AN: This chapter was updated/revised on December 17, 2019.

A Leap Towards the Truth

"The world is so broken and sometimes it leaves you cold.
At night times you can't feel the fire to guide you home.
The demons will harm you and try to steal what you know.
But the angels, they brought you, and they're gonna hold you up.
They're gonna hold you up."

Shane Harper

Day 48

Lucario and Mewtwo returned to camp late in the evening after taking the mini-vacation Annastasia suggested. She was determined not to have them do all the work, even though they insisted. She still considered the kids to be 'in training', and that meant they would have to learn how to survive on their own with only average Pokémon.

By the time they came back, everyone but Annastasia, Jay, Jezz, Michio, and Amber was asleep. The others had clocked out early, hoping that tomorrow they would be able to catch enough Pokémon to make up for the failures of their previous days.

"Just so you know, I'm going to bed soon. I trust you to not do anything stupid or dangerous, but I don't think I can fall asleep knowing you all aren't safe in your tents," Annastasia told the preteens.

"But A, I need to sharpen my arrows," said Amber. "They got blunt cuz I used them to catch all that fruit today. If I don't do it tonight and there is a cool Pokémon in the morning, I won't be able to use my arrow-and-net technique to capture it. And since none of us caught anything yet, I want to be especially ready. I won't wander far, I promise."

"I won't mind staying out here with Amber," said Jezz.

"Me neither," said Jay. "We'll protect one another."

"Fine. But I want to talk to Jezz privately before I turn in," Annastasia responded.

"Is it about the calls from Rita and Rumika?"

"How did you know?"

"They said they were going to help Jezz."

"We don't have to talk in private," said Jezz. "Anything you tell me you can tell everyone else, especially Amber and Jay."

"If you are sure, but we should get some distance. I don't want it to be poking its head into our business," Annastasia replied, gesturing towards Sandshrew's private tent.

"I am guessing you don't want me be involved either," said Michio.

"It does not matter to me," Jezz replied.

"It's fine. I'll see you later."

"Well, I have arrows to prepare," Amber told the group. "I'll wait for you all here."

"Me too. See ya later," said Jay.

Annastasia led Jezz away from the campsite. The two of them and their MVPokémon walked until they got to a small lake surrounded by rocks on which they could sit.

"I suppose they don't want to listen in anyway," Annastasia mused.

"I suppose not," Jezz replied.

Jezz took a seat next to Annastasia. She turned to face him and leaned forward slightly so that she could watch his face.

"Rumika and Rita told me that even though they haven't found out everything yet, they did talk to your last three foster parents and sent me the results of your genetic test," Annastasia began. "First, I think you should know that your foster families could not tell us much about your history."

Jezz's eyes were patient yet full of dread. She wondered why he seemed to know what she was going to say. She didn't want to admit it, but she sensed some distrust in him. She couldn't quite tell if it was him distrusting her or her distrusting him, but Jezz's aura revealed this secret to her nonetheless.

"I think you should also understand that many of your homes wanted to keep you but they couldn't afford it," Annastasia explained. "It's not that they didn't like you."

"It really felt like it though. Some of them were unkind," Jezz responded.

"Well, they were stupid jerks. If I were you, I'd have really given it to them," Amber replied, clenching her fists as she walked up next to them.

"I thought you were going to give us some space," Annastasia said as Amber and Jay took a seat between them.

"I overheard you talking, got interested."

"And I just followed her," said Jay.

"I am not aggressive. I would not be capable of beating people up people even if I wanted to," Jezz told Amber. "If I misbehaved, I risked going to a home that was even more unpleasant."

"What about the genetic testing? What did that say? Please tell us!"

"Of course, you of all people would be anxious to find out," Amber sniggered.

"Stoppit, Amb; I told you I got over it a longgggg time ago."

"What are you talking about?" Jezz inquired. "What did you get over?"

"It's nothing!"

"So, the thing with genetic testing is that it doesn't give sharp results," said Annastasia. "We can't just take a blood sample and be able to trace your entire family tree. But we know some things. For one, you are French and Japanese, just like my family."

"Duh. You can tell just by looking at him," Amber commented as she ruffled his hair. "It's like someone cloned a Jay-Jocelyn hybrid."

"It isn't always easy to tell," Jay corrected her.

