Goldenrod City, a city of bustling activities.
I've been here before when I first visited Johto and met Jasmine. With my foreknowledge, I know what this city could be given time. I know that in the G/S/C versions, Goldenrod was where Team Rocket made their last stand.
Back then, I never bothered myself about Goldenrod's future. At that time, I'm just another Electric Specialist that you could easily pluck off the street. I never wanted to get involved in something this big especially when I'm not even from Indigo. It's not my business to. I had just wanted to live an ordinary life until Ashley screwed everything up for me.
Now, I'm back here again. This time, I'm no longer here as a mere tourist. I'm here to neutralise Proton and to see if Giovanni happens to be around. Despite their own preparations, the Indigo League still needs help and I've no choice but to offer mine because such is my life. Plans will never go according to plan. I learnt that hard truth when I became Sunyshore's Gym Leader against my will.
"Jarvis, hack into Goldenrod's surveillance. I want eyes on the situation in the city. Search for Giovanni, Gym Leader of Viridian, and for Proton. I want to know how many Rockets we are facing and how many there are."
I've decided to fly to Goldenrod instead of teleporting there because I want Myst to be at full strength as well. If he teleports me to Goldenrod from Indigo Plateau it will take quite a bit out of him. Simba can fly me to Goldenrod really fast anyway without exhausting himself, so not much time was wasted.
Goldenrod was in quite a bit of a mess when I arrived. The city's Gym Leader, Whitney, obviously has her hands full between protecting the panicking civilians while fending off a large group of Team Rocket members that are starting to swarm and destroy the city under Proton's lead. It's like the situation at Blackthorn which Flint had told me about. Team Rocket's forces are way more than what we were told about by the informant. Maybe even the informant doesn't know the full extent of Team Rocket's capabilities.
It doesn't change the fact that the number of Rockets sieging Goldenrod is too big a group. We need to cut it down to size.
"I need a big storm. Really big. Strike down all Rockets we can see."
I instructed my team the moment I released them out of their pokeballs and floating in the sky beside me with Magnet Rise. Franky let out a war cry as he immediately started a Rain Dance with Puddle. Fluffy used an Electric Terrain as the rest of my team charged themselves up with Charge.
It's now or never.
"NOW!"
Joel Cornish is just another officer in the Johto Police Force. Oh sure, he's used to arresting petty criminals and thugs, but nobody told him that he will last long enough in his career to be handling something like this.
Team Rocket. It's like they came out of everywhere and nowhere at the same time. How did Team Rocket hide such a large number of Rockets so near their city without anybody knowing?!
Today was supposed to be peaceful. It's a public holiday for crying out loud. It is Indigo National Day, celebrating the founding of their nation.
And then this has to happen.
Their city's Gym Leader had made a prompt appearance and is single handedly holding the Rockets back with her team of cutesy normal types. She obviously is not able to unleash her power to her fullest extent due to her needing to protect the unfortunate passing civilians while taking on the Rockets. Still, she seemed to be doing fine until one particular Rocket took her on all by himself. He is obviously someone of high standing within the Rockets given his unique uniform.
It came as a shock when he could match Whitney and her team blow for blow as her equal. Also, he is the strongest Ice Specialist Joel had ever seen short of Mahogany's Pryce. It's obvious at a glance that Whitney is at a severe disadvantage on all fronts. Unlike Whitney, that Rocket has no qualms in causing widespread collateral damage and harm to nearby onlookers who still could not get away in time.
The battle between that Rocket and Whitney is not something an ordinary Joe like him should get involved in. Hence, the only thing he and his fellow officers can do to best help their Gym Leader is to hurry and evacuate the civilians while trying their best to fend off the Rockets who are swarming into the city like beedrills out of their hives.
Whitney was obviously getting herself pushed back by the raging blizzard the pokemon of the Rocket commander had brewed up. While Whitney is still able to hold her own, she doesn't possess the overwhelming power that could be unleashed in an instant to take the Rocket down. Her normal types are versatile, but time is of the essence. The longer this drags on, the worse it will be for her city because she could not be there to direct the city's forces against their battle with Team Rocket.
The battle took a brief pause when the skies suddenly darkened. Both sides looked up as storm clouds began to gather at an alarming rate, way too fast for it to be natural. Rain fell and lightning began to streak across the skies as thunder boomed.
Now what?!
And then, it happened.
Like the God of Thunder itself had descended, lightning rained from the skies and struck groups of Rockets one after the other, blowing up huge craters on the ground in the process. The force of it was so great that the ground shook and almost everyone fell onto the ground from the impact.
W-What was that?! Did the legendary Zapdos somehow grace them with its presence?!
Yellow streaks of light flew down from the skies and immediately started to charge straight into the army of Rockets before blowing up in another bright burst of lightning. Joel knows a Discharge when he sees one. That move was used on him many times in his gym battle with Surge of Vermillion when he attempted Surge's gym challenge when he spent his vacation days there at Vermillion.
Another column of lightning crashed down at where the Rocket commander was at. That Rocket managed to command his pokemon to defend themselves against this attack, but that attack had served its purpose. The Rocket was forced to back off from Whitney, giving her some breathing space.
A massive gyarados descended from the skies and unleashed one of the most powerful Hyper Beams Joel had ever seen, the attack sweeping through the Rocket's pokemon team and kicking up a large cloud of smoke and dust in the process. A berserk beartic charged through the smoke once the Hyper Beam ceased, intending on finishing off the gyarados. However, its plans were foiled when an electivire appeared out of nowhere and knocked it back with a powerful Thunder Punch.
