Genesis

by Chesterization

What would happen if the Pokemon in the Mystery Dungeon universe take the same social evolutionary steps as us human? And what would happen, if they go a little further than us? The result would be a chaotic place where you can find a gun toting Kirlia; a sword wielding Snivy; a cyborg Alakazam; an Emboar duel-wielding flaming machine guns; and lots of horrendous creatures.

10. Chapter 10

Note: No, there is nothing wrong with your computer and I did not published chapter 9 twice. I have recently tried out a new set up for my computer. Upon revisiting the files, I decided to split chapter 2 into two. That why this chapter is bumped to 10. I have also tested the new proofreader and fixed a surprisingly large amount of mistakes in the first few chapters. For that I thank you for following the story despite those and sorry for their existence. The program is not perfect so if there is any mistake that truly bother you, please tell me. This is my first ever story so I still have a lot to learn. Thank you for reading and please enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. They belong to Game Freak and Nintendo. The songs I reference here belong to their respective artists as well. With that out of the way, please enjoy this piece of fanfiction.

Author's note:

(";") would mark the conversations happened in real time, between the flashbacks.

---

Friday night, outside of the Revenant bar.

Catherine and Axel were sitting on the balcony handle bar, both got Rick and Doc stood in between. From that distance, they looked into the windows on the bar's wall. One of those windows showed the Lopunny agent. She was yelling and pointing at a Pokémon, whose image were blocked by the rock wall. Anger and utter disgust were shown on her face. Through the other window, they could see Gwendolyn rubbing her forehead while leaning to the bar. She looked annoyed and exhausted. A few Pokémon could be seen leaving the bar. Each time the door was opened, verbal venom leaked out.

'What the hell is her problem? Fucking out of nowhere.'

'That's Tammy for ya. It is best not to talk to her.' Rick said and took a sip from the can of beer in his hand.

'Why?'

'Believe me, she will drive you nuts. She is what we call a backpack activist. She tells everybody to do something for "the good cause" and "justice". Instead of you know, actually doing anything about the damn cause. Which is okay, raise awareness and what not, but with that kind of tone?' Rick pointed at the window that's shown the Lopunny, screaming. 'No thank you. After hearing her speech about the rain forests, I just feel like smoking three endangered species just to even it out.'

'That's fucking disgusting. Who would want to smoke, burning flesh?'

'That's a figure of speech, but a few bandits would. Really eff'ed up bandits would.'

'That's a pretty harsh claim, Rick. I'm sure she means well but, a bit misguided.' Axel said.

Doc jumped in. 'That's debatable. Mercy said she most likely doesn't do those from the kindness of her heart but rather a mean to prove her superiority over others. Her current actions certainly support that.' He shook his head. 'I blame the Essal Information Network, so much unfiltered junk data floating around.'

'I got no comment, since I still don't understand what the fuck is going on.'

'That could be a good thing. You should keep it that way. Holding too much useless information may make it hard for you to hold on to your sanity.'

'That's probably the right call.'

The four Pokémon then went silent while waiting for the fighting from inside the bar to end.

'Why you guys got quiet all the sudden?' Catherine said.

'I got nothing to talk about.' Rick answered.

'Have a lot of random thoughts. But aren't that interesting to you. Do you like the idea of multicore transfusion? No? As expected.'

'I need some more alcohol to even get me to talk about random things.'

That moment, the blind Sableye agent passed by.

'Hey, how it going, Master Sploder?' Rick greeted him.

He turned his head at the team, smiled and said. 'I'm good. But why aren't you guy inside? The bar's over there.'

'Dude have a look for yourself.' Rick pointed but soon realized that the Sableye was blind. 'Oh crap, sorry Ray.'

'Hahaha, that was a good one. Pokémon forget that I'm blind sometime. No harm done. So what is going on?'

'Tammy has been in a pretty fierce argument with Boomer in the bar. Maybe you should do something about that. It has been over twenty minutes. I think she is about to use her fists.'

'Aw damn it, not again.'

The Sableye then ran straight in the bar and attempted to solve the dispute. His present made things inside went quiet for a little while. But the noises returned and grew in volume.

'Well, at least he tried.'

'Aw shit! Are we really gonna spend this night doing this? Gossip while looking at that? What else do you guys do around here?'

Rick chugged his drink and said. 'Together, just drinking or watch TV. Alone, we got tons. Video games, the combat sim, that dinky little rip off machine in the center, and the park.'

'Come to think about it, the future fucking sucks.'

Axel looked at his watch. 'Seven o'clock, I guess we could just go back and do what we normally do. Have an early rest.'

'Dude, it's Friday. A few years back I would kill to get a day of doing nothing like this. Not gonna waste it.'

'Well, how about a different activity? A game night maybe?' Doc said.

'A game night huh? You mean like Poker?' Axel said.

'Yes, of course. I got a deck right in my inventory. Do you all know how to play?'

'A bit rusty but yeah.' Rick scratched the back of his head.

'You will be surprised, but yes.'

'I think I have read the rules from somewhere.' Axel said before got off the handle bar. 'Just get back to the base before stuffs being thrown out of the window.'

That moment, a table was thrown out the bar window, shattered it completely. The glass pieces on the ground let out a blue glow and slowly disappeared.

'Too soon, man. Too soon.' Rick said.

Doc rubbed his chin. 'She must be running low on arguments.'

(The song "Do the evolution" by Pearl Jam begins to play)

Chesterization proudly presents.

A Pokémon fanfiction

Genesis

(Song ends)

Chapter 10: Game night.

The team returned to their living quarters and found Mercy in the main room. She appeared to be maintaining some small medical equipment. Saw them opened the door, she asked. 'Back so soon, everyone?'

'There was some problems at the bar.' Doc said.

'I see.' She then deconstructed the equipment with the digital fabricator in her neckless.

'Pardon my curiosity. Why don't you do that in the medical room?'

'It's being purged at the moment, these equipment are very sensitive to the laser so I have to do the maintenance by hand.'

'I see, but you should take a break, it's Friday.'

'Thank you for your concern. I'll take it into consideration. So, since the bar is out, how you all going to spend the night?'

'Worry not, we got it figured out. A game night. Poker. My suggestion. A pretty common thing to do.' Doc said.

'Indeed.'

'You want to join us?' Catherine said.

'No dear, I'm not into gambling. You all can enjoy it without me.'

'I thought the official rules require at least five players?' Axel said.

'Just consider one got busted out early and move on.'

'I'll settle for that.' Rick said and opened the door to his quarter.

'So, does anyone fancy some snack? Something sweet to lift up the mood and lower the salt in the air afterward. I know how these type of game go. '

'Thanks, Mercy.' Everyone said.

'It's my pleasure.' She then entered the kitchen section.

Catherine approached her and said. 'Need a hand or anything, Mercy?'

'No, I'm fine dear. Just taking things out of the containers and mixing them. Not that hard.'

'Really, cause I don't wanna made you feel like a, a, a, ah shit how do I put it?'

'A maid?'

'I was thinking butler.'

'Just consider me like a mother who take care of her family without demanding much in return. I consider you all to be second the family I've ever had, after all.'

'Oh.' Catherine suddenly felt something struck her heart.

'But, mothers are living beings too, so please don't take her for granted. And yes, you should give her a hand or lend her an ear once in every while. Just not right now though.'

'I sure will. Whenever you need me, just ask.'

'Will do and thank you, dear. '

Catherine turned around and saw everybody except for Doc had went to their respected quarters, prompting her to do the same. Doc walked to the "living room" section and accessed a panel hidden in the wall behind the TV. After a few button presses, in an empty part of the room, a fabricator was lifted up from the floor. The device projected an image of a round table with four black cushioned chairs in the air. When the table set was fully fabricated, he gently closed off the panel and found himself a seat. He picked the one chair with its back turned at the TV. Doc then summoned an old ammo box, which was coated in a thick layer of orange rust. He laid the box on his metallic leg and opened it. The inside of the box was filled with sheets of red velvet, wrapping around something. He unwrapped it layer by layer and found a medal put in a sturdy glass case. Laid beside it was an old deck of card with stylized symbols and icons. Each of the cards were not printed but rather hand drawn. From the numbers to the smallest of details, all were drawn by brush and protected by a thin layer of transparent paint. The paper was yellow with age but didn't have any scent of mold. Yet, the edges were still sharp enough to give one Pokémon a paper cut. He then locked his eyes on the cards and the medal, before slowly let out a sigh. As if acknowledged a failed attempt to remember something important.

Catherine stepped out of her quarter. Her coat had gone, leaving her with the jean and the Foundation tank top. She popped her knuckles as she walked to the newly fabricated table.

'Nice, didn't know you guys have more furniture around here.'

'Of course, this quarter have it all. We tend to keep things like this away to avoid dust accumulation. There is even a stationary bike if you want to exercise. You could definitely use it.'

'Mind your own fucking self, old man.'

'Catherine, don't take my previous statement too personal. I know it's the apocalypse, but we are living under a steady roof with weather control, so it wouldn't hurt to enjoy the day and take things easy.'

'One thing at a time. Consider the coat the first step.'

'If that's how you do things, then okay. Have a seat then.'

Rick stepped out. He had changed into the football shirt and kept his jeans. Seeing Catherine, the first thing he said was. 'What happened to your coat?'

'I don't any of bitching about me hiding cards in my sleeves.'

'Make sense, don't wanna see an extra ace come up on the table.'

'You shouldn't worry about that, this deck is like nothing available in the store.'

'Oh really? Whatever, it was kinda hot anyway.'

They both grabbed seats in Doc's left and right. Rick had to spend a few extra seconds to adjust the size of the chair. He did so by a few button lay beside the arm rest. A few press and the structure of the chair itself changed and fitted Rick perfectly, then did he sit down. He then leaned back and stared at the ceiling, waiting. Axel got out with just a plain white t-shirt, a locker was hanging around his neck. Parts of it was hidden under the shirt. Rick's eyes instantly left the ceiling. 'C'mon man, let get this things started and over with.'

'Take it easy. What happened to your lay back attitude?' He said before grabbing the last seat.

Doc fabricated a device and placed it in the middle of the table. It the projected four screens for each of them to see. Every screen had a blank space and the credits icon below it. Doc told everyone to place their credit card near the screen for scanning. They did so and their name appeared in the blank space. A robot voice speak up. 'Insert credit.'

'So, how much for the buy-in?' Doc asked.

'I don't know man, just play for fun. I say a 1000 buy-in is enough.'

'What is the fun in that? Get something with more weight.' Catherine said.

'I agree. I say 10000 credits.' Axel said before adjusting his tail on the seat.

'I think we should double that, for dramatic effect.' Doc said.

'20000?'Rick said.

'Congratulation, Rick. You have passed second grade math. So, is everyone in?'

'Yeah, let's do it!' Catherine said.

'Hold your enthusiasm, Catherine. It is Poker, not the Olympics.' Axel said and dragged the chair forward, closer to the table.

'Oh god.' Rick said and sat straight up. 'No regret, then.'

'So 20000 credits, it is.' Doc announced and programed the machine. An amount of chips with different values were then fabricated in front each of them. When everyone was ready. Doc pulled the deck of card out of the bullet box. It certainly caught everyone attention.

'This is my only deck of card. Be careful with it.'

'Dude, that thing look like an antique.'

'By all definitions, it is or they are.'

'How long have you been keeping them?'

'70 years, should be more or less.'

'Shit, they are even older than me.'

'Yes, so please, treat them with respect.'

Doc put the card inside the device and it began to shuffle the cards from within.

'So, let start on a 400 and 800 credits blind. Any objection? No? Good.'

The device accessed Catherine and Doc's sums and put in 400 and 800 blind respectively. Another hologram screen displayed the pot money appeared on top of the device. Doc cleared his throat and said. 'Let the game begins.'

The device then shot out two cards for each Pokémon. They lifted the card up and had a quick peek. All left the cards there and started to concentrate on the each other faces.

'You are the last to show up, so kick start this thing.' Catherine told Axel.

'Okay. I'll call.' Axel put in 800 credit.

'Call.' Catherine said.

'Same.' Doc said and threw the chips in.

Rick started to take in short breaths 'Okay, eh, oh crap, let me see.'

'Rick, you got to calm down.' Axel said.

'I know, it's just. These kind of things really stress me out man.'

'You have a criminal past. Isn't you supposed to know your way around the cards?' Doc said.

'What?' Catherine said.

'Oh, you don't know that yet. Rick will tell you someday.'

'I know that, man. But back then, losing money mean losing food on the table. And I can't punch my way out of those kind of deal. That's the hard part.'

'If it bothering you then you should rest and leave it to us.' Axel said before checking on his cards again.

'No, don't let me stop your fun. I'm okay with losing now. But still it's like an instinct or something.'

'Just don't panic. And trust me, I not that great with the cards. The only time when the rules was made aware to me was when I received them, which dated back sometimes, 70 years ago. I'm too busy with work and a lot of other things like building machines.'

'Yeah, and just relax and enjoy it. It's just a game of managing your stuffs. Along with do whatever you can to keep calm and not get mind fucked. And it's only like 20000 credits, not that bad if you fucked it up. God, when did I become such a jackass?'

'Like Catherine said, just be cool and fake it, take a few chances and you might make it. But you know act like that and you will definitely get wiped out pretty soon.'

'Fine, I'll check.'

The device then passed more cards to them. All looked at the cards. And laid them down.

'Fold.' Axel said.

'Let's all be friends.' Catherine looked around and laid down a 1000 credit bet.

'Fold.' Doc said.

'I fold.' Rick said, his forehead was still sweating.

The numbers on the screens changed. With more credit poured into Catherine's sum. 'Thanks for the scratch guys.' Catherine said then grabbed the chips on the table. All returned the cards to the machine and started the next round. All of them repeated the same card checking process. Axel put in more chips while staring at Catherine's face.

'What the fuck are you looking at?' Catherine raised in her turn.

'Just trying to see what you are planning.'

'Well, knock it off, you are creeping me the fuck out.' The machine shot more cards to them. Axel raised. 'Here take some. I dare you.'

'Pff, course I will. Double that even.'

'I'll let you two sort this out on your own. I'll out.'

'Check.'

They got more cards and then started to check them. 'Ah, darn it.' Said Axel at the result. 'Fold.'

'Alright.' She snapped her finger and used Psychic to grab the chips. 'Thank you for the offer, Axel.'

'Don't mention it.'

