Side Story 05/05 – Brent Jackson
Kanto Region – Pewter City – The Savior's HQ
"Muwahahaha!" The lord of chaos laughed as he held our heroes in the palm of his ginormous hand large enough to crush an entire city. "You foolish mortals, do you have any idea how petty and weak you are against the lord of chaos?" His evil voice would intimidate most, but not the four heroes. They stood and looked up at the demonic being known as the lord of chaos with their chosen Pokemon and-
"Hey, Brent!" A voice of a younger member of the Savior's had stopped me from writing at my desk. I turned from my laptop to find two young Savior's wearing their suits. "Still thinking about become a writer? Keep trying, 'cause you will still suck at it, loser!" And the two along with a few others in the break room laughed with them. I ignored them and let them walk away. The old me would've yelled back somethin' harsh at 'em, maybe got up to scare 'em off. Instead I ignored 'em and everyone else with the things they said to me.
The names Brent Jackson, spiky red hair, buff build, slightly tanned skin, and now thirty years old. I still work as a Savior in my home region of Kanto as a rank 02. After getting back from stopping Team Annihilation Reborn, everyone treats me differently now. From a guy you could get along with no problem, to a guy you see as a traitor and dangerous man to the Savior's.
When Devon called me and Lisa to come to the Unova region to help Zack and Espeon fight Team Annihilation Reborn and save his friends and family I was more than up for it, wanting to help the little guy finally settle down with Aqua and his children after all he has been through. But the problem was with my boss. He ordered me to stay here within the region until Team Annihilation Reborn had been dealt with. But I wasn't going to wait around, my friend needed me, and so I left my region to help Zack out.
The battle with Team Annihilation Reborn was tough and we defeated them and Shiny Latias in the end, but not without losing Espeon and Latias. It had taken time for us to recover, but we managed. Returning home back to The Savior's I expected something to that of a celebration for my heroic act on helping out to defeat our greatest enemy, Team Annihilation our enemy for many years was no more, and I was met with cold stares and resentment.
My bosses were not happy that I left the region when I did. I disobeyed orders and put this region at risk from Team Annihilation Reborn. Team Annihilation Reborn had said it would never come to the Kanto region if they never got involved with Zack or them. I said that the region of Unova was being controlled by our old enemy, and that they were hurting and killing many folks without mercy. With a fist slammed on the desk to shut me up, the boss gave me the final warning not to disobey them again or act out of line, or that'll be it for me. Working at a desk most days filing paper work from ten to two isn't all that bad. The real downside to working here is that everyone I work with treats me that I did a terrible thing.
A Savior helps people and Pokemon in need, we save people. We protect them. The people and Pokemon of Unova needed us. I highly doubt Team Annihilation Reborn and Shiny Latias would simply forget about us if she ever won the battle. World domination is my bet on what she might've done. I only did what I thought was right, I couldn't just abandon my friends and Unova.
I glanced at my story I wrote. A bizarre seven paged unfinished story about the heroes of light fighting a demon in a made up world I thought up on the spot. Still listening as the people in the break room still laughing at that insult to me by those two losers, I glared at the screen and deleted my story and shut the laptop down to get back to work. 'Do what you're told, Mr. Jackson. Otherwise you will face the consequences.' That's what I always did, I listened to my bosses, ever since I came back.
"Me a writer? Maybe they're right about me never becoming one. What I saw when I travelled through time when Infinite was trying to take over all them years ago, I saw a book I wrote, or would write in the future, that my books were best sellers. They were most likely talking about some other guy named Brent Jackson."
I was in my office finishing up my paperwork for the day and then I could call a taxi and head on home, get a beer or two and relax before catching some shut eye. I only had a couple of areas to sign on the paper that would only take a couple of minutes, so I stopped for a while and glanced out of the window to see the city below. My office floor being near the top allowed me and others working here to get an amazing view of the city. I was surprised I could still keep this office after going awol on 'em. It was better than those small cubicle offices cramped up with others down on the floor below me; at least here I could enjoy the silence.
