*~~*Chapter Thirty-Four: The Last Chance: Kotone's Viewpoint*~~*

I had never realized that this hallway was so long.

It felt like my mentor and I had been walking for hours on our way to see this intruder. The repetitive shades of blue that covered every hallway wall made things seem as if we were walking in place. The Grand Chamber the first room I had ever seen within this base, so it was kinda exciting to return to where I had my first taste of Team Rocket.

A part of me was nervous about facing someone who had ties to the Elite Four, but the rest of me was far too excited about proving my worth to my mentor to care. He actually wanted me along! A slow turn brought us within sight of the grand doors of gold. He wanted me to see this intruder! He might actually trust me! I smiled as my mentor stopped at the door and looked back at me.

"Apprentice," His eyes narrowed as he waited for me. I reached his side fairly quickly and gave him a smile. "I want you to face the intruder first." My eyes widened as he went on, "Think of this as a test. I want you to take care of whatever Rattata decided to crawl in here and snoop around."

I was practically beaming as I gave my mentor a salute. "Yes sir! I won't let you down!" He didn't respond. He simply opened the door for me and waited for me to enter this glittering room of splendor.

My steps seemed to scream at me as I headed inside of this important room. I could see someone standing in the center of the room, looking up at the great crystal chandelier. I nearly grinned as I rested my hand on my belt. I was getting a chance to prove myself in something I was good at. I wasn't going to mess this up.

The figure turned around and I was suddenly stricken by the sight of someone I had thought I would never see again.

Golden orbs brightened as I found myself face-to-face with a familiar boy. His black hair was slicked back as to be less recognizable, and the Rocket uniform on his chest didn't help matters. Suddenly, I felt like I couldn't breathe.

"Kotone!" Before I could stop him, I was pulled into a tight embrace and pressed against his chest. I could hear his heartbeat as I stood there, numb and unable to think. "Kotone, I was so worried about you!" Just as I was about to gather myself together, I was yanked back at arm's length. "What are you doing in that uniform?!"

I didn't speak as he narrowed his eyes in confusion. I didn't know what to say to him. A small part of me wanted to hide in shame as his eyes became cold and searching, looking for answers. "Kotone, what happened to you?"

"...You shouldn't be here, Hibiki." The sound of my own voice surprised me; I had no idea that my voice could sound so cold and heartless. The hurt that flashed in his eyes made me hurt somewhere above that shame, but I tried my best to swallow it down.

"Don't be stupid, Kotone!" He was only inches away from me, but I wanted nothing more than to run and hide from his eyes. "I came here to rescue you! We've all been so worried about you!" Hibiki turned his head with a sharp breath before slowly looking back at my face. "We thought you were dead."

I pulled myself away and rubbed my arm as he simply looked at me. I couldn't handle this strange mix of emotions. Just moments before, I was so eager to take out anyone who had the nerve to infiltrate Team Rocket. But, now that I knew who it was, I felt unsure if I wanted to attack him.

This was Hibiki Gold, my very best friend. He had been the one to reach out to me when everyone else saw me as a sort of doll, tiny and easily broken. He had been there for me when all the other children refused to play with the baby on the playground. He was everything to me for so long. He was the person I could count on for anything and everything, no matter what. This boy was practically my brother in every sense.

Then I remembered how he left me.

That fateful day that he picked up a Chikorita and waved that small town goodbye. All of those days we had spent together had faded away in the blustering winds as he faded out of my sight. We had promised each other. We had sworn that we would leave together on our journey, traveling the world with our best friends at out side. When I had been held back, he left without me. I was too young, they had said. Seven years old was too young to leave town, even with a ten-year-old by my side. Instead of waiting, he had simply left me behind.

"I'll be sure to call you every day!" He had shouted above the wind. "I promise, you'll be with me before you know it!" He had sworn to me. He promised me. And yet, he lied to me. He left me behind without a single thought. He never called. He never visited me. The only words of his progress reached us through the blaring screen of the television and the roar of the radio. He never set foot in town ever again.