Looked at Rick anxious face, she said. 'And c'mon Rick, just get a fucking grip. Don't let this intimidate you.'

'I know.'

The machine then started the next round. After a few seconds. Doc said. 'It's rather intriguing.' Before he put more chips in.

'What is intriguing?' Axel responded.

'Each of us is in no position to know how to play this game. Maybe except for Rick. But I just find it strange. Catherine for example, is a Celestian. And Axel, you seem to be training all the time, and yet you still know how to play. For me, I am an engineer and mercenary who somehow got this deck of card in my inventory and the rules in my memory bank. I'm just curious about how did we learn to play? When did all of this, begin?' Doc then raised his mechanical index finger. 'Oh, yes. I have an idea. I say, to lower the stress level for Rick and encourage some bonding between us-for I know for sure someone will be bitter about this in the end. Let's trade stories about what forces on Essal made Pokémon like us know how to play this game?'

'That's strange request Doc.' Axel said.

'Curious or is there some kind of scheme?' Catherine said before put her hand on her own cards.

'Oh no, I would never do that. You have read in too deep Catherine. I simply just wanted to have something to talk about. Something to make the evening more lively and like I said, bonding experience.'

'That sounds like a great idea, but I'm not quite sure about that, Doc.' Axel said.

'Really? Bonding, or evaluating our levels? Knowing how we got started and then use that to your advantage?'

'Catherine, it doesn't matter how or when you begin. The level of skill is built over the time you spent practicing. We are not friggin Arceus, so I doubt knowing how we started can actually affect anything.'

'That's a rational way to look at it Rick.' Axel said. And Catherine, are you pulling some kind reverse psychology on us? Are you the one with the plan and this is just your way to confuse us all. Use Doc's request as a mean to cast the seed of doubt, causing confusion and use it as your advantage.'?' Axel said.

'Okay, now you are the one that read in too deep into this shit.'

'I don't know. No one was wondering such things except for you. What if the whole things was in fact your own elaborate scheme? Are you the one with the plan?' Axel leered at her.

'Pf, no, how can I do that? I'm from Celestial remember?'

'"Were", you said that, remember? If so, then why don't you start Catherine? This whole conspiracy was came up by you, so you should knock the suspicion off of yourself first.' Axel said. 'What do you got to hide?'

'Why me? Didn't Doc the one who started this? God. Just get the fuck off my back already, you are ruining my mood.' Catherine said before looking at her two new cards. Feeling the eyes were on her, she laid down the cards. 'Okay, okay. I'll tell. Fuck, I thought game night supposed to be fun not a god damn interrogation.'

'See this is why this game stress me out. It always gives trust issues to everyone involve.' Rick said.

'Fine, let's see. Start with the time I learn how to play, huh? Okay. Uhhh, totally irrelevant question to get into topic. Do you know why I swear so god damn much?'

'Yeah, that got me scratching my head for the longest time. You came from a place that is famous for squeaky clean manner and golden chopstick to the butt uptight. Then why are you so. I don't know, acting so much like me.' Rick said.

Axel laid his bet then said. 'Her uncle is a merchant, he travels to the Outland regularly. So she always have to protect him from bandits during his trades. Resulted in meeting a lot of others traders and sometimes smugglers. She got infected by their behaviors.'

'Yup, pretty much it. And the Catherine you see today is the snow ball of one single day. And that day was the same day I learned, or at least know about a game call Poker.'

'Wow, over dramatic much.' Axel said.

'Oh, let me say. I don't fucking know. Eh, my uncle taught me about the game about 6 years ago. Yeah, that's interesting.'

'That's true. Even if she fabricate it, over dramatic things might make it more entertaining and worthwhile to hear.' Doc commented on it, before backing out from another pot.

'I'll take that. But by god if I hear a Celebi riding a Groudon while puking out rainbow, then I'll out.' Axel said.

'Dude, what the hell?'

'It from one of my dreams, after I tested that focus enhance drug Celeste gave me.'

'I told you, don't be your girlfriend test subject.' Rick laid in a bet.

'But she asked really nicely. Raise.' Axel put in more chips. 'How can you say no to her?'

'Eh hem, it's still me we are talking about here. No more delay then. So it all started in, let me see, by Celestian calendar transfer to standard then it should be sometime in May, six years ago. I had just reached the rank of Archangel. After a few days in, I realized that the new rank is such bullshit. So much stuffs that I frankly I don't want to do.'

'Why? Isn't that your duties and responsibilities?'

'I don't mind the duty part and I am well aware of the responsibilities. But the part that I, myself have to deal and even talk with other Pokémon in my nation, just tired me out. While being an Angel just give them the: "Ask my superiors for that." Bullshit. '

'Why? I thought Celestial folks are kind and polite.' Rick sounded slightly confused.

'Yeah, no, at least for me. Everyone in my nation hate me.'

'Do you know why?'

Catherine had already known the answer for the longest time. But the spare herself from any unnecessary questions, she replied. 'I don't know, they are assholes. I never ask them, never want to. So screw them.'

'It's call karma, Catherine, there got to be a reason. Karma is like this. Doc signaled everyone to reveal their cards. 'Flush. That what you got for not paying attention.' Doc said.

'Fuck. Oh, I see where this shit is going. You're setting me up huh. I'll get you back for that.' Catherine returned the cards and prepared for the next round. 'So after all that blah blah, I was looking for something else to do in an extended time period. I saw my uncle and offered him my help. Since his last Archangel bodyguard had expired, he reluctantly took me in. I traveled with my uncle, protected the wares and watched him did trades with a few nomads along the way. I kept myself hidden in the carriage most of the time. Only went out when things began to turn sour, which almost never happen. If anything, he just exchange a few things and leave as soon as it was done. After a while, it got boring fast and I sometimes wished for something to go wrong. And that's what…'

---

Six years ago.

Catherine was still wearing the same blue coat, the only different is that the wing symbol on the back was intact. At the time, she got a pair of slack instead of her jean shorts and her guns were not yet found. She and a rather short Gallade was sitting inside a horseless carriage made from metal. In the back compartment was a complex machine run by gears and pulleys. And the main source of power for the carriage was a spinning lever covered in psychic purple glow. On top of the chariot were wooden chests strapped together. The Gallade arm were glowing purple and his eyes were glue on the glass in front of him.

Catherine looked at the Gallade, noticed his troubled expression, she asked. 'Uncle, what is with the nervous face? And you haven't told me why you left the other wagons behind?'

The Galade sighed. 'Listen, Catherine. No matter what happen next, keep it quiet. And stay in the carriage.'

'What are you talking about? You are acting strange, uncle.'

The Gallade didn't answer, just wiped a droplet of sweat away from his forehead. The carriage ran for another twenty minutes and stopped. As soon as that happened, a band four of cars and a van came from a distance. All of them were coated with a thick layer of rust and barb wires. The cars surrounded them and shut off their engines. Catherine had a look at the van and saw it had a medium side metal container with wheels attached to it.

'Stay here, Catherine. And remember what I told you.' The Gallade said before opening the door.

'But uncle.'

'Just stay here. They are the special traders. I know what I am doing.' He then slammed the carriage's door.

'They sure don't look like traders at all.' She whispered to herself while scanning the cars and followed her uncle every move.

The side door on the only van opened, and a Scrafty wearing sunglasses and standard bandit outfit came out. His smug manner caught her attention. Never in her life did she wanted to punch a Pokémon so badly. He approached her uncle and slapped his shoulder.

'Hey Arand. How are things, old chump?' He said, the voice and volume was more of an announcement rather than a friendly greeting. A group of ten or more Pokémon stepped out of the cars and surrounded Catherine's uncle.

'Just get things over with. I got to head back by tomorrow. Show me the goods and you'll get the crystals.' Catherine's uncle said.

'Yeah, about that. The boss aren't too happy with the last deal.'

'What else do you want? I put my neck out for you. The Council is starting to sniff around. They were asking questions.'

'That's not my concern. But this is. We don't like things to trickle down anymore. And as your nation exclusive provider, we want more.'

'Well, damn you then. There is nothing more I can do. That is the best I got.' He then pointed his finger at the carriage. 'It's always is.'

'We know. We understand. So, how about you give us access to your little city?'

'Are you mad? What do you wish to accomplish by doing that? And little? Buddy, have you read the books. It's twice the size of the Empire City. The hell hole of a place where you runts got kicked out from.'

'Believe me, the boss knows what he is doing.'

'Well, and what do you think that I will help you?'

'I guess we can just kill you here then.' He snapped his finger and the other bandits cocked their weapons.

'Wait. Wait. Wait. What? Did you just lose your marbles? What the hell is wrong with you bandits?'

'The boss's order, extreme methods at the first sign of objection.' The other bandits pointed their guns at the Gallade, making him stepped backward to the carriage. 'The boss saw the council actions in the past. The order set by them is holding back progress. Maybe we can help that. With some brand of…'

'NO, NO, NO, NO,' Catherine's uncle pointed at the Scrafty bandit in each "no". 'Noooooooooooooo. You did not just went there. You did not. Is that the best of an excuse that your so called "boss" came up with?' The Gallade waved his arm around, agitated.

'What did you say?'

'Oh, this whole "Anarchy is the new order" nonsense is old. Everybody knows, order is mother fucking order. Yes, governments aren't perfect and so are you dumbass son of bitches. Please, god fucking damn it, be honest. You want to invade us for the crystal, we got it. God. I hate you pretentious fuckers. The only reason you are here because all are uneducated twats and not juvenile geniuses. GOD. And I thought you guys were different.' That little verbal abuse got the bandits frozen for a few seconds.

'Okay, we're still gonna kill you know.'

'Uncle. Get back into the carriage. I'll take care of this.' Catherine said behind Arand's back.

Arand turned around. 'Catherine, how long have you been there?'

'Long enough. You have a lot of explaining to do after this.'

'Who the fuck is that?' A bandit asked and the Pokémon beside him slapped him in the back of his head. 'Dumbass, she said it, she is his niece.'

The Scrafty started to clap slowly and laughed. 'Oh look, an Angelic Guard boys.' The other bandits stared at him, waiting for an instruction. 'This is the time for you laugh with me, sarcastically.'

'Do we need to do that, boss?' One bandit asked.

'Agh, forget it. So Arand, you got the ball to bring one with you today? Your niece even.'

'Listens, eh, you, Fuckers? The deals are off. Now get out before things get ugly.'

'Catherine, fuckers are not their name. It's an insult.' Arand whispered from a far.

'Oh, is that right? In that case, I meant that, and why you still here, uncle? Get back to the carriage already.'

'Catherine please.'

'I'll be gentle with them I promise.'

'No I mean be careful, and kill them all if you can. They're going to kill us either way.'

'Don't expect that, but acknowledge it regardless, uncle. Now get inside. And close the door.'

'Hehehehe. Hello? Who do you think you are? You primitive little whore? We got guns, saw them? The metal thingy in each of our hand. Yeah, we can kill you with that. Throw a punch and we get like fifty rounds in you. Look at you, trying to act tough. You Celestians are so delusional that it's comical. Haha, laugh with me this time, you idiots.' He commanded and the other bandit reached their head up to laugh along.

'Haha, what did you call me?'

'Oh, I said Agggghhhhh.' Catherine teleported behind the Scrafty and punched him in the back of the neck, hard. The blow nearly shut him down, made everything in his vision went black. He fell to the ground. His head slammed its weight on the glasses, cracked it. The others bandits were startled and stopped their forced laugh. They immediately got their head down out of reflex and fired a few rounds, almost hit the Scrafty if he had not been on the ground. Took them a few delays before realizing she had gone.

Catherine had teleported away after the punch and placed herself outside of the bandits circle. One of them turned back and detected her. Given him no chance, she dashed forward, sucker punched him in the face and backed out of the circle. Catherine's right and left hands began to glow as she played hopscotch with her teleportation around the bandits, dodging their bullets in the process. In her right, Catherine used Psyshock to create small but sharp purple crystal shards. All made with her own energy. And she used these as projectiles, constantly threw them to the bandits while the Focus Blast in her left grew bigger by seconds. The shards stabbed one Machoke bandit in the face and a chock full of them pinned in a Mienfoo's chest and stomach.

A bandit tried to jumped out and attack her. But she denied it by a side kick to the chest. He was just a Sandslash so his height didn't give her any trouble.

'How the hell does she do that?' A Salk bandit asked as he fired his assault rifle.

'Why the hell not? She whispered behind him before head locking him with her right arm. The bandit dropped the weapon and tried to free himself by jabbing his elbow to her side. Worked through the pain in her rib, she maintained her focus and clamped down her grip on the Pokémon's neck. She covered her arm with the psychic glow and put a bone crushing force on the Salk windpipe. His jabs stopped.

When his body grew limp, she used him as a meat shield and slowly backed away. She held the bandit up while aiming her Focus Blast at the other bandits, who were grouping up.

'Leave or this Fighting type will perish.'

The other bandits looked at each other and made a decision in a half second. All were comfortable with shooting the bandits in her grasp, who was coughing out blood in each bullet hit. The bandits were screaming and yelling, telling all to keep firing and concentrating their fire. A few bullet punched through the meat shield, pinned in Catherine's chest and stomach. Let out a quick grunt, Catherine launched the orb in the group of bandits.

The Focus Blast struck the ground under one bandit, triggered an explosion that make an audible crack came from his legs. The blast radius caught those surrounded him. But didn't have such a devastating effect, just knocked them away from the heart of the explosion. However, that not what Catherine intended to do. The attack caused a wide spread cloud of dust to rise from the ground, tall enough to obscure the bandits' vision, making them panic and fired at random directions.

Catherine released the dead bandit in her grip and put her hands together. As they started to glow bright, another bullet flew through the dust and scratched her shoulder. The sudden pain made her felt the urge to break the connection of her palms. She bit down her lip and clawed her hands tight together, keeping the connection between them. The ground under her began to glow as her hands slowly separated. 'Angel lift.' She said and lifted her hand. Louder panic screams from the bandits were heard as they flew up near fifty feet in a weightless state.

The bandits tried "swimming" in the air to rotate their body and aimed down at the ground. Catherine lifted them higher, making it harder for them to get an accurate shot at her. Before they could fully adjusted themselves, her Angel lift's effect wore off and their bodies then rained down from sky. But Catherine didn't let up. She casted a massive Burden on the field in front of her and right under the bandits. The bandits' bodies were sucked to the field below and accelerated. All were screaming before either their heads or their backs struck the ground. She closed her eyes before they made contact. Each snap and crack she heard from their broken bodies was nailing itself into her mind. Forever served as reminders of what she did and how cruel her attacks could be.

