Hello everyone,
It's the worst when I have a chapter with a twist, and then I'm forced to miss the next week to follow up with another chapter that could build on that last one. It takes me a little bit longer to get back in that mindset than normal. And I know that a two week gap for y'all is much worse than a one week wait.
Anyway, that's just me rambling about life getting busy I guess. On to the chapter.
Follow me on instagram at wtmcdonaldauthor!
Reminder of pokemon and names:
Hashirama aka Hashi - Hariyama.
Minato - Hypno.
Madara - Arcanine.
Shika - Absol.
Asuma - Ursaring.
Tobirama aka Tobi - Gyarados.
Sakura - Drakloak.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
It was an odd feeling, to have your emotions running so high, and also be so numb to everything around you.
I was in a state that I never thought I would be in. I was in complete control, but it felt like I was acting on emotions and whim more than anything. That was exactly what went through my mind as I stood in front of Sarah's house. I had already gotten in the gate, I had access to that a long time ago.
Every time I moved, I could feel the dried blood on my face crack. And yet, all I could think about was Sarah, and if she was involved with Team Rocket.
She knew Giovanni personally. She had people on staff at the speakeasy, which was literally just a Team Rocket hideout, willing to tell her when I showed up. She was a ridiculously strong trainer that I really hadn't ever heard of until we crossed paths.
Now that I thought about it, I met her the same day we had found Jess. Team Rocket obviously had tabs on Troy. Is that why she knew what the League would do to me that day? Did she know that Troy had orders from the League to ...do that to Jess?
How deep was I?
Could I even crawl out of the hole I was in?
"Don't worry, Brawly. We'll clean up the mess. They will pronounce him missing in a few days. They will, no doubt, ask you to investigate it. Stall for a bit, would you. We'll be in contact when we need your services."
The parting of Troy's neck flashed in my mind, as I recalled Gerald's word. I hadn't expected him to follow me to Troy's training ground. But I was glad that he had. There were pokeballs on Troy's waist that I would have had to deal with. Pokemon that I had fought alongside.
What if it was all a lie?
My heart missed a beat, as panic shot through my system. It hadn't even been two hours since I was shown the video from Team Rocket. I had just acted, overwhelmed by ...shock, trauma, emotion, something. I didn't even bother to fact check the video.
My heart hammered in my chest.
There was a feeling in my gut. A feeling I didn't want to be correct.
There were so many ways to doctor a video in this world. Porygon, for one. Psychic pokemon, for two. Hell, there were even pokemon that could cast illusions. Zoroark was capable of casting illusions that humans couldn't see through without the help of other pokemon.
What if I had just killed an innocent man?
Fuck, what the fuck.
"Brawly!"
My eyes focused on what was in front of me. Sarah stood in front of me, drenched from the rain. When did it begin raining? How long had I been standing here?
She was so close to me, looking up at me with her brilliant, concerned, eyes. Arceus, she was perfect. Even when she fussed over me.
The rain had hopefully washed all the blood off of my face. I blinked, and I could still feel the stickiness on my cheeks and right underneath my eyes. But it was a phantom feeling. As if it wasn't really there. Just a memory.
"I'm in too deep." I couldn't help it, the words just slipped out. I wanted her to comfort me, as much as I needed to confront her about her association with Team Rocket.
"Yes you are, baby. Yes you are." Sarah said, nodding to my words.
I tried to keep my face passive as I backed away from her. The way she said the words, like she knew. She fucking knew. Why would she say it like that?
"So you are Team Rocket." I managed to force out of my throat. Why was I choking up? I was a fucking man, damn it.
"Yes I am."
I can't tell you how much those words cut into me. It is impossible to describe.
It felt like someone just shoved their hand into my chest, and had a hold on my heart. The saying 'you ripped my heart out' made so much more sense to me now. That's what it felt like.
"No no no no. I can feel it. The video was fake, wasn't it?!" I asked. I knew the answer. My gut never lied to me like this.
My back thudded against something behind me. I could feel the distinct grainy wood behind me. I slid down the tree until I was sitting on the ground.
"Yes."
Guilt, heartbreak. All of my emotions were amplified by the link with my team.