A yellow haired man wearing a dark blue jacket flew down from the skies while riding on the back of a huge luxray. Several more electric types landed on the ground with the man as they stood in front of Whitney and her team. He looks vaguely familiar.
"Whitney, go protect your city. I will stop that Rocket here."
"Volkner? Why are you here?"
"Long story." The man quickly replied as his electivire unleashed a wave of Psychic at the Rocket's pokemon, forcing them to temporarily halt their charge. "I'm a better suited opponent against this Rocket. You go save your city."
Whitney looked suitably torn between staying to fight or doing what the man suggested, but relented in the end.
"Alright, I leave this to you. Be careful."
"Won't be long."
"JOEL! STOP DAYDREAMING! DO YOUR JOB!"
The words yelled at him by his superior got Joel to quickly go back to evacuating the civilians. The fight between the likes of Whitney, that yellow-haired man, and that particular Rocket is the real clash of the titans. An ordinary Joe like him has no place in such a battle.
The yellow-haired man is obviously on their side. He knows that like their city's Gym Leader, he will do all he can to save this city. So will he and his comrades. They will all do all they can to stop Team Rocket's plans.
Right now, they need to have faith in each other.
Everything had just gone to shit. This is not going as planned.
Proton knew the reason why he was being stationed here as per the plan. Goldenrod, Violet, and Olivine are the hubs and hearts of Johto. Their geographical location was what made them one of the most prosperous cities in the region. Control them and you control Johto. This is why he was posted here, because this is a key area of interest that Team Rocket has to gain control of in order to quickly advance their plans.
The plan was to quickly take over Goldenrod the moment every little secret of the bastard Kain's deeds were brought to light live on TV during the National Day celebration. The confusion of the entire region is what they needed to take advantage of to quickly take over the entire Johto, right when everybody is too busy being confused and angry to put up a proper resistance.
Obviously, it didn't go as well as he hoped. Somehow, it's like Whitney and the STAR forces had gotten wind of their plans in advance. They are far too organised for them to be assembled at a moment's notice. It's like they knew beforehand that Goldenrod will be experiencing a siege today.
It'd messed up their rhythm by a fair bit until they took control of the entire situation through sheer numerical advantage. They had a last minute change in manpower staffing on Giovanni's orders which led to his army having more than the stipulated numbers as per the original plan. That really was a blessing.
Killing Whitney was supposed to be an easy job due to the number of countermeasures they had planned and employed against the Gym Leader for this very day. However, Whitney somehow seemed to know a little of what he could do too as she didn't seem surprised at the pokemon he used to battle her normal types. Even then, he could tell that she was shocked at the power he and his ice types possessed. She clearly didn't expect him to be able to match her as her equal.
Everything was supposed to turn out okay because he's here. Whitney cannot do shit against him even if she somehow knows a little about his capabilities.
So why, oh goddamn why, is Volkner of Sunyshore suddenly here? Yes, he knows that this man used to be the Gym Leader of Sunyshore in Sinnoh and he had disappeared from the public's eye the moment he retired from his position some time back, but why is he in Johto? Here of all places? He definitely didn't choose Goldenrod as his location to build his retirement home or Team Rocket would have known about it long ago, so why? It's like he's here for the very purpose of stopping him.
And to top it all off, Volkner's on a whole different level than him or Whitney. It's like what Archer had told him about before when they had briefly discussed Volkner's achievements back when Volkner is still a Gym Leader of Sinnoh. Proton is starting to think that Volkner's power level is on Giovanni's level. There is not a lot they know about this Sinnohan and this immediately puts him at a disadvantage.
Still, he cannot falter. Not here. Not when they are so close to reaching their dream, so close to achieving freedom for their motherland.
Proton whipped out the Key Stone he wore around his wrist. Volkner is too strong, too fast, and too unpredictable an opponent. He has no choice right now but to squeeze out every ounce of power to defeat this impossibly powerful man. Giovanni had warned him and his fellow Executives about the possible drawbacks of using Mega Evolution because of what it did to Plague, but this is no time to hesitate.
For their motherland, his life is a small price to pay.
Volkner obviously recognised what a Key Stone is as his team immediately rushed in to stop him from invoking Mega Evolution. It's still too late. His glalie had successfully mega evolved into a Mega Glalie and is now raining hail all over Celadon.
With this, they stand a chance.
A collective Thunderbolt fired by Volkner's electric types at Mega Glalie had them on the defensive. Proton's avalugg had to intercept it with the strongest Protect it can muster to defend their team from harm. Volkner's electric types didn't let up as they went on a full-out offensive and kept on firing Thunderbolts after Thunderbolts without breaks, not letting them a chance to even retaliate.
"Hyper Beam!"
Mega Glalie's Refrigerate ability turned Hyper Beam into an ice-type move as the beam of condensed energy shot itself at Volkner's team. This was foiled when Volkner's magnezone simply intercepted that Hyper Beam with a Zap Cannon and then returned fire with a Mirror Shot, temporarily blinding them.
"Flash! Blind them!"