When the last body fall. Catherine waved her hand and perform a Fairy Wind. The move cleared up the leftover dust and sand in the air. She began breathing slowly in order to make the pain in her torso more manageable. Stared down at the ground, she saw all the twisted necks and burst open heads. Their inner fluid and mashed up brain were exposed, even some of them were still pulsing. The sight made her sick to her stomach. She swallowed some of her saliva, making sure to keep her lunch inside.

A loud banging sound of metal accompanied by the Scrafty voice were heard from her right. 'You think you won? Primitive whore? You are dead wrong. This time I shall release the beast! And I am not referring to the beer.' The Scrafty had somehow got up and walked to the back of his van. He now stood beside the container linked to his van. Despite a broken piece of glass was in his face, he let out a smile. Wipe the blood off his cheek, he punched the lock on the container. The red lights above it changed to green and the "door" began to open.

A Krookodile much larger than Catherine was released. The Pokémon was wearing a white trench coat splattered with blood and a long pair of ripped jeans. The hood on the coat covered his face and shown only his red snout and teeth. Around his neck was a collar with spikes attached to it. He let out a hellish growl and his glowing eyes tossed a death stare at Catherine, made her froze on the spot.

'What on heaven?'

'Good, now, kill.' The Scrafty said before biting down his teeth, making the collar let out an ominous glow. The dark type briefly looked at the sky and growled again. A black aura then oozed from his sleeves and hood. Most of them gathered up around his claws, a chunk of it formed into metal like texture, made the claws appeared longer and sharper. His glowing eyes changed from yellow to red. Locked his vision at Catherine, he crouched down before charging at her, with his claws struck out from the sleeves.

Saw the raging beast was coming, Catherine quickly regained composure. She dodged his first couple of swipes by teleporting backward. His claws drew long black and lingering lines in the air after each unsuccessful hits.

'Ha, you might have been a match for my boys, but let see how you handle this one.' The Scrafty said from the safety of his van. 'He is a Keeper, the carrier of a demonic curse. And I'm not referring to, bah, don't care. You are going to die anyway, go get her.'

Catherine didn't paid much attention to that as she was too busy trying to dodge the darkness infused slashes. She figured the best thing she could do is to charge up her Focus Blast and hoped the type advantages would got him to back down. And yet, he showed no sign of burden after seeing the growing orb, just slashing away in a frenzy. However, in one split second, she found a moment when his claws left a large open in his left side. And that would be where she placed the orb.

However, the Ground type didn't simply take it. To her surprise, just when her Focus Blast left her hand, he escaped in a black aura dash. The orb keep flying and hit the ground in front of her. The concussive shock from the explosion knocked Catherine on her back and scraped her skin and coat. Catherine teleported herself to immediately get back up. 'Damn it.' She said before hearing a growl behind her back. Didn't need to turned around, she teleported forward, narrowly escaped a cross clash.

She then teleported herself to face him. When she did, her right hand let out a glow and got the Psyshock crystals ready. Without hesitation, she threw the salvo of energy crystals at the Krookodile. The Pokémon stopped in his track and slammed his feet down. 'Stone edge', he said as the ground beneath him cracked and sharp pieces of rock flew up, blocked out most of the crystals. He was more than willing to take a few crystals in his chest without. Struck his hand out, the sharp rocks was then flew at Catherine. Instead of throwing all at once, he threw a few at the time.

Catherine kept her focus and dodged a series of close-calls. When he lost half of the Stone Edge, she charged up another Focus Blast and ran forward. The Krookodile dashed back, moving away from her while continued throwing the rocks. She launched the attack when it was ready. The Krookodile released the last of the rocks and dashed far away from her attack with ease. Catherine came right to the last rocks and one dug into her shoulder. The vibration from the point of impact transferred to the rest of her arm, shocking her system. She knelled down on the ground, winced while yanking the piece of stone out. Measured by the blood on the stone, it had cut her real deep. Blood from her body began to dampen her coat, made her shaking from the blood loss.

She looked at the Krookodile, who was standing still in a slightly crouched down stance. The dark aura around him began to grow and soon he yelled. 'Raging Darkness.' On his command, the added aura then escaped his body and went forward in the form of a black tidal wave, which consumed everything in its path. The ground where it passed was burnt and cracked opened, made it looked more lifeless than it already was. Catherine saw the gigantic wave of death and quickly teleported to the left. But the wave suddenly change its course and still heading straight for her. The Krookodile now stood up right and grinned as he watched Catherine struggled to escape.

In the heat of battle, an idea the sparked up in her head. It was a risk that she had to take. Catherine stopped running away and ran toward the wave head on. Her boots was slowly covered by the purple glow as she approaching it. And when the wave was a few feet away, she jumped. The added boost from the glow was what she need to vault over the wave. Miraculously, she landed without a scratch on her, all while the black wave keep moving straight to nowhere.

With the remaining momentum, she continued sprinting toward the Krookodile. The Pokémon tried to create another wave, but Catherine suddenly teleported, immediately shorten the distance. Caught the Pokémon off guard, she jumped and raised her leg for a kick. But as she nearly got her high kick in motion, her slack stopped her from reaching maximum height. The end result was a rather weak and pathetic attack that just seem to gently nudge the Krookodile's snout. She fell down on the ground with a painful thud. But that fall was nothing compare to what would come next.

("Wow, cockblocked by your pants. That one gotta hurt."

"Shut the fuck up, Rick.")

Catherine heard the Krookodile's breaths, it was so close to her. She felt a warm touch before experienced a powerful vice clamped down on her sides. The Krookodile had got her between his jaws and began to lift her up. His sharp teeth cut into her flesh like a knife through a sheet of paper. Because of that, she didn't feel much direct pain. But that didn't mean everything was painless. Seconds later, the bacteria infected saliva and the bullet holes she had already accumulated from before created a mixture of burning agony. Something she never had and never wanted to experience again. She couldn't keep her silence at that point, no one could, she screamed louder than ever. Heard her reaction and felt the vibration from her body to his teeth, the Pokémon decided to torture her by slowly but firmly bit down, wished to grant her a slow painful death.

'Just let me go.' She yelled after screaming her lungs out.

("After I got out of the maw of death, I shot a Focus Blast down his throat. Fucked him up real good."

"Wait, hold it right there. Didn't you just got bitten in the gut?"

"Yes, thank you for reminding me that, Rick?"

"So how did you beat the demonic incarnation of a Pokémon then? What kind of impossible plot point had happened?" Doc said.

"Eh, skills? I mean, he is fast and ruthless but he get tires out fast."

"Dude, you were inside his mouth, how? Oh…, I get it, yeah definitely skills." Rick almost forgot about their conversation the previous week, but he remember it now.

"Let me explain, okay? Just when all hope is lost, and I was bleeding and screaming. My uncle popped up from behind the Krookodile."

"And?" The other three said in unison.

"He threw a rock at it."

"The…hell?" Axel said.

"How is that even a possibility?" Doc added along.

"It was a big rock." She added and shrugged her shoulders. "And after I killed him, we looted the cars not before doing something about the Scrafty douchebag.'

"No way, that can't be happening. You must be hiding something."

"You can say that a million time and my answer will be the same, no.")

What Catherine did not tell them was.

'Don't worry Catherine. I got this.' The Gallade let out a grunt and threw a rock the size of his fist at the back of the Krookodile's head. The small rock didn't made the Pokémon bat an eye and continued his grip on Catherine. He tried grabbed the Pokémon by the tail but was slapped in the face by it instead. And just like that, he fell unconscious.

Catherine tried to punch whatever was in her reach. Didn't work out so well, for her arm was not long enough. 'Stop it. I demand you to let me go or you will regret it. Arggh. Uncle do something, it hurts. Uncle!' The teeth were now pinning her internal organs. She could feel his foul breath touched them as seconds went by. And at same time, heard the sound of his throat gulping down a mix of her blood and his saliva. To her, that sound was a taunt: "I'm drinking you like a juicy flesh fruit. And there is not a single damn thing you can do about it."

In a moment of desperation the voice within her spoke. "Give in, let go and I'll will take care of everything." She agreed. As hard as it was in that circumstance, she closed her eye and let loose of her body, made it look like a ragdoll. Thought that Catherine had fallen unconscious from the pain he inflicted, the Krookodile no longer found joy in torturing her. He positioned his head straight up to catch the rest of the blood.

But then, the teeth of the Krookodile were slowly pushed out. Her body suddenly sprang back into action. Her hand then elbowed the Krookodile's teeth repeatedly. This time much, much more powerful than her last attempts. After six or seven hits, she dislodged a few of his teeth. The pain made him widen his mouth, gave Catherine enough room to reach her left hand inside. A small Crimson Focus Blast orb was beginning to form and she was aiming it at the darkness that led down his throat. 'Show me your inside.' Catherine said in her deep voice, just before launching the orb. The orb traveled down his throat and stopped in his stomach. The orb touched the wall of his stomach and expanded. The Krookodile's teeth completely left Catherine as he choked on the Crimson Focus Blast. And dropped her as soon as he felt his stomach began to stretch open. And without knowing it, the orb exploded from within him, inflated his stomach and made it burst like a water balloon. The shockwave blown Catherine and a large quantity of blood and gore far away from the Krookodile. The Dark type was overloaded with agony and his body crashed to ground.

From the puddle of crimson and sticky liquid, Catherine rose up. The entire coat was dyed in blood and the black liquid. Her own dark purple aura escaped the bullets holes and teeth marks on her body. It healed her up from within in mere seconds, took away the pain and left only scars behind. Catherine's head started twitching when the aura stopped swirling around and focused on her left hand. She had a good look at the ravaged upper body of the Krookodile. A long string of intestine were presented in front of her feet. Traced after it and she got glimpse of his intact ribs; the shredded liver and pancreas; and even caught sight of 4 small beating hearts laying on a pair of near deflated lungs. She stepped on the string of intestine. The damp and slick "squish" sound filled the voice with delight. She then slowly walked to the panicking head, which was gasping for its final breaths of air. When she was a few feet away, Catherine put the aura covered hand in front of her and said. 'Together once more.' Like a swarm of gluttonous grasshoppers, the aura flew out from her hand and feed on the Krookodile damaged body, made him screamed in terror with the little air he had. The aura crawled into every corners hidden in his flesh and bone, stripping out the force that kept him alive at that point. When the thing she needed was extracted, the aura returned to Catherine, leaving behind a pale body of the Krookodile. His face locked in a stiff and frightened face. She cracked an ear to ear grin when the hearts stopped beating.

Behind her came the van's engine noise. She turned around and saw the Scrafty was getting away, probably had changed his mind after seeing his newest investment exploded. Catherine simply teleported in front of the van. The Scrafty stepped on the gas pedal and accelerated, planned to run her over. But when Catherine touched the van, her hand dug into the engine, destroyed it and stopped the van completely. The Scrafty's face was smashed into the windshield and fell back with a bleeding forehead. The Scrafty's vision become fuzzy. That combine with the smoke from the busted engine made Catherine's appearance looked more like a monster than ever. He frantically trying to unlock the door and get out. Just when he got his hand on the handle, Catherine grabbed him by the leg and yanked him out. 'Leaving so soon?' He shook his leg and held on the handle like his life, yet Catherine got him out regardless. When he was out, Catherine gently tossed him in the air and grabbed him by the neck. She brought him near her grinning face. 'You haven't got your turn yet.' The Scrafty begged but Catherine didn't listen. Without a word she threw the Pokémon forty feet upward.

Her left hand glow and performed Psyshock. However, instead of creating a small object with the psychic glow, she created a long and large spike. With a little adjustment of her hand, the point of the spike was in line with the Scrafty's back. When the Pokémon came down, the spike impaled him, cut right through the spine. Forced him to scream as he hopelessly watched the tip of the spike rose from his bloody chest. As gravity pulled his body down, slowly and drastically magnified his suffering. His screaming went weak and prompted the body to do the same. She stopped maintaining the spike and dropped the Scrafty on the ground when his body went limp.

The aura went back inside of Catherine as her mind slowly came to. She started gasping while looking at her blood covered hands and the gigantic hole on the Scrafty. 'Oh my goodness.' She exclaimed after realized what she had done or at least allowed the voice to do. A frozen feeling ran down her spine and her feet felt weak. However, with determination, she shook her head. 'No! Calm down, you know this would happen, just calm down, he was attacking you. You have all the reasons to. Just calm down' she panted while repeating "Calm down" to herself. But after looking at the remaining body of the Krookodile that little talk certainly didn't work anymore. She felt like passing out. Before she could, her uncle caught and comforted her.

'It's okay Catherine, it's over.'

She continued panting hard. Her uncle didn't know what to do with that besides patting her on the shoulder and helping her standing up. Suddenly, the Scrafty coughed out blood and started breathing again. He was still alive, but was losing his time in the world rather fast.

'Catherine. Can you still walk?'

'Yes uncle.'

'Good, first, get to his van and sit down for a while. Salvage whatever you can when you're at it. I know you are experiencing so much trauma right now, but we got to do this fast. I'll take care of him and the rest of ware. Just take all you that need or whatever interest you. I'll stage something and run the cars off a cliff. Make it look like an accident. Get us off the hook.'

'Arand…you son of a…' The Scrafty said in his dying breath.

The Gallade let go of Catherine kneeled down. He put his hands around the Scrafty's neck and choked him, with some difficulties. The sound made Catherine looked at the other way. Both then separated. Arand went in the cars and took everything he could. He got a total of five metal chests with various labels and tied them around the carriage. During this process, he constantly asked Catherine whether she was fine or not. She never answered him.

Catherine got inside the back compartment of the van. The inside of it look like a small room with a table and a fancy chair. The wood and craftsmanship of it suggested a hefty price tag. Catherine sat, there and tried to repress what just had happened. She picked herself up again and looked around the interior for something to take. Knowing her uncle's priorities in life, he would be upset if she come back empty handed. The things that caught her eyes were two revolvers hanging on the wall. One silver white and one pure black with the sight in the shape of a scythe. Something about their steel cold looks drawn them to her. Given that she had fended off a group of bandits with her own, maybe these would give her the added odd of survival. With them she might be able to protect herself without letting the rampaging voice out. Without thinking too much of it and the support from her uncle's: "Salvage whatever you can", she took both of them along with a few books and a deck of playing cards laying under the table. There was also a safe there but since she lacked of the correct combination code, she just left it. She had a look at the books. There were no theme to these, just random fields and topics. There is even a nudie magazine mixed in, which she discarded without a second glace. The one that sparked most attention was an astrophysics one. Something about that word seemed alien, but something in her gut told her that it would be useful.