Every time I had at least one file left to fill in and call it a day for some reason I would stop for a moment and just stare right out the window. Maybe I missed being out there rather than being stuck in this place all day, maybe out there I would find my calling. I sighed and went back to finishing up my work to get on home fast enough.
I don't know much 'bout fate and all, if certain events are meant to happen, but if I never got back to finishing up my work and leaving when I did, I may not have had a meeting with the bosses the next day, all because of an encounter with two Savior members that called me a loser earlier that day out in the stairwell.
I always walked up and down the stairwell, never going in the elevator. Forty floors is the amount I have to climb every day, I found going up and down the stairs help keep me in shape for a little while. But on as soon as I had finished up work I left my office and continued my forty floor descent down to the lobby, only to run into the two Savior members at the halfway point, standing there as if waiting for me. Clive was the brown haired guy, a rank 05 I think he was. Ronald the black haired guy, shorter than Clive by a foot. Not sure what rank he was. Before I could walk past 'em Clive stopped me by spreading his arms out. Those two guys, every work place has 'em; the so-called tough guy, the thug, the loudmouth you'd hate to work with. They never did much work, they acted like kids most times, throwing things, getting into a temper tantrum for some reason, name calling. And for some reason The Savior's hired 'em.
"Hey, you ain't allowed to come down these stairs." Clive said.
"Yeah, do it or we'll make you." Threatened Ronald as he clenched his fists.
"So you two are stopping me from going down these stairs now, huh?" I shook my head, finding this just ridiculous. Most times I would ignore 'em since they would only name call or throw things, but never before had they done something like this. I tried to walk past 'em, but they still prevented me from walking down the stairs.
"Didn't you hear us?" Ronald grunted. "Walk back up the stairs. Only real Savior's can walk down them. You ain't a real Savior. You're a traitor. Risking our lives for your stupid friends."
Resisting my urge to beat him to a pulp, I held back. "It wasn't just my friends I went back for. But as a Savior I did all I could to save the lives of the people and Pokemon of the Unova region. They needed us, so as a Savior I went back for 'em. You wouldn't understand what it means to be a Savior."
Ronald seemed to be taken offence by that and then yelled at me, spitting in between each word. "You turned your back on us, you coward! You don't deserve to be one of us!"
"I heard one of his friends died." Clive smirked. Anymore words about Espeon or anyone else would set me off. "I heard about his friend, an Espeon getting killed, must have been pathetically weak if they went up against Team-" And they did. A lot of things happened in that short span of time, I wasn't proud of what I did, but they had it coming. Clive and Ronald, well I can tell ya they never did yell stuff, bother me or prevent me from walking down or up stairs anymore. I'd say that was the good thing about it. The bosses weren't all that happy about my actions and called me to go and see 'em in their office the next morning.
My bosses, three of 'em sat behind the same large desk in front of a large window, all staring at me with either a disappointed look or a glare. From left to right was a woman in her mid fifties named Suzan Sinclair, worked with the company for a good twenty nine years next month. Long kept back hair by one of those hair things, and red rimmed glasses. Josh Cunningham and about the same age as Suzan by four months, worked fifteen years. He was bald, and his eyes were barely visible. Peter Keenan, age forty-one worked ten years, rarely ever said much, but when he did he would usually start off with a sigh.
You would talk to all three of 'em if you wanted to become a Savior for the Kanto region, a promotion to the next rank, a job opportunity to work elsewhere for bigger and brighter things. But today wasn't any of the three. If you did something bad, you could get fired. And since I was now walking on thin ice with 'em, I thought that's what would happen.