Another bright flash of light got Proton to scream out in pain as his sense of sight got rendered temporarily useless, causing him to stumble a few steps backwards from the unexpected attack. He is sure that his cloyster and cryogonal are nearby to protect him, so he should just remain at his spot and let them protect him until he regains his sense of sight. He needs to buy some time for that to happen. Without his sense of sight, there's no way he can properly command his pokemon.
He needs to buy some time until his eyes work again.
"Freeze them all! Blizzard!"
Even without needing to look, the harsh dropping of temperature told him all he needed to know. The howl of raging cold winds provided the comfort he needed as he stood up straight once more, trying his best to use his other senses to tell him what was going on around him while sending his jynx a telepathic message to relay to him the current situation. His psychic pokemon is his eyes and ears.
'Jynx! What is going on right now?!'
To his growing dread, there was no response.
He immediately knew something bad must have happened. He forced himself to open his eyes despite how much it hurts him to do so. It was right at this moment that he saw Volkner's electivire frying his jynx with a huge roar of Thunder before caving its head in by smashing his pokemon into the ground using its fists.
In that short span of time when his eyes were closed, his jynx was killed without him knowing how.
"BASTARD!"
Fucking Volkner. Was that Flash used for the sole purpose of taking his jynx out while they were temporarily defenceless? How did he correctly guess that his jynx is his eyes and ears on the battlefield?!
The rest of Proton's pokemon sensed his anger as they increased the ferocity of their attacks. Right now, there is no strategy involved in this battle. It is simply a straightforward clash of power between the two trainers. It's impossible to fight Volkner using another method because Volkner's attacks are just too strong. There's no way to properly defend yourself against his overwhelming onslaught. The only way forward is forward. No amount of defence can properly stall him unless you are a trainer that specialises in defence, which Proton knows he is not. Freezing Volkner's team doesn't bloody work because that damn ampharos had used a Safeguard and is being further protected by a wall of steel known as a probopass while launching beams of lightning on its own and to top it all off, it seemed that one of Volkner's pokemon had quickly used a Taunt after that Safeguard. His pokemon suddenly could only use offensive moves and nothing else.
The only good thing that turned out from this is that Volkner's paralysis won't work as well since his team had also employed a Safeguard on their own.
However, thanks to that Taunt he is now forced to play Volkner's game of offence vs offence, a game that he is not necessarily the best at. Without him knowing when, Proton had found himself being forced to fight Volkner on his own turf in a straightforward fight. Power against power. Nothing more, nothing less. This is a fight that is not to his advantage. Ice types are strong but they don't boast power that can crush all defences in their way like Electric types are.
Still, his objective is outright murder, not to win.
"Icicle Crash!"
A humongous icicle dropped down on Volkner's location but was thwarted by Volkner's gyarados when it destroyed the attack with an Aqua Tail. Proton cannot help but click his tongue in annoyance. Isn't Volkner an Electric Specialist? Why does he have pokemon not of the electric typing but yet so darn strong?!
The only pokemon that can fight on equal footing with Volkner's electric types is his mamoswine due to its ground typing, but his mamoswine is currently being held up by Volkner's magnezone as it fires beams of energy-based attacks of the steel typing and not letting mamoswine catch a break or regroup with the rest of the team. It's impossible to catch Volkner's electric types with the speed they are running around. In that case, then he will aim their attacks at Volkner himself to force them to defend. Electric types are not known for defence. They are very much like glass cannons. Good at offence, but not many can take a good hit.
"Abomasnow! Avalanche! Bury them all! Get them on the defensive! Mega Glalie, Sheer Cold! Everyone else, Blizzard!"
As one, his team acted. A massive avalanche rained down on Volkner's location as his alolan golem was forced to destroy it with a Thunder. Mega Glalie's Sheer Cold was stopped when the probopass used a Protect but that's fine. The real killer is the collective Blizzard unleashed in Volkner's direction.
Take out the trainer and it's half the battle won. Even with Safeguard, Volkner's team is going to feel it if they take the attack head on, and they will be forced to take it head on because the attack is heading straight for Volkner himself. A human would die immediately upon taking a hit like that.
Volkner now has to command his team to defend. He doesn't have a choice. The gyarados is likely the one sent for the job due to its size and bulk or maybe the probopass due to its tough hide.
He didn't expect Volkner to command one of his smallest pokemon to take that powerful collective Blizzard on behalf of the entire team.
"Bask! Electrify and Discharge! Jo, Wish!"
A heliolisk scampered to Volkner's front and took the Blizzard for the entire team while visibly using Charge to increase its defensive powers. Right after, it blew the cold winds away with a massive Discharge.
That sight had Proton momentarily stunned. The combined Blizzard ought to kill the damn little lizard due to how powerful the attack is but no, the heliolisk survived it somehow. Electrify? Is that a pokemon move? If so, how rare is it that even someone like him doesn't know about it?
A Wish invoked by Volkner's Jolteon healed the heliolisk's wounds in an instant as the little lizard led the charge of Volkner's team. Proton's weavile met its attack with an Ice Punch but the same thing happened again. It's like the damage of any ice type attacks used on the little lizard had been reduced.
"Parabolic Charge!"
A shockwave of lightning hit Proton's entire team as the little lizard made another charge at him. Cryogonal stood in the heliolisk's way and fired an Ice Beam only for the heliolisk to evade it with a well-timed Double Team. The ground cracked as tendrils of grass grew from the road with Grass Knot, trying to snare them all. Nothing he could not handle as his cloyster swiftly halted the attack before it could cause harm and fired a Spike Cannon to get that annoying heliolisk off their case.