"Let's move on," said Annastasia.

"I want to know if he is related to us. Can we get to that part now?"

"I have to explain something first. Can you two agree to stop interrupting? This is about Jezz, not you."

"Sorry, A," Jay and Amber responded.

Annastasia returned her attention to Jezz. "Remember how we talked about the Kapule Klan in Alola?"

"I think so. But I don't really understand why that is relevant," Jezz said hesitantly.

Annastasia sensed a fib but continued as if she hadn't.

"When families have generations of wealth, they tend to do everything possible to keep that money in the family. As a result, the heads of households strictly regulate marriages so that members only have kids with people whose families that they can respect. So, there are only a few lineages in existence, and most people are very, very distant cousins. Our family is like the Kapule Klan, where if you trace it back, you'll see everything blurs."

"Why is she torturing me like this?" Jay whispered to Amber. "I just want to know if he's my—"

"Shhh!" Amber interrupted. She placed a hand over his mouth. "I wanna hear."

"People in these types of aristocratic families often marry into their families. It isn't unusual for someone to marry their fifth or sixth cousins in these kinds of situations because it is an efficient way to keep money on the family. This means that families with wealth are linked in ways that average families typically aren't. So, you are related to us, but distantly. Does that make sense?"

"But…WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!?" Jay obnoxiously queried.

"Chill, Jaybird," Amber said as she grabbed his shoulders. "Calm the chirps."

"It means that unless we want to round up every French and/or Japanese person in the world and give them either a maternity or paternity test, we won't know exactly who his parents are," Annastasia responded.

Jezz bowed. "I appreciate your effort so very much."

"That sucks," said Amber. "There's gotta be another way."

"What about um…our other aunt?" said Jay. "Can't you like…ask her?"

"Rumika has an older sister, but she isn't really a part of our lives," Annastasia said after Jezz raised his eyebrows.

"You think that she is my mother though, don't you?" Jezz responded. "Please be honest."

"It's a possibility. But that is a difficult road for us to go down. Not only for the people helping you but for you too. She wasn't a good person and we would need to talk to her and get her consent. And also, the test as a forty percent chance of being inaccurate, and I highly doubt she will tell us the truth. We would be much better off finding your father, then going from there."

"Can't Team Rocket just change the rules to avoid all this legal stuff?" asked Jay. "I thought Team Rocket could do whatever they wanted."

"Not when things cross regions. Team Rocket isn't the only organization in the world with power. We are going to find ourselves dealing with some extremely wealthy and powerful people. That could be dangerous in itself."

"You think she was a bad person. Why? What did she do? You told me before that you believed there was no such thing as bad people," Jezz asserted.

"Some things are hard to forgive, and even after you forgive someone, you can't forget what happened. She is one of those people."

"Have you met her?"

"Yes. Twice, actually."

"You never told me that," said Amber.

"I never had a reason to."

"What was she like?" Jezz inquired. "What is her name? Please don't hide things from me. Shouldn't I get to know too?"

Amber and Jay looked at Annastasia pointedly. Jezz asked the question she was hoping to avoid, because there was only one true answer to give. She gave a frustrated sigh before continuing.

"Her name is Jessiebelle," said Annastasia. "The first time I went I was three, and my dad decided to take me to see my grandparents. He thought that since a few years had gone by since he last saw them things would have cooled down and that they wouldn't be as angry as they were in the past."

"So, did you go to her house? Where do they live? What happened to make them angry at you?" Jezz asked.

"They are in jail: my grandparents, Rumika's parents, and Rumika's sister. They hate our family. That was true when I went at age three and when I returned at age eight. They not only hate us, they also hate Amber's family. In fact, they hate June, Soledad, Takeshi, Tamaki, Benny, Alex, and basically every single one of our friends' families too, since they are the ones who sent them there."

"Sent them there?"

"They put themselves there," said Jay.

"They clearly don't see it that way," Annastasia replied. "They did many things that hurt my family. Things that gave permanent scars to all of us."

Jezz looked down, frustrated and confused.

"He wants to hear the story. Tell him, A," Jay insisted.

"I want to tell you it all but it's a long, hard, story and I am not sure where to start," said Annastasia. "I can give you a summary, but we might still be here a while and I don't know if I can explain it right."

"Can you try? For me?" Jezz asked.

