll have to stay at a hotel,” she said, standing up and motioning to me. “Come on, I know a few on the west side of town that don’t ask for ID.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said to avoid the west side of town.”
“Yeah, well, you got me with you now,” she said bluntly.
It was hard to argue with that. She did know way more about this city than I did. It was a strange thought, but I glad to have her by my side.
“Probably better that we stay away from the Pokécenter,” Starr went on. “Place’ll be crawling with kids. We’d stand out pretty bad. Or at least, I would.” She flashed a smirk at me from over her shoulder.
I rolled my eyes. She was really dredging up that old joke? “I’m almost fifteen. You can’t call me a little kid forever.”
“Watch me.”
And for that moment, even just a tiny bit, it felt like old times.
That good feeling didn’t last. Not with my dreams dragging me back into the Rocket base, just like they had in the week following my capture. Maybe it had something to do with us staying in a tiny hotel room in the shadiest part of town. Or maybe it was falling asleep and being completely vulnerable in the same room as the person who’d tortured me. Either way, the night was an endless chain of sinking into a shallow, restless sleep, only to be jolted out of it minutes later. I kept seeing Astrid standing over me, and she’d tell me it was all a trick, and that I was a naïve idiot to have ever believed that she could change. Then she’d snap her fingers and suddenly Raichu would appear, only this time he’d grin stupidly as his electricity tore me apart. Sometimes Mewtwo was there, and he’d clench his fingers together and I’d feel an unbearable pressure from all sides, forcing the air from my lungs and crushing my bones with a sickening crunch. And I’d be certain that I’d died, only to feel another string of lightning shoot through my heart.
Sometimes the experiments were there too, and Stygian would give me a look of cold disgust while Aros would laugh and say, “I told you so.” Chibi would scold me and say that I wasn’t any use to him dead, and then he’d leave, and I’d try to run after him only to abruptly realize that my legs didn’t work anymore. Then I’d blink, and I’d be back in the hotel room, and I could feel my pulse, but my limbs still wouldn’t move, and for some reason Astrid was still there, standing across the room, glaring at me. But then I’d blink again, and she’d be in bed, asleep. And I’d be left with a sickly feeling of unease worming through my insides until I rolled over and buried myself in the blankets and started the whole thing all over again.
I didn’t mention any of it the next morning. Not when we got ready for the day, or when we rode the bus back to the central district. When Starr joked that I looked like a zombie, I just replied that the bed was uncomfortable. And then we parted ways at the Pokécenter, and I was left to wander the city with my thoughts still stuck in the twisted mess of nightmares and the realization that it would be impossible to just erase the memories of what she’d done. No matter how badly I wanted to.
The rest of the day passed by in a dull haze. I wandered through department stores looking at items I couldn’t buy and stumbled across more parks where I debated training but found that I wasn’t up to it. I spent hours arguing with myself over whether or not it was worth it to talk to Starr about it, and at the end of those hours, I was no closer to having an answer, so I wound up just asking Swift.
“*Of course you should tell her,*” he had said. “*She joined you for a reason.*”
And in a way, I had already known he would say that. But actually hearing it from him still helped. So before the afternoon was over, I made my way back to the Pokécenter early and waited out front for Starr.
She returned before sundown, disembarking a bus that had come from somewhere that wasn’t part of the typical trainer circuit. From the look on her face, I could already guess that her search had gone better today than it had yesterday.
“Guess what?” she asked sitting down next to me. “Got lucky and found a guy who was able set me up with a new trainer ID. Gonna take him a few days to get around some of the League checks, but it should be good to go after that. Won’t be able to use it to enter any official tournaments or the like. But for everyday use it should be fine. Nice to finally have things go right for a change.”
My chest tightened. Great, now I was going to ruin her good mood. But I couldn’t ignore this. Not if I wanted to travel with her without turning into a ball of nerves all the time.
“Hey, um… can we talk?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
I gripped the edge of the bench so hard my knuckles turned white. “I can’t stop thinking about that night in the detention cell.”
Starr’s face fell immediately. “I really don’t want to talk about that,” she said, glancing away.
“I need to talk about it,” I forced myself to say. “Maybe you can brush it aside or pretend it didn’t happen but I don’t have that luxury.”
Starr flinched, like the words were a slap to the face. She turned away, screwing her eyes shut. Slowly, like she hated every word: “Right. Say what you want to say, I guess.”
I really only had one question. One single, burning question that consumed my thoughts and made it impossible to think about anything else. I took a deep breath and said, “I, just… why? Every single time we ran into each other, it’s like you were dead-set on seeing me suffer. I don’t get it. You said you had to keep the others from suspecting you, but… why’d it have to involve that?”
I didn’t want to be angry at her—not after everything we’d been through yesterday. But dammit, that wasn’t the kind of thing I could just forget. I’d tried.
Starr couldn’t look me in the eye—she just stared downward for the longest time, looking absolutely miserable. “I was afraid they were going to kill you,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “I couldn’t make the same mistakes I made with Ajia. I couldn’t take the risk that anyone would find out that we knew each other. I thought if I put on a good show and got you to confess, then maybe no one would care if I let you go after we finished off the rebel team.”
I winced. It hurt to hear her talk about the death of my teammates with such… casual language.
Starr buried her face in her palms. “I didn’t care if you hated me, or if you never wanted to see me again… I just wanted you to live.” She paused, dragging her nails against her forehead as she balled her hands into fists. “I know that doesn’t fix anything. I know I can never take it back, no matter how badly I want to. That was… the most painful thing I’ve ever done.”
I stifled the urge to sarcastically reply that it had been more painful for me. Because the truth was… I didn’t envy her. The idea of being forced to torture someone I cared about without breaking character… it was nauseating.
Starr finally pulled her face out of her hands, staring brokenly into the distance. “I could have betrayed them sooner,” she said bitterly, her words dripping with self-loathing. “I could have refused, taken you, and tried to escape. It’s just… I’ve seen what happens to those who betray Team Rocket—I’ve done it to traitors myself. I was a scared, selfish idiot, so I did what I’ve always done and just buried it all away.” She swallowed hard and inhaled deeply. “But… I’m glad you and Ajia didn’t give up on me. I still hate the way she tricked me, but…”—she exhaled slowly—“it’s better this way.”
I was silent for a long while. I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t even sure what kind of answer I’d been hoping for.
“There’s still a part of me that’s afraid of you,” I admitted.
She closed her eyes. “Yeah, I know.”
“I do still want to start over,” I added quickly. “It’s just… going to be harder than I thought.”
“That’s fine. It’s the best I can hope for.” She stared downward for a few seconds, then abruptly stood up. “Hey, how about we get something to eat? My treat.”
“You’ve been paying for everything this entire trip,” I mumbled. I still hadn’t puzzled out how I felt about that.
“Yeah, well, I’ve got a lot of lost time to make up for. Five years?” she asked, offering a hand to me.
I stared at it for a long time. Then my eyes slowly slid upward to meet hers. That wasn’t the face of someone who just wanted to brush aside my pain or act like it never happened. Not by a long shot.
“Yeah. That sounds good,” I said, taking her hand.