"Freeze everything! Attack Volkner himself! Ice Beam!"
Volkner merely shouted something over the din and this time his massive gyarados bodily blocked the Ice Beams for his entire team. Volkner's team dashed out from behind the gyarados once the Ice Beams ended and immediately collapsed on his mamoswine. A flash of psychic energy later, his mamoswine got cleaved into two from a surprise attack launched by a gallade using a Psycho Cut. That damn gallade was nowhere to be seen before this.
Shit. Volkner has a gallade? That's not even an Electric type! And the way it moved! It's like that gallade is Volkner's assassin! It's been lurking around them this whole time?!
"Avalugg!"
His avalugg stood in the way like an impenetrable fortress and forcefully stopped Volkner's rampage. Volkner's smirk was the only warning and Proton cannot help but break into a cold sweat.
"TEC!"
The earth ruptured as another new player joined the game. A hulking rhyperior emerged from below them and sent the entire team flying into the sky with Earth Power. With a well placed Stone Edge, his abomasnow got impaled while it was momentarily defenceless in the air. Abomasnow roared in fury and unleashed another Blizzard despite its wounds but a raichu destroyed it prematurely with a Charge Beam. All it took was a blink of an eye and the raichu's tail slashed towards abomasnow with an Iron Tail, the sharp edge of raichu's tail beheading another of his powerhouse.
This… This fucking BASTARD!
"Fissure!"
"Sheer Cold!"
Volkner's rhyperior created a Fissure to drop his avalugg in and kill it as Mega Glalie tried to stop it by defeating rhyperior with Sheer Cold before rhyperior could have its way. A pachirisu stood in the way of the Sheer Cold and Proton can only watch in disbelief and anger that Volkner's pokemon achieved the impossible once more.
The pachirisu actually survived that Sheer Cold that was meant to be fatal. That pachirisu has to be using Endure. No other explanation would suffice.
The small amount of time the tiny pachirisu had bought for Volkner's rhyperior successfully allowed Volkner's rhyperior to drop Proton's avalugg down into a deep chasm and closed it shut, sealing it into the earth. As if to make sure that his avalugg stays dead, the rhyperior unleashed a devastating Earthquake that toppled several of the nearby infrastructures around them, inflicting damage on his ice types at the same time while Volkner's electric types safely hovered in the air.
And that's another thing he cannot understand. How on earth did Volkner's electric types achieve the capability of flight?! There's too many unknown variables present when fighting this guy!
In such situations, Proton would have undoubtedly called for a strategic retreat. He's definitely outclassed in this fight. However, he cannot do that now. The organisation had poured everything into this operation, Operation Skip. He cannot fail. Not here, not now. He has to ensure that Goldenrod gets taken over as soon as possible to allow the next stage of the plans to proceed. Like Violet City, Goldenrod is important due to its strategic location in Johto.
For Giovanni, for their motherland. No longer will they allow Kanto to be oppressed by Johto tyrants.
NO LONGER!
A Surf from his lapras bought them some time as it washed Volkner's team away from them, creating some much needed distance. Dewgong's Aurora Beam smashed into Volkner's eelektross, preventing it from dropping another Thunder on them. Weavile did good by anticipating gallade's next location and almost succeeded in killing the irritating gallade that has been teleporting around the battlefield to assassinate another of his pokemon. If it wasn't for Volkner's electrode and vikavolt, they might have succeeded too.
A massive Zap Cannon was unleashed from Volkner's end as Proton commanded his cryogonal to tank it using its natural defensive capabilities. His cryogonal was briefly pushed back with a Brick Break from that monster of an electivire as it charged right in on its lonesome. The electivire is arguably the biggest threat posed to them due to the sheer power and versatility it possesses. There's nothing to stop it once mamoswine, avalugg, and abomasnow had been taken down. Volkner must have identified those three to be the biggest threat to his electivire and that must be why his team took them down first.
Proton clenched his teeth in frustration. Just how experienced is Volkner if he could identify the greatest threats to his team right from the start of the battle when none of them had shown their cards yet? To ignore putting down his Mega Glalie first and opting for going straight for those three instead spoke volumes on his battle instincts and experience. Those three that he killed are some of his best defensive battlers. Without them taking hits for the team, he only has his cloyster and cryogonal left to fill that role but they are not as mobile to properly do what the other three can. The rest of his ice types are now forced to fight a lot more carefully.
"Beartic, stop the electivire! Mega Glalie, Freeze-Dry on gyarados!"
That gyarados too. That massive sea serpent had been tanking all the damage his ice types are dishing out without so much as a drop of blood drawn from its body. Just how tough are its scales?!
"Puddle, Rest! Then Sleep Talk! Jo, Wish!"
Not another damn Wish. He had seen how that jolteon healed the heliolisk up like nothing had happened with Wish just now. He's not going to let that happen again.
"Ice Shard on jolteon!"
His weavile acknowledged his orders as it fired a lightning fast attack with an Ice Shard aiming straight for jolteon's neck. It would have killed that little feline if it wasn't for the gallade somehow replacing jolteon with an Ally Switch and taking the blow instead before retaliating with a Counter.
"Vacuum Wave!"
