This is a bit of a Team Rocket chapter. Just thought I'd do a few background stories for some of the important members of Team Rocket. Anyway, Enjoy it! By the way, Flashbacks are in italics.

Chapter 36

Too Human

The Journey was almost over! Jason had now collected the required number of badges to enter the World Tournament. He would soon get to compete with some of the best trainers in the world and put his skills to the ultimate test.

"Well someone sure is happy." Kelly's words broke Jason's train of thought.

"Huh?" Jason looked over at the girl he had his arm around.

Kelly's head was lying on his shoulder as the group was heading towards the Indigo Plateau.

"I haven't seen you this happy in a while." Akira said.

"Things are going perfect." Jason said.

He hadn't told anyone about what had transpired at the Viridian Gym, about what John had told him. When asked about it he just said that the battle went smoothly.

"Good. You're gonna need momentum going into the World Tournament." Brain said. "All of us will."

"How many of you are competing?" Maria asked. "Is it just you two?" She pointed to Jason and Kelly.

"I'm competing too." Brian said.

"Oh. So it's just you three?"

"And me." Akira said.

The whole group turned and looked at her.

"You're going to compete?" Jason said. "But you don't have any badges."

"No, but I do have this." Akira reached into her bag and pulled out a big, red, gemstone like badge that had a small gold piece with a capital P imbedded in it. "This is the badge I got for passing the Pokémon League Admissions Exam. I can enter the World Tournament with it."

"So you'll be competing too." Jason said.

Akira nodded.

"Me going on a journey was so I could gain experience." She said.

"That's all good and nice, but we have one more test in front of us." Brain said. "It's our final test."

They group looked off at the tall building in the distance. That was the gate to the Victory Road, the last test of their skills.

…

"The Indigo Stadium….Many dreams have been fulfilled here, just as many have come crashing down. Hundreds of great battles have been lost and won here…." Edward said as he looked down at the Indigo Stadium through one way glass "…Including one of your greatest battles."

Edward turned away from the windows and looked at Boss, who was sitting down at the head of a huge oval shaped table. Boss was frowning. Boss wasn't dressed in his usual Team Rocket getup; instead he was dressed in a nice suit.

"This is where I won the Kanto Championship." Boss said.

"I wasn't talking about that." Edward replied. "Seven years ago, this is where you established yourself as the most powerful Champion in the world and in a few short weeks you will do it again."

"Is this whole World Championship Tournament really nessacary? Why can't we just launch our major offensive now?"

"Boss you have much to learn. You're too impatient. Patience is key. Since you are World Champion, you will battle the victor of this tournament. At that time, Team Rocket will announce its official return. You will defeat the winner of the World Tournament and then after the battle they will be killed to set an example to the world."

"Will that work?"

"Don't worry. It will."

The door to the room opened and in walked Cherie, Dyre, and Anya. Cherie was dressed in her usual Team Rocket uniform and Dyre was wearing his black trench coal like robe with the hood down. Anya was dressed in a beautiful, sparkling blue dress. Boss smiled as Anya walked over to him. Team Rocket's new base of operations was the Indigo Plateau. They had everything they needed there, including private rooms.

"You are looking extravagant." Boss said to her.

"And you are looking handsome like always." She replied and they kissed.

"Sir. Everything is going according to plan." Cherie said to Edward. "Everyone is getting into position."

"Good job you two." Edward said to Dyre and Cherie. "Everything is going smoothly."

Anya had taken a seat next to Boss.

"Dyre. I need your report." Boss said.

"Of course." Dyre said. "After the full retreat out of Neoterra and the destruction of our base at the Seafoam Island, we didn't have the necessary resources to aid our occupying forces. We've been pushed out of Hoenn and Sinnoh and small uprising are starting to occur all over the Unova Region."

"What about the super weapon sent to Hoenn?"

"It was destroyed. Resources are running low, every last bit of money we have is going to the World Tournament operation."

Boss glanced over at Edward.

"Are you sure this is going to work? Everything seems to be falling apart." He said.

"Thomas, don't worry." Edward said. "This will work out."

Boss seemed to think about it for a second, and then shook his head.

"No. Edward, you are a good friend, but lately things have not been working out. We do this my way." Boss replied.

Edward was shocked, but he hid it well.