Dinner was nice. Starr led the way down a maze of side streets to some backroad full of restaurants that would have been impossible to find unless you were looking for it. I ordered what ended up being the best bowl of noodles I’d ever had, and we swapped stories about our early training days. Stories like the time when Starr’s Totodile and Ponyta refused to train together. Or the time when I’d used Swift against Sandshrew and had forgotten what moves Pidgey could use. Her stories were from five years ago and mine were only from four months ago, but mine might as well have been from five years ago, that’s how distant they felt.
At some point around the end of the meal, it occurred to me that I hadn’t checked my R-com ever since we’d left for Goldenrod. I fished it out of my bag and turned it on to see that I’d gotten two texts yesterday. Around the time Starr and I had been on the train, from the looks of it. I tapped the first one and read:
Hey, Rudy said more than five words to me today so that’s progress. Btw, where’d you go? You sorta just vanished, lol. Went to get your license I’m guessing? When you getting back?
Oh my god, I’d forgotten about Rudy and Darren. I’d completely ditched them without saying a word, and then forgot about them for three days. Granted, three absurdly stressful and eventful days, but still.
“You shouldn’t use that,” Starr said, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Get a Pokégear.”
“Yeah, with what money,” I said flatly.
“I’ll get you one then, just don’t use that. They can track—” Her eyes went wide, and she fixed me with a skeptical glare. “Wait, hang on. If the rebels all had legit Rocket accounts, why didn’t we ever have a record of you guys spending time on Midnight Island? I had my people check the new recruits, too. They all came back clean, nothing suspicious.”
“Stalker told us he tampered with the trackers in our R-coms,” I replied.
She smacked her forehead. “Of course.”
I went back to the texts. The second one was from a number I didn’t recognize. Intrigued, I tapped on it. My eyes widened instantly. It was from Stalker.
I can’t tell you my current location. However, I can meet with you if you’d like.
My heart jumped into my throat. This was the first I’d heard from Stalker since the night of the attack. Finally, I’d be able to talk to him and figure out what I was going to do from now on.
“Where do you want to meet? I’m in Goldenrod right now,” I typed back immediately, my fingers flying across the screen. Did he have his R-com on him at the moment? How long would I have to wait for a reply? The next few seconds seemed to drag on for ages. Until finally:
Johto National Park. West Garden. One hour.
Johto National Park… that was nearby, wasn’t it? I brought up the GPS app (it loaded lightning fast—a perk of being in Goldenrod?) and checked it out. Just north of the city. Perfect—wouldn’t take more than twenty minutes to get there by flying.
“Mind sharing what you’re reading over there?” Starr asked dryly.
I glanced up to see a rather unamused look on her face. Okay, so maybe staring at an R-com while we were trying to move past the time she spent on Team Rocket was a little tasteless.
“Uh. Just talking with a friend. We’re planning to meet up at the Johto National Park.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Who?”
I sucked in a breath. She definitely wasn’t going to like the answer. I could have just lied. But I didn’t really want to do that. I wanted things to be more open between us. But at the same time, why did it have to be this?
I exhaled slowly and said, “Stalker.”
Her eyes widened instantly. “You’re meeting the rebel team leader?” she asked in a low tone, leaning forward across the table to stare at me face to face. “Who is he?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why do you ask?”
“Because that asshole was the bane of my existence for months. I’ve got to know.” I gave her an unimpressed stare. She threw her hands up and said, “Come on, it’s not like I can turn him in now.”
“Well, I don’t know who he is anyway,” I said matter-of-factly, leaning back against my seat.
Starr snorted. “He really didn’t tell you his name? Some leader. He must have really trusted you guys.”
“He didn’t tell us so we couldn’t have that kind of info forced out of us,” I muttered without thinking.
Starr froze, looking like she’d just been slapped. She blinked a few times, then turned away sharply and said, “Right. Whatever… just go.”
I frowned. “Now?”
“Yes, now,” she said without looking back at me. “I’m covering the bill anyway, so there’s no reason for you to stick around. I’ll be at the same Pokécenter as before.”
I sat there for several seconds, still processing the turn the conversation had just taken. Finally, I grabbed my backpack, stood up from the booth, and walked out the door. It wasn’t until I got a few steps away from the diner that I really stopped and thought about what I’d said. And… alright, maybe I was too harsh, especially since we were making an effort to heal the bad blood between us. But honestly, I wasn’t gonna deal with that Rocket crap after everything we’d been through. Not anymore.
I wandered around until I found a park that doubled as a takeoff and landing point for flying Pokémon. From there, Aros and I took to the skies, and within minutes we were soaring over the city, the buildings below us glowing golden in the light of the setting sun. The crisp November air swept over us as we flew north of the city. I was glad that it was November. October had… well, it had sucked. Not to mention my birthday was coming up. Something about the idea of not being fourteen anymore sounded extremely appealing, and I couldn’t wait for that day to come.
Eventually the buildings of the city gave way to open fields, and I spotted the National Park in the distance. It would’ve been hard to miss the iconic Pokéball shape that its trails formed through the grass. I pointed Aros in the direction of the west garden, and the dragon spiraled down to land. And then I waited for Stalker to arrive. He’d requested that we meet in an hour, but with how quickly I’d left the diner, I’d gotten there far earlier than I needed to. But that was fine. I found an empty picnic table and sat down, watching bug Pokémon flit in and out of the tall grass as the sky slowly darkened and the majority of the park’s visitors left.
And then I heard the sound of heavy wingbeats. My pulse quickened, and I glanced around hurriedly until I caught sight of a Pokémon flying high above the park—broad-winged, orange, and flame-tailed. And on its back was a trainer.
“It’s really you,” I said, standing up from the bench as Charizard landed in front of me and Stalker dismounted her. Part of me was having a hard time believing it. Last time I’d seen him, he’d been desperately flying off into the night sky, closely pursued by Moltres.
He recalled Charizard and turned to face me, taking a few steps forward. “How have you been?”
I bit my tongue. If that wasn’t the hardest question to answer right now, I didn’t know what was. So much had happened in such a short amount of time. I was still pretty sure that it was all going to hit me in the face at once.
“This has probably been the hardest week of my life,” I admitted.
Stalker nodded. “I’m not surprised. I only wish it hadn’t been necessary for me to leave.”
My mouth went dry. Did he have any idea how hard it was for us to make it through the aftermath of the attack without him? For four months, we’d looked up to him and relied on him for everything, and then he was suddenly gone with only a text message telling us that he was even alive.
“Why didn’t you come back?”
He gave me a pointed look. The hurt in my voice clearly hadn’t escaped him. “I’m a huge target. That night proved as much—approaching the rebels in that situation would have been a death sentence. For them as well as me.”
I’d known that all along. Part of me had just hoped that there was more to it than that.
“You’re one of only a few rebels to contact me, you know that?” he said.
Probably because I didn’t have a choice. My identity had been compromised. It wasn’t safe to return home. Not to mention everything that happened with Starr in the Viridian base. Even the boss himself knew my name now.
“Yeah. I believe it,” I said flatly. “I can’t go back to my old life, so I might as well make the best of this one.” I couldn’t help but get the feeling that his eyes were carefully analyzing my every reaction—almost like being x-rayed. It was a little unnerving, so I decided to turn the conversation back to him. “What about you? What have you been doing? You know, now that the Rebellion’s over.”
“Lots of catching up on things,” he replied. “I’ve been busy ever since I got here. But it’s nice to finally be back in my home region.”
“You’re from Johto?” I asked. For some reason, it had never occurred to me to ask where he was originally from. He didn’t have much of a Johto accent either, so I never would have guessed.
