Disclaimer: I lay no claim to any licensed characters or intellectual properties that were used in the making of this work.
The Dark Future
Light flickers in and out as the screens continue to replay the battle. He watches dully, waiting for the so-called "brilliance" that all his subordinates continue to see in this "prodigy."
There's nothing there, though; no passion, no skill, no genius at all. Pure luck is what it is, and he can't help but be disappointed all over again.
In the last decade or so, Team Magma's become as hopeless as his father's Team Rocket, and, quite frankly, he's glad he was able to change it.
He wishes he could've done it with Pikachu at his side.
Instead, what he's gotten is an enemy in Kasumi — or, at least, that's what she says. Truthfully, he thinks she's still working with him, as Team Aqua's leader and figurehead, to get rid of Giovanni.
Then again, what does he know; Kasumi's got a Gyrados under her heel, and she's well on her way to obtaining a Lugia. She's going by the name "Misty" now, just as he's left behind Satoshi for "Ash."
It's hell, this mess that they're in, and he can't help but think of where it all went wrong.
It's also why he can't really believe this other guy claiming to be him.
"It's not so hard to figure out, though, is it?"
Yes, yes, it is.
"I told you, I've still got Pikachu!"
Yes, yes, you do. No need to rub it in.
"So, you've inherited the Power of Aura, and you've still got him. Where's Kasumi?"
This Satoshi flinches, and he knows he's hit a sore spot. So, the girl died?
He's not sure if this Aura Master loved her enough to even try to save her. After all, he knows how both of them were like; did this guy, too, leave her behind, just to keep on the pokémon journey?
"Sh-She's…"
"Dead?" he offers.
He's not surprised by the sudden dimming of his eyes, nor the bittersweet smile on his face. What he is surprised by is him shaking his head in the negative.
"Then, what? She got hitched and left you in the dust?" He wouldn't be that surprised if she did; he had been kind of stubborn, then, and a pigheaded dolt to boot.
"No, that's not it, either," he chuckles.
Really. Then what is it, idiot?!
"She — umm… Well," he breathes in before getting out in a rush, "She's kind of, sort of, maybe disappeared. Again. And not because of me — er, you, us. Yeah."
"What in the hell is that supposed to even mean?!"
The man has the gall to chuckle a little, before answering, "Well, you know how she's really into the whole water thing?"
Oh, does he ever.
"Yeah."
"And how she played the mermaid in that one watershow her sisters did back in Cerulean City?"
"Yea — What does that have to do with anything?"
"Well, she is one," he says, and if that wasn't enough of an explanation, because it isn't, he clarifies, "A mermaid, I mean."
That's so out there that all he has to say to that is the one-word statement that most everybody uses.
"What." And, no, that is not a question.
"… Didn't you know? It's not natural for normal people to like water that much."
Oh, for the love of —
"That's just Misty being Misty."
"Misty?"
"She's sure not going by Kasumi right now."
"Oh. Well, okay, I guess," and he just knows how much more awkward that's probably made the other him.
He spares him the silence with another, "Yeah."
"Huh. Well, that's not really Kasumi's quirk; her whole family's a bunch of fish, with her dad being a hundred percent red-blooded male."
And, if that's not information enough, he explains, "The guy met their Selkie of a mother, and… well… you get the idea, yeah?"
"…I didn't need to know that, but… I guess it makes sense….
"All the pokémon she's got bow down to her greatness, anyway, and I'd have sworn she was a dominatrix-in-hiding, but…"
"Dude, how can you even think of her that way?! She's smart, and kind, and pretty, and —"
"Smart, yes, but she sure as hell ain't as kind and pretty as you're sayin'. You sure we're talking about the same girl?"
"Of course! The only problem is that she keeps on taking my best bud with her every time she goes out to sea."
"That's just weird."
"Well, considering I haven't seen her since she turned fifteen…"
"What. The. Hell. You do know Pikachu can't breathe underwater, right?"
Aura Master he may be, but he sure doesn't act like it. He even looks surprised at his very suggestion.
"O-Of course I know that! I'm not stupid or anythin'…"
"Sure you ain't."
"I'm not!"
Arceus, if he had a yen for every time he'd heard that from someone…
"If you were tracking them down, which I know you probably were, how the fuck did you end up here, then?!"
Finally, the other him appropriates the humble , sheepish expression he should've had since the beginning. In answer, he replies, "I may have crossed over more than land to get here…"
He feels a headache coming on, but just sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. He lets the other guy simmer as he paces back and forth, before finally letting him off the hook.
He has an operation to run, and he does. Not. Have. Time. For. This.
"… At least only weakened the boundaries between dimensions. Arceus knows how badly this would've turned out if you'd damaged the timestream, too."
"Umm…"
The fiddling fingers can only mean one thing. "What did you do?!"
Before he can answer, there's a bright flash of light, and out pops someone he'd thought he'd left behind fourteen years ago.
"Hi!" the kid exclaims, before his hand shoots out, waiting for the handshake that he's not going to be getting anytime soon. "I'm Satoshi, and I'm ten years old."
"No, you're not."
"Yeah, since you've got Iris with you, you're supposed to be seventeen, at least!"
The kid's eyes flash dangerously, and he just mumbles, "Ghost Pokémon. Castle."
They don't get it. He clarifies, "Chandelier."
The funny ghosts.
Oh.
Oh, shi —