"Yes, I can try."

"Mind if I join?" Maya asked as she appeared among the shadows, Michio beside her.

"If Jezz thinks it's okay."

"I don't mind," he replied.

"I'll be direct with this. I want you to know that this is everything that I know. There's plenty I don't."

"Okay."

The others made room for Maya and Michio to join their circle, then Annastasia, though reluctant, proceeded with her telling.

"My father's family and Jessiebelle's families were business partners," she said. "They were responsible for funding Team Rocket for as long as Team Rocket has been around. My other grandmother, Miyamoto Tonaka, is the deceased twin sister of Rumika and Jessiebelle's mother. She was forcibly engaged to a person she didn't love and ran away to join Team Rocket as a grunt. She rose up in the ranks and became infamous. A few years after her escape from the Winchester household, her family found out what she was up to. Back then Team Rocket was a criminal organization. Working for them considered wrong and only for desperate, lower class people. Although the Winchesters and Morgans funded Team Rocket, they wanted to keep everything on the down low, and they absolutely did not want one of their own to be joining the ranks as an agent. She had a child, my mother, and while my mother was still very young, Miyamoto disappeared while on a mission to find the legendary Mew that was supposedly located in the mountains near the Tree of Beginning. Miyamoto was pronounced dead, and Team Rocket took custody of my mom. They kept her last name as 'Tonaka' so that she couldn't be traced back to the Winchesters. My mother was too young to be an agent, and after staying in a few foster homes, they sent her to Pokémon Tech. Make sense so far?"

Jezz and the others nodded.

"What about your father?" Jezz asked.

"My father's parents formalized the engagement of him to Jessiebelle while he was still very young, four or five years old. Though they were once friends, Jessiebelle soon started treating him cruelly whenever he acted 'out-of-order'. He ran away from home while he was still in elementary school. Miyamoto and a few other Team Rocket agents found him lost in the snow, and rather than return him to his parents, they enrolled him in Pokémon Tech under the assumption that he would join Team Rocket once he was older and had gone through training. My grandmother and a few other agents noticed his aura reading ability, and figured once he got older, he would be useful to them."

"Weird. Is that the same aura ability you have?" Amber queried.

"Yes. I suppose that's where I got it from…Jezz, any questions so far?"

"I understand," he murmured. "You may continue."

"My father and mother met at Pokémon Tech. At this point, they were both basically orphans, and both were forced to be there by Team Rocket, though for different reasons. They became friends. The other kids treated neither of them very kindly, and neither of them liked the schoolwork, so as preteens they ran away together. They spent a long time on their own until they joined a bicycle gang. Lexi and Nolan's mothers were in the same gang. Lexi's aunt became good friends with my mother, and they stayed in the gang for a while. Once they got a bit older, my mom found a boyfriend, Danny. He got her involved in drinking, and later she became an alcoholic and addicted to drugs. Eventually completely blew off my dad and everyone else in the gang to go travel with this guy, who was helping her make money selling drugs and—among other things."

"That doesn't sound like your mother."

"Sometimes people don't make the best decisions, especially when they're desperate. It took her several years to get out of that abusive relationship. She paid a high price for safety and freedom and still has the ghosts around her. She eventually made it back to Team Rocket. There she was reunited with my father, who had joined Team Rocket because he ran out of places to hide, and he had a feeling my mother was in the same boat. They were paired, with Meowth as their Pokémon, who soon proved he was more than capable of being the third leg of a new trio. They decided to throw away the past to start again and existed for many years as each other's closest friend. Despite all of this, my father never told my mother about his background. He told her he ran away from home but never explained how he was the only son of millionaires, engaged to a woman who wanted to control him, and that his crazy family was on the lookout for his return."

"I bet she wasn't happy when she found out. How did she find out?"

"They stumbled across his mansion one day, the same building that is now Delia's Pokémon hospital. And since they were still in the business of trying to capture Ash Ketchum's Pokémon, he, Misty, and Takeshi's father also witnessed this. After they discovered that my papa was a Team Rocket grunt, they were even more determined to contain him. Jessiebelle used her Vileplume to assault him, scaring and traumatizing him. After their first reunion, my father escaped from Jessiebelle and continued to work for Team Rocket, mostly stalking Amber's dad for his rare Pikachu."