Stalker nodded. “It was convenient that you came to Goldenrod. It’s not far from where I live.”
I shuffled a foot against the dirt. “Huh. I had no idea. I was only there because a friend suggested it,” I said. But then I was suddenly struck by how strange that was. “So, hang on… why didn’t you run the Rebellion from Johto? Have us infiltrate the Johto force instead?”
“That’s actually what I hoped to talk to you about,” he said, the corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly. “You see, I needed to weaken the Kanto force.”
I tilted my head. “Wait, really? But… both halves of Team Rocket are working together toward the same goal, right? What’s the difference?”
“The Kanto force is the real threat in this situation,” he said matter-of-factly. “They invented the Legendary control technology. They created Mewtwo.”
Mewtwo. I hadn’t told him yet!
“Mewtwo’s been freed,” I immediately replied, feeling my heart swell a bit with pride. Sure, Ajia had been behind most of it, but still.
Stalker’s eyes lit up. “I heard. And I can’t thank you enough.”
“Wait, what?” I asked, taken aback. “You heard?”
“The news spread like wildfire. Mewtwo caused a great deal of damage to the Viridian base before it was forced to flee,” he explained. “I don’t know if you’ve realized this, but freeing Mewtwo was probably the most important thing that’s happened in the entire fight against Team Rocket. More important that all the other missions combined.”
I paused. There was definitely something strange about the way he’d said that. Almost like he’d been planning the Mewtwo mission all along.
“Did… did you create the Rebellion specifically to free Mewtwo?” I asked.
Stalker blinked, gazing at me curiously, as though the thought had never really occurred to him. “It’s hard to say. I didn’t know much about number thirty-six back then. But I can’t help feeling like it was always our most important task.”
I don’t think I could have given him a more weirded-out expression. But before I could say anything, his eyes slid past me, and he chuckled. “Well, this is unexpected. I think we’re being watched.”
I jolted. What? Someone was watching us? And he wasn’t concerned by that? I whirled around to look in the direction he was facing. And then my jaw fell open when I saw who it was.
“Starr?! What are you doing here?!” I blinked a few times, half-expecting my mind to be playing tricks on me. But no, it was really her standing there, half-hidden in the bushes, watching us. Her arrival was so completely random that I was having a hard time processing it. How had she even gotten here? I had flown but it would’ve taken way longer to get here any other way.
For several seconds, she didn’t say anything. She just stood there, staring at me like she was having just as hard a time figuring out why I was here. Finally, in a low tone of voice, she said, “Jade, what are you doing with him?”
I scowled, taking several steps toward her. “Come on, don’t change the subject. Were you seriously that desperate to find out who Stalker is?”
“He’s Stalker?!” she exclaimed, staring at me incredulously. She threw a glare at Stalker, and he nodded softly. And then she broke into a fit of manic giggles.
“He’s Stalker. He’s Stalker. Oh man, I knew it had to be one of the creeps from the Johto Resistance, but him?!” What the hell was she talking about? Did she know him?
Starr forced herself to regain control of her breathing, wiping her eyes as she shook her head in disbelief. “Jade, do you have any idea who the hell you’re standing next to? That’s Sebastian Shepard, the fucking commander of the Johto combat unit.”
~ Chapter 26: The Johto Force~
A sharp autumn wind cut through the air, tossing my hair into my face and forcing me to hold it back. I was seated on a bench in the middle of a training park in southern Viridian—the only familiar sight I’d allowed myself throughout this entire ordeal surrounding the Viridian base. Rudy and I always used to come here to watch matches between kids older than us—or rather, older than him—who had already started their journeys. In the summer, it was so popular that battles often cropped up over who could train on which field—with the field at the top of the hill at the center of the park being the most heavily contested spot. We’d make meaningless bets on the combatants and excitedly call out whenever anyone sent out a Pokémon that was definitely going on our team someday.
It was a place full of memories from a time when the biggest concern in my life was whether or not I’d finally pass the training exam and be able to join that world. It was also the place where I’d decided to break the news to my Pokémon regarding what had just happened not more than an hour ago. And where I’d received pretty much exactly the response I’d been expecting:
“*You’re kidding.*”
They didn’t even need to say anything—the reaction was plain from their faces and body language. Aros flared his wings like the news was a personal attack. Stygian drew herself back, eyes narrowed, claws digging into the dirt. Swift cocked his head to the side, his gaze soft but concerned. Firestorm stared downward, more confused than upset, although he couldn’t keep his tail flame from crackling in agitation.
Yep, couldn’t say I was surprised at all.
“*Say it again,*” Stygian said, her voice low and dangerous.
I took a deep breath. “The head of the combat unit betrayed Team Rocket and joined our side.”
The dark-type’s piercing, crimson eyes dug into me. “*And it hasn’t remotely occurred to you that this is a trap?*”
Of course it hadn’t. Because the idea of it being a trap was completely absurd. My right eye twitched, and I fought to keep a stern face as I said, “Did you miss the part where I said the boss himself has rejected her?” The Absol gave a dismissive huff and turned away sharply.
“*So what if she’s a traitor now?*” Aros growled, baring his teeth. “*I’m more concerned with all the shit she’s pulled in the past.*” My eyes couldn’t help tracing all the faint marks on the dragon’s scales from where Starr’s Arcanine had viciously torn through him not even a month ago.
“I’m not asking you to forgive all of that stuff,” I said plainly. Hell, I wasn’t so sure if I’d forgiven any of it yet, even if I did want to move past it. “I just want you not to attack her on sight.”
“*She attacked us first,*” the Flygon shot back, lashing his tail from side to side.
“*Many of our allies have attacked us. Chibi tried to kill us when we first met him,*” Swift chirped, obviously trying his hardest to sound calm and measured. Maybe a bit too hard, but the effort was appreciated.
Aros tilted his head, antennae twitching. “*Was he even sane at the time?*”
Swift paused, shifting his wings a bit. “*I suppose not.*”
The Flygon snorted in a ‘well, there you go’ sort of way.
“*She didn’t just attack us,*” Firestorm spoke up suddenly before fixing me with a serious look. “*She attacked you. That doesn’t make any sense, if you say she was your old friend.*”
I groaned, rubbing my eyelids in frustration. “Look, I know this sounds weird as hell. But you guys weren’t there. You can’t imagine what it was like. She risked her life to help me and Ajia. She was… she was willing to throw her life away rather than betray us,” I said, feeling my throat clench up from the memory of it.
No one had an easy retort for that. Aros opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but decided against it. Firestorm made eye contact with me, his brow furrowed. Skeptically at first, but then slowly relaxing into something more… uncertain.
“*She risked her life for you…?*” the fire lizard asked.
I nodded as forcefully as I could, hoping that as least some of that force would show how adamant I was about this. “Yes. Definitely.”
The four Pokémon shot confused glances at each other. The head of the combat unit, risking herself for me. Even I had to admit it sounded strange.
“*I still think you’re insane,*” Aros said, folding his wings.
I closed my eyes. “I know.”
“*If this bites you in the ass, I’m not saving you.*”
“That’s fine,” I said, standing up from the bench and stretching my legs. I walked a few steps and then pivoted to face the others. “I’m gonna go back and talk to her now. I’ll let you know if anything else comes up.” With that, I recalled them.
