Chapter Fifty-Four: Betrayed
Katsu and Mark stood there on the beach for a few silent moments, doing nothing but looking at the spot where enemy and friend had vanished. The day was warm and windy, and every now and then a bit of the spray from the waves would hit the two companions' skin, mingling with the sweat that was already present; but despite this potential distraction, neither was capable of reacting to it at this moment. To anyone watching, it would have appeared as if all thought had disappeared from the minds of these two humans just as certainly as Eve and Brian had vanished physically.
In truth, however, both minds were working furiously, each in its own way. Katsu and Brian had gotten along well ever since they'd first met, and they had become good friends ever since Brian's faked defection to the Old Johto's side. Now, with the truth of Brian's intentions revealed, Katsu was having a difficult time just believing what had just happened. Of course, he didn't deny it. He couldn't. He had seen Eve's kidnapping happen right before his eyes. But he still didn't want to think of Brian as a bad person, and so part of his mind weakly reasoned that perhaps Brian had been lying, or that he'd been forced into doing this.
Mark, meanwhile, was still having no problem comprehending the truth. At the moment, he was paralyzed not by denial of Brian's motives but rather by the anger that seemed to surge through every fiber of his being. Even Tim, who normally kept a level head even in the worst of circumstances, was having trouble controlling the waves of emotion that were sweeping through him.
Finally, after maybe a minute had passed, Mark managed to conquer his wrath and come to his senses. He turned to Katsu and said, "You need to go find Hope. Make sure she can't try anything, or get away with Eve's pokémon – you saw, didn't you? Hannah had Eve's pouch with her. There's a chance Hope might not be involved. Brian left her behind, after all. Then again, if it was Team Rocket's plan all along to have Eve get all the fragments, then Hope essentially telling me how to save Eve during the war is worthy of suspicion. While you look for Hope, Tim and I are going to find and follow Brian from a distance, so that we can save Eve once we let them cure her."
Katsu snapped out of his own stunned daze. "Mark, you can't!" he shouted out at once. "You don't know exactly where Brian is – if you accidentally teleport where Brian or any of his pokémon can see you, then he may very well let Eve die! You didn't seem to think Brian was bluffing earlier, and neither did I. Eve is more valuable to them captured than dead, but also more valuable dead than alive and free. What would you do if you were the reason Eve died?"
Mark scowled, his anger not wanting to hear Katsu's argument. "But my awareness has a much wider range than Brian's. The chances of me appearing where he could see me are slim, and-"
"Do we even know what other pokémon he might have with him? Did you think about that?" Katsu asked, his voice somewhat calmer this time as he began to resign himself to the truth of what had happened, and that there was little they could do about it. "We know he has a gardevoir with him, and that pokémon could probably sense you from a distance. Moreover, he suspects that you'll chase him. He's obviously prepared for it. Maybe Team Rocket has even set a trap for you, Mark – Arceus only knows how much they'd love to get a hold of Tim's teleporting abilities."
"So what do you want us to do? Sit here?" Mark retorted, his voice suddenly quiet but deadly.
Katsu shook his head, then started running off in the direction Hope and Hannah had gone. "Let's do what you suggested first – whether or not Hope has been planning this with Brian, she might know where they've gone!"
Mark clenched his fists, wishing that there was something more they could do but knowing that Katsu was suggesting the best plan of action. Without waiting to spare any further words, he and Tim teleported just ahead of Katsu, forcing the teen to come to a stop. "You wait here for me," Mark said. "I'll be able to find them more quickly than you can, and then we can meet back up here to interrogate Hope and figure out our next step." Then Mark disappeared again. After a few moments of hesitation, Katsu returned to the beach, knowing that Mark and Tim would find Hope much more easily than he could manage on foot.
Within five minutes, Mark reappeared with both Hannah and Hope. Tim used his psychic attack to grab all of Hope's pokéballs from her belt and toss them to the sand, well out of her reach. The violet-flowered meganium had, in the meantime, essentially collapsed to the ground. The energy that had been given to her had left her all at once, leaving her as little more than a heap of sorrow and regret.