Hashi's was the worst. His guilt overwhelmed my own. I couldn't hardly think straight. All I could think about was Troy's death on my hands. All Hashi could think about was the feeling of Troy's dead alakazam in his hands.
I had to do something, so I reached down to a random pokeball on my waist and released it. I didn't even know which one it was until the earth shook and a massive blue and cream colored body wrapped around me.
Tobi's roar was a mournful one.
I looked in front of me, over the massive body of my gyarados.
Sarah stood defiantly in front of him, but she wasn't staring at him. She cared not for the massive pokemon in front of her. She stared at me, with true concern on her face. Like she wanted to comfort me.
"Don't fucking look at me like that!" I screamed. It wasn't a roar. It was the scream of a child. I hated the way I sounded.
I've got to get out of here.
"Tobi. Up!" I commanded. My gyarados lowered his head so that I could jump on it and sit on his neck. After I did I met Sarah's eyes for a moment. They still showed genuine concern, and pity. I loved, and hated it.
Tobi leapt, and began dancing through the air. I had only ever ridden him a few times, and all of those times it had been with a saddle. I had to grab his trident-like horns to make sure I didn't fall off.
We climbed and climbed and climbed, and eventually I could predict his 'dancing'. I learned to lean with every snaking movement he did, and soon I didn't need to hold on. But I did anyway.
The rain pelted me, but I barely felt it. We continued climbing until we reached the clouds. I barely noticed how I couldn't see, and it felt like swimming for a moment until we breached the other side.
The rising sun beamed rays onto my face.
That couldn't be right, it was night time. How long had I been standing outside Sarah's house?
It didn't matter, the view in front of me was… breathtaking. Or maybe that was because Tobi kept climbing up and it was getting harder to breathe.
In a moment of spontaneousness, recklessness, and plain stupidity, I let go of Tobi, and jumped.
Truth be told, I would never have allowed myself to die. I had many options to catch myself before I hit the ground. One, was Tobi of course. But the safer option would have been to release Minato, and have him levitate me to safety. That was actually my plan.
But I felt like I was falling deeper and deeper in a hole. What did it feel like to truly fall? I closed my eyes, enjoying the feeling of the wind biting into me. It was liberating, and I didn't feel a moment of panic.
Tobi let out a roar of panic.
I waited for the feeling of the wet clouds to notify me when to act, but instead I felt an impact against my back. For a moment, I thought it was the ground until I realized that I wouldn't be thinking if that was the case, I would be dead.
Also, I could feel feathers on my back, warm feathers. A warmth that reminded me of Madara.
I opened my eyes.
Orange, red, and yellow feathers that turned white and green on the ends greeted my eyes. I was on the back of a massive, phoenix like pokemon.
The identity of the pokemon hit me like the ground would have had I continued falling a little longer.
Ho-oh had caught me, right before I fell into the clouds.
A cry, more piercing than a bald eagle, rang out from the beak of Ho-oh. It filled me with warmth, and it literally drove away the thoughts and emotions plaguing my mind. Everything became crystal clear to me at that moment.
I had killed an innocent man, and I would have to learn how to live with that.
I had been manipulated by the League into trying to infiltrate Team Rocket. Truly, their sins towards me and other trainers extended far beyond that.
I had been manipulated by Team Rocket into killing a friend, and a mentor.
Neither was pure.
I was inside both organizations.
And I'm going to burn them all to the ground. And from the ashes, a new league will emerge. They turned me into a murderer, and now it was time to pay for that.
That have broken me down, and now was not the time to play fair. It was time for hardball. Scorched earth mother fucker.
"Thank you!" I told the legendary bird I was still riding on. "But I must descend into the depths of hell now. Fire must burn the forest, before it can heal."
Another piercing cry. It was not one that filled me with hope, but with courage. Ho-oh knew the things that I was prepared to do, and although he did not condone it, he did accept it.
For the second time that morning, I jumped off of my ride. Although I grabbed Minato's pokeball and released him. Just as I was about to breach the clouds, we teleported.
Sarah still stood in the exact spot she was at, when I took off. Our eyes met immediately.
"Sierra is my real name." She barked out almost immediately before I could begin asking questions. "In another world, I was wronged by the league after I successfully created the Master Ball."