Good thing I’d decided to have that conversation with them away from Starr. Not that I could really blame any of them for having that reaction. After all the things she’d done… A shiver ran through me, and I suppressed the memory. Didn’t want to think about any of that now.
I cast one last wistful glance around the park before turning and walking down the trail in the direction I’d originally come. On the other side of the park, Starr was doing much that same as I had done—informing her Pokémon of what had just happened. Which was far more important for her team than it was for mine, considering that her entire life was going to be different now.
She’d removed her hat, vest and gloves, all of which made her Rocket status pretty obvious. I shivered again upon seeing her sitting there in a tank top, but she didn’t seem too bothered by the cold. Then again, she was surrounded by fire-types.
“Need me to come back later?” I asked upon seeing that she was still in the middle of talking to her team.
Starr glanced in my direction. “No, I’m pretty much done,” she said, motioning for me to join her.
My eyes swept over her Pokémon warily as I stepped forward into their midst. Feraligatr jerked its head upward, leering suspiciously the entire time. Arcanine, on the other hand, refused to look at me—the firedog kept its hateful gaze firmly on a tree further down the trail, as though it were trying to set it on fire with just its eyes. Flareon glanced around at the others uneasily, folding its ears back and swishing its fluffy tail from side to side. Rapidash stood calmly off to the side, eyes closed and flames flickering gently in the wind. Raichu… I could hardly look at Raichu without feeling sick, so I didn’t.
At least not until the electric-type dashed up to me and I almost flew out of my skin.
“*So you’re not the enemy anymore!*” the mouse said cheerfully. Oh god why.
“*She’s not the enemy anymore because she pushed our trainer to treachery. Don’t forget that,*” Feraligatr growled.
“*I know that, I heard what Starr said,*” Raichu said, puffing out his cheeks in a pout.
“Alright, easy with the growling, Feraligatr,” Starr said, giving the water-type a stern look. The gator immediately stopped glaring and stood at attention.
Starr motioned for me to sit and I did, slowly relaxing onto the bench next to her, but keeping a wary eye on all of her Pokémon. Especially that one.
“I told them what’s up. They’ll, uh…”—she made eye contact with Feraligatr—“they’ll get used to it.” She hesitated a few seconds, then took a deep breath and added, “I’ll get used to it.”
“Might take a while for my team to do the same,” I admitted. “In the meantime, it’s… probably best if I not let them out around you.”
Feraligatr scoffed at my words. “*Might not like any of this, but wouldn’t ever disobey a direct order. Not much of a trainer, are you?*”
I bristled. There was something bizarre about being insulted by a Pokémon claiming I didn’t have enough control over my team. Granted… I really didn’t, but that was none of its business.
And then Raichu jumped into my lap and every muscle in my body tensed up instantly and every thought dissolved into a torrent of oh god, oh god, get him off, get him off.
“*I think it will be fun being on the same side,*” the mouse said, cocking his head to the side. “*Even if I don’t get to act scary anymore.*” God, why’d he have to talk like that, all bubbly and friendly like he wasn’t Starr’s torture Pokémon of choice. Didn’t he remember what she’d had him do to me?
“Does—does he have to sit here?” I stammered, desperately attempting to force my facial expression into something neutral even as every instinct devolved into an endless loop of nope.
“No, he doesn’t,” Starr said flatly, giving the electric-type an unimpressed stare—he instantly jumped over to her lap and I could breathe again. Raichu sat there drumming his paws on Starr’s arm and giving playful flicks of his tail, all while continuing to fix me with an oblivious grin. I looked away. That was really not the sort of thing I felt like dealing with right now. Maybe later. Or never.
“It’s still hard to believe that all of that actually happened,” Starr said distantly, staring at the clouded sky. “Part of me still thinks it’s a dream, and I’m gonna wake up and be back in my room. Part of me still wants that to be the case,” she added with a hollow laugh.
I clenched my teeth and glanced away. It was only natural for her to feel conflicted about it. But it was still an uncomfortable thought—imagining what would have happened if she hadn’t turned her back on Team Rocket.
“But this is real,” she went on. “I’m a traitor now. The thing I’ve spent the last five years hating with all my guts.” She sighed deeply. “Can’t afford to get caught now, so I’ve started thinking about what I’ve gotta do from now on,” she said, gesturing to a duffel bag on the ground by her feet. “I already pulled all the money out of my bank account. The team has that on record, so the last thing I need is them tracking me that way.” I blinked at it, taking more than a few seconds to realize that it was packed full of cash. When had she had time to do that?
“It’s gonna suck carrying so much cash around, but anyone stupid enough to try and rob me deserves what’s coming to them.” She scoffed at the thought. But then her expression hardened. “What I’m actually worried about is my license. They have contacts in the Pokémon League. They could have my trainer ID flagged for anything—and odds are it’ll be something I’ve actually done, too,” she added with a grimace. I didn’t even want to think about how long her list of arrestable offences probably was.
“I could always get a new ID under the table, but all the providers I know have ties to Rockets,” Starr said, setting Raichu on the ground and then leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. “We’ve got the region’s black market on lockdown, pretty much, so any rival dealers are gonna be hard to track down. Maybe we could take a quick trip to another region? Figure out who runs the show there…?” She shot an inquisitive look my way as though hoping to see what I thought of that idea. But I just stared at her blankly.
Starr raised an eyebrow at my clueless response. “What? It’s not that hard if you know what to look for. There are a lot of tells. Like if you go up to a shop and they’ve got—”
“You sure know a lot about this kind of stuff.” The words were out of my mouth before I’d really thought them through.
Starr paused, blinking. A crooked grin slowly crossed her face, and she gave a slight laugh. “Come on, I’m—I was an executive. I know there’s that stereotype that combat unit execs are only good at bashing skulls in, but we had to know our stuff too.”
“Mm,” was the only response I gave to that, shuffling a foot awkwardly against the dirt. The less I thought about combat unit execs bashing skulls in, the better.
Starr leaned back against the bench, crossing her arms behind her head. “Anyway, point is, it might take me awhile to get a new license, so I won’t be able to book us a Pokécenter room. The real question is whether your ID was compromised,” she said, giving me a sideways glance.
I snorted. “Well that’d be hard considering I don’t have one.”
It took several seconds for the full implications of what I said to hit her. But it was obvious when it did—her eyes snapped open and she suddenly turned to face me, one eyebrow raised as high as it would go. “You’re joking.”
I just responded with a deadpan stare. Slowly, her face split into an incredulous smirk, until she finally burst out laughing.
“Seriously, you’ve been training Pokémon illegally this whole time? Oh man, that’s rich!”
I felt my cheeks go red. “Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m an idiot.”
“No, I’m serious, I’m legit impressed,” she said, elbowing me. “I never would’ve expected that from you.”
I shoved my hands in my pockets. “Yeah, well, I only got this far because of the Rebellion’s resources. I never would’ve been able to do it on my own.”
“Okay, okay, that’s fair. Still hilarious though. Anyway, let’s hit Goldenrod first. It might be a Rocket hotspot, but it’s also frickin’ huge, so I think I have a decent shot of finding what I need there.”
I shrugged. “Fine with me. But how should we get there? Flying?” Starr didn’t have any flying Pokémon, to my knowledge. We could both probably fit on Aros? But that’d be pushing him too hard, especially for long-distance flight. Not to mention he didn’t trust her at all.
