A/N: Hello again! Here is another chapter!

Chapter 21

Revelations

I was a nice person.

I always tried to be a nice person. Kind. Helpful. Supportive.

After my ordeal with Team Rocket, I realized I would never have enough courage to travel the world and document every single pokémon. I lacked the courage required for such a task; after all, I had lacked the courage to save my friend.

I would never be able to achieve my one, single goal that had defined my life since childhood. I felt utterly worthless. I decided that the least I could do was...help other people. Support others in achieving their goals. Provide assistance, knowledge, emotional support, or whatever else I could. I helped my father was his research. I helped my mother with her pokémon training. It was the least I could do.

Not only was I worthless, but I was also weak. I could have done the right thing, the courageous thing, which would be to tell Gianni what I had done to him. I could have done the right thing, and faced my fears and hoped for his forgiveness.

I could have, but I didn't. I just didn't have it in me. I was weak. I was fragile. What could anyone expect? I was the only daughter to a wealthy couple in a very small town. In fact, I had what I myself called advanced only child syndrome: during the first half of my childhood, I, my parents, my father's grandfather, and my mother's three sisters all lived in the same household. One child, six adults. Everyone cared about me. Everyone made sure I was okay. If I had a problem with one or both my parents, I still had other adults to talk it out with. Archetypically speaking, I was the most innocent, fragile, and spoiled type of person. I never denied it.

There were times that, dare I say it, I actually had the nerve to feel good about myself. There were so many things I didn't do: drink, smoke, steal, bully...since these are all things bad people do, and I don't do any of them, I must be a good person. But it only took a person like Gianni to come around and make me see the fallacy of my logic.

Gianni and I went for a walk later that day, after the weather cleared up. His leg was getting better, and he wanted to walk around. I objected, but there was no talking him out of it.

He never but his blazer back on, so he just had the plain button-down shirt on, which he kept untucked. He looked much less imposing like that.

We walked down from my family's isolated property on the edge of town and along the road down into "Pallet Town proper". A cold gray mist still lingered in the air, giving everything that slightly eerie vibe. Gianni was leading the way, and after a little while it became clear where we were headed.

"Are you going back to your old house?" I asked. He was a yard or two in front of me.

He didn't look back at me. "Um...yeah. Listen, Kari, I haven't been in this area for a long, long time. Even if you're umbreon hadn't attacked me, I would still be trying to get to my old house. It's been something I've been meaning to do, for a long time…"

I nodded in understanding, although I don't think he noticed. We kept walking until we reached his block.

There, at the end of the cul de sac, was an abandoned one-floor house. It didn't look all that bad-the property was much more unkempt than the actual house. But it still had an empty, if not sinister, appearance. Gianni's family had left very shortly after his disappearance. The house, I assumed, had been taken over by the bank.

Gianni entered the property. "Gianni, you can't do that, that's trespassing! That's against the law."

He looked back at me with an icy glare. "You really think that I hold myself to the law?" His voice dripped with sarcasm. I should have seen that one coming.

I was hesitant, but I followed him through the gate. We stepped silently up onto the porch. Gianni was very focused on what he was doing; he didn't talk much. He tried to the open door, but it was locked.

I tested the lock too, but to no avail. "My mother taught me how to pick a lock like this, all we need is-"

"Stand back!" Gianni shouted. I jumped right out of the way as Gianni's leather boot met with the door, kicking it straight to the ground as it broke with an ear-splitting crack. As though kicking doors down was a daily activity for him, Gianni proceeded to walk into the house quietly, brushing some dust off his clothes.

"Or, well, I guess that works too…" I stuttered, startled by his sudden aggression.

The interior of the house smelled stale and a bit dusty. It wasn't that bad, after all, it was fairly modern. It was quite empty, with practically no furniture. To the right, upon entrance, was a small kitchen. Gianni passed and continued right into what I assumed was the living room.

I meant to follow, but a piece of paper sticking out from a kitchen draw caught my eye. I curiously opened the drawer, and found a letter attached to an envelope, reading "to Gianni". "Gianni, I think I found something!"