"Amber already told me that part. I can't believe she did that to him."

"Good things don't always happen to good people."

"I am so sorry for your father. Did he see her again?"

"Several times, with the same goal always in mind. The most disturbing part about all this is that she is almost identical to my mother. The only difference is that she has green eyes. They could easily pass as twin sisters, and my mother even impersonated Jessiebelle once in an attempt to trick his parents into handing over his inheritance, which they told him he would only get if he married her. Jessiebelle spent the next four and a half years pursuing him until she effectively kidnapped him. After Amber, Takeshi, Soledad, and June's parents helped to rescue him, and it became obvious to everyone involved that Jessiebelle was more dangerous than she seemed on the surface. Meanwhile, the Morgans and Winchesters were angry with Team Rocket, Giovanni in particular, for protecting my father. They wanted him to marry Jessiebelle to establish a bond that would keep both families' money secure, and he was preventing them from doing that by allowing him to stay in Team Rocket under his protection. They also disapproved of the way Team Rocket was spending their money and started withdrawing funds. Later, we learned that those funds were being re-allotted to a new gang know as Team Firestar. In the meantime, my parents got together, and not long after that, I was born. The Winchesters and Morgans weren't happy about that at all."

Annastasia avoided eye contact with Michio, who was staring at her. He seemed to be absorbing her words, maybe making connections between her parents' situation and theirs.

"I inadvertently threw a lot of chaos into an already desperate and crazy situation," said Annastasia. "Team Firestar had become a real threat at this point, and they kidnapped, tortured, and manipulated my parents. In fact, they punished me too, since my health was also damaged by the situation. Later it became the metaphorical straw that broke the camel's back. My parents, under Team Rocket's jurisdiction, sued, and then there was a small war between Team Firestar and Team Rocket, with Team Rocket emerging as the victors. Jessiebelle, her parents, my grandparents, and everyone who worked for Team Firestar went to jail, and they are still there. Sure, a few of them snuck out, even Jessiebelle herself, but they are all back there now, and they are not getting out anytime soon."

"I am sorry," Jezz murmured. "I truly hope they are not my family."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. We don't want you to think that you are unwelcome here. That isn't true at all."

"We only care about who you are, Jezz. We don't care about what other people did. Hey, you might not even be related to them. A and I know we are," said Jay.

"I think being related to criminals makes you more unique," said Amber.

"Almost everyone's family is messed up. Mine is, theirs is, yours probably is. It's just another dumb thing to deal with," said Michio.

"I very much appreciate this talk," Jezz said with a bow. "I will be going to bed now."

"We can talk more if you want," said Annastasia. "This is a lot to go to bed with. You probably have a lot of hard, confusing feelings."

"I know I do," said Jay.

"I am fine. Goodnight."

Jezz got up and started to walk away. The other kids followed, but Michio and Annastasia watched him for a few moments. Jezz still seemed deeply disturbed.

"I hope I didn't just destroy him," Annastasia whispered to Michio.

"You didn't," said Maya.

"I almost forgot you were here. What do you mean?"

"I think it was kind of you to share that story, even if it was tragic and difficult for Jezz to hear. I honestly never heard the whole story until now."

"That wasn't really the whole story, but it was the gist."

"Nevertheless, I think it was a great thing to tell him that, even though it was painful. I know what it is like to want to find your parents, and what it is like to be a drifter of sorts."

"You should talk to Jezz at some point. You have a wonderful way with words, and I know you can help him."

"I will, someday. I am going to meet with Lily now. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Annastasia, Michio, and their Pokémon said before Maya walked back into the night.

"I am sorry for…not talking to him…" Michio told Annastasia. "I shoulda said something useful."

"I didn't expect you to say anything, and I don't think he did either," she replied.

"I feel bad for him. How are you supposed to talk to a kid like that?"

"He is in the right spot now. He sticks like glue to Amber and Jay, and hopefully, this will continue. Rumika and Rita are going to keep looking. There are clearly people we don't know about, and that is going to make the search all the more interesting."

XO

Jezz climbed into the tent he was sharing with Amber and Jay. As always, his Delcatty shifted so that he could lie down in his bag. Amber entered a few moments later. She sat down and started sharpening her arrows.

"Are you okay?" she inquired.

"Yes," he replied.

"Liar."