---

'Wow, how convenient. One trip and you got all the stuffs you need in the next six years.'

'Shut the hell up Ax-hole. So after looting everything, I backed inside the carriage while waiting for my uncle to finish the set up. Longest fucking hour of my life. When he got back, blood and sweat were all over his face and he just calmly said: "Everything is over, I got the goods and the cars are took care of." His attitude was like taking out the trash or some shit: "No biggie, we just killed some folks and loot their shit". His words just broke my heart, he cared about a few jars of olives more than his own niece.'

'At least he threw a rock to rescue ya.'

'Yeah, at least he did that.'

'Not just a rock, Rick, a big rock.'

'Really folding it in Doc.' Axel said.

'Afterward, as you might expect, just asked my uncle a million questions about what the hell was going on. He shrugged off some but in short said that was the only way for Celestian to get import goods at this age and time. The essential kinds in large quantity anyway. No nation was willing to made trade with us anymore because of the separation and the paranoid that followed. I don't understand half of that so didn't know what he said was true or not but I digressed.'

'It was true, not in detail but that was the grand scheme of things on Essal. Paranoia is friggin everywhere. '

'That is quite a risky game your uncle play.'

'Agree. A dangerous game like that will sooner or later get you exiled. Not to be pessimistic, just stating the facts. I shall raise.'

'He did what he has to do. He is a merchant, it's in his blood. He just want to serve Celestial the same way as his ancestor or he likes seeing money. Don't know which, but I'm sure he cannot keep that up for long. I told him all the time but he just shrugs it off.'

'I hope it would be long enough for him to find a new way.'

'Uh huh, or maybe we will bump into him some time in the future. So after all that were cleared up, I asked him about the cards I found, a way to, you know change to subject. And he taught me how to play along our way home. Thinking about it now, I don't think those were just olives in those chests, but screw it, doesn't matter, it's like 6 years ago. And yeah, that was, pretty much it. That's how I learn Poker. Are you not entertained?'

'That's depend.'

'I kinda like it.'

'Well, I have some doubt about how your uncle subdued a demonic being with a big rock. I guess there were complications that you didn't wish to share with us.'

'Believe it or not, your choice.'

'So you have been playing this game all those years?

'Nah, I just play sometimes. But I have never defeated my uncle. Every time he beat me at this game, he looks like striking gold. Again, those moment when he rub it in my face just make it worse.'

Doc tapped on his cards. 'But in the end, sorry that you have to put up with an uncle like that.'

'He is not that bad actually. But yeah, I'll take that sorry for him.'

'Okay. Let's see what we got.' Rick said and both Doc and Rick flipped their card cards. Rick got a pair of Kings, and Doc a pair of two. And Rick claimed the pot.

'See, you are doing much better, now that you are all, happy up.' Catherine said.

'Hehe just lucky I guess.' Rick took the chips.

Axel then said. 'So Doc, all my life, I see you as a dedicated worker and mercenary. When did you learn to play cards? A game that well engineers and doctors would shun.'

'Oh yes, of course. Eh, hum, I don't quite know.'

'How is that possible?' Axel said and folded his turn.

'Dude, I can barely remember how I learn to play, and that was just like, 20 years plus. Doc got like eh, three point five time of that. Give the dude a break.'

'For I have suggested this, I will definitely tell you. But, give me some time. My memory is funny. I'm just trying to think back into my past. I don't usually think too much about it, beside for experience and patterns. I'm the kind of Pokémon that is more interested in tomorrow.'

Doc then went quiet and looked at his new cards, took him quite a while to make the decision of bet 3000 credits. All were waiting for his answer, while focusing on the current round. The atmosphere was glowing heavier and things were getting stuffing. Mercy exited the kitchen section with a tray on her hand. 'Okay, I got the special sweet and vials for everyone.' Her voice provide some relief. She placed the vials on the table beside Doc's hand.'

'Appreciate it, Mercy.' He said.

Mercy then placed large beer glassed on Catherine and Axels' side. Rick however got two. In each of these glasses were small green balls.

'Now, now. No one getting angry at Rick. He got a bigger mouth than everyone else.'

'I'm not bitching about that. But what the fuck is this thing?'

'Catherine, language dear.'

'Sorry, but what are these made of?

'It's a special kind of sweet. Nontoxic, non-additive sweet.'

'Yeah, just treat this with the rule of hot dogs: "Love it, enjoy it, but never ask where it came from." It might scar you for life.'

Catherine put one in her mouth and stated chewing. The sweetness in it was unique to say the least. She had never tasted anything quite like it. She swallowed, feeling a dry sensation in her throat.

'I gonna need something to drink. My throat suddenly feel dry. Must be from all that talking from earlier.'

'I have some alcohol mixed berry juices in the fridge. I'll get them for you if you want it.'

'Oh thanks. That would be great.' Catherine said before taking a bite. And had a quick peek at her cards. 'Check.'

'Drinking Alcohol when thirsty will made you lose even more water.' Axel said.

'Pf, who the hell care?'

Doc drank the vial and looked at his cards. 'Give me a glass as well.' He then summoned a collar device with a few vials connect to its back, after that he put it around his neck. Doc didn't flinch when the needles' points inside the collar pierced the holes on his necks.

'Don't look everyone. It's rather unpleasant.'

'Too late' Axel said. 'Another bet coming up, anybody in?'

'Hum, like all other time, not gonna chicken shit out of that. Seriously, that's not gonna work. And Doc, is that what you have to do for a drink?' Catherine said.

'Yes.'

'Shit, that gotta sucks. '

'Technically it does. It suck excessive liquid out of my system.'

'Okay, don't tell me. Oh shit, it's in my head. Oh god.'

'You'll get used to it, in the next three or six months.' Rick said.

Doc scratched his head. 'My memory bank must be really cramped, will need some time to fully access. I have a tendency to replace or overlap memory with knowledge. But I don't know, something is preventing me from restoring the data concerning this particular memory.'

'Data? Wait your brain is like a machine or something?'

'Yes, it was one of my life project. I replaced half of my brain with nano-bots when I was 47. It helps me control my cybernetics along with achieve maximum concentration and the ability to calculate at high speed. Quite useful. Use it to manage my memory as well. All in the effort of helping me become more than just a Pokémon.'

'Oh shit. You got to be careful with that. Like…'

'If you concern that the machine will take over me, then worry not. I have already went through it. That why I keep some part of my organic brain. Thanks to that decision I still retain emotion and humor, the essential of being a living organism.'

'Humor?'

'Yes, quite unexpected isn't it, that is the only natural defense mechanism that no machine can duplicate.'

'I don't know, no offense but I doubt the humor part.'

'I'm your adopted father Axel so of course my jokes are bad. That's why they have the term dad jokes.'

'I, I don't get it.' Catherine said. Followed by Rick. 'Me either.'

'Humor is subjective, I guess.' Doc said, he seemed disappointed.

Mercy returned with the drinks and gave it to everyone. Placed in large cups were red liquid. 'Good, this will helps refresh my memory. Or at least confuse my system.'

'Isn't that how alcohol works?'

Doc drank it and the vials on his neck filled up with a white liquid.

'Egh, gross.'

'When you are old and your body is beaten up by all kind of wars and conflicts, let see if you could say so.'

'Oh yes, that's it. Thank you, Axel. That triggered a memory respond.'

'Wow. That was random, but you're welcome.'

'Or was it the alcohol? Doesn't matter. Yes, it's starting to come back to me. The cards, they were given to me. The one that did so was a comrade of mine during the Sunset war.'

'You fought in the Sunset war?' Rick said. 'How come you never tell me?'

'Yeah, me too. You only told me out the Apocalypse one.'

'Because you both never ask? No memory respond to begin with. And well, like I said, I never think too much about the past. The knowledge I earned during war times were near zero, so they don't stand out in my head.'

'Wait, how come soldiers have playing cards? I thought it was illegal during wars time.' Axel said as he stroked his nonexistent chin.

'You and I will see it soon enough. It slowly being revealed in my head. I might ramble on as the memory flow is rather unstable. I'll try my best to make this worthwhile to hear. Apologize in advance.'

'I'm okay with that. Not that I have done anything better with my story.' Catherine said.

'I got a bad feeling about this, man. I mean, I asked you about Genesis's involvement in the Apocalypse War and you somehow led it to me having chronic imaginary pain in my heart for many months. Now, just thinking about it make my inside hurt.'

'Oh, that's another great reminder. Another crucial part of the memory. Thanks Rick.'

'Oh God. Glad can help Doc, glad I can help.'

'What's wrong, Rick?' Catherine asked.

'Apparently, Doc's told Rick about how he lost his organs during the Apocalypse war. That's what I got.'

'Holy shit.'

'You know Doc. If it's too much then you don't have to. It's just a card game. Don't mind what Catherine said.'

'Hey.'

'Negative. I'm a Pokémon of his words. I started this so I must take part in it. But I'm also curious of what I did in the past. So have I got your attention?'

'You can definitely say that. You can't just do a tease like that and back the fuck out.'

'I guess so.'

'Still have a bad feeling about it. Anything war related is bad, no brainer man.'

'Good. Everyone is on board. A sense of timeline first. Do you know about the Sunset war, Catherine?'

'Yeah, I heard it from a TV show. Is it the last global war before the Apocalypse one? That's all I got.'

'Good enough, a sense of timeline from everyone would make it easier to follow. Back then, let's see, it was, 70 years ago, back then, I was still a young and full fleshed Kadabra. Eh, let's see, it was near the end of the Sunset war. The supply of soldiers were running low, so all males in the Glacier nation had no choice but to fight for the Dawn army. Doesn't matter if you have just graduated from the academy with top performances, you had to answer the call of your nation.

The general idea at the time is that we were the good guys and we were fighting for a good cause, protecting our own nation and the neighboring ones. However, years later, I doubt that. Not denying it, because it would be a great insult to my own country. But I still have the rights to doubt, don't I?'

'So that happened to your brother as well? Huh? Would ya look at that?' Rick said and took another pot. 'Another good thing.'

'Congrats, but yes, all males. However, I and my brother have no objections against such policies. Not what we wanted but we accepted it with pride regardless. Our parents were in debt of the Glacier nation a lot. Not in monetary sense but in favors and well lives. They couldn't ever repay due their age and health situation, so we were honored to do that for them. Sorry, we are getting off track here. Should get back to the cards. Yes.'

'So who gave them to you?'

'Argh. Memory is still rather fuzzy. The system is still fighting me for some reason. But it's going back. However, much like leaks, painfully slow. But thankfully since it tights in to the day I lost my legs, it is so much easier to recollect from there.'

'Oh god, I know it. I know some kind of body part is going to get involved.' Rick said.

'Pokémon lose lives during the war. Losing a pair of legs is not even compare. Let's see ehh, that memory was somehow tied to one morning in July, 2045. My platoon was camping out at the outskirt of Rowgenburg, Glacier. Hum, strange, my memory says it was a lovely morning and everyone felt like a poet. And I mean everyone. Isn't that weird.'

'That is random for sure.'

'So one morning we all just woke up, sniffed the air around camp and say: "Let's write a letter". Those spontaneous moment are rare at the time. Most of us would either be too exhausted or too anxious about our missions and asking whenever we would be alive the next day or not. As a result, didn't even have the time to look at the sky. Unless when we were expecting enemy aircrafts or missiles. I remembered seeing a Pokémon got his brain blown all over my uniform the previous week and a lot of dead bodies of my fallen comrades. Repressing memories indeed. May these are the reason that my system refuse to let me access to it. Too many gruesome images for me to bare, I guess. Maybe so. I didn't know what I was thinking at the time. I have seen bodies in worse conditions these days.'

'When you were a rookie, you are going to find those sights unbearable at first. And they are not just your enemies, they could be from your own nation, your friend, family even. That is some traumatic shit right there. And it's gonna haunt you for a good long while.'

'Yes, thank you for the insight. Get back to the optimistic moment. Since we thought that this might be our last "lovey" morning to spend, so we enjoyed it while we can. Due to limited resources and services, each of us could only send one letter. I wish I could send two. One for my brother and my parents. But I digressed. While all the other solders tried to write the most romantic letters to their lovers that were waiting for them, I wrote to my parents.' Rick tried not to laugh by clearing his throat at that part.

'Go ahead and laugh. It's good for your health. And yes, it was quite funny for me at the time too.'

'So, you were not very popular at the academy?' Rick said.

'Hahaha, quite the contrary. I was every popular, mind you. But I have no intention of starting a relationship. Too complicated and time consuming.'

'Why is that?'

'For one, I'm not a native Glacian, that's a big turn off to the ice cold ladies of the Glacier nation. Chasing them would be near impossible.'

'Doc.' Axel said in mild disgust.

'Oh, please. It's game night. Let's loosen up a bit. It is not necessary to be serious all the time.'

'Not that, just the descriptions. Don't do that again, please.'

'No promises.'

'And the other reasons?'

'Well, when I was younger, around the age of five, my father knew where the world was heading to. The Sunset war was in the prepping stage. All the nations were looking for a way or another to start the war. During that time my father told me about our duties and their debts to the country. My father made it clear that: "What would be the point of weight yourself down with future relationships? The one with your own family and the country is enough." Make it easier to focus on fighting for Glacier nation later on. He had prepared us for the day we left.'

'No strings attach huh?' Catherine said.

'Well, obvious isn't it? So, back to the main story, there I was writing my letter. I got no poetic vocabularies so I was just using the best ones that I got. I tried to make my condition sound, safe and relatively comfortable. While in reality, it is the opposite as you may expect. Don't want to make them worry too much. That was the best I could do for them. Promise of returning also, that's the most important thing. So I had just finished my letter there and put it in the letter bag. I didn't know if that was sent or not. My parents didn't remember about it. But that was when our communication expert got an order from our superiors and said:

---

'Agni nation forces were spotted six hundred meters from our location. They are crossing a bridge north from here, as we speak. Our Intel informed that there are high profile personnel among them. Commander Lozatov said we have to stop their advancements at all cost. That was an order.'

