The Year of Rocket's Revenge
Session July, Part 3 (07.25.05/09.19.05)
Why?
Why did things have to end up this way?
Why did I become a Pokémon trainer? Why was I so glad to get my first Pokémon? Why couldn't I have just captured a few Pokémon? Why did I strive to have as close to a complete collection as possible? Why did I have to be so good? Why did I make a name for myself? Why did...
Why did it attract THEM?
Why did I decide to join THEM?
Why did I think that I'd receive so much nurturing? Why did they always treat me so well? Why did they always think I would one day be a Pokémon master? Why did they make me strive so hard to reach that goal? Why did they make me watch over other trainers? Why couldn't have I done what I wanted to do? Why couldn't I keep control of what was happening around me?
Why did... why did the things that happened, happen?
Why did I have to worry about what Team Rocket was up to? Why did I agree to get back precious data that was stolen from us? Why did I put my life on the line for something I never truly believed in?
Why... did that plane have to blow up?
Why couldn't I get past that incident and moved on? Why didn't the friends I made at the Pokémon League understand my situation? Why did they blame me for what happened? Why did they mark me as a martyr? Why did the hype behind my skills as a trainer stop after that? Why did the Pokémon League turn on me? Why did my friends turn on me? Why did the boy I fall in love with and meet here now see me as a deserter?
Why doesn't he believe that what we're doing isn't right?
Why doesn't he want to move on with his life? Why doesn't he want to be a good old trainer, worrying only about himself and his next gym badge? Why does he wave off the bad things that have happened to us as 'that's just how life is?' Why does he not see who has the better judgment? Why doesn't he, for my sake, move on and help me recover from the tragedies that have changed the lives of so many forever?
Why can't we go back to the way we were? Why can't we ever forget we were duped in helping THEM achieve their greedy goals? Why can't we go back in time and right the wrongs we may have left upon fellow trainers?
Why can't I get over this sinking feeling that the worst is yet to come?
Why does it have to be this way?
WHY?
The bright rays of sunlight filtered through the trees above, and all was joyous as children were frolicking about and their parents were sharing fond memories of the past. A blue banner hung from above, and it read' Happy 10th Birthday!'
In the center of it all was a young brown-haired girl, who was clapping enthusiastically as she glimpsed at the table of presents standing right before her. She knew it was time to start unwrapping them, as she heard her parents calling all of the other party-goers to gather around her.
"Okay everyone," her father shouted aloud. "The birthday girl wants to open her birthday presents!"
"Everybody gather around!" her mother added.
The girl's happiness seemed to rise even more as she quickly became surrounded by her friends and family. Which was about half of town's small population of several dozen. She spotted her father pulling a disposable camera out of his pocket, ready to take pictures of the event.
"Ready, dear?" her mother asked.
The girl responded with a nod, giggling with joy.
"Now remember your manners..." chided her dad.
"Of course! Always thank and hug the gift givers' after opening their present to me!"
"Good girl!" both of her parents said in unison.
And with that, she began tearing through the wrapping paper. One by one, she shouted with glee. Beautiful blouses, skirts, and dresses for her to wear. New store-bought dolls and accessory kits to play with. Even some spending money to use as she saw fit.
She continued to work through the pile of gift boxes, until after several minutes, she had opened them all. She glanced around for her parents, who had suddenly disappeared from sight. Wondering where they ran off to, she prepared to hop out of her seat and start searching for them.
And wonder why they didn't get her anything for her birthday.
Luckily, both problems were solved in an instant, as her parents reappeared, each holding a box in hand. She cheered in joy once again, as the party-goers applauded for her.
"Honey, this is for you," her dad said, handing over the smaller of the two boxes.
"Happy birthday, sweetie," her mom added.
"What is it? What is it?"
Her parents laughed at her. "Open it and see."
She quickly ripped the wrapping off and opened the box. She was shocked to find none other than an official Pokémon trainer's license, laminated and with her name on it.
"No way! This is... this is a real trainer's license?"
"Yes," her mother nodded. "We've known for months now that you wanted to become a Pokémon trainer."