I frowned, as she just dropped two huge info bombs on me at once, no three bombs.
"Did you say another world?" I asked, completely serious as I latched on to the most important thing she said.
She nodded furiously. "Yes. Follow me."
The now named Sierra turned around and began walking back to her house. I followed her immediately. Somehow, I could feel that she wouldn't hurt me, or attack me. Somehow I could feel that the connection we had was still there. Although I did not forget about her involvement.
We moved through the familiar marble pillars and into her office. A place I rarely visited. She walked over to her desk and typed in a series of commands, and the desk began to slide into the floor.
I was too busy trying to process what I had seen to really take note of how it worked. All I knew was that by the end of it, there was a staircase that led down into the floor of her house. She started down it immediately.
I paused, momentarily thinking about how it would be a perfect place to kill me.
"I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to show you something." Sierra said, sensing my doubt.
"You've already hurt me." I replied evenly. There was a sharp pain in my chest, but I beat it away. I could heal later. Now was the time for action.
Sierra actually paused on the steps at my words. She stayed still before moving forward. "I was told they would never let you in. I had no idea of their real plans." She said. It was a feeble excuse in my mind.
"Bullshit, you seduced me. You were a part of their plan." I retorted as I followed her down the stps.
"I know that now idiot. Our meeting was purely coincidence!" Sierra replied.
I scoffed at her, unbelievably but didn't say anything.
What we walked into could only be described as the most state of the art lab in the world. At least, from what I could see. But there was one thing that stood out to me. One thing that I noticed immediately.
Floating in the middle of the room, was a pokemon that I hoped I would never see. It was Yveltal, in his cocoon form.
I stopped immediately, and reached for my pokeballs. Sierra turned around at my frantic movement.
"You know of him?" She asked curiously when she saw what I was looking at.
"Of course I know him!" I replied. "It's the destruction pokemon! A fucking legendary!"
"How?! This world has no records of him! The league has suppressed that for centuries!" Sierra exclaimed. "There's no way you should know about that."
I didn't even consider answering the question. I had already been forced into that once in this world, by the League. I wouldn't answer it for Team Rocket.
We stared at each other for a moment.
"You are more alike than you know."
The deep voice rattled my mind, and immediately I knew it was from Yveltal. The pokemon had easily pierced through my mental defenses, and it wasn't even a psychic pokemon. How could it know telepathy?!
Sierra's head snapped to the cocoon version of the legendary. "He's only ever spoken to me…" She whispered.
I was overwhelmed with information, and tired of it. "Explain! Now!" I said in a tone that screamed no bullshit.
Sierra looked back to me, and then to Yveltal, and repeated the motion a couple of times. "Fuck. Give me your pokegear." She said and held her hand out.
"Get the fuck out of here." I replied quickly, without asking why.
"They're still monitoring you! Have you ever wondered exactly how the League has manipulated you so well? I can fix that. And you won't get any answers until I do." Sierra reasoned.
I thought about it for a moment. "You're going to make me a ghost to them?" I asked curiously. If that was the case, then it would be amazing for my plans. If not, well that would be the last line she crossed, I don't care if she is in possession of a legendary.
"This one has a fire that burns."
Yveltal was in my mind. And I always considered him to be a dark/flying type. How wrong I was.
"You will need to learn not to apply your human 'typings' to my caliber of being."
He was definitely in my mind. And that did not inspire courage for my newest mission. Legendaries were now involved, and Yveltal just implied there would be more?
I handed my pokegear over to Sierra. I was operating off of flawed information it seemed. I needed to know what she knew. I needed to know if there were more legends in Team Rocket's pocket.
She took my pokegear over to a pedestal and set it on top of it. Immediately, it was grabbed by something that caused it to float and stay still.
"Mark, make him disappear." Sierra commanded to seemingly nobody.
I frowned as a man with a boyish tone answered. It was completely different from Yveltal, that was for sure.
"It's done, ma'am." The computer screen flashed, as the words were spoken. My mind provided the answer.
"Artificial Intelligence." I deduced quickly. It came out as a whisper. Sierra grabbed the pokegear off of the stand and handed it back to me.