Fortunately, Starr cut down that train of thought immediately. “Hell no, do you have any idea how far that is? We’re taking the bullet train.”
I blanched. “All the way to Goldenrod? Aren’t the tickets like 10,000 pyen?”
Starr gave me a look that plainly said I was an idiot while gesturing both hands at the duffel bag full of money.
“Eh… right.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been years since the last time I’d ridden a high-speed bullet train. While the southern Pokansen line wasn’t near as fast as the northern line that ran directly from Saffron to Goldenrod in an hour, it had the perk of making additional stops, one of which was near Viridian. Starr bought the tickets, and we boarded the train, where I wasted no time in finding a seat to collapse into. Honestly, I was just plain exhausted. I hadn’t exactly slept much the previous night because of the looming anxiety of the Mewtwo mission, and I’d been running on fumes ever since the adrenaline from the mission had worn off. I wound up sleeping through most of the trip. Not like I missed out on much scenery. The forests on the southern edge of the Tohjo Mountains were gorgeous most of the year, but by now they’d lost most of their leaves, leaving the surrounding draped in shades of brown and gray. And it was too foggy to see Mt. Silver anyway.
Three hours later, I awoke to Starr grabbing my shoulder and shaking it to pull me out of a shallow half-sleep. I blinked groggily, taking more than a few seconds to realize that the train had stopped and almost all the other passengers had already left. I grabbed my bag and followed her off the train and onto a huge, densely-packed platform. Starr led the way through the station, weaving around the crowds effortlessly while I trailed after her. And then we set foot outside onto the streets of Goldenrod.
Sunlight glimmered off the windows of the tall buildings around us. The dreary fog we’d left behind in Viridian had been replaced with an impossibly bright sky, forcing me to shield my eyes the moment we were outside. Or at least until we walked under the shadows of the huge arches supporting the overhead railways. No longer blinded, I could instead focus on the sounds of nearby traffic and the chattering crowds and overhead planes. I’d barely been here five minutes and I was already certain this was the busiest city I’d ever been to.
“Man, it has been a while since I’ve been here,” Starr said, stretching widely. “Course, the last time I was on vacation, not… whatever this is.” She sighed and turned to face me. “What about you? Ever been to Goldenrod?”
I shook my head. “Furthest west I’ve ever been was visiting relatives in Cherrygrove when I was a kid.”
She clicked her tongue. “Huh. You’ve been on your own before, though, yeah? I mean, I’d have assumed yes, but if you’re not even a real trainer…” She trailed off, smirking.
I raised an eyebrow. “Yes, I’ve been on my own.”
Starr nodded. “Good, cause I gotta go check out some shady places, and I don’t want you coming with. Wanna say we’ll meet up at the central district Pokécenter?” I was about to respond, but she had grabbed a Pokéball and opened it. The flash of light took the shape of an oversized mouse, and I immediately averted my eyes.
“You’re letting Raichu out?” I asked, all too aware of how immediately tense I’d become.
“He’s my best defense if I get jumped,” she said, a bit defensively. “I’m kinda surprised you don’t have number nine out. You still have it, right?”
My stomach curled inward on itself. “Yeah. I have him.” I hadn’t talked to him since… since the morning after it happened. Which was only two days ago, but still. I’d deliberately kept him in his ball while explaining things to my team because I’d wanted to talk to him in private. But now I needed to actually go through with that.
“Hey, wake up. You good for meeting at the central Pokécenter? I dunno what time, but probably after sundown.” She stared at me expectantly.
I shook my head to clear it. “Oh, sure.”
“Alright, see you then,” she said, giving a slight wave before turning and walking off. She made it about ten steps before she spun around and called out, “Oh yeah, avoid the west side of town!” Five more steps and she added, “Oh, and the underground!”
I chuckled a bit under my breath. That probably wouldn’t be too hard. It seemed best to just head straight to the central district and kill time there.
Bus stops lined the streets outside the train station. It wasn’t hard to find one of the iconic red and white buses that led to the Pokécenter in most towns. No license meant fishing coins out of my pocket to pay the fare (and enduring the confused looks as to why someone my age wouldn’t just pay using a license), but I’d gotten used to that by now.
Twenty minutes later, I was standing in front of largest Pokécenter I’d ever seen—several stories tall and practically covered in posters showing off new trainer tech they had available inside. The nearby buildings weren’t much different, dwarfing their surroundings and lined with signs and ads. Central district was clearly the most popular destination for both tourists and trainers, as the streets were packed with both. It would’ve been nice to be here as a tourist. To just forget everything going on with Team Rocket and get lost in the sights and sounds of the city. But then again, was there anything stopping me from doing that, at least for the afternoon? It wasn’t like I had a destination. Heck, I still hadn’t even heard back from Stalker. The only thing stopping me from enjoying myself was, as usual, myself.
So it was decided. I was here as a tourist after all. With that, I set off in a random direction, cyclists weaving around me as I vaguely followed the flow of the foot traffic. My first priority was food. The last thing I’d eaten was a simple Pokécenter breakfast with Ajia six hours ago—although it felt closer to six days ago from how much had happened. But if there was ever a place to be looking for food, this was obviously it. Restaurants and food carts were everywhere, practically lining the streets no matter where I went in Central district. And each one had a line of trainers out front too. I bought something resembling a bacon pancake (a local specialty) from a food cart and then sought out one of the many training parks in the area. I soon found one on the edge of a river that cut through the city. Trees lined the walking paths, but the fields were wide, open, and full of short-cropped grass and dirt battlefields. I sat down at a picnic bench and ate while watching a group of trainers in the closest field as they practiced a tag team attack with a Growlithe, Wooper, and Chikorita.
It wasn’t until that moment that I managed to properly appreciate the fact that I was in Johto now. Not only that, but I was on my own in the biggest city in Johto. That would’ve been completely unthinkable five months ago.
At some point, I unclipped Chibi’s black Pokéball from my belt and rolled it around in my palm. It had only been two days since the attack on Midnight. Two days. And he had spent most of that time in stasis, inside his Pokéball. It’d be crazy to expect him to have recovered at all. At least, not emotionally. But still… I needed to talk to him. No matter how much he didn’t want me to. Even if he put himself back in the ball the moment I let him out… I had to try.
I held my breath and pressed the button. A flash of light, and the Zapdos-Pikachu hybrid materialized in the grass next to me. Slowly, he opened his eyes. He didn’t look at his surroundings, or even make eye contact with me. He just stared straight ahead and said, “*What do you want?*”
“I just want to talk,” I said gently.
“*What’s the point,*” he said. It wasn’t a question. His tone made it clear that he didn’t want an answer. But I was going to give him one whether he liked it or not.
“The point is that I want to help you through this.”
For several seconds, he didn’t say anything. He just stood there, unmoving aside from his eyes flickering back and forth as he considered his words.
“*What do you think…*”—his eyes slowly slid upward to meet mine—“*you can possibly say that will make anything better?*”
I almost flinched. His eyes were cold and dead, devoid of any energy. I took a deep breath to steel myself and said, “Nothing. I can’t fix this. I know that.”
“*Then why bother?*”
I swallowed hard. “Because I don’t want you to suffer through this all by yourself?” I said, trying to keep the edge out of my voice. “You suffered alone for how many years because they took him? I can’t let you go through that again.”