"But..." began her father, putting the second box down on the table in front of her, "there's something else that every Pokémon trainer needs."
Immediately getting the hint, she hastily opened the second box. Inside, she found a note that read 'Special Delivery: To Poli Town, from Professor Oak of Pallet Town.'
"The famous Professor Oak mailed this from Pallet Town. It contains three Pokéballs, each with a starter Pokémon inside. They're supposed to go to three different trainers in the area, you being one of them. But since it's your birthday today, he was kind enough to let you have first choice."
"Really?" she asked, making sure she was hearing her mother right.
After she saw her parents nod in confirmation, she let out another squeal of joy. She looked into the box and examined the three Pokéballs, each with the name of the Pokémon inside taped to it.
"Wow! Which one should I pick?"
The party-goers watched as she took her time trying to decide which one to take. After a few minutes, she grabbed one of the Pokéballs and threw it into the air.
"Come out Bulbasaur!"
The plant bulb Pokémon emerged from its containment unit, bringing a loud cheer from both Cassie and everyone else at the party.
"Thanks mom and dad... this is the best present ever!" she exclaimed, as she ran over to give her parents a hug.
"We only want what's best for you, Cassie... Cassie..."
"Cassie... Cassie... Cassie!"
Cassie awakened from her dream, and was greeted by the face of a brown-reddish haired boy, most likely only a year older than herself. She looked around and noticed that the two of them were sitting in some sort of lobby, outside of an office door that read 'Patti Masters, Junior Agent Supervisor.'
"You know, you're the one that's going to do this thing," he said. "You better have a speech prepared for something as monumental as this."
Cassie stared up into space briefly, stating as she did, "I was dreaming about the first day again. My tenth birthday. The day I became a Pokémon trainer..."
Her partner scratched the back of his head. "That again? You sure like to dream a lot."
"It's what I do when I'm tired."
"Maybe we should wait 'til later on... you know, after you've slept a few more hours."
That last statement suddenly shot Cassie wide awake.
"No way! You know this has to end now, Arius!"
Cassie shot a menacing glare at her partner and boyfriend, Arius, who motioned as if he was about to shoot back a rebuttal. He thinks better of it and decides to keep his mouth shut.
"Arius? Cassie?" the voice of a young woman rang out.
The two jumped out of their seats to see Patti waving hello as she walked towards them. Wearing a white blouse and a navy blue skirt, she swung the small suitcase in her left hand back and forth.
"What brings you two to my office this morning?"
"Well... you see..." started Cassie.
"You're quitting? Did I hear you right?"
"Yes, that's right," Cassie said aloud. "We wish to resign our positions."
"Why? Is something wrong?"
"Ever since I took this job, I envisioned a future where this organization would train us to be the best Pokémon trainers in the world."
"Haven't we always done that?"
"Yes, but at the sacrifice of all of the new friends I've met on the road. There are many things that I've done while I've been here that I haven't been too proud of. Things that have cost other people their lives. Things that have nearly cost me my life. I'm only thirteen! I didn't become a Pokémon trainer to save the world! I became a Pokémon trainer because I wanted to be a Pokémon Master!"
"It's a part of the job I hate too, but sometimes we can't avoid it."
"That's why we want out. It's the only way I feel is right."
"What about you, Arius?" Patti turned to face him. "Do you share the same views as your partner?"
"To an extent," Arius began, "but I wouldn't be the great trainer I am today if it wasn't for her. So I'd like to stay by her side. I respect her decision... though I do not know if it is the right one."
Patti bowed her head. "I'm sorry that you two feel that way. But, we can't stop you from leaving under your own power. I just wish things didn't work out this way."
"We do too," Cassie nodded.
A few minutes later, Arius and Cassie were in their cubicles, clearing out what little they were allowed to keep in their desks.
Cassie was hard at work trying to stuff her extra clothes and keepsakes into the one medium-sized box she had been given to carry it all out. But among all of her belongings was the remnants of a small, partially burned photograph. A photo of herself and a good friend, a green-haired, bespectacled young man. She tried to hold herself back from crying, as she was still getting over losing him just days ago.