"Brent Jackson," Suzan Sinclair spoke placing my documents down in front of her. "You have been working with us for some time now. You have finished your missions, paperwork on time, and never once late to work. But your record isn't clean; arguing with co-workers, threats made to them throughout the years, ignoring the commands of your superiors, risking our lives for your friends fighting Team Annihilation Reborn, and sending two young Savior's to the hospital? I'm surprised we haven't thrown you out by now."
Peter sighed. "The young men in question admitted to us they prevent you from walking down the stairs, they enraged you and so you broke their noses."
"I uh, admit they did enrage me. But they insulted my friend who isn't with us anymore. I wasn't going to allow them to insult her."
"By breaking their noses?" Josh asked, and then scoffed. "You're a Savior, Mr. Jackson. We do not start fights. Maybe consult a psychologist if you are suffering from anger issues or some other mental problem."
"Psychologist? Mental problem? Man, I always hated that guy. It's you guys who have the problem around here." I thought as I kept a straight face, staring at the glaring faces of my bosses.
"We will be speaking about your future with us, if you deserve another chance. But right now we prefer you to be out of the building until the time we have decided." Josh Cunningham slid another paper from his side of the desk out towards me. "We have a mission for you to do."
"I uh, I don't get it. Why am I given a mission now after what I did to 'em kids?"
"Ronald and Clive are known to being loud and aggressive on rare occasions." A silently scoffed the word 'rare' "It isn't the first time they have engaged in another fight with another member within or out of the building. With this mission we are giving you we are trying to understand where it is you might fit in; here or out there. Paperwork needs to be done here in this building. Missions are for out there where we believe you should be until the matter is resolved. This mission should be done by tonight if you leave now."
Peter sighed as he took out another sheet of paper from the folder. "You must escort a young woman by the name of Keiko Takamura. Born in the Kanto region from Pallet town. You mission is to escort her from here to Lavender Town. A small group you might have heard on the news of late known as The Chasers are after her for unknown reasons."
"Yeah, I heard 'bout 'em on the news. Heard things 'bout 'em, not nice things; killing, violence." These guys known as The Chasers suddenly popped up out of nowhere a year after Zack and Aqua left this world for another one, a mission for Arceus I believe. They were a small team only appearing within Kanto, wearing white tights and shirts with a red cape and mask, quite the colourful bunch if you ask me. But their crazy costumes despite how silly and goofy they looked didn't mean they weren't all dangerous; picking people and Pokemon off the streets and attacking 'em at first, then the killings happened week later. No one knew why they showed up, and no one knew they did these things. These Chasers give their targets a warning of sorts, a letter with the words 'You're next' written in red, and would usually take two to three days until they strike.
"Keiko had been targeted by The Chasers and has asked us to help her with them. That is where you come in. You must escort her to Lavender town where an ambush of other members of the Savior's will be waiting. We are hoping the young woman will help lure out these thugs and we can bring 'em to justice."
"So you're treating her like bait to these cape wearing psychos?"
"We didn't say that." Josh Cunningham shrugged. "But wouldn't you like for these cape wearing psychos off the streets? She's downstairs waiting for you. So get moving. Walk to the town, don't use public travel or get a taxi there. We need to draw them out." Clearing his throat, Josh Cunnginham added with a smug. "Remember Mr. Jackson, do as you're told. Just remember you are already walking on thin ice."
"Yes sir, ma'am, sir." I said before taking the mission summary while heading out of the room to begin with the mission. But when I left the room and shutting the door, I stood there and sighed, relieved that I wasn't fired yet, and that was when I started to hear their voices behind the doors.
"What a thug, I knew we should never have hired him and his friends. They only brought us trouble and nothing much else." I heard Josh Cunningham's voice seconds after I had closed the door.
"Can't argue with that. Anger problems, destructive, arrogant, and uncontrollable Pokemon, the list goes on." Suzan Sinclair agreed with him, followed by the sighing of Peter Keenan talking about how it would be better off if I was away from the building until they figure out what to do with me. "That man is a problem. He has no future with us. I don't see it. So keep him away from us until then."
