In the void, Giovanni watched himself float aimlessly. It was like a dream where the connection between perception and the body is severed. In fact, Giovanni probably wouldn't have minded the peace and quiet, if he had even understood what was happening. It could have been a relatively painless death.
"How dare you?!" a very familiar voice called to him through the darkness.
A single clear thought came to the forefront of Giovanni's mind. I'm not dead?! He forced himself to open his eyes. There in front of him, standing under some sort of spotlight, was a figure. Giovanni's vision was so blurry, he couldn't recognize the person.
"How could you do this to the people who need you? The people who always followed you, who respected you? Who cared about you all this time?!"
Giovanni felt shock split his mind, like a lightning strike. Ariana! He tried and failed to yell out to her. It was as if he had no mouth at all.
Ariana stomped on the blurry, black floor. "It's no wonder Silver hates you." Her voice cracked a bit. "You know what happens to men like you, Giovanni? They die in some back alley, penniless, friendless, alone. You should just start over from scratch. I mean, you should just kill yourself and start over in the next life!"
Giovanni wanted to yell more than ever. He felt a tumultuous mix of rage and disappointment. He didn't understand the disappointment—he had left the past in the past. He hated things he didn't understand, which made him even more angry. But he was still frozen, unable to lash out at all.
"I'd have Vileplume kill you right now, but that would be an insult to her deadly spores," said Ariana.
Am I in some kind of hell? Giovanni wondered. If so, this torture is lacking. I don't care about any of this. There's no chance that I could. I've let all this go, and it doesn't even remotely matter to me anymore. I don't care at all! His rage was red hot and broiling. It shot hideous splotches of color all throughout his vision, clouding Ariana under an endless red fog. Giovanni felt it filling his lungs—he had forgotten he even had them. Right as he realized this, he felt himself drown, the burning red corruption replace more and more of his body.
A glimmer of violet slashed the fog apart. Light flooded in from the cut. Giovanni's entire body felt numb, but he could see in front of him. He was lying on the grass. He heard hissing noise from above him. His head jolted upward. He saw a pair of dark red eyes, framed in long eyelashes.
"...Ariana?" he asked, tentatively.
The creature hissed at him. Giovanni noticed blue fur and a pink, feathered headdress. It was a Weavile that had been eying him.
He heard someone walk up to him. "This is a pathetic display down to the smallest detail. Get up."
Giovanni looked in the direction the voice had come from. He saw the pink-haired scientist, Inari, the caller of the E-Anon meetings. She looked as cross as Koga battling a steel-type specialist. "I'm used to Ghetsis causing trouble, but this is a first. You must be quite stupid to get caught like that."
"I am not like the rest of these fools!" Giovanni snapped. He felt a sharp pain in his head, and a wave of exhaustion washed over him. He felt drops of sweat running down his face, and he was short of breath. The Cofagrigus did something horrible to me, he thought. "My pokémon," he mumbled.
"I'm afraid the plans for everyone to get a pokémon back have been canceled," said Inari. "Something else will be revealed to you tomorrow." She turned away from Giovanni, to some service people. "Half of you, clean up this mess. The rest of you return our more unruly recovering evildoers to their living quarters. If you need me, you know where I'll be." Inari walked to the other side of the building and left.
Weavile hissed again. Giovanni looked back at it, and saw that it was reaching down to him. Reluctantly, Giovanni accepted, and Weavile helped him back to his feet. But Giovanni still felt very woozy.
As Giovanni had expected would happen, Cyrus walked up to him. He looked no less vacant than usual. Without saying anything, he held up a pokéball and had Weavile return to it.
"So, it was you who freed me from that garish coffin. Why would you do that?" asked Giovanni. "If you think you have use for me, mark my words—I do not feel held by any notion of debt."
Cyrus nodded slightly. "I understand. But tell me... do you want to leave this prison?" he asked quietly.