A wave of energy sent weavile flying just as Mega Glalie used Freeze-Dry on gyarados, who is now taking on the full brunt of the attack by constantly healing itself up with Rest and supported by jolteon's Wish. A Hydro Pump was unleashed from gyarados through the use of Sleep Talk that got Proton and his team to back off again. Proton narrowed his eyes. There's no denying that he is running out of options. It's not that he is bad at tactics or battling. The power difference between him and Volkner is just too obvious.
Power. Sheer raw power. Power to render any kind of plans and tactics useless because all Volkner needs to do in order to win is to force his opponents into a slugfest of exchange of power. No plans will survive in the face of absolute might. It seems that this is Volkner's fighting style as he employed his Electric types' offensive powers to their greatest effect.
With this kind of absolute strength, no wonder he was once hailed as the strongest Gym Leader in Sinnoh.
Volkner's electivire let loose a Thunder Punch that got his beartic reeling back from the impact. An alolan golem charged in with a Stone Edge and sent the beartic crashing into Volkner's rhyperior.
Proton doesn't know what attack rhyperior will use, but he doesn't want to risk another of his powerhouse being taken down in one hit again.
"Beartic, Endure!"
His decision was the right decision to make but it remained unfulfilled. It was then that Proton was reminded of the Taunt still in effect somehow. Which one?! Which pokemon of Volkner's used that Taunt?! He needs to take it down ASAP! If it wasn't for that Taunt rhyperior wouldn't have killed beartic with Horn Drill!
"Franky! There's nothing to stop you now! Don't hold back anymore, light them up!"
Volkner's monstrous electivire bellowed before dropping a series of Thunders without rest. Proton can only watch as his pokemon team nearly got wiped out with just a single hit. The only pokemon he has left are his Mega Glalie and cryogonal, who probably survived due to their better defences.
… How?
This can't be it. This can't be it! He cannot fail Giovanni!
"So you are the Iceman?"
"The fuck are-? A Gym Leader? Why? Here to bring me to justice, huh?! Another one of those two-faced bastards?! I'll kill you!"
He didn't succeed. He may be a powerful and skilled trainer that had earned accolades for himself at a young age, but he was barely in his teens back then. He didn't have the needed experience to go up against a former Elite Four. Giovanni is a trainer with almighty strength. He is the land incarnate. In front of him, his ice types didn't stand a single chance. Within minutes, he found himself lying on the floor in defeat, angry at himself for being so weak. Angry at Giovanni. Angry at everyone.
Angry at Indigo, the nation that he once loved. Angry that this world is so unfair and cruel.
Above all, he felt that there is no hope left. There's no reason to live anymore. He failed in his crusade to wipe out every and all Johto's corrupt politicians. He failed in his cleansing and had failed to enact justice on those who deserved to be judged for their crimes.
"I have heard about the Iceman. Level 10 threat to Indigo. The serial killer that slaughtered Johtonian politicians by freezing them alive in the most morbid ways and eluded capture for five years."
"They took everything from me." He remembered speaking weakly, no longer having the strength to move about as he lay on his back and watched the hailstorm subside. "Is it wrong to seek revenge?"
Somehow, Giovanni chose to sit down beside him as if they are old friends, his tone surprisingly gentle even when talking face to face with an irredeemable murderer like him.
"It's human nature to seek revenge, but consider me intrigued. What is your reason for revenge?"
He doesn't know why he did that, but he told that man the truth.
He already had nothing to lose anyway.
"My family were in the stone mining business, but the sudden implementation of the Kanto ban ruined it all. It cost us to be severely in debt and no matter how much we worked, it just wasn't enough to pay back in full. M-My parents… they… They cannot take the stress of our creditors banging on our doors everyday and…"
"Hanged themselves, I take it?"
"Y-Yes."
He's the Iceman. He earned that title not just because he is one of the best Ice Specialists in Kanto, but also because of his lack of emotion and his cruel streak when enacting his vengeance on the corrupt Johto politicians that had ruined his family and his life. He is a murderer notorious for his violence, the boogeyman of Johto.
But when he saw his leader in person for the first time, he shed tears that he had thought he would never shed again when he told him his life story.
"I read your files. Your older sister had tried to work out an agreement with your creditors, mainly Johtonians and many of them are politicians with business ventures with your family as well. It didn't work out too well."
"Work too well? THEY DIDN'T WANT IT TO WORK!" He remembered his outburst at the memory. "OUR FAMILY HAD THE LEGAL RIGHT TO REPAY OUR DEBTS IN THE WAY WE PROPOSED! WE COULD REPAY OUR DEBTS, WE JUST NEEDED MORE TIME! T-THEY PURPOSELY, SOMEHOW, SABOTAGED MY SISTER'S REPAYMENT METHODS THROUGH LEGAL LOOPHOLES OR ILLEGAL MEANS THAT I CAN NEVER FIND OUT OR PROVE! AND THEN WHEN SHE VISITED THEM ANOTHER TIME TO WORK THINGS OUT, T-THOSE… SCUMS! T-THEY… THEY-!"
He remembered how his beautiful and kind older sister returned home with that haunted look in her eyes. When he went up to her in concern and asked her if she's okay, she said she was alright.
He didn't know what had happened back then. He was a trainer who only knew how to fight and how to win by freezing everything solid. He was too young to know what fully went on in their family business, too innocent and shielded against the world's evils that his sister had protected him from. He was too busy out there challenging any trainers he saw to earn some prize money to help repay their family's debts, trying to ease his sister's workload. Too naive to see that their Johtonian creditors, those beasts in human skin, never wanted the money back. All they want is to humiliate them for the fun of it, simply because they can.