Josh huffed. "A man like him, I don't see him ever having a future here or out there."
I turned back at the door and re\ached for the handles of the door, wanting to open it and give 'em a piece of my mind. But instead I walked away towards the stairs. At least I would be away from that building. Right now I had a mission to do, hoping it would clear my mind, that it would give me time to think.
Why did I take it? Why didn't I say something when I had the chance? If I did I would have given them a piece of my mind and then some, thrown out by security and then I wouldn't have met her.
The Savior's HQ – Lobby
Walking down the stairs and arriving at the lobby, all I had to do was find this woman named Keiko, which proved to be a long process since there were about thirty other women in here, most crowding the reception desk and others at down on the chairs waiting for either a Savior to call them up for a meeting perhaps, or one of 'em was Keiko.
"Ah, the hell with this." A normal person would simply ask around or get one of the receptionists to call her. But since I am who I am, I stood up on one of the tables and yelled out. "Keiko Takamura, is there a Keiko Takamura here?! I repeat, I'm lookin' for a Keiko Takamura!"
As with anyone they would turn in shock or confusion at a guy standing and shouting up on a table. Almost everyone stared at me in silence and murmured to each other, possibly saying something along the lines of 'What's his deal?'
'Is he crazy or something?' 'If this is how things are like in this place then I am out!' after I noticed a few of 'em leave the building. Then some of 'em giggled and one of the receptionists ordered me down off the table and to keep my voice down. But none of 'em walked up to me to tell me they were the one I was waiting for. Hopping off the table, I began to suspect Keiko was waiting for me outside, so I started to walk towards the exit to check if she was out there. But not even one step was I stopped when I heard a woman asking me;
"Excuse me, but are you the one I'm supposed to be meeting here?" I turned around to find a woman standing behind me. It didn't take long for me to realize she was KeikoTakamura I was looking for. Mid back length brunette hair, green eyes, pale skin, and a few scars I noticed on her cheek. She was wearing a red t-shirt, light blue pants with a little tear in them around the knee caps, white shoes slightly dirty. I noticed she had a Pokeball attached to her belt.
I did catch a glimpse of her document on the way down to the lobby before about her, what she did for a living. I found out she was a breeder in Viridian City. Nothing in the document explained why these Chaser guys were after her. They never did give a reason for their actions, nothing to go by so far.
She was beautiful and was taken aback when I first saw her. I only stared at her for a little while before she snapped m back to reality by waving her hand out in front of me. "Um, hello? Are you all right?"
"Yup! I'm good. Just checkin' to uh, make sure you're the one I was lookin' for." I chuckled. "My name is Brent Jackson. S-so uh, I'm supposed to be escorting you to Lavender Town?"
"That's right." She said as we made our way out of the building and outside. "They told me about my situation, with The Chasers after me. Isn't anyone else coming with us?"
I sighed and shook my head. "No. It's just you and me from here to Lavender Town." I decided to keep the little thing about how these fuckers wanted to use her as bait to lure her out into the open so they can catch these guys. I knew these roads. They were quite busy and full of people. I expected to run into one or two of 'em and The Savior's would turn up and take 'em in, and Keiko would be fine. I noticed she was looking a little nervous. Just me and her walking to the town knowing these Chasers are after her. So I told her things would be fine and there wouldn't be anything to worry about.
"Keiko, I have been with The Savior's for a long time. I have done missions like this before, and every time I have made sure the escort is safely taken to their destination without problems." I grabbed one of my three Pokeball's off my belt and showed it to her. "My Pokemon and I can handle anything that comes our way."
She smiled, maybe feeling relieved that I was the one to help her get to Lavender Town. At least I hoped so. I wanted to know that with me around she would safe from The Chasers. "You can trust us with this. Me and my Pokemon have dealt with a lot of bad guys worse than these Chasers."