Giovanni blinked. He was about to reply when two Rangers walked up to him. One of them tapped him on the shoulder. "It's bed time, Mr. Giovanni," he said. The two of them each grabbed one of Giovanni's arms and dragged him away.
"It's not even sunset!" yelled Giovanni.
"Early to bed, early to rise!" said one of the Rangers.
Giovanni had a horrible time trying to sleep. He was used to crashing into bed, exhausted, after one too many round of battles at the PWT. His circadian rhythms had been, most likely permanently, disturbed. Even the fact that there were no windows in his room didn't help him to relax.
After hours of tossing and turning, and drifting in and out of his usual nightmares, he gave up on trying to sleep. Somehow image of Ariana, spurned and angry. Somehow the idea of her still living somewhere, disillusioned and alone, didn't bring him any of the spiteful pride he had hoped would come.
Giovanni got up and sighed. His eyes felt like they were burning from the dryness of the room. More like a cell, he thought. He just stared at the door for a few minutes. Just as he was about to try and sleep again, Giovanni heard the faint sound of footsteps outside. The sounds grew louder until they suddenly stopped.
They must be right outside the door, thought Giovanni. He carefully got out of bed and took a few steps forward as stealthily as he could manage. He listened intently for more noises.
"How could you make a mistake like that?" somebody said in a hushed tone.
That voice... it's that crazy woman's, right? Inari? Giovanni thought. What is she talking about? He leaned closer to the door.
"What was it you said Ghetsis did again?" asked Inari.
"Uh... he said he was having heart trouble, and only his pokemon could help."
This must be some idiotic guard, thought Giovanni.
"And you believed him?" asked Inari.
There was no answer.
"Oh, this is troublesome," muttered Inari. "Ghetsis might have had the most money of any of our... patients. Oh well. I'll make sure to punish you soon." She and the guard walked away.
Giovanni's eyes were wide. Wait, Ghetsis escaped? Somebody so ignorant got away, and I'm still here?! He walked over the the bed and collapsed into it again. "I don't even care if the security cameras saw me listen in," he muttered, face down. I'm a failure. I can't do anything right... was his last thought as he finally fell asleep for good.
Giovanni woke up to the sound of his door unbolting. He dreaded the morning wake-up call. Not only would it aggravate his depression even further, but his sleep the night before had been spotty and restless. He did not even want to get up. Outside, he heard the sound of people clamoring in the hall, and his leaden dread just grew more intense.
Half-a-minute later, nobody had opened the door, and the sound of footsteps in the hall had stopped. Is it possible? wondered Giovanni. I've been spared? He got out of bed and slunk to the door. He waited a few seconds more before opening it a sliver. Nobody was outside.
Giovanni quietly left the room. He knew that at one end of the hall was the entrance to the courtyard, but he didn't know what was at the other end. It was his chance to explore. He walked down the hall, and examined the doors as he passed by. They all looked identical to the door of his room. These are the living quarters for all the inmates, he decided.
At the end of the hall, there was a reinforced metal door. It had no markings on it, but Giovanni heard a low buzzing noise form inside. He felt pressure emanating from it—the kind of feeling one gets before a terrible cataclysm. He had a feeling the door could be alarmed, so he didn't try to open it. He turned, left, and headed for the courtyard. After heading outside, Giovanni saw a bunch of trainers, each with a pokéball, out on the lawn. But that Inari woman canceled this event, he thought. What are these pokémon?
Giovanni really didn't want to have to talk to anyone, but he reluctantly walked into the crowd, if only to because he assumed that he'd be forced to do it anyway. He wasn't even curious about what Cyrus had been trying to tell him the day before. Something about an escape plan... but this isn't like a blockbuster movie. I'd never be able to escape. I'm such a failure—wait. Giovanni suddenly stopped walking and looked straight forward, feeling his anger flare up again. If I give up like that, I really am a failure! Ghetsis can't beat me! I'll show him and everyone else! He scowled and put his hands in his pockets. And as for Cyrus, I can just go along with his plan and then throw him under the bus when it's convenient for me to do so. I can and will escape! But even after looking through the entire crowd, Giovanni didn't see Cyrus anywhere. With these nutcases around, he probably wouldn't tell me anything, anyway, he thought. I can be patient as long as I get my revenge eventually.