The Pikachu bristled. “*It’s none of your business.*”
“Of course it is,” I said, gripping my knees tightly. “You’re a part of my team. I’m not just going to ignore you. Not when I need to be there for you.”
He paused, flattening his ears. “*If you’re worried about whether or not I’ll still fight for you—*”
“You know that’s not what I’m worried about.”
“*—I’ll do it. I’ll fight.*”
My mouth hung open. That was completely not the answer I’d been expecting. “I’m… I’m not just going to throw you into danger while you’re like this.”
“*I can let myself out.*”
I put a hand to my forehead slowly, trying my hardest not to let the exasperation show. This wasn’t right. I was supposed to be comforting him, not getting frustrated with him.
“*I have to fight them,*” Chibi said, suddenly fixing me with a serious glare. “*Don’t you see? That’s why I exist.*”
My throat clenched up. “That’s… not true. I know we’re still going to be fighting them, but that’s not your purpose. You don’t have to—”
“*I called Razors a coward,*” he said, eyes wide and desperate. “*I accused him of hiding from the fight while the rest of us risked our lives. That’s the last thing I said to him before he died. That’s why he put himself at risk like that.*” He was shaking all over, fur standing on end. “*It’s my fault. I did this. It’s my fault,*” he muttered over and over to himself.
“It’s not—”
“*If I can’t hold myself to what I said to him, then what am I worth? I have to fight them. They have to pay. It’s the only reason I’m still here.*”
I exhaled slowly. “Don’t do this. You don’t have to live for revenge. He’d… he’d have wanted you to live for yourself.”
“*Don’t you dare try to say what he’d want,*” the hybrid snapped, suddenly livid. He jabbed his tail at me and said, “*I joined you because I knew it would give me the opportunity to fight them. That’s the only reason. And if that changes, then I have no reason to stay with you. I don’t need you. Don’t try to stop me.*”
He swung his tail around to hit his Pokéball and dissolved into it. I sat there, completely dumbstruck, staring at the place where he’d been as a burning pain wormed its way through my chest.
I didn’t feel like watching any of the trainers in the park anymore.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was past 5 when I made my way back to the central Pokécenter, and the sun had already set, leaving the sky streaked with the red glow of twilight. The surrounding hadn’t darkened, though—far from it. Between the glow of the nearly-full moon and the overwhelming glare of the huge billboards and screens that lined the buildings, Goldenrod was somehow just as bright and lively as it had been a few hours ago. That fact was comforting. It was hard to imagine getting ambushed by Rockets in a place like this.
I was about to walk inside the Pokécenter when someone waving caught my eye in my peripheral vision. It was Starr, seated at one of the benches out front, although I almost didn’t recognize her. She’d gotten a haircut—shorter than it was before—and completely changed her outfit. She was now dressed in a leather jacket with gray leggings and a dark violet skirt. Her signature oversized combat boots were gone, replaced with lighter, lace-up boots.
“You look… really different,” I said as I walked up.
“Yeah? Well, that’s the idea. Make it harder for any Rockets to recognize me from a distance.” She paused for a bit, then added, “I think this is the first time you haven’t flinched when you saw me. First time in recent memory, anyway.”
I winced. “Really?” I hadn’t realized I’d been doing that.
“Yeah. I… I’m glad,” she said, glancing away.
It made sense. I’d hardly just be able to turn that instinct off. The instinct that associated her with nothing but pain and misery. The part of my mind that still couldn’t understand how she’d done those things.
“So, uh… no luck on the license,” Starr went on awkwardly. “This would be so much easier if I could just hit the underground, but that place is practically owned by Rockets.” She muttered some miscellaneous obscenities regarding the Johto force before continuing with, “With my luck, this’d be the one time they actually got their sorry asses in gear and came through on a hit issued by the Kanto force.”
Yet another weird bit of internal Rocket politics that I had no real say in.
“Whatever. No Pokécenter tonight, so we’ll have to stay at a hotel,” she said, standing up and motioning to me. “Come on, I know a few on the west side of town that don’t ask for ID.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said to avoid the west side of town.”
“Yeah, well, you got me with you now,” she said bluntly.
It was hard to argue with that. She did know way more about this city than I did. It was a strange thought, but I glad to have her by my side.
“Probably better that we stay away from the Pokécenter,” Starr went on. “Place’ll be crawling with kids. We’d stand out pretty bad. Or at least, I would.” She flashed a smirk at me from over her shoulder.
I rolled my eyes. She was really dredging up that old joke? “I’m almost fifteen. You can’t call me a little kid forever.”
“Watch me.”
And for that moment, even just a tiny bit, it felt like old times.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That good feeling didn’t last. Not with my dreams dragging me back into the Rocket base, just like they had in the week following my capture. Maybe it had something to do with us staying in a tiny hotel room in the shadiest part of town. Or maybe it was falling asleep and being completely vulnerable in the same room as the person who’d tortured me. Either way, the night was an endless chain of sinking into a shallow, restless sleep, only to be jolted out of it minutes later. I kept seeing Astrid standing over me, and she’d tell me it was all a trick, and that I was a naïve idiot to have ever believed that she could change. Then she’d snap her fingers and suddenly Raichu would appear, only this time he’d grin stupidly as his electricity tore me apart. Sometimes Mewtwo was there, and he’d clench his fingers together and I’d feel an unbearable pressure from all sides, forcing the air from my lungs and crushing my bones with a sickening crunch. And I’d be certain that I’d died, only to feel another string of lightning shoot through my heart.
Sometimes the experiments were there too, and Stygian would give me a look of cold disgust while Aros would laugh and say, “I told you so.” Chibi would scold me and say that I wasn’t any use to him dead, and then he’d leave, and I’d try to run after him only to abruptly realize that my legs didn’t work anymore. Then I’d blink, and I’d be back in the hotel room, and I could feel my pulse, but my limbs still wouldn’t move, and for some reason Astrid was still there, standing across the room, glaring at me. But then I’d blink again, and she’d be in bed, asleep. And I’d be left with a sickly feeling of unease worming through my insides until I rolled over and buried myself in the blankets and started the whole thing all over again.
I didn’t mention any of it the next morning. Not when we got ready for the day, or when we rode the bus back to the central district. When Starr joked that I looked like a zombie, I just replied that the bed was uncomfortable. And then we parted ways at the Pokécenter, and I was left to wander the city with my thoughts still stuck in the twisted mess of nightmares and the realization that it would be impossible to just erase the memories of what she’d done. No matter how badly I wanted to.
The rest of the day passed by in a dull haze. I wandered through department stores looking at items I couldn’t buy and stumbled across more parks where I debated training but found that I wasn’t up to it. I spent hours arguing with myself over whether or not it was worth it to talk to Starr about it, and at the end of those hours, I was no closer to having an answer, so I wound up just asking Swift.
“*Of course you should tell her,*” he had said. “*She joined you for a reason.*”
And in a way, I had already known he would say that. But actually hearing it from him still helped. So before the afternoon was over, I made my way back to the Pokécenter early and waited out front for Starr.
She returned before sundown, disembarking a bus that had come from somewhere that wasn’t part of the typical trainer circuit. From the look on her face, I could already guess that her search had gone better today than it had yesterday.