"We'll get to how you know so much later. For now, I will do some explaining." Sierra said.
We fell into a silence then. I waited patiently for her to gather her thoughts. I could feel a life story about to spill out. The silence lasted too long, eventually and I had to encourage her.
"Other world?" I asked. I knew it was because of my own origins that I deemed that the most important thing for her to explain. Was she like me?
"Yes, fine." She said. "I was born in another world. Or rather it is more appropriate to say, another dimension." Sierra started.
"Then how are you here?" I asked without waiting for an explanation.
"I'll get there!" She snapped. "When I was six, I was certified as a genius. By nine I designed my own pokeball. By twelve, the ultra ball. Fifteen, I finished Mark's program. Together we developed the master ball, a ball so powerful it could capture any pokemon with 100% capture rate. It still took us five years to perfect it, and it was mostly me fixing errors in Mark's program."
She stopped, and I didn't interrupt because it looked like she was gathering her thoughts.
"As a Silph, I had practically unlimited resources. Giovanni, the man you met at the restaurant, and my father had a very good relationship. However, Giovanni saw my true potential. My dad was just ...well he was a good father. Giovanni pushed me scientifically, and when I took an interest in training, he gifted me my lapras. He taught me everything he knew about training. I now know he did it to ...manipulate me. He was my hero, then."
Sierra paused again, although this time, it looked like she was remembering a specific moment. Her face changed quickly into anger.
"He was the first person I told about the master ball. He convinced me we needed to test it, and he had the perfect candidate. A psychic type that had never been recorded before but had killed his nidoqueen when they battled. I loved that nidoqueen as a girl. So I agreed. When it worked, I condemned my world." Sierra said.
"Mewtwo…" I whispered, but Sierra didn't hear me.
"He killed every champion, and all of their pokemon. Team Rocket succeeded in conquering the world, and brainwashing the next generation. A complete take over. Everyone who spoke out, disappeared. And I was trapped. The same things they did to you, they did to me, Brawly. I was trapped, at least I thought I was. I should have fought, until I died."
I would have agreed with her, but I kept my mouth shut. I was waiting for the answer as to how she was in this world.
"Our world had a phenomenon called Ultra Beasts. They are pokemon that existed in a realm called the Ultra Realm. They were so hush hush, not even my father knew about them. Giovanni however, blackmailed me into figuring them out. It took Mark three months. I had no idea what his plans were. All I knew is that I didn't want my father to learn of what I had done." Sierra said.
Fuck. I'm dealing with a multiversal threat? Giovanni has the ability to use wormholes?
"Three worlds, in five years. It only took him five years to conquer three worlds with technology that I created. I found Yveltal in the previous world, and he dug me out of the pit of despair I was in." Sierra explained. "And now we plot Giovanni's downfall."
My fingers found my temples, and began rubbing them. I was still trying to process the information she was telling me. I was essentially dealing with a Team Rainbow Rocket, that had already conquered three worlds and could possibly have three sets of all legendary pokemon.
"How long have y'all been here?" I asked.
Sierra met my eyes. "I've looked into that already. The exact night that you captured your first pokemon, Brawly of Dewford town." She answered.
I sucked in a deep breath. That was exactly what I thought she was going to say. Was their migration what triggered Mewtwo's psychic explosion in this world? Was I brought to this world because of them?
"It was Mewtwo, wasn't it?" I asked.
Sierra looked at me with a curious look on her face. "You know way too much for it to be natural, love."
"Don't call me that." I told her. I was still bitter about her association with Team Rocket.
"I told you. I did not know of their plans with you! Why do you think I always showed up at the hideout? I interfered every time!" Sierra argued.
"You were the one who told me about the place!" I retorted.
"That was my own curiosity about you. How was I supposed to know you'd visit there every night for the next month? How was I supposed to know we would…" Sierra trailed off, not willing to finish the sentence.
I knew what she was going to say, though, so I finished it for her. "Fall in love." I said.
She looked away from my eyes, and schooled her features before nodding.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, a little too desperately.
"Tell you that I was Team Rocket? Tell you that I am responsible of genocide on a scale that's never been recorded? How do you tell someone you love that?" Sierra responded.