A young Kadabra wearing blue army uniform stood up and grabbed his rifle. Around him, other Pokémon wearing the same attire did the same. All the Pokémon quickly gathered everything and followed an Abomasnow carrying a backpack filled with various devices and two antennas stuck out. They marched in a single, well organized line. Doc along with a Weavile were in the middle of it.

Passed through the forest, they reached a crevice, under it was a river with a violent stream. Then they quickly approached the bridge their superior was mentioning. It was a medium size steel bridge, enough for two lines of tanks to pass through. There was no other Pokémon or any vehicle on and at the other side of the bridge. The deserted settings made them all hesitated for a moment. However, all decided to cross it after hearing more words from their superior.

The Abomasnow set his foot on the bridge and a loud boom was immediately triggered. The bridge then shook and propelled the Abomasnow backward. An ice type yelled: 'Explosive' and motioned everyone to duck down. But after those initial blasts, things went quiet. The planted bombs in the parts near Doc's platoon and the middle section had exploded, and yet the bridge somehow was still standing.

("We had an assumption that the explosives they were using were either too old or not suitable for the job. The war was reaching the end. Not many military grade explosive are left. We and they, sometimes use mining explosive. They are not as effective and the detonator sometime doesn't work right, especially when the humidity is high. Sorry, technological side track. So my platoon was ordered to cross the bridge regardless. And I was tasked with defusing the remaining explosives. A mean to ensure their safety."

"Defusing bombs. A bit of a far stretch for a combat engineer don't you think?"

"I have some training, and at the time had some was enough. I remember hearing the Arcadian were creating a massive number of low quality tanks just to crush the enemies with sheer number. It worked, in some regards. Sorry technological talk sidetrack again. But those information are knowledge, so I remember them extremely well.

So I went under the bridge through an intact maintenance section. I was not alone, a Weavile was covering me and his name was. Hum, again, strange, he is the only one that had been through all the missions with me and I somehow forgot his name. How unfortunate. I remember he was a bit straight forward, but at that time and age, who wouldn't? Anyhow, we stormed in.")

Doc and the Weavile made their way through a maintenance pathway hidden under the bridge. They took the path on the left as the other was blown up by the blast. From there Doc found a long wire running along the pathway and attached to messy chunks of explosive wrapped in black nylon bags. All these chunks were stuck in the gaps of the steel beam. Doc carefully inspected each lump of explosive, one by one. He slowly but firmly pulled out the wires, making sure not to cause any excessive friction. When the detonator wires were removed, he threw the explosive wrapped in bags to the water down below. A big no-no in the training manual, but the situation allowed it.

The Weavile got his eyes on the other end of the path way at all time. His weapon was pointed at any possible targets that might interrupt Doc. After they had made it halfway through, the Weavile radioed his comrade and told them to continue crossing the bridge. The marching of their feet could be heard from above.

Suddenly Doc heard a barrage of machine gun noise. Doc and the Weavile worked their way to the end of the bridge, toward the noise of the gun fire. Unfortunately for the platoon, things took turn for the worst. Their comrades reported that there was a sniper stationed along the shore on the other side and he was picking them apart alongside with the machine gun. Knowing a crossfire like that just spelt doom for everyone, Doc and the Weavile made haste. Doc's hand movements were getting fast and reckless but not to a regrettable point. After two minutes or so, they got to the other side and stealthily climbed up the path way.

They saw the Magma with the heavy machine gun in his hand. Thankfully, the sound from the heavy weapon made him unaware of their present. The Weavile jumped out and assaulted him, caught the fire type by surprised. He set fire around himself at reflex. Unburden by the melting pain, the Weavile disabled the Pokémon with a well slash to the neck, instantly put out the fire. Magma like blood flew from the open wound and partially burned into the Weavile's uniform. The Magma dropped the gun and held his neck, made a few choking sound then fell. But then two bullet came and shot the Weavile in the leg and arm. The Weavile retaliated with a shot from his rifle. Doc rushed out and saw another Magma. He was kneeling and clutched to his chest. In his other hand was a pistol aiming at the Weavile. The adrenaline in Doc's system allowed him to kill the Pokémon with a head shot, right in the two lumps on the fire type head.

Afterward, Doc checked on the Weavile. However, the Weavile he told him to spare the pity and take care of the sniper. Doc fulfilled his demand by grabbing the heavy machine gun beside the bleeding body of the Magma and cocked it.

---

'Holy shit.'

'Dude, how come you never told me that you were such a badass?' Rick said.

'Well, I'm not sure if I am qualified. Scientific term for badasses is that they do whatever they want in a rather brutal fashion. This was different. The situation provided me with little options. Even if I know doing that will more than likely get me killed, I have to do it. My platoon need to advance. Argh, my head suddenly hurt. I haven't felt that for quite a while.'

'Maybe you should stop.'

Doc shook his head. 'No, I'm fine, so close to answer, and can't stop now. Back to the topic. So I did what I said. I picked up the machine gun and fired at the sniper from a far. The shots were inaccurate and I couldn't tell if they did hit. But the sniper certainly stopped for a brief while, so I continued. My comrades kept moving forward while I provided cover fire. A few of them picked up the Weavile and took him to safety. The sniper continued firing at me, somehow failed to nail a shot. That made me cocky.' He shook his head once more. 'But well, that was what I thought at first. Miscalculation. Lack of data.' Doc started blinking repeatedly and shaking his head even more. He then rubbed his temple. 'Despite the shots were heading for my general direction. It was not targeted toward me.'

'Then where was it?' By this time, they had stopped the game.

'You see, the reason why the bridge had not fallen down is because not all the explosive have been detonated and myself had defused a lot of them. But there were more explosive around the bridge that in the moment of haste I failed to detect. One of them was a large pack of explosive that were not properly armed and exposed outside of the bridge. And that pack was right under my feet. And that was what the sniper was aiming for.'

'Oh god!' Catherine exclaimed.

Doc rubbed his temple hard. 'Argh. I didn't even know what happened. A second there I could hear the sound of running behind me and the next thing I know' vivid images began to flashing back to Doc's mind 'the world turned upside down. Took me half a second or so after that to know that I was being thrown by something hot. I then crashed my head and everything went black.'

'God.'

'I' everything then rushed back to Doc's head. The system within him had given in. It know that its user wanted access and it couldn't stop it. It removed the barriers and allowed the data to go through. Doc recollected all the pieces and put them together. He knew why the system had been keeping him away from these memories. He programed them to do so, in order to keep his past from disrupting his future. Doc's speed in tone shifted, softer and slower. 'I woke up with a daze inside a cabin. I couldn't feel a thing down my legs. It was not numbing but it was like a disconnection. As if half of my body was laying on thin air. My face was hot and yet my feet were incapable to tell if things were too hot or too cold. I try to move my toes and got no respond. I recalled screaming a lot. A nurse approached me and told me to calm down. Ironically, she, herself was having trouble calming down on her won. I demanded answer and she dropped the bomb shell on me. A piece of metal had stabbed me in the spine, the spinal cord in charge of my lower body. And I was paralyze from the waist down, forever. After that, I remembered cursing, at my fate and myself. And after my throat ran dry, I laid there, quietly. There were a wide range of emotion ran through my head that no amount of data could covered. I didn't talk to anyone for a few months straight, just me and the angry voices that I made up.

'Yeah, you must be going nuts in that state.'

'Yes, I believe that was an understatement, Rick. I was devastated. Felt like everything I planned just went up in smoke. The moment of utter defeat. Just when you thought you have everything figured out the world collapse around you.

But there were some light in the end. During my, "going nuts period". The Weavile paid me a visit. He spent a few days, helped me reclaimed some of my sanity. Wasn't an easy task. He even kneeled down at one point to thanks me for saving his life. I wish not to tell the other content of that conversation, for an obvious reason. But bottom line, he made me talked and felt like a regular Pokémon again, for a while. Until he left, that is. Sadly, I only started talking when he can only stay there for one more night before going back to his missions. We didn't have video games or anything to keep us entertain during the time. And making small talks were awkward to say the least. So he had an idea, he taught me how to play Poker, for that was the only option available. And that was when he gave me the cards. They were an impulse purchase that he want to hide away from his superiors. He said don't tell anyone as they would give him a lot of trouble for even thinking about gambling during that time of war-as Axel has stated. And since I am officially not in the line of duty, he figured I was the best place to hide it. He added that the cards were rather expensive so I must keep it in mint condition until he get back.' He sighed. 'And sadly, the cards are still in my possession until this day.'

Didn't need much else for everyone to figure it out. They (including Mercy) kept silent while Doc continued. 'The outcome of things were bittersweet for me. I lost my legs so I as assigned behind the line and worked as an engineer there. I was still quite depressed but somewhat better than the days at the hospital. I have something to work with. My brother requested some higher ups to move to my camp and he succeeded. I talked to my brother regularly after that. He was constantly telling me not to lose hope and he would find a way to fix my leg after the war. Glad that we both did.

Without worry about fighting and our side was winning, I drown myself in work. It occupied the mind, leaving little room for moping and sorrow. When I'm out of work, I spent time studying for my Doctor degree there. It was the thing I wanted to do when the war was over. I got a medal for bravery after the war, for that one moment with the machine gun. Thanks to that, despite moving around with a wheel chair, no one ever look down on me. And my parents were all proud of me and my brother, until they day they parted Essal. We have fulfilled our duties.

As for my platoon.' He sighed again. 'They were among those that made the final push to victory. But as you might have figured out, the Weavile didn't make it.' Doc touched to corner of his natural eye after that statement. 'The part that sadden me the most is that he passed away on the day of victory. The time when everyone was celebrating and see the result of all that fighting come to fruition. Peace at last. ' He sighed.' However, the cost of his life and many more, made the victory feel, not quite whole. But well, nothing is perfect. I tried telling myself that.' He drawn a long breath.

'After all that was over, I started to go on with my life. I got my degree in Engineering and worked for a newly founded tech company named Genesis. During that time I was developing the nano bots, the link between Pokémon and machine. Took me much longer than expected to finish it.' He took a sip of drink.' And the reason why I was behind schedule, bothered me greatly. So I have a little investigation and discovered that my mind was weak and inefficient.'

'How? You are one of the greatest mind the company ever has.' Axel said.

'At the time, I believed I could do much more and I blamed the thought of the past for slowing me down. Or at least contributed to slowing me down. I couldn't let it go. Some parts of the war were too impactful to forget naturally. Despite a decade or more have pass, the images from the Sunset war were still there. It leave a mark in my mind. A mark that no amount of medication could erase. Pretty much what Catherine was mentioning earlier. Every night, I couldn't rest as the images keep coming back. They affected me in many ways. The most noticeable was the fact that my concentration levels were plummeted as the years go by. And the dream about the images were getting longer and more, horrid. It effect my work and that was unacceptable. How could I change the world when the biggest barrier is my own past?

At one point I tried throwing away the related objects. I tried to burn the cards but the images of the Weavile came back, both good and bad times. And I failed to do destroy it. Every time I look at the cards, it's, it's.'

'Feel like a debt that you can never pay off.' Catherine said.

'Yes. So I locked it away, but didn't do much help, for one thing was still remain. Every time I look down at my leg or struggle to place myself on the bed, I remember that day. And that day force me to remember everything else. And since my disappeared legs would follow me for the rest of my life, I needed a new way to cope. I could not let grieve take over me anymore. So I used the nano bot on myself and reprogramed my mind in a literal sense. Turning the meaning behind the cards and the medal into mere personal items in my inventory and left the in a corner. And for good measure I loaded new and better ideas and beliefs in my head. Those that scientifically proven to be beneficial. And I live on with my new programs.' He stopped there for a drink. He drank the entire glass in one go. I wonder, was it a lie that I have been telling myself all these year? Or simply a mean to overcome obstacles? Forcing yourself to pass through it without too much hardship.'

'I…Don't know.' Rick said.

'Me too.' Catherine agreed.

'I'm in no position to say.'

'I see, a challenging question indeed, even I can't answer it. Recently when I dug up my digital archive, I found these the cards and the medal. Got curious about them afterward. For I have never remember receiving these but I somehow know how to play the cards. A mistake in reprograming, as I considered rules of the game to be knowledge.'

A realization hit Catherine. 'Wait. So that's mean.'

'Yes, Catherine. I deliberately suggested the Poker game and set this "sharing stories" thing up, so that I could get you to help me triggered some memory responds. As I failed to do it on my own. That's why the request seem off. I am not a trained actor or a politician, I'm an engineer. It hard for me to come up with a convincing statement. I'm sorry, for trying to using you for my own curiosity. You must feel like being cheated.'

'No, Doc, I'm the one that should be sorry.'

'Don't. It's all me.' He rubbed the corner of his eye once more, this time linger on a bit. 'There is no reason to be sorry about that. I dragged you in.'

'I know that but, it's for doubting you and trying to screw with your head in the beginning.'

'You didn't know. It's not your fault.'

'Yeah, but after hearing your memory, I just feel wrong. I was treating this like some kind of game, prying it out like no big deal.'

The nature of these memories must have you feel that way. Seeing like this, make me regret my decision.'

'No, don't. I wanted to hear and was not ready for what I might have. You didn't even know the memory at that point so how could you anticipate that?'

'Wow, didn't expect that coming from you, Catherine.'

'Of course, I'm not a fucking emotionless asshole.

'I'm not bad mouthing it, Catherine. And Doc, I also have some fault in this one too. I did fuel the fire.'

'I truly appreciate your understanding Catherine, Axel. Both are forgiven as long as you forgive me.'

Both nodded at the same time.

'Good, now let not dig into the old wound and let's move on from this, experience.' Doc exhaled. 'Maybe this was a mean to test if I truly believe what my new programs stands for.'

'Your programs stands for what?'

'You can never run away from your past and its impacts. Instead, accept its existence, embrace it and learn from it. But never let it consume you. Funny how I did the opposite for more than a decade and the reason why I believe it because I programed myself that way.'

'But, do you still believe in it? After remembering all.'

Doc took a while to think. But after a deep breath he said. 'I'm not quite sure. I admit the war brought honor and respect to my family and myself. But it also brought suffering, loss of life and well, body parts. I shall acknowledge its existence for it had shaped me into the Pokémon I am today, that's my way to look at it for now. But from the experience I got, I do wish the outcomes were different. I wished there was no war to begin with. No war, no victory, no lost and suffering. Overall, the programs I had put in my head still stand true. Though a few points were off and would need adjustments. But I think I am in a better position than myself in the past. I will keep the memories this time.'