His sister was all he had left.
He could never forget that despair when he found his sister's body hanging from the ceiling fan in her room the next morning. He had decided to check on her when he saw that she didn't wake up to eat the breakfast he prepared for her to cheer her up. He even made the effort to arrange her meal into a smiley face because it never failed to cheer his sister up, his kind older sister that had always been there for him no matter what kind of trouble he caused.
She will no longer be there for him. The world had taken away his parents, and now his sister too. Without his sister, he's all alone in this cold frigid world.
He didn't understand, he couldn't understand as he stared at his sister's hanging body. Why? Why did his beautiful, kind, optimistic sister who never failed to smile all the time choose to take her own life? Money can be repaid, one day, someday, being bankrupt is not the end of the world because they still have each other.
So, why? Why had his optimistic and kind older sister chosen to leave this world on her own accord?
Why did she leave him alone?
He finally found out about the truth through the note his older sister left for him before she commited suicide, and he nearly went to murder them all when he finally understood the things that had happened behind his back.
Those monsters had raped his kind older sister when she went to visit them to work out a way to pay off their family's debts. She followed their parents' footsteps and hanged herself the very next day, too traumatised by that horrid experience.
Regret. He had so many regrets upon learning the truth of what had happened.
He regretted not accompanying his sister that day when she went to talk with their creditors. He didn't accompany his sister that day because he wanted to go out to seek battles, to win more prize money back to help her pay off their family's debts. The debt which their parents had left behind for them to clean up. He regretted not recognising these scums for who they really are. He regretted not spending more time with his sister the day before when he found her behaviour odd. If he had talked to her more, if he had spent more time with her, if he had done something, maybe, just maybe…
She wouldn't have hanged herself.
With icy fury burning in his chest, he seeked ways to bring those scums to court, because he believed that justice always prevails. He believed in the law, that they were created to be fair and just, that they were created to protect those who could not protect themselves. Thus, he seeked revenge through legal means, planning to let those scums rot in jail for all eternity instead of hunting them down and murdering them in the most painful way possible.
His sister would not want him to be a murderer, even if it is for her sake, so he chose to believe in the law. He chose to believe that justice does exist, he chose to believe that the law is fair and just, he chose to believe that justice always prevails.
He chose to believe, because it will be what his kind older sister wishes for him to do.
So, he took steps to bring those scums to justice. He will seek justice for his sister. It's the only thing left that he can do.
He filed a lawsuit. By all rights he should have won the lawsuit because all evidence is in his favour. He had a best friend who was also a lawyer and his friend helped him to the best of his ability without a single complaint. His lawyer friend made sure that they could win their case, fair and square, and seek justice for his sister. His friend assured him that the law is indeed fair and just, and that they will bring the perpetrators to justice soon enough. All they need to do is to have patience and have faith.
So, he put his faith in the law, he put his faith in the justice that he chose to believe in. He chose to believe that the world is fair and just and that justice always prevails.
And it paid off. They really were about to win the case and finally bring those scums to justice and he was so happy, because justice does exist in this world. The world is not as cold as it seems to be.
Looking back, he really wanted to laugh at himself. How naive he was.
Things changed the very next day. He woke up only to receive the news that his friend got mugged in broad daylight, stabbed to death by a runaway thief. His friend's briefcase that contained all the crucial evidence they needed for the hearing the next day was stolen and never to be found again. Any backup copies that his friend might have kept, they disappeared into thin air and everything was blamed on the runaway thief that nobody ever found.
Bullshit.
His best friend was murdered just one day before the hearing. There's no way this is a coincidence. He can only stare and watch helplessly as those scums that raped his sister get away scot free. He could still remember their mocking laughter as they exited the courtroom, telling him mockingly that justice always prevails. It took him all he had to not murder them on sight.
Justice, there's no such thing as justice. The law, there's no such thing as laws that are created to be fair and just.
Everything is one big, fat, lie.
It was then he realised that the law never sided with them. It was then he realised that justice only favours the people who made the laws. The law that had been institutionalised since Indigo's founding was never meant to protect upright citizens like his parents or his kind older sister or his best friend, the only people left that was always there for him no matter how much of a delinquent he was.
It was the last straw for him. If justice cannot prevail, if the laws that he is supposed to abide by and believe in couldn't protect people like him who needed its protection the most, then he will create his own brand of justice. He will protect helpless people like him from those oppressors who used those laws to exploit them.
He will make sure that justice always prevails, his own brand of justice.
He left Kanto the very next day and moved to Johto where his oppressors lived. The Iceman was born on that day as he started to enact his own justice. Justice is revenge, and revenge is best served cold.
Justice always prevails
It took time to track and murder every single scum who was involved in raping his sister because of the protection they had thanks to their influence and status. He was constantly on the run, he fought countless enemies as the law turned against him for trying to bring the guilty to justice, to serve them their just desserts. The laws which were supposed to be fair and just labelled him a criminal, a Level 10 threat to Indigo because he never once failed to murder those corrupt Johto scums no matter how much protection they surrounded themselves with.
Justice always prevails. The people who had hurt his sister deserved nothing less than a freezing hell.