"Now, Hope, tell us," Mark said, his voice threatening, "Did you know that Brian was going to abduct Eve?"
Her face as empty of expression as always, Hope shook her head. "No."
"Did you know that he was capable of it?" Katsu asked.
"Yes."
Both Mark and Katsu clenched their fists in response to this. "You knew that, and you didn't tell us?" Katsu accused. "Did you want him to get a hold of Eve?"
"No."
"Then why didn't you tell us?" Mark said, his voice dangerously quiet, as if he himself was the silence that came just before the most vicious of storms. "Why did you ever even try to save her from Team Rocket during the Johto civil war? Did they order you to save her, so that she could eventually continue collecting fragments?"
Hope met the blazing anger in Mark's eyes with the uncaring coldness of her own gaze. "I've told you before. They didn't order me. I don't know why I did that."
"So why did you ever agree to travel with Eve again after all that?" Katsu said, taking his turn in the questioning once again. "Are you saying that you just had nothing better to do? That you don't care at all what happens to Eve?"
Face still blank, but with a new sadness in her eyes, she said, "I don't know."
Mark took a step closer to Hope, so that the two of them were mere inches away from each other. Yet again, Mark asked, "Why didn't you warn us about Brian?"
Hope didn't respond.
Mark's wrath got the better of him; he shifted his weight and sent his fist flying into the side of Hope's face. The girl tumbled to the ground, but not a sound escaped her lips. Again, but louder this time, Mark asked, "Why didn't you tell us!"
"During the Johto war, I saved her without having any motive for doing so," Hope said. "If she could make me do that, then I thought it wasn't unlikely that Brian had changed, too. I thought maybe he really had decided to place his friendship with Eve above his political ideals. I guess I was wrong."
The answer was so surprising coming from someone so emotionless that for a moment, Mark and Katsu didn't know what to say or do. Then, slowly, Mark lowered himself to the ground and put his head in his hands. Part of him had wanted Hope to be at fault. He wanted a scapegoat for the anger and helplessness that were simultaneously coursing through him. Now that he saw that there was no scapegoat, he felt even more useless than ever.
Katsu, on the other hand, knew that there was more that they could do. "Hope, do you have any idea where they might have taken Eve? Even if all you can do is list off locations of old Team Rocket bases-"
"It won't help," Hope said. "Even during their most secure years, Team Rocket moved all but their most major bases of operation nearly every other month. All the major bases are known now, since the defeat of the bulk of Team Rocket; and what's left of Team Rocket will have gone to places that none of the captured Rockets know about. No matter where they are now, I can guarantee that I've never been there."
Katsu turned around suddenly and took a couple steps away from the group, too frustrated by Hope's response to stay in one place. "Mark, get up off the ground and help me think! There has to be something we can do – now's not the time to break down!"
"I am thinking," Mark said quietly, his head still resting against the palms of his hands. "We personally know some of the most powerful trainers in the world – we can start there. Cynthia already knows the extent of what Eve was trying to do. She'll know how important it is for Eve's power not to remain in Team Rocket's hands. Jenna will help, if she has recovered since her initial hospitalization those few weeks ago. We'll need to explain things to Lance, too. I'm wary of getting him involved, but considering how much of a hand he had in Team Rocket's downfall, he must have since learned a lot about their movements, and the movements of those leaders who weren't captured. And through him and Cynthia, we might be able to convince gym leaders and champions of other regions to help us in our search."
"But if that happens, will Eve be better off in the end?" Katsu asked. "Right now, only us three, Jenna, Cynthia, Brian, and probably some of the higher ups in Team Rocket know what Eve's capable of. If we spread the reasons as to why it's so important to find her, then how likely is it that people will be content to just rescue her and let her go again? Even outside of Team Rocket's control, she'll be seen as a danger to society – and for good reason. You and I both know that she plans to bring change like the world hasn't seen since its beginnings. Most people won't like that."