"Dyre, Cherie." Boss said. "I'm ordering a shut down on the World Tournament. I want all remaining forces sent to Unova to calm the uprisings."

Both Dyre and Cherie were a bit confused. Boss may have been their leader, but they only took their orders from Edward. They glanced over at Edward.

"What are you two still doing here? I gave you an order." Boss stood up.

Edward stood up.

"We've already put too much effort into this operation." Edward replied. "You need to belay that order."

"Who are you to give orders!" Boss shouted. "Last time I checked I was the leader of this team, not you!"

"Well you wouldn't be leader if it wasn't for me." Edward said. "Who gave you the training and the resources?"

"Executive Dyre, Executive Cherie, I'm ordering you two to take Mister Teache and escort him out of the stadium." Boss said.

Dyre and Cherie stood next to Edward. They both stood, defiantly and with Pokeballs drawn. Boss was glaring at the three of them. Anya stood behind Boss, a little afraid to get involved.

"Do you three really want to go down this path?" Boss asked.

Edward smirked. He reached into his pocket where a small remote like device was hidden. He pushed a button. Anya quickly moved in front of Boss.

"Thomas! Please don't do this!" She pleaded with him, her face full of worry. "You're just really tired and stressed out!"

Boss looked at her and seemed to calm down.

"Please. Can we just go?" Anya said. "We're already late for the interview."

Boss sighed. He'd forgotten about the interview.

"Yes you need to do that interview. It's very important." Edward said.

"Fine." Boss said in an angry tone to Edward. He then looked at Anya. "Let's go." He said with a smiled.

She smiled back at him and wrapped her arms around his and they were off.

"He's starting to become more trouble than he's worth." Edward said, once Boss and Anya left the room.

"You want us to take care of him?" Dyre asked.

"No need." Edward said. "I will deal with him when the time comes."

…

The group had been going through Victory Road pretty quickly and nothing eventful had really happened, except that Brian had been catching Pokémon like crazy. The others, however, weren't having much luck.

"Yeah! Five new Pokémon!" Brain cheered.

"Lucky!" Jason said. "I haven't caught a single one."

"Don't worry there are so many Pokémon here, you're bound to at least catch one." Maria reassured to others.

"Guys!" Akira said. "There's something you got to see."

Akira had out her portable TV. Everyone crowded around her as she turned it on. On the screen there was a man sitting down behind a huge oak desk.

"Hello." The man said, looking at the camera. "And welcome to this special segment of Spotlight On Indigo. We have a very special guest tonight. He actually requested this interview. Please welcome my guest, World Champion, Thomas Walter."

Applause could be hear as the camera zoomed out a bit and showed a man, in his early thirties, wearing a nice black suit and a woman, in her late twenties, wearing a beautiful blue dress. They were sitting on an expensive looking couch and holding hands.

"Welcome." The host said as the applause died down. "Both of you welcome."

"Thank you. It's great to be here." Thomas, the World Champion, said.

"Now….Mr. Walter. Your personal advisor, Edward Teache, actually requested that I have you on my show. You want to tell me why that is?"

"Well, as I'm sure you know, The World Tournament is set to start in a few more days."

"Yes, I'm fully aware of that. Who wouldn't be aware of that? You are set to defend your championship against the winner of that tournament."

"I'm here to hype up the tournament, to explain all the rules ahead of time so that all the trainers can have extra time to prepare…"

"He's just going over the rules." Jason talked over the speakers. "Is there really any need to listen?"

"Jason right. All the rules I need to know are to make the other trainer's Pokémon faint." Brian said.

"So you guys really don't want to hear the rules?" Maria said.

"I really don't see a point…" Jason said.

"Guys! Hush!" Akira said. "This is what I wanted you to see."

Everyone looked back at the screen.

"Well, now let's talk about you." The host said. "You are the first ever World Champion, many consider you the first true Pokémon Master. You've had an incredible career. Eight full years of being World Champion. You've had some great battles and even greater victories."

A huge flat screen TV slid out of the wall behind them.

"Several young trainers have issued challenges to you and you have answered them all, remaining undefeated."

The screen flashed on, showing video footage of Thomas' pervious battles. Different trainers and different Pokémon were shown being defeated by Thomas and his Pokémon.

"All your battles were impressive, but your best showing was this."