"Good to know. I trust you will get me to the town safely." We continued walking towards the exit of the city. "Do all members of The Savior's have Pokemon?" She asked, pointing at my Pokeballs.
"Not all members have 'em, it is optional for all of us, but they do help out a lot on our missions; helping us track down the enemy or a target, they keep us safe, and with their moves they can help get by obstacles or create paths. Savior members travel alone for days or weeks at a time. Travelling with 'em is a lot better than travelling alone." I grabbed Seviper's Pokebal from my belt and asked her. "Wanna check out one of my Pokemon?"
"Yeah, okay. Show me what you have?"
With a smirk, I stopped and I threw the ball up and out came Seviper out in front of us with a hiss.
"I-is that a Seviper? I have read so much about them. They're not from this region." She gasped.
I knelt down and gestured for her to do the same. "Seviper, come here." Seviper did as he was told and slithered over to us. Seviper lowered its head and allowed Keiko to pet his head. "I got him from this region. His old trainer was someone who once lived in Saffron City. He was dying and was looking for someone to look after Seviper. I was in the neighborhood at the time and he walked over to me and asked if I was interested. Before I could tell the guy he told me about his condition, how he couldn't find anyone, how he wanted someone to look after his friend after he died. Now I never had a Pokemon of my own, never considered ever having one. But seeing this little guy, I said to myself 'aw, why the heck not!' and so here we are."
"He looks healthy." She said as she stroked Seviper head before lightly stroking his lower jaw, something that made Seviper happy and proceeded to wrap its body around her.
"Wha—hey you giant rope! Don't crush her, she's our friend!"
Keiko giggled. "It's all right, he isn't hurting me. This is his way of showing me affection." Seviper rested his head on her shoulder for a little bit before it unravelled off of Keiko.
"Huh? They do that to show their… huh, I always thought he was trying to crush me to death whenever he tried that. I always thought he hated the foods I gave to him." I scratched the back of my head. "How did you know?"
"I'm a Pokemon breeder. I have to know these things, how each Pokemon reacts to certain things and how they show affection." Seviper slithered towards me and lowered his head and let me pet his head a little before I returned him into his Pokeball.
"You know, there was this Espeon I once knew who gave us all nicknames." We stood up and continued to walk to the exit of the city. "I hated it at the time, she called me Bent. I suppose that was her way on showing her affection for us."
"Bent?" She laughed. "Wait, she called you Bent, do you mean she can talk?"
"Yep, she learnt the language of humans, and she acted as a translator for Pokemon speech now and then."
"Wow, I would love to meet her. I would have so many questions to ask."
"She uh, she isn't with us anymore." I sighed, thinking of Espeon. "She died not too long ago."
"I see, I'm sorry to hear that."
"If we get the chance, I'll show you a video I recorded of Espeon telling jokes."
"I'm looking forward to it." I never told her how she died or who was responsible for her death. Talking 'bout Team Annihilation Reborn always did remind me of the bad things that happened during our fight against them, always made me all angry and sad about things, made me lose concentration. So I just thought back to Espeon's jokes she told and continued our way out of the city.
Route 04
So far so good. Since we had to get through Mt. Moon, a place full of tight corridors and rooms crawling with Zubat's and other things, I expected to run into The Chasers there, wouldn't be the first time people had been ambushed by something other than Pokemon before. A good place to get robbed since people really like to hang out in there day, robbing money from you if you lose a Pokemon battle.
But for us we got through Route 04 and Mt. Moon without any problems, it was running smoothly for us. Most times whenever I would do escort missions for The Savior's I would have Murkrow out flying above to watch my back, to give me a heads up if it noticed something ahead or potential danger. I don't know, I wasn't feeling it that day seeing how everything seemed quiet and streets full of people. But that didn't mean I could let my guard down. The Chasers once announced who they were after they meant it, they wouldn't stop going after their target.