"Poor Chuck... he had such a great life in front of him. And he had to give it up... all to protect a bunch of hypocrites and liars! To people who only care about their own selfish goals... not for the people who help achieve them!"
"Now, now..." she heard Arius' soothing voice sneak up behind her. "You know that's not true."
Cassie turned to face her sweetheart, no longer able to fight off the tears now coming out of her eyes.
"Yes, it is! Don't you remember what those Team Rocket members said to us back when we infiltrated their headquarters a year ago?"
Calamity placed a gun against Cassie's forehead. Arius could only watch helplessly, as a multitude of Rockets had surrounded them, making any sort of escape impossible.
"You know, it's too bad I have to shoot you," Calamity told the duo. "You two would have made great additions to our team. Then again, members of a traitorous organization such as yours don't deserve to live."
"What do you mean traitorous?" Cassie asked, hoping to buy her partner some time to think of a way out.
"Anyway, I thought you would have known about this by now. I haven't been in Team Rocket that long, but any Rocket member knows that the founders of the Pokémon Trainers' Association were former Rockets themselves!"
Arius and Cassie's eyes opened wide with shock and disdain. "What?"
"You mean you didn't know?" Jane asked between fits of laughter.
"Of course they didn't know," assured Calamity. "Do you think these two innocent trainers would have joined it if they knew that in advance?
"You still believe that rubbish?" Arius asked.
"Tell me this, Arius," Cassie said, regaining her composure. "How many times have you seen me ask about that? How many?"
"But don't you remember the first time we asked? It was both of us confronting Patti, and she firmly denied it."
"But how many times did I ask her after that? How about the higher-ups? Did any of them ever give me a straight answer? There's no one here that can tell me that both of those Rockets weren't telling the truth!"
"They're members of an evil and elite organization named Team Rocket! They're trained not to tell the truth!"
"What makes you think this organization, the Pokémon Trainers' Association, isn't as evil in their own special way? We are secret agents, after all, and we're only told anything on a need-to-know basis. There could be plenty of secrets they could be keeping from us! Stuff that could put them in the same league as Team Rocket!"
Arius sighed. "Cassie, I don't mind leaving the PTA with you if it's because you're tired of seeing your friends get hurt. But please tell me it's not because of this conspiracy theory that you're hung up on."
"No... and I'm telling you, it's just not some wild theory. There's gotta be some truth to it. I just know it!"
"And where will you find this truth? It's not going to pop up out of nowhere! Look... in a few minutes, we'll be out of here, so we won't have to worry about any of this other stuff. Let the organization figure out their past, present, and future for themselves. It's just you and me, now, and no one else!"
Cassie glanced back down at the picture of her and Chuck, which was still in her hand, and Arius reached over to put both of his hands on her shoulders.
"There have been things on this job that we liked and others we didn't. I have things about the PTA I didn't like either. But we're leaving now, and it should be appropriate that we keep all of those problems here and start over with our lives. Isn't that why we're leaving in the first place?"
Cassie nodded in agreement.
"Then let's let bygones be bygones, and leave all of these thoughts of the PTA's intentions to the guys that replace us. Alright?"
"Okay... I guess you're right."
"Good. Now, let's finish packing so we can hit the road. I already called my parents, so we'll be dropping by my house first."
Cassie nodded as Arius left her cubicle. She sighed as she pocketed the picture and finished packing.
"Maybe he's right," she told herself aloud. "After all, if they were really doing something illegal, the police would've done something about it, right?"
The young trainer contemplated that thought as she took one last look at her cubicle. She then picked up her box of stuff and headed off to find her boyfriend.
The duo was somewhat surprised to see about twenty or thirty of their fellow agents waiting to give them a send-off at the front door. They heard cheers and cries aplenty as Arius and Cassie, now with giant backpacks strapped to their persons, walked towards the crowd.
"Whoa!" Cassie exclaimed. "I didn't think this many people would wish us goodbye, especially considering the fact we only told Patti half an hour ago."