The laws which were supposed to be fair and just continued to protect those lowlives that had brought his sister such great pain, but nothing could stop him and his ice types. Five years. That's how long he took, but he did it. He managed to bring those scums to justice and he got his revenge for his kind older sister.
She can now rest in peace. Justice has been served, and he will continue serving it to those who deserve it until the day he dies. He will continue to help those that had been wronged and were offered no protection from the law, because justice always prevails.
He will make sure that justice always prevails.
And then, he met him.
"Join me."
He remembered how Giovanni had reached out a hand to him. He remembered how he stared at Giovanni in disbelief.
"Let me reintroduce myself, Olwen Lummiki. I am Giovanni Halston. The public knows me as Viridian's Gym Leader, but my real identity is the true leader of Team Rocket. My aim is to free Kanto, our dear motherland, from the clutches of Johto's tyranny. Like you, I too have suffered under Indigo's corrupt rule. Like you, Kanto is suffering because we are being oppressed by our tyrannical rulers. You are a good man, Olwen, I won't let anybody say otherwise. I need people like you. I need good men like you. Will you join me in my cause to free our motherland from Indigo? Will you join me so that people like you and me will never appear again? Will you join me so that Kanto's children can run free and enjoy their lives happily instead of living a dark and cruel life like us?"
That sincere look moved him. He took the hand Giovanni reached out. He doesn't know why, but Giovanni appointed him as one of his trusted right hand men immediately.
He remembered how he stood in front of Giovanni in his new Rocket uniform, the uniform befitting that of an Executive. It is a position that is only below Giovanni's in Team Rocket, a position that only a select handful will ever take up in the organisation's history. Only two more after him joined the ranks of Executive years later, Petrel and Plague.
"Excluding my wife, you are the second person who I appointed as my Executive, Olwen. However, considering your past, I have to erase your identity and fake your death to throw off any investigators snooping around. You have to discard your name, Olwen, and pick a new identity for yourself in Team Rocket."
He chose the name Proton.
"Welcome to the team, Proton. I expect great things from you, my friend. For the glory of Team Rocket and our motherland."
"For the glory of Team Rocket and our motherland, Sir."
In physics terminology, a proton is part of the nucleus of an atom. He's an Executive, a component of the nuclei of Team Rocket's leaders. He is now one of the core members of Team Rocket.
Proton is a fitting name.
That day, he swore his allegiance to Giovanni and Giovanni alone. His life is now Giovanni's to use as he sees fit. His dreams and aspirations are now to fulfil Giovanni's. This, he swears.
"From here onwards, Proton, you will be Team Rocket's sword to smite down all who stands in our way. For our dream of freedom."
From that day onwards, Olwen Lummiki was no more. That day, Executive Proton was born as the power of the Iceman is now Team Rocket's to wield. Any threats that are too huge to the organisation, he sent them into a frozen slumber.
For his family, for his revenge, for his belief of justice, for Giovanni's dream, for their beloved motherland. That had always been his driving force behind his actions. He cannot fail, not when Giovanni gave him another chance to live and another reason to want to continue living. Not when they all dreamed of freeing Kanto from Indigo's oppressive rule.
He will not allow another person to suffer his sister's fate under the corrupt administration of Indigo. He will never allow justice to slip past his fingers again. He will see to it that justice will be served on behalf of all who were wronged, even if it meant serving them cold through the hands of a terrorist.
He will do all he can to ensure that every single Kantonian will be protected under laws that are fair and just. People who need the protection of the law will have the protection of the law, laws which will protect them properly. His dream of a fair and just world will come true in Team Rocket's vision of a new Kanto that is free from Indigo.
Justice always prevails
Creating a fair and just world where justice prevails is entirely possible. That is his belief, that what he envisions will happen in Team Rocket's efforts to bring about a better world for Kanto and her people.
It is entirely possible, he just needs to have faith.
"Good job, Proton. Thanks to your efforts, Team Rocket is slowly becoming the largest power of Kanto's underworld. You have my thanks."
"I'm just doing my job, Sir."
"I know I'm asking too much out of you, but I need you to help take down another threat for me. Can you do it, Proton?"
"I won't fail you, Sir. For the glory of Team Rocket."
Another collective Thunder was fired by Volkner's electric types which Mega Glalie destroyed with the largest Ice Beam it could ever produce. This battle had dragged on for too long. Mega Glalie is slowly overheating from the energy emitted from Mega Evolution. Already, its icy armour is starting to melt. There's no doubt that Mega Glalie will not survive this battle. The powers of Mega Evolution were not meant to be overused like this.
"Again! Take the Mega Glalie down!"
No. This cannot be it. Justice has to be served, someone has to uphold justice for their fellow Kantonians who do not have the strength to fight for what is rightfully theirs. If Team Rocket falls, then there will no longer be any hope for Kanto, they will continue to be oppressed by their corrupted Johtonian tyrants.
Someone has to fight for those who could not fight back, someone has to uphold justice to protect those who need the protection.
For Team Rocket's sake, for Kanto's sake, Volkner has to be neutralised at all costs. If he cannot win a fight against Volkner, then he will make sure Volkner cannot win too.
For the justice that he believes in, for the sake of their motherland.
Justice always prevails
"Mega Glalie!"