The host pulled out a remote, aimed it at the TV and the video footage changed. It was video footage of Indigo Stadium. The crowd was cheering. A young boy stood on one side of the battlefield what a Pichu by his side. The crowd's cheering grew louder as Thomas had made his way to the battlefield.

"Hey. I think that's Nick." Jason said talking over the TV. "This must have been years ago."

"Nicholas Gray of New Bark Town issued you an open challenge." The host said. "You invited him to the Indigo Stadium to have your battle and this is what happened."

They watched on as one by one, Nick's whole team was knocked out by Thomas' Charizard. Jason would be lying if he said apart of him wasn't scared after seeing that battle. If the World Champion had been this strong years ago, then he must have only gotten stronger.

"You wiped out his whole team with just one Pokémon." The host said.

"Yes. Nick wasn't a horrible trainer…" Thomas said. "I was just too good."

There was laughter among the audience.

"But seriously, this was years ago. I'm sure Nicholas Gray is a great trainer and maybe even a great Champion."

"Would you even consider rebattling him?" The host asked.

"Yes definitely. I would love to see how he has improved."

"I would love to see another shut out like that one." The host said. "Now let's go back to where it all started."

The video footage changed again. The new footage looked old. It showed a younger looking Thomas battling a woman. Jason gasped when he saw the woman.

"That's my mom." Jason said.

The others looked at him in surprise then looked back at the TV.

"Your battle against Rose Malone for the Kanto Championship…" The host said. "The hardest fought battle of your career, the battle was back and forth. Rose, however, seemed to be just a bit better."

The video footage showed the battle between Jason's mother and Thomas. The whole time, Jason's mom seemed distracted, as if she was worrying about something.

"As the match continued, Rose made more and more mistakes. Eventually you achieved victory. Losing must have been too much for Rose, because after the match she took off running out of the stadium. Guess you had been too much for her."

The video footage showed Jason's mom calling back her last Pokémon and then turning and running out of the stadium. Jason suddenly turned off the portable TV. The others looked at him in surprised.

"I remember that day. I remember that battle." Jason said. "I was very sick. That's why my mother was distracted. It was because of me. It was my fault she lost."

…

Dyre stood against one of the railings in the stands of the empty Indigo Stadium. He was wearing his Team Rocket cloak with the hood up and looking down at the battlefield.

"So this is where you went off to." A voice said from behind him.

Dyre paid the voice no attention. Footsteps could be heard walking up next to him.

"What do you want Cherie?" Dyre asked once the footsteps stopped.

"Nothing." Cherie giggled. "Just wanted to see what you were up to."

Dyre sighed.

"Something bothering you?" She asked. "You want to talk about it?"

"Yeah, but I can't talk to you about it. I would need to tell you my whole life's story first." He replied.

"Well…You know my story. Isn't it only fair that I know yours?"

"…..I guess you're right."

"Start from the beginning."

Dyre sighed.

"Well, I was born into a rich family." He said. "And my parents wanted to perfect son. I tried my hardest to give it to them, but…I wanted to do the one thing my father hated. I wanted to be a Pokémon trainer and my dad despised battling. He didn't even have a Pokémon of his own. The time came for me to leave on my journey. I don't remember much about that day, just having a big fight with my dad."

"Parents can be a pain." Cherie said.

"Tell me about it….Anyway, was actually a really good battler. I battle my way through Kanto and collected all the badges. I participated in the Indigo League and actually won. Then got my match against the Kanto Champion."

"Did you win?" Cherie interrupted.

"Yes I did." Dyre said. "I beat the current Champion and then became the Champion myself." Dyre then frowned. "I was only champion for a day. I was defeated the next day. That was the worst day of my life. My dreams had been taken away from me. I was forced to go back home and face my father."

"How'd it go?"

"Surprisingly, he was happy to see me. He said that I was back where I belonged. I gave up battling after that to pursue other careers. But a few years after that, Edward came into contact with me. He told me that he needed my skill in this organization he was forming. He told me, I'd get to avenge myself. I agreed to join him."

"What did your parents do?"

"Nothing. I left in the middle of the night…..I still remember that night…." Dyre paused, thinking of that night.

…

Dyre packed all of his things into a pack. When he was done packing, he went over to the window in his second floor room and opened it up. He climbed out the window and slowly and carefully climbed down. He hit the ground without a noise. He quickly and quietly started to walk away from the house

"James?" He heard a soft voice say.