Even though she was dark adapted, her voice choked up slightly. That's how I knew she was serious. That's how I knew she wasn't lying to me. She was genuinely upset about it.
"And now I have nothing to lose. We're in the same boat. Trapped by Team Rocket, or the league, or both." Sierra added.
"Ma'am, they've leaked the footage to the League." Mark's boyish tone said, a little sad.
Sierra looked at me with panicked eyes. "Your footage." She elaborated for her AI.
It clicked for me. Team Rocket burned me. They meant to solidify my position within their organization, by making them my only option. They knew that the league would come after me now. I would be an international criminal in twenty minutes.
My first thought was the look on my mother's face when she found out about it. And what my father would say. He would fight, and say that it wasn't true. He was a good father, and I was his son. I couldn't let him destroy his life for me.
I released Minato quickly.
"I'll be right back!" I told her as the world warped.
They were sitting at the breakfast table, when I teleported into the house.
A kirlia was handing my mom a cup of coffee. Her ralts had evolved. It had been too long since I had seen them. It would be a long time, if I ever saw them again.
"Squirt?" Dad said as he stood up from the breakfast table.
"I don't have much time dad." I said as my emotions got the better of me, once again. My voice cracked.
"What happened son?" Brody said as he entered dad mode. He thought I was in trouble or hurt. He was right.
"Whatever you hear, don't defend me. Rat me out. It's all true. I killed him." The words poured out of my mouth as I moved forward and fell into his chest. I noticed that I was only a couple inches shorter than him nowadays.
"Killed who son?! What is happening? What will we hear?" Brody said as he embraced me.
I peeled myself off of him and moved to my mother, who already had tears streaming down her face. She wanted to speak, but couldn't.
"Don't give up your life for me!" I yelled and embraced my mother. "The things you'll hear about will make you hate me. Regardless of if I succeed or not. Just know that I love you."
Minato, now.
All the participants in the room fell to the ground, asleep.
And then the house was blanketed in ghostly energies, as if that would stop anybody from teleporting out. Minato was way past that level nowadays.
My curiosity got the better of me, and with a thought, MInato teleported us to the front of the house.
Morty, the same man who was in the stands when I battled Clair stood in the front lawn. His signature Gengar in front of him. This was all but confirmation he interfered in my match, and it was not Agatha.
I began walking forward towards him. I was extremely confident that Minato would trash his Gengar.
"I've been waiting for this phone call." Morty said as I began walking towards him. "Clair is still feeling the repercussions of that match."
"You should have stayed home." I said, and then I took off in a dead sprint towards him.
The Gengar's dissipated as Minato teleported above him and shoved a shadow ball in it's back. It reformed on the other side of Morty, and Minato teleported again. Morty's head snapped back and forth trying to keep up with it.
And then my Drakloak made herself known as a Banette leapt out of Morty's shadow to attack me. Sakura's jaws snapped shut on the Banette. This time, the ghost type didn't dissipate like the gengar. But it did scream, as Sakura tore it apart with her teeth.
And then, I reached Morty's guard just as he realized what was happening. I will give him a slight bit of credit and say that the punch he threw was textbook.
But he did not follow it up. I sent a punch to the ribs, breaking one, possibly two. Immediately, I swept his legs out from underneath him, as he bent over weezing.
When he hit the ground, I knew I could have killed him at any moment. Instead, I just sent six punches, rearranging his facial structure and making sure Clair would have problems recognizing him.
He would need reconstructive surgery, no doubt. And two new pokemon, because his wouldn't be reforming in this lifetime.
Minato grabbed me and Sakura with his psychic energies, and we disappeared with a command.
"Let's go."
A/N: Boom!
So the fallout of killing Troy is made known very quickly!
And we got some fucking major bombs dropped on us. First of all, Ho-oh revealed itself to Brawly and all but condoned what's about to happen. Yveltal is hiding in Sierra's basement. Sarah is actually Sierra.
It's not just Team Rocket, but Team Rainbow Rocket we're dealing with. And a much scarier version.
And Brawly is fed up with all of it. What did we think?
Let's talk in the reviews!
BTW Sierra is a Pokemon Go character. You can look her up if you want.