"Does it matter if they like it or not?" Mark asked. "Even if they rescue her simply to imprison her again, I doubt it'll be any worse than what Team Rocket is doing to her now. And if Team Rocket can somehow gain access to her power for their own use, then change of a very bad kind will undoubtedly occur. I can hardly even imagine what they would do with Eve's power, should she ever get all the fragments. Speaking of which…" He lifted his head and looked over to Hope, who was still sitting on the sand. The left side of her face was already discolored and swelling badly; Mark had definitely let his anger get away from him. "Hope, we have to keep you safe. So long as you're alive, Team Rocket can't do anything with Eve's power, aside from the less important things they managed during the war. Hopefully, it'll keep Eve safer. They probably won't try to force her into doing what they ultimately intend until they know they can get results."
Hope nodded in response.
"You know, we can also ask Cynthia to look more into the legends surrounding Eve," Katsu said in a sudden stroke of inspiration. "Didn't Brian say at some point that Team Rocket was investigating the legends she got involved in? Maybe there's something more about what she has to do in all those unown-script translations from the Ruins of Alph. If we can find out anything Team Rocket might already know, then we might be able to predict what they will attempt."
Mark slowly pushed himself off the ground. "If Team Rocket has found something in the Ruins of Alph concerning Eve's role, then I'm sure Cynthia will be able to discover it, as well. She's an expert and investigating and interpreting legends. At the very least, it certainly can't hurt to check. Maybe we'll find out something about what happens if Eve ever does get all five fragments for herself. We know next to nothing about that."
Hope stood up as well, and said, "We might not know what happens next. But I think she does."
Katsu's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean? Has she told you something that she hasn't trusted us enough to tell us?"
"She didn't trust me with the information. If she does know anything more, she hasn't told anyone but herself and maybe her pokémon," Hope said. "But I do know that she's met Mew."
Katsu's jaw dropped while Mark asked in disbelief, "Mew? The mother of all pokémon? When could they have possibly met?"
"You met her, too," Hope said. "She was the ditto that was accompanying Eve for a while."
"That was Mew?" Katsu asked. "But why didn't Eve tell us?"
Mark shook his head, as if he was so exhausted that he didn't know what to think about all the new information that needed to be processed. "Thank Lugia she didn't tell any of us. Imagine the power Team Rocket would've had if Brian had learned of Mew's identity and captured her in addition to Eve. It can't be coincidence that Mew found Eve, or the other way around – whichever is the case. If the legends are true and Mew really has been around since the dawn of time – since just after even Arceus came into existence – then it's not unlikely she knows exactly what it is that Eve's supposed to be doing. And it's also not unlikely that she told Eve."
"Is there anything else you're not telling us, Hope?" Katsu asked. "Anything at all? Anything that could help us, or tell us what Team Rocket is planning?"
Hope shook her head. "No, there isn't. But I wish there was… I really do."
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When Eve awoke, she had no illusions about her situation. She immediately remembered everything that had happened to her. Perhaps 'remembered' wasn't even the right word for it. This second betrayal sat insider her soul as if it had literally become a part of her, as inseparable from who she was as was her heart or her hands. Even in her previous state of unconsciousness, she knew she had still been aware of its terrible reality weighing on her chest.
The room she found herself in was not unlike the room in which she had been held the last time she had been kidnapped. Its walls were concrete, and a door in one wall led to a small bathroom. The only other door in the room was closed; no doubt it was the way out. Eve didn't even bother getting up from where she sat in the corner to try to open it. She felt emotionally dead. She had put so much trust in Brian, who had done so much to help her during her last captivity-
But all that must have been a trick, too, Eve realized dimly. Team Rocket had him playing as my advocate to see if he could get my trust. And those injuries he supposedly got because he'd tried to bring food for me – I bet he willingly let himself sustain those injuries, to put the final nail in the coffin of my doubts about him. Maybe it had even been his idea.