Anger swelled up inside of my chest at the thought of all those rough nights, of all those broken promises and those pretty little lies he had told me. All of those days I had spent wandering around, trying to catch up to the boy who left me behind, raced in my mind. Every step along the way, I was blocked, mocked and made a fool of. I was never a challenger. I was some child with big dreams who never stood a chance.

He wasn't my brother. I was his shadow.

"Kotone!" The harsh sound of his voice ground against my ears as I found my eyes brimming with hot tears. I lifted my head slightly from the ground and found him looking at me in a baffled sort of pain. "Please, everything's going to be OK." I lifted my head high as he gave me a weak grin. "I'm going to get you out of here, I promise. Soon, you'll be back in New Bark Town and in your mother's arms, not to worry." That rage bubbled up into my throat as he reached out towards me.

"Everything is going to be just fine—"

I slapped his hand away and felt something rush through my veins at the sight of his wide eyes. My breath was ragged and hot as I glared at him. The confusion that flooded his amber eyes was almost pitiful, but I wasn't feeling anything but frustration in this twisted fury. "I'm not going anywhere, traitor!" The silence that escaped his lips made this anger become a burning flame that engulfed my whole body in a sort of warmth. I didn't even give him a chance to think; the words spilled out faster than I even knew possible.

"I came here because I was sick and tired of the way everyone treats me!" My eyes became nothing but slits of hatred as I took a few steps away from him. "Everyone sees me as some sort of child! I'm never just me to anyone! I've always been just this pathetic girl who needed sheltering from everything in this disgusting world. No one saw me for who I was! I was always an infant!"

"Kotone, please—" I cut him off with a blow to his chest. I knew that my hit did nothing more than stun him, but I wasn't about to be cut off. Not now. I was going to tell him exactly how I felt about this. I wasn't going to back down and return to being someone's shadow.

"When I set out on my journey, I thought people would start to respect me for being a Trainer." A hollow laugh escaped me as I shook my head. "I was a fool! Everywhere I turned, the other Trainers thought of me as a child! The Gyms wouldn't let me in until I beat the guard at the front of the building. Even then, the Leaders thought of me as some child who had somehow snuck in!" I growled before snorting in anger. "You wouldn't believe the utter crap I had to go through to get the last badge! I almost didn't get what I earned because of the worthless woman who ran the place!"

"Kotone, please calm down." A shimmer on his cheek told me that my words were finding some foothold, so I just ignored his pleas and kept on with my aggressive rant.

"Well, I decided to do something about it!" My chin found a place in the air as Hibiki just stared at me in horror. "I heard about Team Rocket along the way. I heard the fear that people felt when the mere insignia was found. I decided right there and then that I was going to make people respect me! I wasn't going to sit here and let them treat me this way! So, I headed to the dirty side of Goldenrod and stuck my nose in every dark alley."

The image of the literal darkness that covered that side of town flashed in my mind before I could take another breath. Somewhere in my mind, I doubted he would even listen to me. However, I was going to tell him exactly how I got here, so he knew that he was a key actor in this play. That burning had engulfed me long before now, leaving me without fear or shame. I felt as if everything had been justified in this single beat of my heart.

I was a Rocket now, and he wasn't going to change that.

"Eventually, I found the man I was looking for. Archer, the leading executive of Team Rocket." Hibiki took a few steps back with a disbelieving shake of his head. I could tell that he didn't get it. He didn't understand my reason. But I didn't care. All that mattered was that I knew why I became a Rocket. "All I had to do was beat him in a battle. Blitz was so strong, any Golbat that stood in our way was taken out with ease! I was practically brought here within a few hours."

"It only took a day or two to earn the respect of other Rockets! They thought that I was an amazing battler like they could only dream of! They took me in with open arms! They actually made me feel like I belonged here! I'm not just any apprentice in Team Rocket," I paused to let out a hysterical laugh. I didn't even care about the horror in Hibiki's eyes anymore. In fact, it made me feel that much stronger.