“Guess what?” she asked sitting down next to me. “Got lucky and found a guy who was able set me up with a new trainer ID. Gonna take him a few days to get around some of the League checks, but it should be good to go after that. Won’t be able to use it to enter any official tournaments or the like. But for everyday use it should be fine. Nice to finally have things go right for a change.”
My chest tightened. Great, now I was going to ruin her good mood. But I couldn’t ignore this. Not if I wanted to travel with her without turning into a ball of nerves all the time.
“Hey, um… can we talk?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
I gripped the edge of the bench so hard my knuckles turned white. “I can’t stop thinking about that night in the detention cell.”
Starr’s face fell immediately. “I really don’t want to talk about that,” she said, glancing away.
“I need to talk about it,” I forced myself to say. “Maybe you can brush it aside or pretend it didn’t happen but I don’t have that luxury.”
Starr flinched, like the words were a slap to the face. She turned away, screwing her eyes shut. Slowly, like she hated every word: “Right. Say what you want to say, I guess.”
I really only had one question. One single, burning question that consumed my thoughts and made it impossible to think about anything else. I took a deep breath and said, “I, just… why? Every single time we ran into each other, it’s like you were dead-set on seeing me suffer. I don’t get it. You said you had to keep the others from suspecting you, but… why’d it have to involve that?”
I didn’t want to be angry at her—not after everything we’d been through yesterday. But dammit, that wasn’t the kind of thing I could just forget. I’d tried.
Starr couldn’t look me in the eye—she just stared downward for the longest time, looking absolutely miserable. “I was afraid they were going to kill you,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “I couldn’t make the same mistakes I made with Ajia. I couldn’t take the risk that anyone would find out that we knew each other. I thought if I put on a good show and got you to confess, then maybe no one would care if I let you go after we finished off the rebel team.”
I winced. It hurt to hear her talk about the death of my teammates with such… casual language.
Starr buried her face in her palms. “I didn’t care if you hated me, or if you never wanted to see me again… I just wanted you to live.” She paused, dragging her nails against her forehead as she balled her hands into fists. “I know that doesn’t fix anything. I know I can never take it back, no matter how badly I want to. That was… the most painful thing I’ve ever done.”
I stifled the urge to sarcastically reply that it had been more painful for me. Because the truth was… I didn’t envy her. The idea of being forced to torture someone I cared about without breaking character… it was nauseating.
Starr finally pulled her face out of her hands, staring brokenly into the distance. “I could have betrayed them sooner,” she said bitterly, her words dripping with self-loathing. “I could have refused, taken you, and tried to escape. It’s just… I’ve seen what happens to those who betray Team Rocket—I’ve done it to traitors myself. I was a scared, selfish idiot, so I did what I’ve always done and just buried it all away.” She swallowed hard and inhaled deeply. “But… I’m glad you and Ajia didn’t give up on me. I still hate the way she tricked me, but…”—she exhaled slowly—“it’s better this way.”
I was silent for a long while. I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t even sure what kind of answer I’d been hoping for.
“There’s still a part of me that’s afraid of you,” I admitted.
She closed her eyes. “Yeah, I know.”
“I do still want to start over,” I added quickly. “It’s just… going to be harder than I thought.”
“That’s fine. It’s the best I can hope for.” She stared downward for a few seconds, then abruptly stood up. “Hey, how about we get something to eat? My treat.”
“You’ve been paying for everything this entire trip,” I mumbled. I still hadn’t puzzled out how I felt about that.
“Yeah, well, I’ve got a lot of lost time to make up for. Five years?” she asked, offering a hand to me.
I stared at it for a long time. Then my eyes slowly slid upward to meet hers. That wasn’t the face of someone who just wanted to brush aside my pain or act like it never happened. Not by a long shot.
“Yeah. That sounds good,” I said, taking her hand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dinner was nice. Starr led the way down a maze of side streets to some backroad full of restaurants that would have been impossible to find unless you were looking for it. I ordered what ended up being the best bowl of noodles I’d ever had, and we swapped stories about our early training days. Stories like the time when Starr’s Totodile and Ponyta refused to train together. Or the time when I’d used Swift against Sandshrew and had forgotten what moves Pidgey could use. Her stories were from five years ago and mine were only from four months ago, but mine might as well have been from five years ago, that’s how distant they felt.
At some point around the end of the meal, it occurred to me that I hadn’t checked my R-com ever since we’d left for Goldenrod. I fished it out of my bag and turned it on to see that I’d gotten two texts yesterday. Around the time Starr and I had been on the train, from the looks of it. I tapped the first one and read:
Hey, Rudy said more than five words to me today so that’s progress. Btw, where’d you go? You sorta just vanished, lol. Went to get your license I’m guessing? When you getting back?
Oh my god, I’d forgotten about Rudy and Darren. I’d completely ditched them without saying a word, and then forgot about them for three days. Granted, three absurdly stressful and eventful days, but still.
“You shouldn’t use that,” Starr said, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Get a Pokégear.”
“Yeah, with what money,” I said flatly.
“I’ll get you one then, just don’t use that. They can track—” Her eyes went wide, and she fixed me with a skeptical glare. “Wait, hang on. If the rebels all had legit Rocket accounts, why didn’t we ever have a record of you guys spending time on Midnight Island? I had my people check the new recruits, too. They all came back clean, nothing suspicious.”
“Stalker told us he tampered with the trackers in our R-coms,” I replied.
She smacked her forehead. “Of course.”
I went back to the texts. The second one was from a number I didn’t recognize. Intrigued, I tapped on it. My eyes widened instantly. It was from Stalker.
I can’t tell you my current location. However, I can meet with you if you’d like.
My heart jumped into my throat. This was the first I’d heard from Stalker since the night of the attack. Finally, I’d be able to talk to him and figure out what I was going to do from now on.
“Where do you want to meet? I’m in Goldenrod right now,” I typed back immediately, my fingers flying across the screen. Did he have his R-com on him at the moment? How long would I have to wait for a reply? The next few seconds seemed to drag on for ages. Until finally:
Johto National Park. West Garden. One hour.
Johto National Park… that was nearby, wasn’t it? I brought up the GPS app (it loaded lightning fast—a perk of being in Goldenrod?) and checked it out. Just north of the city. Perfect—wouldn’t take more than twenty minutes to get there by flying.
“Mind sharing what you’re reading over there?” Starr asked dryly.
I glanced up to see a rather unamused look on her face. Okay, so maybe staring at an R-com while we were trying to move past the time she spent on Team Rocket was a little tasteless.
“Uh. Just talking with a friend. We’re planning to meet up at the Johto National Park.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Who?”
I sucked in a breath. She definitely wasn’t going to like the answer. I could have just lied. But I didn’t really want to do that. I wanted things to be more open between us. But at the same time, why did it have to be this?
I exhaled slowly and said, “Stalker.”
Her eyes widened instantly. “You’re meeting the rebel team leader?” she asked in a low tone, leaning forward across the table to stare at me face to face. “Who is he?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why do you ask?”
“Because that asshole was the bane of my existence for months. I’ve got to know.” I gave her an unimpressed stare. She threw her hands up and said, “Come on, it’s not like I can turn him in now.”
“Well, I don’t know who he is anyway,” I said matter-of-factly, leaning back against my seat.
Starr snorted. “He really didn’t tell you his name? Some leader. He must have really trusted you guys.”
“He didn’t tell us so we couldn’t have that kind of info forced out of us,” I muttered without thinking.