Continuing to look around the room, she saw that unlike the room of her last forced stay with Team Rocket, there were no furnishings of any kind. A plate of food lay in front of her; she didn't bother touching it. She didn't feel like eating. Part of her didn't even feel like living.
She also noticed that the room was dimly lit by some blue, almost flickering light source. Though not feeling particularly interested in this abnormal lighting, she nonetheless found her eyes falling upon the large, flickering bluish flame that rose from a big white candle in the opposite corner of the room. Eve wondered if maybe she was still really asleep, because the candle itself almost seemed to be moving…
~Hi, there,~ the candle suddenly said as the blue flame flared up brighter, though even the surprise of a talking candle was not enough to rouse Eve from her depressed stupor. ~Who are you?~
Eve looked at the thick white candle carefully, and saw that it had inquisitive yellow eyes, as well as a mouth. She'd heard of this kind of pokémon before, though none lived in the Johto region. Litwick – they were ghost and fire types, if she remembered correctly. And she knew there was some sort of ominous lore about them, too, though at the moment she couldn't remember what. Regardless, Eve simply continued to stare blankly at the Pokémon.
The candle pokémon looked troubled when Eve didn't answer. ~You won't talk to me? But you can understand me, can't you?~
Eve pulled her knees up to her chest and didn't respond, though she kept her eyes trained on the litwick.
~Oh, you probably aren't feeling well…~ The litwick said sadly, his flame dimming slightly. ~That's my fault, I'm afraid. My flame burns the life energy of things around me. If we were outside under normal conditions, it wouldn't really do anything unless I was really trying… You see, I'd have other live things around me to draw from, like the plants. And even that wouldn't do much, since the sun would help dilute my light, which is what pulls out the life energy. But in here… Well, there is no other light and nothing else alive, and so I can't help it. And my humans have me do this so often, with so many different other humans, that it makes me sad… I mean, burning the energy feels good, but I don't mean to make people feel so bad in the process. I was so excited when I saw that you'd be able to understand me – quite a few of the people I get locked in with will talk to me, but none of them really think I can understand, and they don't know what I say, either. I don't get to talk to anyone much anymore. Not even other pokémon.~
Somewhere deep inside, Eve felt sorry for the poor pokémon. But she didn't have the energy to respond, to give him some comfort or to get comfort of her own through conversation.
~Would you eat something? Please?~ The litwick said, seeing that Eve wasn't responding. ~You've already been in here with me for hours. It's taken a lot out of you. Eating can temporarily fight off some of the effects of my fire.~
Eve reached out and grabbed the apple on the plate in front of her. She took a bite, chewed it slowly, swallowed, then put the apple back down. Though the apple itself looked like it should be a good apple, it tasted like cardboard in her mouth. In fact, all sensation seemed dim, almost as if she was in a dream; just like the apple didn't quite have taste, the blue fire in front of her didn't seem all that colorful, and the cold, hard concrete that she sat on didn't seem all that cold, or hard. Her senses were numb. She couldn't tell if this was from the effects of the litwick's flame, or due to the thoughts of betrayal and captivity that seemed to smother her.
Still, the litwick was right about the food counteracting some of his flame's effects. Though she still had no appetite for the cardboard-tasting apple or any of the equally unappetizing food on the plate, she did have more energy than before. She found herself standing up and walking over to the door that had to be the exit of the room. She reached out to grab the handle, but instinctually jerked back as she felt currents of electricity arc up her arms. Though the sensation of pain felt numbed as well, it still was enough to make Eve sit back down in the corner, unwilling to try the door again. Only now did she notice thick, bangle-like metal bracelets strapped securely around her wrists. Perhaps they only activated when she neared the door. Or maybe there was a camera in one of the dark upper corners of the room, so that someone could monitor her and reprimand her if she misbehaved. She was inclined to think the lattermost of these two possibilities was the case; and, in fact, as she looked more closely at the ceiling, she imagined that she did see something in one of the corners of the room.