As one, his Mega Glalie and him charged into the fray with him riding on his pokemon, knowing that this is the only option left if they want to stop Volkner from wiping out the main forces of Team Rocket's army in one fell swoop. Right now, in Goldenrod, the only person who can stop Volkner is him. If he falls, then there's nobody else to stop Volkner from wiping out their main army. He cannot fail. He cannot fail Giovanni and the organisation. All the work they had put in over the years, it cannot go up in smoke like this!
If they have to bring about an ice age to freeze Volkner in his tracks, then that is what they will do.
Cryogonal coordinated with Mega Glalie as it charged ahead of them, taking all the attacks Volkner's pokemon are dishing out with its solid body. Proton can only watch as his longtime companion began to crack piece by piece. It won't be long before cryogonal shatters into a million pieces right in front of his eyes.
Still, they did not slow in their charge. Death isn't scary, failing to achieve their dreams is. Failing to uphold justice is. Failing to protect the defenceless Kantonians from their Johto tyrants is.
The Sword of Team Rocket, Executive Proton, has nothing to fear from Volkner of Sunyshore, because the world is fair and just, because justice always prevails.
"Safeguard is no longer active on them! Stop that cryogonal! Thunder Wave!"
Cryogonal got out of that with Substitute before forcing its way into the midst of Volkner's team.
"BLIZZARD!"
A wave of harsh frost rippled across Volkner's team. Just as Volkner had timed the duration of the Safeguard being used on Proton's side, Proton did a similar estimation for Volkner's end as well. The effect of Safeguard on Volkner's team should have just ended, they can now properly freeze his pokemon into blocks of ice just right before Safeguard can be erected once again.
Proton didn't wait to see if cryogonal had gotten any of Volkner's pokemon. There's no way that Blizzard alone can put Volkner's team down anyway. All it had to achieve was to freeze them for a few short seconds, just long enough for Explosion to hit Volkner, and he knows that cryogonal is more than capable of stopping Volkner's pokemon for a few seconds. A few seconds is all they need to put him down.
Nothing will bring Volkner down with him except for his Mega Glalie's Explosion combined with its Refrigerate ability. If they cannot survive this, then they will murder Volkner with a gigantic ice bomb to freeze him for eternity.
Justice always prevails
He is the Iceman. He is Executive Proton of Team Rocket. He is the Sword of Team Rocket that will smite any threats to the organisation to bring about a fair and just world for Kanto and her people.
Mega Glalie roared as it used this chance to go into close proximity with Volkner, who is trying his best to back off. Proton jumped off Mega Glalie and pounced on Volkner. He succeeded in using his own body to restrain him.
"Fuck! Scrat! Squeaky! Get him off me!"
Even when fatal blows rained on his body and blood gushed out from his wounds inflicted by Volkner's pokemon in their attempt to rescue their trainer, Proton endured and grabbed onto Volkner, not allowing him to take a single step. He's not going to let Volkner get out of this alive.
Justice always prevails.
Volkner is a large threat to Team Rocket. As Executive Proton, it is his duty to remove threats to the organisation at any costs necessary.
For the man who reached a hand out to him when the world had forsaken him.
"Join me."
"MEGA GLALIE! DO IT!"
"You are a good man, Olwen, I won't let anybody say otherwise."
For the man who pulled him out of that pit of madness and gave him a purpose to live once more.
"From here onwards, Proton, you will be Team Rocket's sword to smite down all who stands in our way. For our dream of freedom."
For the dreams that they share. For everything that they had done.
"I know I'm asking too much out of you, but I need you to help take down another threat for me. Can you do it, Proton?"
"I won't fail you, Sir. For the glory of Team Rocket."
For the creation of a fair and just world where people who need to be protected can be protected.
"I WON'T FAIL! FOR THE GLORY OF TEAM ROCKET! FOR JUSTICE! FOR KANTO! FOR A FAIR AND JUST WORLD! FOR OUR MOTHERLAND! DIE, VOLKNER!"
A wave of harsh frost was emitted from Mega Glalie before it swept across the entire area and erupted into an icy blast. The sword of Team Rocket fell for the last time to enact justice upon the world.
Justice always prevails
Pokemon and trainer list:
Volkner Tide: Ex Gym Leader of Sunyshore, Electric Specialist
Titles, Accolades and Achievements: Tie for First Place with Flint in the 521st Lily of the Valley Conference, Sinnoh's strongest Electric Specialist, The Sun of Sunyshore, The Yellow Flash
Pokemon Team:
1. Electivire (Franky), male
2. Luxray (Simba), male
3. Jolteon (Jo), female
4. Magnezone (ISpy), genderless
5. Gallade (Myst), male
6. Rhyperior (Tec), male
7. Probopass (North), female
8. Gyarados (Puddle), male
9. Raichu (Squeaky), female
10. Pachirisu (Scrat), male
11. Heliolisk (Bask), male
12. Ampharos (Fluffy), female
13. Vikavolt (Vik), female
14. Eelektross (Whirr), male
15. Lanturn (Glowy), female
16. Rotom (Prime), genderless
17. Porygon-Z (Jarvis), genderless
18. Alolan Golem, (Toss), male
19. Electrode (Boomer), genderless
Name: Olwen Lummiki
Team Rocket Executive Proton
Pokemon Team:
1. Cloyster
2. Dewgong
3. Lapras
4. Weavile
5. Mamoswine
6. Glalie
7. Walrein
8. Abomasnow
9. Beartic
10. Jynx
11. Avalugg
12. Cryogonal
13. Alolan Sandslash