Dyre turned around and saw his younger sister standing there with her Pichu on her shoulder. She yawned a bit and looked at him.

"Hey. What are you doing up?" He went over to her.

"I saw you leaving." She said. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going away for a bit."

"Will you be back?"

"Eventually. You need to go back to sleep."

"But I don't want to go to sleep." His sister yawned. "I want to go with you."

Dyre smiled.

"I have to go alone. You are tired so you need to go to sleep."

"Are you leaving, because of daddy?"

"No." He shook his head. "I'm leaving because I have to you…..I have a gift for you."

"What is it?" His sister smiled.

Dyre reached into his pack and pulled out a custom Pokeball. It looked the same as a normal Pokémon ball, but the red was replaced by a custom fire paint job. His sister gasped, happily as Dyre handed her the Pokeball.

"Oh! Thank you! Thank you!" his sister hugged him tightly.

"You're welcome." Dyre smiled.

They pulled out of the hug.

"I have to go." Dyre said. "Kelly, stay out of trouble and stay safe. I'll see soon. Bye little sis, I love ya."

Dyre turned to walk away.

"Bye big bro! Come back safely."

…

"Dyre. Dyre!" Cherie's voice broke Dyre out of his daydream. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Dyre nodded. "Did we get our orders from Edward yet?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "He wanted to meet us in the mission room."

"Let's go then."

The two of them started to walk off.

…

The interview had been two hours ago and it was now nighttime. Anya was getting ready to see Boss again tonight. She was changing out of the dress and into something more suited to what Boss had planned tonight. She was rummaging through her stuff and happened upon an old Nurse's hat. She ran a hand over the worn material of the hat, and then set it back down. A memory of a past life. She didn't remember much, just that she had a life before Team Rocket, but she didn't really enjoy it. She really didn't care about Team Rocket either. She had Boss and she loved him, she would do anything for him. He loved her back and that's all she needed.

…

Boss laid his head against the one way window as he looked down at the vacant Indigo Stadium. He sighed as he did. The interview had made him relive many moments from his past, some of which he wasn't proud of. The betrayal and defeat of his sister, Rose Malone, after she had done everything for him. Saved him from their abusive parents gave him a home and food, even caught him his first Pokémon, a Charmander. He had done so many horrible things as the leader of Team Rocket. He had taken so many lives and ruined so many more and regretted none of it, except for what he did to his sister. He still remembered his first encounter with Edward.

…

Seventeen year old Thomas Walter came running out of the Pewter Gym, carrying his injured Charmander.

"Hold on Charmander." Thomas said. "I'll get you to the Pokémon Center as fast as I can."

As Thomas turned a corner, he almost bumped into a man. The man was wearing a business suit.

"Sorry sir." Thomas said as he tried to run around him.

"You know I can help you." The man said.

Thomas stopped in his tracks and turned around and looked back at the man.

"Help me with what?" Thomas replied.

"I see you coming out of this Gym everyday with your Charmander injured." The man said. "Aren't you tired of losing, don't you want to be as strong as your sister?"

Thomas was surprised. How did this man know who his sister was? Who was this man? Instead of asking those questions he said. "And you can help me with that?"

"Yes." The man nodded. "I can help make you and your Pokémon stronger."

"What's the catch?" Thomas asked.

"Well I just need you to join a little group I have going."

With the promise of getting stronger, Thomas more than agreed.

…

Thomas sighed again. He had been the one that had gotten Jason sick with an experimental virus. It made him extremely sick to the point of almost death, but then it went away. Edward had ordered him to give it to his nephew. He had done it. He had inflicted pain to his own family. Those were to only things that he regretted. Boss felt a warm body press up against his back, arms wrapped around his chest, and a head come to rest on his shoulder.

"You can't worry about the past." Anya said. "You can't let it affect you."

Anya started to kiss his neck. He raised up his head to let her.

"You don't know what I've done." He replied.

"I don't, but I know I love you." She stopped for a second, and then went back to kissing his neck.

Boss turned around, facing Anya and he kissed her back.

"I love you too." Boss replied.

He put his arms around her and they both fell back onto the bed.

Yeah, so there was quite a few surprises in that chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it!