"I suppose I just had some hopes that were a bit too high. I should have known this wouldn't be black and white. Where's Jay?"

"Getting washed up. He is probably going to be a while…but I'm here."

"Yeah. Amber, I am starting to rethink this whole situation."

"What whole situation?"

"This situation of digging up my roots. If my mother is that woman, then that means she didn't keep me because she was an awful criminal. She will probably take one look at me and decided that she wants to reject me all over again. I don't want that to happen because I don't want to be rejected again."

Amber was momentarily lost for words. Comforting people was not her strong point, and she never met anyone quite like Jezz. She felt she had to invent a new language for him, but for now, she felt she could only agree with what he was telling her and try to offer some of the small pieces of wisdom she had gathered from others.

"Just so you know, no one is forcing you to do this. It won't break A's heart if you decide to forget about this whole search thing," Amber assured him.

"I want to know who they are, I just don't want them to be criminals," I sighed.

"I can't help you with that."

"I always feel better after I tell you things."

"It always helps to have someone around."

"May I…?"

Jezz moved closer to him. Amber nodded an approval, sensing what he was going to do. For the first time ever, he initiated a hug. Amber returned it. They stuck together for several long—though not as awkward as they expected—long minutes.

"You are one of my favorite people," Jezz whispered. "I feel bad hiding from you."

"What do you mean by 'hiding'?" she asked suspiciously.

Jezz was about to answer when Jay entered the tent. He let go of Amber and folded his hands in his lap.

"Is everything okay?" Jay asked, noticing Jezz's sullen expression.

"Sorta. We were just talking," said Amber.

"We thought you'd be gone for a while," said Jezz. "We thought you were going down to the river to wash."

"I did. I just did it really quickly," Jay replied. "I didn't want A to be worrying about me. So, whatcha talking about?"

"I am nervous about finding my parents. I don't know if I should bother to keep searching."

"If I were you, I would definitely want to know."

"I don't know what I am supposed to do."

Outside their tent, Michio overheard the last part of their conversation. He shared the information he gathered with Annastasia.

"Should I talk to him more? I feel like I should've said more," Annastasia whispered.

"I think you did an excellent job," he whispered back. "If I did it, I would've fucked it all up."

"I suppose… he'll be fine as long as we keep on reassuring him that he is accepted and welcome here."

Annastasia and Michio walked past the tent that June, Jocelyn, and their Pokémon were sharing with Lily and Maya and joined Bleu, Lil-G, Peruva, Plusle, and Minun in their own. A moment after they got settled, Benny came stumbling inside.

"What's wrong?" Annastasia asked the eight-year-old.

"I, um…can't sleep," he murmured.

"Is someone snoring?"

"No, it's nothing like that." He paused for a while. "I just miss my family. I wish Tamaki was here."

"It's already ten and sometimes they have to get up early for the geo-catching; I don't think we should call him now. I promise we can do it in the morning. Would you like to call your parents?"

"No, um, it's because I'm scared."

"Scared of what?"

"I'm afraid that the storm will get us again."

"It isn't going to rain tonight. Do you want to stay in here with us?"

"…Yes."

Annastasia stood. "Let's get your pillow and blanket. You can sleep next to me."

Annastasia walked Benny back to his tent. Takeshi and all his Pokémon were already fast asleep. They took his stuff and returned to the tent. Michio had moved their stuff so that there was room for him to settle down.

"Thanks, but…um, please don't tell Jocelyn," Benny said as he crawled underneath his blanket. "She'll think I'm a baby."

"There is nothing wrong with being scared," Annastasia assured him. "And we won't tell Jocelyn anything, even though she wouldn't care if you got scared. It happens to everyone."

"Okay." He shut his eyes and tried to find rest. "Goodnight."

XO

At 1:00 am Jezz was once again joggled awake by an uncomfortably realistic nightmare. He produced a girlish yelp, then turned and kicked the closest thing to him, which happened to be Jay's stomach. Jezz immediately realized what he had done.

"Geeze, Jezz, I know you're upset, but kicks to the stomach?" Jay asked teasingly after he recovered from the blow.

"I am so sorry. I had a dream that—wait, what year is it?" Jezz questioned.

"Year? It's 2033, Jezz. We haven't been asleep for that long."

"Oh, yes, of course…I am so sorry for kicking you. I thought you were someone else."