'Maybe all that weren't a lie. Maybe that was a lesson just need to be tested.' Axel said.

'That makes no logical sense whatsoever. But it feel alright.'

'Does it feel any better? After finally letting it all out and face it. ' Rick said.

'I cannot deny. Feel like I have deleted a blockage in my system. I don't know if that was within my organic or nano bot part of the brain but, it's no longer there. I guess I should thank everyone for listening and helping me remember. It means a lot to me.'

'Of course, we are your teammate after all.' Axel said.

'Didn't expect any of this. But you can expect us to be there for you.' Rick added.

'What they said, I'm not that good with sentimental shit.'

'Oh, sorry, if all that sentimental statements made me lose badass points in your eyes.'

'Doc remember, whatever the hell you do, in my eye, you are a god damn badass.' Rick said and saluted him. He then picked up the glass of drink. 'To the oldest badass on Essal.'

Axel said.' You could have picked a better line. But to the oldest badass on Essal.' Axel and Catherine followed suit and drank it.

'Oh, please everyone. This is unnecessary, but I'll take it anyway.'

The finished the drink, they stopped doing anything for a brief moment, breathed and stared at the ceiling together.

'Damn, things just took a darker turn quite fast huh?'

'Yeah, that was something alright.'

'So should we keep playing, I mean. You got what you need.' Axel said.

Doc's returned to the original pose. 'Well, I don't think so. We should finish what we started.'

Rick had a peek at Doc's chips. 'You just said that because you have the highest sum right now.'

'Maybe.'

'Oh shit, I didn't even notice. I gotta get some of that.'

The machine prepared for the next turn.

'But that was pretty epic. And man looking back. I wish I could do something like you did, Doc.'

'Well you can, just don't cut off your legs in an explosion.'

'Haha, I'm not a dumbass, you know. I mean earn respect and serve something great.'

'Well you have it right now. We are all do. We are the Foundation. The, well foundation of the new Essal. Every workers here respect and trust us. '

'Yeah, but you were a war hero and I'm just, Rick.'

'Don't. I don't recommend it. The price for that respect was the suffering that I wish no other Pokémon have to go through.'

'Don't be offended or anything, but I willing to take any price just to have some of those respect.'

'And I respect you just for being Rick. Shouldn't that be enough?'

'Yeah, but still, I don't have any impressive achievements to show for.'

'Hm, don't be too sure. Survived and made your way in the Foundation is an achievement of its own. You made a transition of a bloodlust bandit to a respectable citizen. Well, technically we are all refugees by international laws but better than bandit status regardless'

'You were a bandit? That's new, but somehow expected.' Axel asked.

'Yeah, those were some dark times.'

'So that's mean you have committed some kind of fucked up crime to end up there? Should I be worry?' Catherine said, half joking about it.

'Okay, everyone calm down. Before saying anything else, I did committed crime, lots. But you know, it was not like what you may think, eh, how do I say it without rambling on?'

'Quantity over quality. He did a lot of crimes but nothing too shocking.'

'Yeah just vandalism, destruction of public properties-two buildings and several cars, took part in a, dozens of riots, grand thief, robbery, kidnap-I was tricked, I thought it was a date; profanity, public indecency and piracy'

'How did you destroy two buildings? And how is that not shocking?' Axel said.

'Well in one riot I got creative and stole a butt load of propane tanks, filled up a truck with them and rammed it into a building that was falling apart during the riot. And well, those buildings were scheduled for demolition anyway so, yeah.'

Catherine squinted one of her eyes. 'And what about piracy? I thought pirates only exist in the old days. Really old days.'

'Not that kind of pirates. Digital stuffs. I downloaded several albums from for-shared sites. Without paying.'

'The fuck? '

'E. I. N. related things. It was a big deal back then. But now it is an old dead joke.' Axel commented on it while spinning a card on the table with vine.

'Okay. But why did you pick that kind of life, Rick? You seem like a decent guy.'

'If I were living in this base my whole life, I would be the same Rick through and through. But back then, things were different. Imagine a kid growing up without a mother, and lived in a slum neighborhood that basically hates him.'

'Oh, that. I see.' Catherine said. "Where did I heard that kind of story?" This question flashed in the back of her head. She felt connected and relatable to Rick somehow.

'And that kid went through all kind of pressure early on in life. Kept being talked behind his back, reminding him that he is different and never belong, being pointed at, being beaten up for unclear reasons and everyone around him just let it happen and refused to help. That and the only family member he got were lost at the age of thirteen.'

'Why did they hate you? How can they just hate someone in your position?'

'Like you said Catherine, they were assholes. So I never got the chance to ask.' Rick winked, a gesture which Catherine didn't know how to respond to. But she know what he meant by it.

'And as he grow up, he would soon break. The situation gave him two options, kill himself or take revenge at the god damn society. He was young, stupid and desperate so he picked the latter. Should I stop using third person, it's getting personal.'

'Yes. Yes you should definitely do that.' Doc said.

'As you might have guess, I committed crimes. Lots of them. Some were to have food on the table some, ehffff for other reasons that I'm not proud of. I went on like that for several years until I was caught for the last time and finally got kicked out. After that, I wandered the Outland, lost my way. You know, just walked forward. And death seem tempting somehow. In the first few days, I tried to hang myself but no god damn tree around were tall and strong enough for me. And dying of starvation is such a painful idea.' Catherine suddenly felt chill down her spine. She began to shake, slightly. Rick's words made her felt nostalgic, in a twisted way.

'But after a long time, I understood something. In the Outland, no one cares if you are a freak or a criminal. If you are powerful, you'll live. And in a longest of time, I felt like I belong there-to be among monsters. If that was the case, I was going to be the strongest monster of all. You can see why, right, Catherine?'

'To some extent. But I only got one month and one bullet that I was too chicken shit to fire on my head. Only got a few feral kills so I didn't know much about being a monster of my own. You, something told me that things might be much worse.'

'Yes. Half a year, I spent wandering, plundering and robbing as I walked. And soon I found myself become a bandit. It seem like the most suitable path to take at the time since I was a criminal after all. Looking back, I hate it but.'

'Can't change it.'

'Yeah but I made the best out of it. Thanks to my badassary.'

'Is that a word?' Axel said.

'I don't know the bandits keep tossing it around so I think so. But thanks to that, I soon got recognized as the descendent of Giratina and the Lord of the Flame. After busted a slave trade in my path and rescued a few clingy folks, I got my own clan-namely Hellfire. Gotta admit, it was pretty cheesy but at the same time kinda cool to be called Bandit Lord. Like one of the edgy antihero on TV. Years later I realized just how stupid that sound.'

'Of course, everyone seeing this apocalyptic theme for over five decades. They grew comfortable and bored of it.' Axel said and withdrew his cards.

'Being a bandit is not exactly a silver lining, but hey I was toughest guy around and everybody were worshiping me. I'm serious. I got food, and ladies. Well, the ladies are not exactly magazine models but hey, I'm not a magazine model so can't complain. It was all good and well.'

'Until. There is always an "until" in these kind of tales.' Axel said.

'Yes, until one day, a lone bandit came. He didn't introduce his name. He just crashed the god damn gate and yelled some random crap. He was some sick and disgusting creature, and that coming from me. He also had some crazy ass powers too. Used it to slaughter my clan without remorse. He spared no one, well he spared one, me.'

'Oh shit. That got fucked up real fast.' Catherine then remembered something Rick had said.

'I fought him and got the crap beaten out of me, nearly got killed in the process. He said the idea of someone suffering a slow death, please him. In my dying breath, I asked why, he just said: "You will never understand". And left me to rot at the place.'

'"You will never understand." What is that supposed to mean?' Axel said.

'Could be insanity. A pretty common thing among bandits.'

'Are you sure he was not one of your rival clan?'

'If he was, then he wouldn't dare set foot in my camp. Don't know much about him or what kind of crap hole he came from, just that he was an Infernape with an Agnian accent.'

'Oh, you are referring to Abel?'

'Abel?'

'Yes, his encounter was the first time we met. Don't you remember?'

'Oh, crap, yeah it was, I guess I can say I was similar to you. At some point, there were things that were, too painful that I wish for nothing but to forget them.'

'I understand. The aftermath was very a disturbing site to look at. It made me baffle at the cruelty of a single Pokémon. The fact that he killed a few of our agents just made his image nonredeemable.'

'He killed some of us?'

'Yes. It was a long time ago, weapons were less advanced and barrier would go out after one shot. It was not as ideal as now. But regardless of what the equipment were, that Infernape were bad news. Beside the agents and Rick's clan, he also demolished two of our colonies. So all around, not a nice fellow. And the powers he possessed, I don't quite know. Those power were something I have ever seen before. Something alien. Never got a chance to study him.'

'Alien? What do you think of it?' Axel turned to Catherine who was staring blankly at her cards. 'Catherine, hello, Catherine?'

'Huh? What?'

'What's wrong? You were spacing out for a bit there.'

'Yeah, I just getting tired out for some reason.'

'The imaginary image of Abel?'

'Maybe. So, did you managed to catch him afterward?'

'No, I killed him.' That line made a crashing sound go off in Catherine's head. 'He gave me no choice.'

'Don't you mean both of us? As I saved your life from his clutches before you could do that.'

'Yes, it was a team effort. But for the record, I still hold the most credit, as I delivered the killing blow and saved your life way before that.'

'Yeah. If you hadn't come before I slipped away, who know what might have happed?'

'An agent saved a bandits. I can only imagine the awkwardness when both of you first met.'

'Not that bad, right Doc.'

'Yes, it was civil. I was tracking Abel at the time and soon I came across the camp. Found Rick on the gate. He was impaled one of the spikes. Looked rather dead but his chest was still moving, so I helped him. Hoping to get some information.'

'Doc used all his medication on me, pull me right back from the dead. Appreciate that.'

'You're welcome.'

'But one thing that I don't appreciate is that you were pointing a gun at me when I came to.'

'You looked and were a bandit at the time. I have to do it, no time for egg carrying you. Just standard procedures for bandits.'

'Standard procedures? Wait if you treat bandits like that then how do you know if they want to reform? You know like that speech about second chances and what not.' Catherine asked.

'If they do, they will turn themselves in. And besides, we don't shoot first and ask questions later. We subdue, ask questions and then decided we should shoot or not. But even that we still got to be careful. They might take advantage and turn back on us.'

'Kinda disturbing if you ask me.'

'At this age and time, can ya blame him? Still, that was uncool.'

'You know what is uncool? Recklessness that cause you a heart.' Doc tapped his chest.

'Oh damn it, you have to remind me of that.'

'I have a program remind that to me every time I meet someone new, all the time. You must share my pain.'

'So what happened after that?'

'Well, Doc started by…'

---

Rick woke up and found himself sitting upright, facing away from the carnage left behind by the Infernape bandit. He couldn't feel his hand as all. He tried to move them, but something were gluing them together behind his back. He looked down at his chest, there were red smears on his scrap metal armor. In the center, a hole had cut a chunk away from his clan's flame emblem.

'Good, you are awake.' Doc's voice came to his right. He turn his head and saw the barrel of the submachine gun pointed at him. Suddenly, a flash of laser to his eye made him flinched.

'Sorry, let me divert that away.' Doc commanded his turret to lower its laser sight.

'What the fuck? Who are you?'

'I'm sorry I cannot tell you my name. The Foundation procedures don't allow it. Unless I'm planning to kill you, which I will not do.'

'Why? Aren't you some kind of government black ops? I know your kind. You kill anything that look like a bandit.'

'I'm don't belong to any government. Besides, nurse you back to health and then kill you is rather pointless, isn't it?'

'You what?'

'I hate repeating myself, so I won't. You think that spike would automatically come off and the gaping hole is just going to heal itself.'

'Yes it would, but not this fast. And why did you help me?'

'See, I was tracking a bandit named Abel, Infernape, Agnian. I predicted that he might end up here. But from the look of things. I was rather late. I saw children and female bodies in there along with bandits. I'm rather conflicted but I must say. I'm sorry for your loss.'

Rick look downed at the cracked ground. 'I don't need your brand of pity.'

'Not giving any, wasting too much time already. I'll give you chance to grief later on. But now I have to ask some questions. That is my "why". Do you know where Abel is heading to?'

'I know, but you must take me with you.'

'Pardon?'

'You heard me. Take me with you. I'll show you where he is and I'm gonna rip his spine through his asshole for what he did to my clan.'

'That image was unnecessary. But I expect that from all bandits, anyway. However, your request? I can't allow that. This is a serious mission, cannot let your personal vengeance get in between.'

'What, cause I'm a bandit?'

'Yes and since he defeated you, so what make you think can win?'

'What about you? You just an old fart with metal stuck in his flesh.'

'I have a team of agents to back me up. I think we can kill him. So I take this as an "I won't tell you", isn't it?'

'Fuck yeah, that's right.'

'Okay, then I got to use the other solution.' Doc activated his comm device. 'Brother, found anything?' He asked.

'Nothing, so far. My vehicle broke down, halfway through the desert.'

'Hm, minor setback, don't go anywhere. I will see you later, brother. I have an uncooperative witness right here. Going to need your truth serum.'

'Understood. And be careful. I'm tired of, patching you up.'

Doc changed the channel. 'Gwendolyn, where is your location?'

'I'm about a few miles away from our starting point. Sorry, but a few "witnesses" were about to show me where Abel might be. Turned out they were just trying to trick and make me their wife. It was quite flattering considering my age. But it doesn't matter, they are dead now. So you must have found something, I will get to you this instant.'

'Don't, get to Markov instead. We'll meet there halfway.'

'Understood. Doctor.'

Doc shut of the comm and looked back at Rick.

'What are you going to do to me?'

'Well, I'll take you with me. Reconsider telling me the location?'

'Yes.'

'But I'm still not going to let you kill him.'

'Aw, too fucking bad. No.'

'Heh. Doesn't matter. My brother's truth serum can help me with that. Now, let's go, we are wasting daylight.'

Doc summoned an upper body humanoid robot that was levitating on 4 separate rocket thrusters. Its arm grabbed Rick and carried him to the Genesis car nearby.

'Hey, hand off.'