In the middle of the lawn was a splintering table with a single box on it. It had a crossed off name on the side. Giovanni concluded that these were pokémon being offered to anyone. He hoped whatever was inside wasn't weak and useless. He hurried to the box and peered inside—only two pokéballs left. They each had the names of pokémon written on them. One said: LUVDISC, the other: SEWADDLE.
"This choice is obvious," Giovanni said to himself. He reached for the Sewaddle.
"Hey, that pokemon's mine, over here!" A tall, blond haired woman ran over to the table. "Hand it over, old man!"
Great, she has one of the most grating accents of Unova. "And why would I give it to the likes of you?" asked Giovanni. "You take the Luvdisc like a cooperative little trainer."
"You can't disrespect me! I'm gonna work my way up and be a guard over here! I mean, I bet you're not even really Italian."
Giovanni rolled his eyes. "Why, that's true. I'm really part of the Russian Mafia. The fact that I speak Italian, and that my name is Giovanni is completely coincidental."
The woman grinned. "I knew it, you're a faker! Now gimme my pokémon!"
"No," Giovanni said, flatly. He turned away, but ran into a Ranger.
The Pokémon Ranger looked somewhat stern. "What seems to be the problem here? Is there a disagreement?"
"Giovanni won't give me the Sewaddle, but it's mine, man," the woman whined like a toddler. "He's supposed to take that pathetic Luvdisc."
Giovanni shrugged. "I saw the Sewaddle first. First come, first served, right, pokémon ranger?" he asked in a faux-pleasant tone of voice.
"Well," said the Ranger, "there's a simple way to find out who owns it... Eeny, meeny, miny, moe!"
Giovanni scowled. "What."
"What's that?" asked the woman. "Is it a ritual with blood and pentagrams n' stuff?"
"Naw, all I do is this. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, catch a Raikou by the toe..." The Ranger pointed to each of them as he spoke. "Whoops. Sorry, Giovanni, but the pokémon belongs to her."
Giovanni froze. He watched, utterly silent, as the woman laughed, took the pokémon, and both she and the Ranger left. Giovanni quivered until the rage seeped out of his pores. His head was pounding; the entire world around him had stopped moving. His breaths grew short and raspy. "Impossible," he muttered to nobody. "It's impossible! That pokémon was mine!" He slammed his fists on the table. It shook slightly, which wasn't nearly enough for Giovanni. He kept hitting the table, over and over, until his hands felt like they were burning. People were starting to slowly back away, but he didn't notice. "Why does everything get taken from me? Why?!" he screamed. Tears came to his eyes, and he collapsed onto the table, his face hidden by his arms. His body was wracked by his sobs.
After the sobs stopped coming, he looked up at the box and pulled it over. The pokéball rolled out. "This Luvdisc is all I have left! This universally despised waste of a pokémon, though it's supposed to be the harbinger of love." He slowly stood up. There was a sharp pain in his back. "And yet, maybe it's more than I even deserve," he whispered. He picked up the pokéball and pressed the button. He dropped the ball on the ground, and it rolled slightly. It shook, and with a flash of light, it revealed none other than a cheerful, bright pink, smiling, Clefairy.
"Pipiriiin," said the Clefairy.
Giovanni looked down at it.
It looked up at him.
Giovanni picked the pokéball of the ground and read what was written on it. On it was printed, unmistakably and in very neat handwriting: CLEFAIRY.
"I've gone mad," said Giovanni.
"Madness is subjective, as you should be intelligent enough to know." Cyrus was standing behind him, holding his own pokéball.