~There's a human device up there, if that's what you're looking for,~ the litwick said; being a ghost-type, his eyes would be much better than Eve's in the dim lighting. ~Are you sure you won't eat more? At this rate, you'll fade quickly. Of course, my trainer never lets anyone die due to my light, but still… I don't imagine that it's pleasant to just let your life energy get sucked out of you.~
Eve continued to sit in the corner despite the litwick's pleading, absentmindedly rubbing her slightly burned wrists. And she sat there for an hour, then two. She got up to use the restroom, then sat back down for several more hours – it was hard to tell exactly how long, since she had no frame of reference, and she also didn't care. Eventually, she tried a bite of bread; even aside from her dull senses, it was stale and bland. She put it back down, then went back to being motionless.
The litwick watched with concern the entire time. He didn't try to convince her to eat again. He'd seen this happen with other humans before. Until he was taken away from her and she was given time to recover, she was too far gone to try to help herself. So the hours continued to pass.
Eventually, the door opened. Eve looked up without really thinking about it, without really feeling any curiosity or fear. She had no expectations for who would come through the door, so she was unsurprised when a yellow, bipedal pokémon with a strange long nose and white mane came in. In one hand, it held some sort of metal disc on a string. In the back of her mind, Eve recognized the pokémon as a hypno.
As the door closed and the hypno solemnly walked in front of her, what little interest Eve had in the newcomer slipped away, and she went back to looking at the floor. Almost immediately, she felt a shock travel painfully up her arms and through the rest of her body; she instinctually snapped her head back up to face the hypno, and the flow of electricity was cut off. Wishing to avoid the pain, she kept her head up and watched the hypno even as he lifted his hand and began to swing the metal disc back and forth. And though her eyes remained open as she watched the disc sway back and forth, she was asleep within seconds.
Then, the nightmare began.
At first, she found herself in complete darkness. There was no sound, no light, no hope. Panic set in, as it always does in nightmares, even though there was nothing yet present that could scare her.
A voice rang out through the dream. You're in darkness, aren't you? It said. Eve could tell it wasn't a pokémon speaking. It seemed a bit like telepathy, or like a person talking, but the voice came from everywhere at once, and she couldn't see who the voice belonged to. But look around you. Look closely. There are monsters around you, just waiting to tear you apart. Look at them – pokémon ready to devour you and everything you hold dear.
Eve looked around and felt her throat closing in fear. Red eyes of all shapes gleamed in the darkness around her, and Eve could just barely see the silhouettes of droves of bloodthirsty pokémon. Houndoom crowded near her, their breath hot against her skin; beedrill and fearow hovered in the air, their pointed beaks and stingers poised to drive into her soft flesh. She felt pain in her leg as claws raked down its length, and she instinctually tried to kick off the meowth she now saw. But the cat pokémon continued to hold on, digging his claws ever deeper into her leg and sending waves of pain flowing through her. She tripped and fell to the ground, screaming. It was as if every single pokémon she had ever had reason to fear was closing in on her.
Now she found herself running as the pokémon chased her. Every few steps, a strong muzzle would take a chunk of skin out of her leg, or the poisoned tips of a beedrill's stings would plunge into her back, right into the spot in her shoulder where Brian had stabbed her.
Look at them, Eve, the voice said. Feel them getting closer and closer. They're vicious beasts. They can't control themselves. They'll kill you, and everyone else they get their hands on. Only humans can control them. Isn't that right?
Eve screamed yet again as she tripped and found herself literally pinned to the ground, back-down, with fearow beaks stabbing her through her hands and feet. The pain was so real that she ought to have passed out. But she didn't, and instead had to watch as the bloody maw of a houndoom loomed ever nearer. She wanted to close her eyes until it was over, but somehow, she couldn't look away from the monstrosity.