"What?" He darted into the room. "What'd ya find?" His eyes were a bit excited. I wondered why exactly we were here. What is he looking for?

"Here! You should probably read it." I handed him the paper, which he read aloud.

"Dear Gianni...if you're reading this, it means you've returned home, and are probably searching for answers. We're very sorry this had to happen to you. We know you probably hate us now. But, we know you'll understand our actions some day. We left your real birth certificate here. We've left the region permanently. Hopefully, we'll see each other again one day. Love, Jessie and James…"

He stared at the letter for a few more seconds. Suddenly, he gritted his teeth and tore the piece of paper in half. "What a load of crap...uh-huh, I'll understand. Understand what? You're a bunch of pathological liars? Give me a break…" He let the scraps fall to the ground.

I handed him the envelope, pretending not to notice his fit of anger. "This must be your birth certificate…"

He grabbed it from me and tore it open, hastily unfolding the document. He took a breath. "Name...Gianni Razzo. Father...Giovanni Razzo. Mother...UNDISCLOSED!" He then cursed under his breath.

"Well, I guess coming here was a waste. Wait a minute...this document is from Garnet Mill Hospital. 'Garnet Mill'? Where the hell is that?"

"I could be wrong...but I think that's near Orre…" I tried to remember my geography.

"So I was born in Orre, huh? I guess that explains why I hate rain…" He smiled a little. It was the first time I'd seen him do so during this entire little trip. His smile soon faded. "There's still so many things I don't get, though...undisclosed, seriously? That's the one thing I want to know. Who is my Mom? That's a fair question, isn't it?" He sighed and rolled his eyes. "My father won't tell me anything...he says it's all irrelevant. It's the one thing me and him don't see eye to eye on-how could it be irrelevant?" He leaned back on the counter and remained quiet for a second. "So…" He looked at me. "You believe me now, right?"

"What?"

"That night in the café, right around when everything went into hell, I told you that Giovanni was my father. You didn't believe me. You said you did, but you definitely didn't."

I tried to remember. He had said something like that, about quite a few crazy things, and I hadn't known how to respond. I had never been more anxious in my life than on that night. I had just tried to sound nice...and had probably failed miserably. "I'm sorry. I was wrong." I moved a little bit closer to him, and put my hand on his. "I can't imagine how you feel about all this…"

"You're lucky you don't have to...I just try to keep my mind on other things…" He sighed.

That's where I drew a blank. I didn't know what else to say. I just stood there, awkwardly. Maybe...I'll be a bit better at physical consolation… Tentatively, I turned and planted a kiss on Gianni's cheek.

He looked at me with furrowed eyebrows. "What was that for?"

"Just to be nice…" I said defensively. I thought I may have made a mistake, he seemed almost offended, but then I saw him smile a tiny bit. "Kari, you're too cute."

We looked around the house for anything else that may have been intentionally left behind, but Gianni didn't find anything else worthy of merit. We soon decided to leave.

As we walked, Gianni seemed to develop into a better mood. "Hey, Kari, I got a question…" He looked over at me with a playful glow to his eyes. "Was I your first kiss?"

I didn't hesitate. "Yep. Was it that obvious?"

"No, not at all…" He chuckled.

"I wasn't yours, was I?" I asked.

"Well..there was a girl back in Driftveil, but that wasn't, I don't know-you were my first kiss, that was, like, real."

"Oh," I laughed. "So what made it real?"

"I don't know...the fact that me and you, are, you know...serious."

"But when you kissed me you weren't planning on starting anything…"

He growled jokingly. "Ugh, you know what I mean."

I blushed a little. However, I was reminded of something I had been meaning to ask. "So, Gianni, I told you my reason, but you never told me yours...why do you like me?"

He looked away, a little embarrassed. "Well, I just think, I don't know, I just...when I first met you, I thought you were a bit annoying, but, like…I don't know. For one thing, you're pretty."

I blushed a little in spite of myself. While I was a little offended but not surprised that he thought I was annoying, I appreciated his blunt honesty. And of course I appreciated the compliment.

He continued. "But, after working with you at your Dad's lab, I started to see how really dedicated and friendly you really were, and well...okay, hopefully this won't make you mad, but I could tell that you liked me…"

"You could? How?" I said defensively.