Speaking of target, I glanced at Keiko as we walked and wandered why The Chasers were after her. She didn't seem like she was a bad person, she didn't look like one. Her documents never mentioned all that much besides her job as a Pokemon breeder. 'Perhaps a trainer was angry for wanting a rare type of Pokmon, shiny maybe.'
"Say uh, keiko?" I said to her as we continued on walking. I originally intended to talk about or ask about why The Chasers were after her, but instead I asked her something else. "So you're a breeder, what's it like being one? I bet ya see some pretty rare types of Pokemon from all over."
"It's a dream job of mine. I had always wanted to become a Pokemon breeder ever since I was nine. I want to help raise Pokemon to help them find their mates, looking after them and their offspring until they are healthy and ready to return to their trainer."
"Must be tough look after all 'em Pokemon."
She shook her head. "It isn't. Well it kind of was at first, but you get the hang of it quickly."
"And what 'bout the demands the trainers ask of ya? Request for shiny Pokemon? The Pokemon's offspring to have certain moves and moods? Hidden abilities they would like?"
"We never get anything like that. Although sometimes trainers when they see how many of their Pokemon have offspring, they sometimes don't want to keep them, especially if it's like four or more, they would ask us to keep them and we would send them to someone who would want them."
"Hmm… I can't imagine anyone getting angry because of how many offspring a trainer's Pokemon has. Wanting to kill someone because of it? Well that's goin' too far. But why are they?" I thought to myself, trying to figure out why The Chasers wanted her.
"Brent, I have noticed your speech, that accent you're from Fuchsia City, right?" I chuckled and shook my head.
"Saffron City, born and raised. A lot of us do talk like that, huh? 'Ya' 'em' 'dude'"
"My co-worker who I knew for a month had the same kind of accent. He was from Fuchsia. I have never been to Saffron. What's it like over there? I have been thinking about going there and checking it out. I heard it was good."
"Well for starters you'll be meeting a lot more of people with pretty much the same kind of accent as mine." We chuckled. "We have excellent food, there's the Silph Co. the magnet train for a fast way to travel around the region or to Johto. There is a café in the city, just one surprisingly. I heard they make nice drinks there."
"Hmm, I'll definitely check it out when I have the time. You better be right about the food."
"Hey, if you are not satisfied with any of that, just call The Savior's about me, I'll refund ya. I don't want to lie and give ya false information. But if it's a good time ya want, somewhere to relax and unwind then I recommend the hot springs."
It wasn't about The Chasers, nowhere even close on talking 'bout 'em. We just talked about ourselves and good places to have delicious food and places to check out.
"Pallet Town?" She said after asking about her home town. "Nothing much is there besides the Pokemon Laboratory, a few stores and trees surrounding the town, and a river down south and that's about it. There was nothing for me there, so that's why I moved to Vermilion to become a Pokemon Breeder. Everything seemed perfect for me there, I made a lot of friends, everyone was friendly over there, and I had my dream job, it was great. And that's when they came."
"The Chasers." I said, expecting her to nod and tell me what I already knew; contacting The Savior's and getting escorted to Lavender Town where she'll be safe until The Chasers have been dealt with. But then she began to talk about something I never expected.
She shook her head, and we stopped walking. "Three years ago, everything changed for me. Men in armored suits arrived at the harbor and asked for volunteers to come on the ship with them to help sick and injured Pokemon without homes or care in the Unova region because of the whole thing going on over there at the time."
"Team Annihilation Reborn?" I asked, she nodded her head.
"Some of us including me got on the boat thinking we would be helping out. But when we arrived we were instead brought into a facility with many others like me. A Pokemon appeared in front of us and was speaking to us in human language, telling us to look right at her. All of us did, and then she told us to get changed and train to become soldiers in her army. And without resistance, without a word we trained and become soldiers for her army." We walked over to a bench off the side of the road and sat down on it, and then she continued. "She somehow made us do all that she commanded of us, and we couldn't fight back, I couldn't fight back. I remember using a gun… I never held a gun before, never used one before… but I did and killed… someone after another soldier who could speak ordered the woman I killed to turn in any members of The Savior's he believed the woman kept hidden from them. When the woman never said anything, I was ordered to kill."