We can save you from them, with your help. You must use your power for us – you understand that, right? We must make it so that humans will always be able to put these beasts in their places. We can help.
The pain in her hands and feet was suddenly gone, and she felt the crowd of pokémon being pushed back. Humans were fighting them, forcing the cruel, bloodthirsty pokémon into submission. The houndoom backed up with their tails between their legs; meowth slunk away; fearow and beedrill flew away as fast as their wings could carry them.
We humans will protect you. Just trust us. Trust Team Rocket. We'll keep you safe. Now go to sleep, and escape from the fear.
The dream Eve closed her eyes just as the real Eve opened her own. She was once again in the cold, small room, lit only by the flame of the kind litwick.
Fear suddenly engulfed her yet again as her half-awake mind realized that the candle was a pokémon. He's evil! Eve thought to herself briefly as she backed even farther into her corner, realizing that she was drenched in sweat. He'll suck away my energy – he'll kill me like the rest of them! All of the pokémon will!
~What's wrong?~ the litwick asked, seeing Eve's fear. ~It's just me. We met before, remember? You've been having nightmares, since even before I was brought in here. I think the hypno must have done it, though I'm always taken out of the room as soon as he puts people to sleep.~
Eve quickly calmed herself as reason overtook the fear that lingered from the dream. To be truthful, she found it hard to stay worked up, even when considering the fear the nightmare had conjured. With the light of the litwick shining on her once again, she found herself growing numb. But she was more awake than she had been last time she'd met the litwick, and more capable of conscious thought.
If this continues – litwick by day, and nightmares by night – I think I'm going to be in trouble. Even from just one day of it, I feel exhausted. And what was with that nightmare, anyway? It was so different from what I've dreamed the past few months… Was it the hypno's idea? Or did Team Rocket figure out a way to influence what was shown in the dream? And what do they hope to accomplish, other than making me exhausted?
She had no answers to her own questions; the questions themselves were all she could manage in her current state. However, she knew she didn't like things one bit. She knew enough about Team Rocket to guess that they were planning something that went beyond making her tired. And she still remembered what Brian had said, that they would try to use the fragments for their own ends.
I can't let that happen. But… I can only think of one way out of this. And I don't like it. But I don't think I have much of a choice. Suicune… I only hope she can save me without getting herself captured… I'd never forgive myself if they got their hands on her.
Eve sighed. There really was no other way. Even if she'd had her own pokémon with her, she doubted she'd even be able to plan an escape. Her mind just wasn't working right. She barely had the energy to think.
So she pulled her legs against her chest and let her forehead rest against her knees, so that there was no possible way for the camera in one of the upper corners of the room to see her. Then, in little more than a whisper, a plea escaped her lips.
"Suicune… If you can hear me, try to save me."
Then, exhausted yet wide awake, she returned to staring blankly off into the distance as her life energy began to burn away in the litwick's eerie light.
EDIT: You know what I hate? The fact that I can never, never seem to get names right. This chapter, I seemed to have issues with Mark. One moment, I'd have it right... Then the next sentence, his name magically became Brian. You have no idea how stupid it makes me feel. So, sorry to all of you who had to live with that before I double-edited. If I missed any instances, please let me know! /End edit.
Have you ever read the pokédex descriptions for litwick and its evolutions? They're horrifying. I suppose that's true with many ghost-type pokémon, but regardless...
Also, I forgot to put this in my author's note for the last chapter, so I just wanted to give another big thank you to the real life friend (I believe he reviewed once calling himself TubaHero), who helped me come up with Brian's character! He ended up being a marvelous political opposite for Mark and Eve, and now that he's shown his true colors, I'm glad that he ended up being in the story (even though it stinks for Eve). The alternative was a much less exciting, more goody-goody canon character taking Brian's place as the person needed to summon Jirachi. Which, of course, would have been annoying for all of us. So thanks, TubaHero! Couldn't've thought of Brian (and, therefore, much of the plot) without your help!
And, as always, thanks to all of you for reading!