'It's pointless. The mech only listen to my commands.' Doc said before typed in the command to throw Rick to the back seats. A few button press on his mechanical arm and strings of blue wires sprang from the seats and locked him up with several restrains. Doc then got behind the wheel and closed the front of the car. Seconds later, he began to drive, a GPS system led the way. After a failed attempt to wiggle himself out, Rick sighed in defeat and asked. 'Why are you chasing after this guy?'

'It's confidential. Let's just say he had just killed a lot of important Pokémon and needed to be exterminated.'

'So he had killed more than just my clan.'

'Sadly, yes.'

'Then why don't you let me kill him?'

'I told you and I hate repeating myself. The procedures won't allow it.'

'Fuck the procedures, my clan had just been killed in front of my eyes.'

'Call me heartless-for I have a nuclear reactor in where it was, but it doesn't make you that special. We all lose someone in this world, but that is no excuse. I could use your need for vengeance and turned you into a decoy. While Abel was too busy fighting you, I could finish him and you off in an extremely efficient way. But that is irresponsible and immoral, I won't do it, plus the procedures won't allow it.'

'Why do you care?'

'I just don't care. But the procedures do, and I don't want to explain the procedures to you as they are classified.'

'So after the serum thingy, what are going to do to me?'

'It's depend on the result afterward.'

'What is it anyway?'

'It's nothing too frightening. The truth serum is just a chemical that made you answer whatever we ask truthfully. If your crimes are not too grueling then well. Eh, the results may variate.'

'You are going to kill me aren't you?'

'No, how many time do I need to say that. We are not cut throat businessman. We take everything into consideration. If your own past were, let say nice enough, I'll take you to a reform colony. It's food, sunlight, shelter, and exercise for free. How about that?'

'I think I'll pass. '

'Ah, already know that you have no chance huh, that is very unfortu...'

That moment, an incredibly powerful force hit the side of the car and tumbled it. The roof of the car hit Rick in the head and knocked him out.

Moments later, Rick's adrenaline had made him quickly recovered from the sudden impact and regained consciousness. Rick found the view from the windshield was upside down and the restrains on him were gone. He moved the chairs aside and crawled to the control console beside the wheel. He had a look to the left and found Doc's empty seat. On the wheel in front of it were a note that said: "Today's your lucky day, flee." Rick then heard a faint voice of Doc came from the outside of the car. 'Gwendolyn, change in plan, you'll get Markov and both get to me this instant. I think I have found Abel.'

Outside, in front of Doc, a tall Infernape was floating on air, surrounding him were a red dark aura cloud. In his hands were holding two ball of flame. The Pokémon was wearing what looked like a black hooded ceremony robe. Behind his back were bat-like wings made from the aura.

("I just remember one funny thing. The texture of his aura look rather similar to Catherine's recent technique. But differ in color and intensity. Strange isn't it?"

"Yeah, I don't remember it that way. Your memory must be faulty again dude." Rick said, tried to cover Catherine.

"Yes, I mean, I can't even remember the name of a special comrade. Let's alone that." Catherine had a drop of sweat ran down her back at that line.)

'Are you Abel?' Doc asked.

'That's my vessel name. It's bear no weight to me, anymore.' He said in a deep and distorted voice.

'No, I just want the recording of you stating your name so I could give it to my insurance company. And you own me 400000 credits for the car.'

'Hahahaha. Do you have any idea who you were talking to?'

'I thought you were Abel, but you denied it, so you must be a nobody.' Doc then summoned his cannon.

The Infernape glared at him. 'You have just sealed your fate, fool.'

'Not until you pay for my vehicle insurance.'

'Funny man. I'll kill you slowly and-Agh.'

Doc fired a sonic blast from his cannon, sent the Pokémon crashing to the ground below. 'Too slow.' Doc said.

The Infenape shook the dirt off of him and got up. 'Arghghhhh. You will pay for that.' The Infernape charged up the flame in his hand and flung it at Doc who avoided the attack with his rocket propelled legs.

("Doc, why in the fuck, do all the back stories lead to your badass moments?"

"It was what happen. Saying otherwise would be lying."

"Is it for real, Rick?"

"Pretty much it. That is what I heard from the car, but don't know about the rockets part though. What I do know is…")

Doc had a quick look back and saw the ball of flame exploded on the mountain behind him. Under the explosion was the car. Beside its open door was a hole on the ground. Didn't wish to let his guard down, Doc quickly turned back to the Infernape. He was still on the ground, this time running to Doc. Doc then fired another sonic blast down at the Infernape, who dashed away from the attack with ease. The Infernape crouched down and charge up fire under his feet. He flapped the aura pair of wing and released the fire under his feet, from there he shot up.

Doc changed a setting on his gun and took aim. 'That's better.' He said before pulling the trigger. The cannon launched a charged up shot to the Infernape face and slammed him to the ground with a deafening sound. The force of this were much more powerful than the last, indicated by the fact that Abel was burry in a large and perfectly round dent on the ground. The Inferape tried to get up but two bulky hands burst from below and grabbed him tight. The hands the pulled him deeper to the ground, left only the head and torso exposed. Doc then charged up the laser in his palm and fired at the Infernape in the chest. The energy from the laser burned the ceremony robe, ate up the aura and the skin on the Pokémon's chest. With power like that, it was impossible for Abel to keep his mouth shut. He screamed, not for his broken skin only, but for his broken pride as well. Somehow, an old and broken Pokémon managed to cause this phenomenal amount of pain to him. Abel or what inside of him wouldn't accept it. The rage within him grew as the laser kept drilling in his body.

Once the power core in Doc's arm ran out, the laser stopped. His mechanical arm seized lifting itself up and dragged Doc with down with it. The rockets on his feet burned weaker as he slowly descended. Doc quickly grabbed a spare power cell strapped on his belt and replaced the one on his arm with it. All in a quick six steps process.

The Infernape blasted his dark aura around him, fanning the arms away from him. He then fired an orb upward, making Doc dodged it by got down on the ground immediately. Abel then turned around and dug his hands in the ground. He grabbed and pulled Rick from underneath by the neck. Saw the Emboar once again, he said.

'You again? Why don't you just give up and die?' Rick tried punching him, but the aura around him moved and caught Rick arms and held it in place. Before he could finished Rick with a neck snap. Doc blasted another laser at Abel's back, drilled another hole on the Infernape body.

Abel stood still even after the attack was finished. 'That is going to the last thing you would ever do.' He said and tossed Rick to the side. In a snap, he turned around and instantly moved all the aura to his arm, all while Doc was loading the last power cell into his own. Launched himself toward Doc, he raised his aura infused fist, aiming straight for Doc's face. Once the power core was in. Doc summoned the torso robot for earlier and commanded it to intercept with a punch. It raised its own metallic fist without hesitation and prepared for the blow. Their fists collided in an explosive punch, shot out cracking sound of bones and metal.

But in the end, the robot's arm immediately fell apart under the impact. Broke all the way to the shoulder. Abel then dug his other hand in the robot's chest and pulled out a round core. Dropped the core, he used both his hands to tear the robot in half. Unfazed by the destruction of his creation, Doc said 'Watch out.' And summoned a turret.

The Infernape was confused at that line until he saw the outer shell of the remove core was burning red. Before he could respond, the power core exploded, sent away an intense heatwave that melted the sands below into glass and concealed the Infernape in a flash of white light.

Let out a drunken voice. Abel slowly got up from the glass ground. 'You think that could stop me?' When his eyes reclaimed their vision from the flash, a barrage of machine gun fire from Doc turret hit him, scrapped out more pieces of his skin and took the last shred of his robe. The aura quickly gathered around him expanded to cover his body. It then turned into metal like substance and it acted as his armor, nullified the effect of the bullets. He charged an aura fire ball and launched it at the turret, completely destroyed it. The Infernape then flew to Doc with a madden look on his face.

'Redundant emergency shields.' Doc said before activated three layers of orange barrier around at once. The Infernape was bounced back because of the barrier. His armor was broken around the places that made contact. Grunted in frustration, Abel got up and put all his aura to his left arm. To the point that it looked twice as big. He then used it and constantly sending punches to the barrier.

'Re….sting o….tal st….' Doc whispered.

The Infernape channel more aura and covered his hand in a thicker layer. With that he pierced through the first barrier with a single punch. He dipped his hand into the next barrier and went in deeper and deeper. Once his hand was inches away from Doc's neck. He said. 'Keep saying those prayers. They won't save you.'

Rick grabbed the Infernape by that arm and pulled him back out, got his hand away from Doc's barrier. Rick then twisted the Pokémon arm, making him cried out in pain and proceed to punch him repeatedly in the gut, near the circle mark left by Doc's laser. The Infernape retaliated by grabbing Rick's arm with his tail, then latched on Rick's armor with his other arm and sprouted his aura wings. Abel abruptly flew up with Rick. Rick activated his The Gate state, engulfed his head in flame. However, that can no longer surprised the Infernape anymore. Before Rick could do anything, Abel dropped him to the ground.

Rick landed on his back. He soon got on his feet and slammed his fist on the ground, cracked it. He dug his hand in between the cracks and picked up a large slab of stone from underneath. Rick then spun around, gaining momentum.

Abel raised his hands in the sky and summoned a large aura fire ball. He then flew down with the aura ball in his left hand. Rick threw the slab right at Abel, who didn't try to dodge but instead went forward and shattered it. The size of the fireball in his hand was greatly reduced. Rick shot his own fireball at him but it was useless as Abel continued to move forward.

'OH SHIT!' Rick yelled when Abel's fist behind the fireball punched Rick's armor. A little below the hole in Rick's chest. The punch melted the metal and directly damaged Rick's flesh. Despite the flame in his The Gate state had numbed some parts of him, it was extremely painful to Rick. Rick then grabbed the arm. It was still phenomenally hot, even by Rick standard. Bit his teeth and stomped down his foot, Rick forced Abel to a full stop. With rapid movements, Rick then moved his feet and spun with Abel, rotations after rotations. 'SPIN TO WIN, BITCH.' He said when his spinning was fast enough to put out the outer part of his flame beard. All the sudden, Rick let go of the arm and threw Abel out.

Skidded on the sandy ground for a few hundred meters, Abel adjusted and regained a firm stance on his feet. He then charged toward Rick blindly. Both soon collided and traded blows afterward. However, it was not long before Rick was losing the bargain of punches. Abel was much better than Rick in any which way, speed, strength and reflex. But Rick refused to accept it, trying to channel his rage and the images of his fallen clan members into his fist. He gave it his all in one last earsplitting war cry. But it would take more than just rage for Rick to turn the tide around, much more.

Had enough of the duel, Abel punched Rick in the neck, choked him, and then finished off with a barrage of punched in Rick's chest, constantly focusing on the area around the hole. The flame on Rick's head grew weaker after each hit.

Doc charged up his hand once gain. This time carefully took aim, he only had one shot left. Abel's head and Rick was constantly in line with each other. Every time he thought he had them separate, they backed again before the laser could be fully charged. The computer in Doc's brain constantly recalculated, looking for another solution but the results are always the same. In any which way, the chance for Rick to survive is low and his survival was not a priority. It is would be much more ideal to kill both in that position.

Abel then lifted Rick up and punched him one last time in the hole made by the spike. Rick yelled in absolute agony before the flame on his head die out. When Rick was out cold, Abel casually dropped him on the ground.

Saw the chance in situation, Doc charged and shot a larger laser at the Infernape, right in the side of his head. Took out a chunk of the fire type cheek, strip the flesh all the way to the bone. Abel held his face and shouted. 'DAMN YOU! That's it, I had it with you. I will kill you this time and all your Foundation friends, once and for all.' Seeing Doc's arm was dropped from energy depletion and he was limping backward, Abel snickered and slowly walked to him instead of running. Doc fell on the ground in a panic. He frantically searched his belt and picked up a laser pointer. He then aimed the beam at the Infernape's head, right on the forehead.

'You think that little toy is going to work on me?'

'No. But an orbital strike sure does.'

'What?'

Before long, a large red beam came from above and caught the Infernape in the middle. The light vaporized him almost instantly, before he even got the chance to notice it.'

("Hey, what the fuck? If we have orbital strikes then why don't we abuse that shit and kill the bandits quicker?"

"You see Catherine, a few years back Genesis notice that the use of it put a lot of strain on Essal's already thin and radiation infested ozone layer. Lucious is always serious about the states of the planet so he disabled and destroyed them all."

"What the fuck is an ozone?"

Rick said. "Basically an invisible barrier around the planet that make sure the sunlight don't grill our asses. Common knowledge."

"It's not common if I don't know about it."

"Consider you learn something today. So after that, I slowly came to, again and expressed my amazement with some level of dignity.")

'Holy mother of fuck! That was friggin epic. You just literally smoked him.' Rick said and spat out a good chunk of blood and saliva. His hand was on the hole and his feet were struggling to lift him up.

'Technically, it was, no I'm refuse to be that kind of Pokémon. Huh? What am I saying? I am that kind of Pokémon. Technically I disintegrated him. Pulled him a part, molecule by molecule.'

'That is fucking…' He coughed out some more blood. 'Awesome.'

'Complements for later, worry about internal bleeding, now.'

Rick approached Doc in a staggered stage. He offered Doc a hand to help the Alakazam standing up. 'Are you okay? That was fucking close.'

'Are you joking? The near disassemble experience made me feel alive more than ever.'

'Ha, that's one way to look at it.'

'How is the hole in your chest?'

'Frankly, it hurt like no fucking tomorrow. Tell me you guys have some kind of ambulance because I think I'm going to pass out.'

'We do, just be patient. We both should sit down, none of us want or could stand anyway.'

They sat down on the spot and looked at the black burning circle on the ground.

'That could be me right?'

'Yes.'

'Okay, thanks for didn't fire that on me. But since he is dead, then what are you going to do to me?'

'Well, I was expecting you to run away and not bat an eye, but you chose to stay.'

'Hard to do it when I'm bleeding here.'

'No I meant before that. I left the note didn't I? You chose to stay. Still want that revenge huh?'

'Not anymore.'

'Good, so, feel better?'

'Yes, well, not quite. It just feel empty and underwhelming. '

'That's revenge 101 for you. It just consist of killing around and most just die, that's all.'

'Nothing escape you isn't it?'

'A lot of thing had escaped me, including your sarcasm.'

'Eh, was that a good. Oh screw it, hey, I want to ask you something.'

'Go ahead, this is the best chance you got.'