"News spreads fast around here," Arius remarked. "That, or we're a whole lot more popular than we thought we were."
Arius and Cassie slowly made their way through the crowd, taking time to either give or receive hugs from the people they had worked with for the past two years. Some gave them helpful advice, others just let their emotions do the talking. Eventually, they found their way to the door and waved one final goodbye to the organization.
"Goodbye and good luck!" Arius and Cassie stated in tandem.
A couple hours later, somewhere along Route 3...
"I feel so alive!" Cassie exclaimed, spinning circles around Arius.
"You know that gets annoying after the first few miles..." Arius snidely remarked.
"I'm sorry, but it just feel so great to be out on the road again, and now, we don't have to follow anyone else's agenda other than our own!"
"Great. Just don't wear yourself out... we've got about six hours of walking to go if we're going to make it to Viridian City. And unless you want to sleep out with the stars tonight..."
"Fine, fine," Cassie said in defeat as she stopped spinning. "Spoilsport."
The two walked silently for a minute or two, taking in the fresh air around them. Arius glanced over at his significant other, and was amazed to see her so happy and carefree. A side of her that had been lost in their hectic adventures in the Orange Islands over the past week. And one that he was glad to see again.
"You know," Arius said, bringing Cassie out of her dream-like state. "It would be a shame if we didn't share our freedom with a few close friends."
Cassie blinked, not quite sure what he was hinting at. "Huh?"
Arius reached into his pocket and pulled out two of his Pokéballs. Seeing this, Cassie realized what he had meant, and she started reaching for hers.
"Golbat, Butterfree, come out and play!" Arius shouted, throwing the Pokéballs into the air.
The two came out of their Pokéballs, screeching as they made their entrance.
"Alright... Bulbasaur! And Meowth, too!" Cassie yelled, tossing her Pokéballs out.
Cassie's two favorite Pokémon, and the ones closest to her, came out, cheering for the chance to get some fresh air.
"Take a good look at the Great Outdoors, guys!" Cassie told her Pokémon.
"Bulba!"
"Meowth!"
"Out there is a world filled with surprises! And in our new lives that start here and now, we'll take whatever fate throws at us with sunlight in our hearts and smiles on our faces. For we have a new lease on life, and no one can take it away from us!"
"And we'll face that world..." Arius said, giving Cassie a peck on the cheek. "Together."
Arius, Cassie, and Pokémon gazed up towards the sky, basking in the gorgeous warmth of the sun, as they returned to the ways of the average Pokémon trainer.
Traveling the road of life and experiencing the bumps along the way.
Meanwhile, on a ferry headed towards the Seafoam Islands, Ash, Misty, Brock, Duplica, Pikachu, and Ditto were heading out on their own path of adventure.
"I can't wait to see this new project Professor Schtickly invented to help all Pokémon!" Ash exclaimed.
"Yeah," Brock agreed. "I wonder what it is."
"It must be something if Professor Oak wants us to check it out," Misty said.
"Pika!" Pikachu chirped.
"Ditto!" agreed Ditto.
"I don't care about that!" Duplica exclaimed, who had changed into an outfit that was an exact copy of Misty's. "All I want is to spend some time alone on the beach with my Ashy-boy!"
"I am NOT thinking that!" Misty said angrily, not noticing Ash blushing behind her.
"So you don't want to spend time alone with him? Well... I can think of one person here who wouldn't mind taking your place..."
"Don't you dare, Duplica Imite!"
Misty started chasing Duplica around the ferry deck, the latter shedding her Misty costume in hopes of slowing her pursuer down.
"Sometimes I'll never understand women," Ash commented, sweatdropping.
"Sometimes I'll never understand how women flock to you," Brock added, his face becoming blue in despondent jealousy.
"Pika pika," Pikachu said in dismay, shaking his head as he wondered how his human friends could be so goofy sometimes.
A horn rang in the air as the ferry continued onward towards the Seafoam Islands, where, unbeknownst to our heroes, a new adventure is about to begin...
To be continued next week in Part 4!