"Jimmy told me you asked him if I had a girlfriend. You always seemed to want to talk to me. I could tell you got jealous when other people got close to me. You hugged me a lot." He breathed. "And then Sierra told me."

My face reddened. Why did I ever trust that girl? "Yeah, well, you were my first crush...I had no idea how this whole 'liking' and relationship thing worked...and I still don't honestly."

"Me neither. We'll figure it out." He said raspily. I laughed at his wit.

After we got back, we spent the rest of the day talking. We talked about the things we liked, our views on the world, the things that scared us the most, and things that made us laugh. Truthfully, we were a bit cheesy...but we both had a good time.

As we chatted about ourselves and our lives, every so often, I would suddenly remind myself every so often of the guilt that I held in tearing apart Gianni's life. I would zone out a little. Gianni would notice and ask me what was wrong. I would tell him that I was just emotionally overwhelmed to know that he was alive. He would say something sweet or witty or sarcastic, and then we'd just continue with our conversation.

I was internally fighting with myself. Dishonesty was below me, I thought. But here I was, lying through my teeth. Why? Because I was afraid to lose the trust my only friend? Because I was arrogantly afraid to admit that I had ever done something bad? Because I wouldn't even begin to know how to explain it all to him? Or just because I valued our relationship more than my own self-concept? Maybe they were all factors. But whatever the case, I just couldn't bring myself to admit my wrongdoing.

I continued to pretend to know nothing about Team Rocket as Gianni discussed some of his misadventures as part of the evil organization. However, I listened carefully to his stories. While I often repressed my memories of the short time I worked for them, they were starting to come to light ever since Gianni came back into my life. And, finally, I summoned the courage to ask one question I had been absolutely burning to know the answer to:

"Gianni, why are you a member of Team Rocket?"

He smirked at me. He had probably been waiting for me to ask that inevitable question. We had been lying around my house, talking and watching TV, for most of the afternoon. "I was gonna stay quiet about that...but since you're my girlfriend now, you might as well know...I really don't care about confidentiality, anyways."

He cleared his throat. "So, what happened was, after I first transformed, they captured me and brought me to their facility, the old Violet Fields hospital. But then I transformed again and burned that building down to the ground. And so I escaped from Team Rocket again, and just hung out in the wilderness for a few days...maybe a week. I don't know. But then a few guys find me. I almost kill them, but then they tell me that Team Rocket will give me whatever I want if I go back and work for them. I mean, at this point, I was getting bored, and I knew that Team Rocket wouldn't be stupid enough to lie to me again, so I agreed. They were being honest this time, it turns out. I get to live in my father's mansion, I'm able to push all the staff around, I have access to whatever pokémon Team Rocket has...its pretty awesome. I really don't have to do anything...I'm supposed to help them with certain missions, that's what I'm supposed to be doing right now, actually, but they really can't do anything about it if I decide to just leave or not participate. But, I'm the boss's son and most of them are scared of me. So I get treated like a king. It's pretty awesome, actually." He smirked.

"Oh, wow...sounds like you have it made."

"I do…" he said smugly.

I laughed a little, but then soberly continued the uneasy conversation. "You think you'll ever leave?"

He shrugged. "Once my father dies, the organization's all mine. I don't want to continue it, but, I don't know if I can shut it down, either, and it probably not even worth it…"

"Why can't you? You'll be the boss, no?"

"It's not that simple...it's just, uh, it's so complicated. It's such a huge network. And there have been people working for the organization since before my father took over from his mother...there are whole freakin' families that have worked for Team Rocket for generations...it's crazy..." he said, shaking his head. "And my father's getting pretty old now, he might even step down soon...I try not to think about it." He looked off in the distance, out the window, and sighed. "Yeah, thanks for bringing that up…"

I failed to notice the sarcasm in his voice, again. "I'm sorry Gianni! I didn't mean to-"

Gianni cut me off my shooting me an amused grin, reminding me to take most of his jibes at me with a grain of salt. I realized I would probably be getting used to that look on his face.

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