'So, what are you guys?'

'We are just a band of mercenary employed by a Pokémon billionaire with the goal of fixing Essal. By both violent and none violent means. Crazy isn't it?'

'Well, if a hobo told me that then yes. But with a guy that just whipped out a laser pointer that point things into oblivion, no.'

'By the tone of your voice. You want to join in? Wish to redeem yourself?'

'Yes, no. Honestly, more like, I don't know where to go now. My clan is gone. I don't know what to do anymore, besides being a bandit. And since I just save your life and all, I was thinking if you could help me.'

'Favors? I thought reviving you and made the decision of not killing you along with Abel is enough. But about your request, yes, it's possible for you to join us. But there will be a lot of truth serum shots in the future. That means possible high school secrets being revealed to a bunch of strangers and doctors. And there will be a lot of regulations and paperwork since you, you are a bandit and all. And to join us you need to prove yourself worthy in combat.'

'Combat? If not for me you would have been dead.'

'Already noted that several minutes ago.'

'As for the paperwork. Look like I don't have other choices.'

'You have but just not as pleasant. And the Foundation-that's us, is the best option you can have right now. I will go into details when my arm is back online. Oh, how rude of me, I need to introduce myself then. I'm Doctor Dylatov Voynich, for easier references call me Doc. Everyone does. Engineer, not to be confuse with a medic.'

'You gave me your name, are you gonna kill me.'

'No, use your common sense.'

'Okay. I'm Richard Douglas, ehhhh I got nothing after that.' Rick said and shook Doc's natural arm. Another Genesis made car was then approached them afterward.

'Finally, such terrible timing.'

---

'Now Rick, that was pretty impressive, wasn't it.' Axel said.

'Yeah, you are right. Still can't believe how things just changed so much in one day.'

'So whenever fell worthless, just remember it.'

'Thanks for the encouraging words Catherine.'

'I'm here for you. You hulking mass of whatever the fuck you are.' Catherine let out smile. She was glad that things ended in a much more positive note than Doc's tales. But still, the imaginary image of Abel was still haunting her mind. How to prevent it from happening, was what concern her the most. Suddenly she wanted a distraction more than ever.

Axel looked at his watch. 'Hum, only thirty minutes have passes since we started. I thought it was much longer than that.'

'Who know what they say, the heavier the subjects in question, the stronger the gravity field, resulted in time slow down, like a black hole of awkwardness. Hah, they didn't say it, I say it.'

Catherine made a fake laugh. 'Haha, you should be glad that I read the astrophysics book so I kinda that the joke.'

'Yes. That's good for you.'

'No kidding about the heaviness. Seriously, after all that I just feel like playing this anymore. I'll go all in. Anyone want to take it, go ahead.' Axel said and shoved all his chips in.

'Ohhh, that's nice.' Rick said.

'Certainly a lovely offer.' Doc said and started shuffled his chips.

Catehrine had a looked at Axel rather bored expression and said. 'Ah, fuck it, I'll take it. All in.' Catherine pushed all the chips in the middle.

'Oh damn. That's not going to end well for one of us.'

'Made that a possible two. I go all in.' Doc did as he announced it.

'Holy Arceus's balls sack, that's a lot of god damn credits. I gonna back out. Fold.'

'Yes, this is not going to end well. And I haven't got the chance to I lay my story, yet. Let's get this over with.'

All laid their two cards out. Axel got a five and a king, both spade. Catherine got six and nine of heart and Doc had just like Axel except both were clubs.

'Hum, that's an interesting development.' Doc said and started pondering.

'Alright, moment of truth.' Axel flipped his other cards. Followed by Rick and Doc. They looked at each other instead of the cards. Each knew that the possible disappointment would be too great if things were to be revealed, slowly. So they waited until all confirmed that their cards were all shown. They then looked down.

'The flying fuck? She slammed the table upon looking at her pair of nine.

'Son of bitch.' Rick said.

'Hum, looked like I'll be playing a little longer.' Axel grinned as he stared down his pair of kings. Doc did so with his own pair of kings. Axel extended his vines and swept the chips. 'Thank you. But this one won't contribute to your IOU, Catherine.' The screen on Catherine's side changed to "insufficient fund" and turned red.

'Wait the minute, I forgot something. Axel how the hell did you learn to play this game?' Catherine asked.'

He kept the grin. 'Nothing too epic like you guys, I learned it in an online game, two years back.'

'Oh, ooh. God fucking damn it! Shit, I walked right into it. I should have just shrug it off.'

'You just fall right into such an obvious bluff, Catherine.' Doc said and claimed his split of the pot.

'Thanks for the fucking reminder.'

'It's a part of the game isn't it? You said it yourself.' Axel said and flipped a chip in the air.

'Yeah, but still. So the whole time you were just keep silent and pick a time to strike.'

'It's not cut and dry like that. Sure I was planning to go easy on you guys. But it was a surprise that Doc asked to share to stories. That one could really got me exposed, and everyone would be cautious around me. If that was the case than what's the fun in that? No one would wanted to make a bet, take a risk. So I just wanted to prolong the game and asked Catherine to do it first. And everything else just sort of, fall into place without any interference from me.

Things were going too smooth so why not have some fun with it? All I got to do is lay low and play along with a few questions. Making the game and story flow long enough so everyone have a good time. With that, I wait until my turn of the story and let the game pays out a bit.'

'Ah, very clever.'

Catherine crossed her arm. 'Whatever. I'm out of here.' And she stood up, carrying the glass of sweet with her.

'Hey, don't be mad, here, as a friendly gesture. I will consider this into your IOU. Okay? Since you have extra credit so for this game and all. I hope this doesn't affect me or you, or any of us. This is a horrible game with the sole purpose is tricking and bluffing the other to pay out for you. I have been playing for so long so I can't help it. I'm sorry.'

'Nah, I'm not a sore loser. For your information, I lost a shit ton many time before-to my uncle, this is nothing. But by fucking god, if you exploit or hide something from me. I'll make you unable to bite even berries, with my fist.

'Sure, with such a charming way to put it, how can I say no? Here, I cross my heart. Who do think I am? Your uncle? Trust me, still going to be the guy that snipe whoever try to kill you from behind.'

'Good.' She sighed. 'Look like I got kicked out too soon. You guys enjoy the rest of the game, I'll be in my room.'

Doc then said. 'Maybe we should stop the game here, since we have no chance of winning with Axel.'

'See, this is why I don't feel like giving you guys a head up. Everybody just kinda left.'

'We certainly won't do this again. This horrible game had served its purpose. I got a fragment of my memory back. Not a pleasant piece but a rather important one. My selfish mind and curiosity had been satisfied.'

'And I thought, you actually want something fun for us all to do. So much for a bonding experience.' Catherine said and got back on her seat.

'Sorry, certain steps must be taken for, some discoveries. We already went through this, so let's not thinking too much about it.'

'Yeah, it might look that way, but hey, we had fun right?'

'Though at first I did it because I want answers but after a while, I do enjoy the game with you. Especially the part that I win.' Doc said.

'Well, I lost but got a first few wins, so yeah, it was fun while it lasts.'

'Yeah, first time playing this and didn't get stressed out too much. And it was nice excuse to go down memory lane. Had a looked back on how far I have come and appreciate what I got right here.' Rick tried to put his hands on Axel and Doc shoulder. Both denied.

'Nah, we can feel the love just fine, Rick.' Axel said.

'That was awkward as fuck.'

'I know but heh, screw it.'

'So, all and all, should we all agree to never play this horrible game again, at least with each other?'

'I don't know, I kinda like the idea of fighting against the odds. I gonna take back my money someday.'

'Challenge accepted, another round?'

'Fuck no, not today. I need some practice.'

'Rick?'

'Well, my common sense said "No" and my Aracadian optimistic mind said "Yes". So, screw it, let do this sometimes, but lower the buy in.'

'I agree, even if we lost it would be just like accidently dropping money.'

'Doc, no one accidentally drop a thousand credits.'

'Details, details. So. All in favor of doing this horribly exploitable game sometime together in the future?'

'Aye.' All of them said.

'Motion carry. No can you please give me back the cards? You are damaging an important relic of mine. Next time I'll use some cheap piece from the department store.'

Doc reclaimed the cards and the device in the middle of the table, along with the chips. They remained in their seats afterward, looked at one and another. Rick finished the sweets and broke the silent.

'Sooooo, what should we do now?'

'Don't know.'

'Yeah, I need to be exhausted to fall asleep tonight. Doc's drink tube thingy is gonna give me a hard time sleeping.' In the back of her head she know that made no sense but she didn't come up with anything else that cover the: "I am really concern about what the demonic present within my body will turn me into. And how all of you plan to kill me when that happen."

'That's ridiculous.'

'So is the fear of clowns. How can you be afraid of them?'

'Hey, those things are scary as hell…Not that I'm afraid of them, but have you seen "That"?

'Where?' Catherine turned behind her.

'No I mean "That".

'Okay but the fuck is that?'

'Catherine "That" is the name of a movie or rather miniseries. It is about a killer clown haunting a group of small children.' Rick explained.

'Shit, told you guys not to confuse me with your references. And that is fucking weird.'

'Girl, you gotta be consistent. You seem to know quite a lot, I thought you might know.'

'I don't know shit about movies. Just the fact that they are books for Pokémon who are too lazy to read. And the only way I know about the outside is through books. Maybe I should do some catching up sometimes.'

'Why not now? Rick, you have a lot of movies, don't you? Why not bring them out here and we will watch them together. Spent the rest of the night enrich our metal library instead of gamble.'

'That's a good idea.'

'Yeah, you are right, why the fuck not? Maybe I'll grow bored and sleep halfway in.'

'Well, sure, but what should we watch tonight then?' Rick asked.

'What do you have in mind? And Mercy, do you wish to join us on this? Don't wish to make you feel like the odd one out. '

Mercy then approached them. 'That depend on a lot of things, dear. It would be nice to sit down with everyone and enjoy something together. So yes, I will join in as long as everyone agree on one movie. Pardon me, but I love to see something with a little depth. Don't need any fancy academy award winning actors or actresses. Just something that make you think.'

'Well, as a semi cinephile. How about some classic like "A Oran Clockwork".'

'I don't think so. Today story time is heavy enough, try something else.' Rick said.

'What do you got in that movie?' Catherine asked.

'Well, murder, anarchy, nudity, but most importantly subtle or blunt social statements.' Rick said while counting the tips of his claws.

'Yeah, let's skip that. And ew, Axel, are you sure you are not some kind of sicko?'

'I don't watch it for the violent or nudity. I got for the plot, the messages, things that give me and a few Pokémon with too much time on their hands something to discuss. So Rick, what do you have in mind?'

'Anything goes, as long as it's not crap and I own none. I'm asking you the question, am I?'

'Doc?'

'Science fiction, should be so obvious that it had become a cliché.'

'So how about 2101 Odyssey? Super deep or what that hipster guy once told me. But even if you don't get it, it got awesome visual for you to see, and it's a sci-fi, not the bull crap jumbo kind but one with some serious thoughts put into it. How that?'

'Are you sure Catherine can understand that? Cause it took near twenty years for it to have a cult.'

'Never know if I never try. And besides, just want something to tired me out and fall asleep.'

'Kay, that settle, and maybe we will watch something else afterward.'

They all got up and picked up the glasses that contain the sweets before the table deconstructed. All besides Rick then got to the sofa in the middle of room and seated themselves. Catherine sat on the floor. Doc was next to Mercy, while Axel coiled himself on the floor next to Catherine, who pushed him away to the corner of the sofa. Rick came back with a small data drive and plugged it into the TV. He touched the TV screen and adjusted some setting and walked back to the sofa, sitting in between of Doc and Mercy. The TV then turned black and the film began to play.

'Get ready to get your mind blown Catherine.'

'We will see about that.'

And they sat in silent and watched the movie together. Catherine was indeed having a hard time catching up to all the science talk within it. She looked around and planned to ask, but the look of concentration on their faces made her reconsidered it. Didn't wish to interrupt them, she tried Rick's advice, just watch it for the visual. And with that mind set, she started to enjoy the movie. All the lightning, the settings and the cinematography were incredible. The ending of it were the thing that seemed to bother and confused her the most. When the movie was over, she asked them a dozen of questions regarding it, but their explanations were even harder to follow.

After that they decided to watch another movie. Rick suggested a rather old movie so that Catherine would have an easier time to follow. He said the movie itself was timeless comedy and since it was in the early day of cinema so things couldn't be simpler. Catherine agreed with a yawn and they started watching it. As soon as the movie start, Catherine noticed it was a black and white movie, quite different from the last. It's started with a scene of a battle. There were old model tanks and guns so Catherine thought it was a either a Morning or Sunset war setting. There was a few Pokémon of different types gathering around a mortar and launching shells. That left Catherine confused as the whole things looked more like a war movie than a comedy. That was what she thought until she saw how a shell failed to get launched and dropped like a potato down at the ground-there were even a funny sound effect to go with everything. The reaction of the Pokémon around the mortar made Catherine burst out laughing. Rick and Axel just snickered a bit, for both had seen this movie hundreds of times. And they sat through the two hours movie together. The speech at the end from the main character about war, dictators and freedom nearly brought Catherine and the others to tear. That speech left an impact that made them sat still and kept on watching an empty screen for a while. And that was also when Catherine eyes just couldn't keep themselves open anymore. She then fell as sleep after they started watching the third movie.

During the third movie, Catherine head laid on the floor. At that point, they thought that was quite enough for one night. They cleared out the sofa and Axel gently picked Catherine up with his vine and put her on it. And she spent the rest of the night on the sofa for no one wanted to wake her up and know her quarter's combination code. They returned to their quarters afterward. Only after putting a blanket on Catherine did Mercy return to her own quarter.

Due to Catherine had fallen asleep in an exhausted state, she was not bothered at all by the suggestive images that were passed around during the story time at the Poker table. What she might become, what she had done, she would worry about them in another time. She slept relatively comfortable on that sofa until the next day.

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Author's notes:

Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed what you have just read and wished to see more, please follow or leave a review. They would give me motivation to write more for everyone. All feedbacks will be appreciated. If you find anything lacking or flawed in my story (grammar, word use, etc.), please tell me in the reviews as well. I shall do my best to updates these chapters sooner and make them more polished. This is my first ever story so please forgive any possible mistake in the future and help me fix them.

Thanks again and have a pleasant day.