"Someone else? You okay? You don't look okay."

"I was tricked by my Xatu."

The boys looked over at Xatu, who was pretending to sleep in the corner next to Porygon. Xatu felt their eyes, scowled, then exited the tent.

"Toggeeee," Togekiss sighed sadly.

"I think you should use some of that happiness magic on us right now. Xatu too," Jay told Togekiss.

"Togekissss!"

Togekiss released his charm, calming and warming all who felt it.

"Togekiss must be the most wonderful of your Pokémon," said Jezz.

"We've been together the longest," Jay replied. "He gets me."

"Toge," Togekiss affirmed.

"Come to think of it, Togekiss does a pretty good job of keeping my negative thoughts away. Maybe he can do it for you too. What do you think, buddy?"

Togekiss nodded and sang joyfully.

"Togekiss makes me worry less with his special ability, so I get good dreams—and good sleep."

'I wish I knew that sooner,' Jezz thought.

"I am sorry for kicking you," said Jezz. "Were you having a good dream?"

Jay smiled embarrassingly. "Yes…really good, actually."

"What was it about?"

"Umm…ha, just one of those crush dreams. You know, when you dream about your favorite celebrities. One of those."

"I've never had a dream like that. Which celebrity?"

Jay had a feeling Jezz was genuinely interested, and since he loved to talk, he decided to reveal more.

"Misha Koanner," Jay giggled, burying his face afterward.

"I have never heard of her before," Jezz responded. "That is funny though, to like someone you never met in person before. I bet she is very pretty though, and that is why you like her."

"Oh yeah, except Misha is a guy."

"Oh, well, guys can be pretty too, don't you think?"

"I think we were meant to be together." Jay wrapped an arm around Jezz. "Maybe you are my long-lost twin. Twins run in my family, and I wouldn't put it past my parents to lose one twin at the hospital."

"That would be rather funny if that were true."

"Can you keep it down? A woman needs her sleep," Amber grumbled.

Amber appeared to be in a trance-like state, and without opening her eyes, she whacked both Jezz and Jay with her pillow. Then she turned back around and curled back into her favorite sleeping position.

"The worse thing ever happened the other day," Jay whispered into Jezz's ear.

He eyed Amber nervously, as if he was afraid she would hear what he had to say. Jezz leaned in closer.

"What happened?" he inquired.

"She…that girl thing happened to Amber," he whispered, keeping his eye on Amber the entire time.

"What girl thing? You will have to be more specific."

Jay was mildly frustrated. He regretted bringing it up but it seemed too late to turn back now.

"That thing that happens when they grow up. The puberty stuff," he added with a shudder.

"Why is that the worst thing ever?" Jezz asked.

"Because…I dunno…I guess it isn't. I feel bad for her because...because I do. She was in a lot of pain before…I also guess that I am worried that she will grow up faster than me and leave me behind."

"I feel sorry for Amber too. Maybe we should get her a present."

Jay yawned. "It is 1:00 am, you wake up from a nightmare, kick me in your delusional state, we talk about Misha, decide that we are soul brothers, and now we are talking about getting Amber a period gift? Is this real?"

"This is better than returning to my nightmare."

"I think if we get Amber a period gift, she'll give both of us a punch in the crotch."

"I can hear you both and if you don't shut up, I'll kick you both in the crotch, sympathy present or not. So, go to sleep…now," Amber ordered.

Jezz and Jay sheepishly lied back down in their sleeping bags. Though Jezz and Jay's bags were lined up together, Amber had pushed hers to the far end of the tent, with Pip, Pidgeotto, Togekiss, and Meganium between her and the boys.

"This trip is just a series of unfortunate events," Jay quietly ranted.

"Things could always be worst," Jezz whispered.

XO

In The Next Chapter:

- Soledad and her friends discuss the mystery of Mimikyu

- Some of the young trainers catch Pokémon (finally, it's about time)

- Jocelyn and Amber assess Michio's so-called behavior evolution

XO

Trivia:

- Several of the scenes in this chapter are retold in Chapter 78 'A+ JezzAmb' of my story The Journal. There is more of a focus on the entire group in this telling whereas The Journal version is only Jezz's perspective.

- The lyrics at the beginning of this chapter are from the song 'Hold You Up' by Shane Harper.