"I'm the apprentice of the Leader of Team Rocket himself, Silver Rocket!"

"No!" Black locks fell from their perch as his head shook with disgust. "Kotone, you're just confused!" I felt his hands grip my shoulders while I just held my chin high. "Please, snap out of this! I'm going to get you out of here and get you some help, don't worry! You don't even understand what you're saying!"

"Please excuse me for cutting in," Our heads whipped around to find my mentor standing near the door with his hands held behind his back. "But I'm afraid that you're mistaken, Champion Hibiki."

I snapped back to the boy I once knew with a look of confusion. "...Champion?" The look of shame that flashed across his face was all I needed to see. I felt that sickening rage inside of me twist in my gut as he avoided my gaze.

"Apprentice," I turned back to my mentor to find him holding out a hand towards me. "I didn't expect you to take so long in here." I wrenched myself out of Hibiki's grasp as he stared at me with a kind of horrified silence. "Tell me, what exactly were you doing in here? I hope that our guest wasn't giving you any trouble."

"Oh, not to worry, sir." The harsh undertone in my voice seemed not only to surprise my mentor, but myself as well. "I was just finishing up here." A nod from my mentor made a bit of pride rise in my gut before he turned his attention to the—apparently—Champion.

"Well, I'm afraid that your little 'infiltration' has been found out, Champion Hibiki Gold." A click of his tongue made the black-haired boy stand up straight and shoot a glare of defiance. "Such a shame that you would take my organization and I so lightly. After all Team Rocket has done, I'm quite surprised that you would be so foolish."

"Silver Rocket," The hate in his voice seemed to earn a raise of an eyebrow as my mentor simply watched the captured guest. "How dare you! How dare you take her! What did you do to her?!" I felt a bit of disgust as I found him still clinging to this. Apparently, he was far too stubborn to see the obvious. "There's no way that she would join the likes of you criminals! What did you do to her?!"

Before I could think, I was suddenly pulled to stand in front of my mentor. His hands rested upon my shoulders as a grin snaked on his face. "You really are as stubborn as they say, Hibiki Gold. Kotone Soul has told you exactly what happened; she joined my organization of her own free will around a week or so ago. Archer found her in Goldenrod and she asked to join Team Rocket. I can assure you, no kidnapping, brainwashing, blackmail or any sort of devious activity was used to change her alliances. She chose us, and we gladly took her in with open arms."

"Liar!" Hibiki launched himself at us before just seconds after the words left my mentor's mouth. Before he could stop the attacker, I found myself racing forward and landing a solid punch in his gut. The blood roared in my ears as his eyes grew wide with pain. His body flew backwards with the momentum and he was soon flipping feet-over-head on the harsh and polished floors. He fell to his side as I remained in position, frozen with shock.

"Well done, apprentice." A slight warmth in his voice made me turn my attention back to the scarlet locks framing his face. "That was quite the punch. I'm surprised that you could pull that off so soon." A low groan made me look over my shoulder. I found Hibiki struggling to hold himself up as blood tricked out of his mouth. A twisted sort of pride rose in my mind at the realization that I had thrown him back a good three or four feet with just a single punch.

"You...you monster." The worst thing was that I couldn't tell if those words were directed at me or my mentor. Either way, the redhead walked forward to the crumpled intruder and shot him a grin. "You're nothing but a monster. I swear, when the Elite Four get ahold of you—"

My mentor cut him off with a laugh. I blinked in confusion before I found a glimmer in his hand. My heart seemed to stop as I realized that he was holding a knife in his hand as if it were nothing but a pen. Blood roared in my veins as he turned Hibiki over with his black shoe. "Not a soul will be hearing from you when I'm through with you." The dreaded weapon was raised as to flash the blade to the soon-to-be victim. "No souls except the dead ones, that is." The shimmering metal rose higher in to the air as I felt my legs turn to gelatin.