Giovanni whirled around, startled. He scanned the area, and saw that nobody else was nearby. He dried his eyes on his sleeve. "I... was feigning madness to get everyone to leave me alone!"
"That would be impressive if it were true," said Cyrus.
Giovanni glared at him. "You didn't come here just to criticize me. Get to the point," he hissed.
Cyrus held out his pokéball. It had "LUVDISC" printed on it. "As you are a better pokémon Trainer than I am, I switched the pokéballs so that you were left with the stronger—"
"I don't want your pity!" snapped Giovanni.
"Pity is a product of our contemptible, incomplete hearts. What I did was for strategic purposes only." Cyrus pocketed Luvdisc's pokéball. "I need you to distract the guards while I disconnect the fence controller. Afterward, your Clefairy can break through the fence."
"And why did you ask me for help? Do you think I'm an idiot? I don't trust anybody, especially not sociopaths."
"The other inmates here have either refused to work with me, or simply have no battling experience. As for you not trusting me... that is good. Trust only creates strife. But that's beside the point—going along with my plan will benefit you."
Giovanni looked down at his Clefairy, who was happily skipping around his feet. It's true that I have other pokémon stored in the PC, and I want to escape, but still... I want to retrieve my stolen pokémon. Then again, if I don't leave now, the staff here could kill me and I'd never get my powerful pokémon back. It had never occurred to Giovanni that carrying around all of his best pokémon at all times could have been a problem. He had always assumed that he could easily crush any thief that tried to take his pokémon. Attacking trainers was unheard of. "Fine, I'm in. Just remember, Cyrus, I have no issue with taking care of former teammates."
"I expected as much. You are of somewhat above-average intelligence, after all..." said Cyrus. His face betrayed no emotion.
"What a charmer you are," Giovanni said, sarcastically.
All the way from across the lawn, none other than Lass Mia came running up to them. She skidded to a halt, after which she was out of breath. "Is that a Clefairy?!" she shrieked. "It's even cuter in real life! Oh, my goodness! Can I trade you my new Sunkern for it, Mr. Giovanni?!"
Giovanni gave her a look harsher than a Gengar's Mean Look. "No."
"Aw, well I tried," she said. "But I don't understand. I thought only a Luvdisc was left? No offense, but you were late today, Mr. Giovanni. I was actually thinking of taking it for myself, but then I realized it wasn't exactly fair."
"Cyrus switched pokémon with me," said Giovanni. "That Luvdisc is his now."
Lass Mia blinked a few times. She looked between Cyrus and Giovanni. She gave them a big, sunny smile. "That's so sweet! That's like he stole your heart! And now you'll have eternal love."
Giovanni was totally flabbergasted by this comment.
"You should hear this while you are still young," said Cyrus, blank as ever. "Love of any intensity is a transient state that only brings suffering in the end. It dies like everything else. I have shunned emotions for a reason—there are no 'positive' or 'negative' emotions, no matter what anybody says." When Mia just mirrored his blank look, he continued speaking. "...not to mention the fact that Giovanni and I just met... and the drastic age difference between us."
"That's okay. May-December romances are cute, too! Have fun, lovebirds," she said. "I need to go play with Sunshine the Sunkern!" She ran off again.
Giovannni returned Clefairy to its pokéball. "I want to leave as soon as possible," he muttered. "When did you want to exact this plan of yours?"
"After the other inmates leave the courtyard," said Cyrus.
"Fair enough, but I am not waiting an instant longer!" He paused. "By the way, what did you mean about a drastic age difference? For your continued safety, you had better not think that I'm eighty years old."
"As I did not appear to age in the other world, I am twenty eight."
Giovanni adjusted his fedora. "And yet you look like this?"
"Physical appearances are transient illusions created by the flawed perceptions of beings," Cyrus stated, in monotone.
"All right, I'm getting increasingly concerned about you..."