Starr froze, looking like she’d just been slapped. She blinked a few times, then turned away sharply and said, “Right. Whatever… just go.”
I frowned. “Now?”
“Yes, now,” she said without looking back at me. “I’m covering the bill anyway, so there’s no reason for you to stick around. I’ll be at the same Pokécenter as before.”
I sat there for several seconds, still processing the turn the conversation had just taken. Finally, I grabbed my backpack, stood up from the booth, and walked out the door. It wasn’t until I got a few steps away from the diner that I really stopped and thought about what I’d said. And… alright, maybe I was too harsh, especially since we were making an effort to heal the bad blood between us. But honestly, I wasn’t gonna deal with that Rocket crap after everything we’d been through. Not anymore.
I wandered around until I found a park that doubled as a takeoff and landing point for flying Pokémon. From there, Aros and I took to the skies, and within minutes we were soaring over the city, the buildings below us glowing golden in the light of the setting sun. The crisp November air swept over us as we flew north of the city. I was glad that it was November. October had… well, it had sucked. Not to mention my birthday was coming up. Something about the idea of not being fourteen anymore sounded extremely appealing, and I couldn’t wait for that day to come.
Eventually the buildings of the city gave way to open fields, and I spotted the National Park in the distance. It would’ve been hard to miss the iconic Pokéball shape that its trails formed through the grass. I pointed Aros in the direction of the west garden, and the dragon spiraled down to land. And then I waited for Stalker to arrive. He’d requested that we meet in an hour, but with how quickly I’d left the diner, I’d gotten there far earlier than I needed to. But that was fine. I found an empty picnic table and sat down, watching bug Pokémon flit in and out of the tall grass as the sky slowly darkened and the majority of the park’s visitors left.
And then I heard the sound of heavy wingbeats. My pulse quickened, and I glanced around hurriedly until I caught sight of a Pokémon flying high above the park—broad-winged, orange, and flame-tailed. And on its back was a trainer.
“It’s really you,” I said, standing up from the bench as Charizard landed in front of me and Stalker dismounted her. Part of me was having a hard time believing it. Last time I’d seen him, he’d been desperately flying off into the night sky, closely pursued by Moltres.
He recalled Charizard and turned to face me, taking a few steps forward. “How have you been?”
I bit my tongue. If that wasn’t the hardest question to answer right now, I didn’t know what was. So much had happened in such a short amount of time. I was still pretty sure that it was all going to hit me in the face at once.
“This has probably been the hardest week of my life,” I admitted.
Stalker nodded. “I’m not surprised. I only wish it hadn’t been necessary for me to leave.”
My mouth went dry. Did he have any idea how hard it was for us to make it through the aftermath of the attack without him? For four months, we’d looked up to him and relied on him for everything, and then he was suddenly gone with only a text message telling us that he was even alive.
“Why didn’t you come back?”
He gave me a pointed look. The hurt in my voice clearly hadn’t escaped him. “I’m a huge target. That night proved as much—approaching the rebels in that situation would have been a death sentence. For them as well as me.”
I’d known that all along. Part of me had just hoped that there was more to it than that.
“You’re one of only a few rebels to contact me, you know that?” he said.
Probably because I didn’t have a choice. My identity had been compromised. It wasn’t safe to return home. Not to mention everything that happened with Starr in the Viridian base. Even the boss himself knew my name now.
“Yeah. I believe it,” I said flatly. “I can’t go back to my old life, so I might as well make the best of this one.” I couldn’t help but get the feeling that his eyes were carefully analyzing my every reaction—almost like being x-rayed. It was a little unnerving, so I decided to turn the conversation back to him. “What about you? What have you been doing? You know, now that the Rebellion’s over.”
“Lots of catching up on things,” he replied. “I’ve been busy ever since I got here. But it’s nice to finally be back in my home region.”
“You’re from Johto?” I asked. For some reason, it had never occurred to me to ask where he was originally from. He didn’t have much of a Johto accent either, so I never would have guessed.
Stalker nodded. “It was convenient that you came to Goldenrod. It’s not far from where I live.”
I shuffled a foot against the dirt. “Huh. I had no idea. I was only there because a friend suggested it,” I said. But then I was suddenly struck by how strange that was. “So, hang on… why didn’t you run the Rebellion from Johto? Have us infiltrate the Johto force instead?”
“That’s actually what I hoped to talk to you about,” he said, the corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly. “You see, I needed to weaken the Kanto force.”
I tilted my head. “Wait, really? But… both halves of Team Rocket are working together toward the same goal, right? What’s the difference?”
“The Kanto force is the real threat in this situation,” he said matter-of-factly. “They invented the Legendary control technology. They created Mewtwo.”
Mewtwo. I hadn’t told him yet!
“Mewtwo’s been freed,” I immediately replied, feeling my heart swell a bit with pride. Sure, Ajia had been behind most of it, but still.
Stalker’s eyes lit up. “I heard. And I can’t thank you enough.”
“Wait, what?” I asked, taken aback. “You heard?”
“The news spread like wildfire. Mewtwo caused a great deal of damage to the Viridian base before it was forced to flee,” he explained. “I don’t know if you’ve realized this, but freeing Mewtwo was probably the most important thing that’s happened in the entire fight against Team Rocket. More important that all the other missions combined.”
I paused. There was definitely something strange about the way he’d said that. Almost like he’d been planning the Mewtwo mission all along.
“Did… did you create the Rebellion specifically to free Mewtwo?” I asked.
Stalker blinked, gazing at me curiously, as though the thought had never really occurred to him. “It’s hard to say. I didn’t know much about number thirty-six back then. But I can’t help feeling like it was always our most important task.”
I don’t think I could have given him a more weirded-out expression. But before I could say anything, his eyes slid past me, and he chuckled. “Well, this is unexpected. I think we’re being watched.”
I jolted. What? Someone was watching us? And he wasn’t concerned by that? I whirled around to look in the direction he was facing. And then my jaw fell open when I saw who it was.
“Starr?! What are you doing here?!” I blinked a few times, half-expecting my mind to be playing tricks on me. But no, it was really her standing there, half-hidden in the bushes, watching us. Her arrival was so completely random that I was having a hard time processing it. How had she even gotten here? I had flown but it would’ve taken way longer to get here any other way.
For several seconds, she didn’t say anything. She just stood there, staring at me like she was having just as hard a time figuring out why I was here. Finally, in a low tone of voice, she said, “Jade, what are you doing with him?”
I scowled, taking several steps toward her. “Come on, don’t change the subject. Were you seriously that desperate to find out who Stalker is?”
“He’s Stalker?!” she exclaimed, staring at me incredulously. She threw a glare at Stalker, and he nodded softly. And then she broke into a fit of manic giggles.
“He’s Stalker. He’s Stalker. Oh man, I knew it had to be one of the creeps from the Johto Resistance, but him?!” What the hell was she talking about? Did she know him?
Starr forced herself to regain control of her breathing, wiping her eyes as she shook her head in disbelief. “Jade, do you have any idea who the hell you’re standing next to? That’s Sebastian Shepard, the fucking commander of the Johto combat unit.”
~End Chapter 26~
I wrote an extra from Starr's POV! It's non-canon solely because it doesn’t quite fit in the timeline of events in Chapter 26. But if Jade hadn’t gone to visit Stalker on her second day in Goldenrod, I could easily see it happening.
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