Just seconds before he could attack, I heard heavy boots smashing against the floor. My hands reached above my head and grabbed pale knuckles, halting the blade's progress. My eyes didn't leave the scarlet 'R' on my mentor's suit, the symbol that suddenly seemed to be made of blood. I could feel his breath slam against my forehead, teasing a few strands of my hair. I couldn't even breathe as I stood there, right on the bridge between my past life and my future one. I wasn't about to let Hibiki be killed, whether or not I was a Rocket.

"Don't kill him," The lack of emotion might have startled me some other time, but right now, I couldn't feel much of anything to begin with. "Do whatever you want to him, just don't kill him." I found the courage to lift my eyes and I was immediately struck by his namesake orbs staring deep within my own. This wasn't the warmth I had once felt when I looked at Hibiki, that was far from this cold emotion. I knew that my mentor was examining me, searching for a motive. Only problem with that was that I actually couldn't think of a motive myself.

It seemed like centuries before my mentor took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes at me. "Fine then." Relief only appeared for a few seconds before it was swallowed in a sort of numb void. The knife in his hands lifted as he slipped out of my grasp. I watched with careful eyes as he slipped the unstained blade in his suit pocket and gave me a thoughtful glance. "I will spare his life." I couldn't even find enough energy to smile at this turn of events. I was still trying to find the feeling in my legs and loose the prickling ants in my arms. "I will admit that hiding spilled blood is much harder than hiding a living person."

I turned my attention to the floor and found a bitter feeling written all over Hibiki's face. I could tell immediately that this look was of hatred, a boiling hate that had fed off of frustration, confusion and worst of all, betrayal. This screwed up nose, amber slits and tight grimace was not aimed at my mentor, but at me. I had crossed the line for the last time. I had been given a last chance to leave Team Rocket and return to the outside.

I turned it down.

"Well," I slowly looked to my left and found my mentor glaring down at the Champion still cloaked in a Team Rocket uniform. "I guess all of that money spent on the prisons wasn't wasted after all." He lifted his eyes up to me before nodding his head. "I'm certain that you would prefer that he would stay in our care instead of being disposed of, am I correct?" I nodded numbly as the ringing took over my mind. I could only hear three things, the pounding of my heart, my own breathing and a harsh ringing. Everything else was swallowed whole by the deafening roar.

I could tell by the way my mentor's mouth moved that he was still talking. Remembering those crucial moments in the Combat Room, I focused on the way his mouth moved. Held until further notice. Kept here in the headquarters. My mentor roughly pulled Hibiki Gold to his feet and grabbed his wrists with one hand and keeping his neck in the crook of his elbow with his other arm. Be well cared for. Food, water, clothing. All of the basics will be given. No Pokémon will remain in his care. All of his Pokémon will be kept in my mentor's care. I just watched on as the boy with black hair screamed out in my general direction, his eyes wet with some remaining traces of desperation.

I just ignored him.

Author's Note: HNNNNGHHHH THIS TOOK TOO LONG! I am so, so, so, so, so, so sorry that I basically took...what? Almost a month before updating this. I was doing lots of one-shots and other things instead while I was trying to map this chapter out to perfection, but I ended up putting this aside until now. I'm very sorry for the delay. I certainly hope that this much longer chapter will make up for the longer wait.

So, big events in this chapter. We see that Hibiki Gold has been very busy, and we also get a glimpse into how exactly Kotone Soul found her way to the Team Rocket Headquarters to begin with. Things certainly went sour after Hibiki left for his journey. As you may or may not know from the hints throughout this chapter and "Battling Prodigy?", Hibiki is three years Kotone's senior. It seems like a big difference when it's put down like this, huh?

Yikes! Silver was only seconds away from doing away with the Champion! That's pretty dang scary if you ask me. My question is how in the world did Silver get a knife?! Does he walk around with that thing or something?! Well, the good news is that Hibiki Gold will not be killed, only kept in the dark bowels of Team Rocket's headquarters. Well, that's much better than the alternative, right?