"Keiko…"
"I don't remember much about what happened after that. It was pretty much a blur for me. And then for the first time in years I could speak and move again. The Savior's told me about how I was being controlled by that Pokemon to do her bidding." She sighed, a tear forming at her eyes. "It's been hard for me to return to the way I was. But after what I did, I don't know how to move on from that."
"…."
Keiko stood up from the bench and sighed. "Come on, we should get going."
All I did at that point was listen to her in silence, not really saying much. I wanted to, my mouth was open, but words never escaped. I was pathetic; I didn't know how I could help her.
She was controlled by Shiny Latias at one point to do her bidding as her unwilling soldier for her army, controlled to do pretty much anything Shiny Latias wanted; threaten, patrol, and kill. Keiko had returned home trying to move on from all of that, but it had been hard for her. I was thinking about why The Chasers were after her. Could it have something to do with Keiko being a member of Team Annihilation Reborn?
Lavender Town
Our feet finally stepped inside Lavender Town after almost four hours of walking from Pewter. We arrived at around eleven at night, exhausted from the walk and relieved that from Pewter to the town we encountered no Chasers or other problems. I was concerned as why The Chasers didn't show up, maybe they knew The Savior's would be waitin' for 'em. Keiko however was happy that we arrived at her destination.
She turned to me and smiled. "Finally here, huh? I have never walked that far before. I would usually get a ride if I'm ever going that far. But the walk was nice. We did see a lot of neat Pokemon. Like that Lickitung."
"Yeah, it was smoethin'. But that Lickitung, wish it didn't lick me as much as it did, I'm gonna have a tough time washing this off of shirt… ugh." I said as I brushed off some of its saliva off of my shirt. "But let me guess, you bein' a breeder and all; that was its way on showin' me affection?"
"Yep. She really liked you." She chuckled. "Looks like you have an admirer."
"Yeah whatever." We laughed for a good while, and turned to the town before asking her. "C'mon, we should get to the meeting point with the others. They can take care of you from there. So, are you ready?"
But before she could even answer that, my eyes widened as two figures emerged fast from an alley beside one of the stores and the two grabbed Keiko and pulled her into the alley. They were wearing red clothing, red capes, and then I thought "Are they… The Chasers? Damnit! It's them!"
"Stop! Let me go! Brent, heeeeelp!" She screamed briefly before one of them covered her mouth with his hand to silence her. With my blood at boiling point and my fists clenched I chased after 'em down the alley they ran down.
The two sure did run fast while dragging Keiko down the alley. They would try to slow me down with trashcans tipped over, blocking the path with wooden beams left in the alley. But with either a timed jump and perfect dodge I managed to reduce the distance between us.
"Wha… he's still chasing us!" Yelped one of the two men while dragging Keiko underneath a broken chain link fence.
"C'mon damnit! We'll have to regroup with the others!" After the two men and Keiko were through to the other side I crawled underneath as fast as I could and continued to chase them, all the way to the dang warehouse district of this town.
I had finally caught up with the two after running into one of the old warehouses north of the town. Grabbing one by their cape and punching them in their face and he let go of Keiko with just one punch. Then I grabbed the other guy and punched him in his gut, and the two fell to the ground. I ran over to Keiko.
"Keiko! Keiko?! H-hey, you okay? Did they hurt you?" I asked, worried that she was hurt by these guys. She was shaking. I placed my hand on her shoulder and asked her again. "Keiko, are you all right?"
"I-I'm fine. I-it's them!"
I turned and stood when I saw surrounding us on top of the large warehouse containers hundreds of members of The Chasers, all wearing that red and white costume with the stupid capes. I could see they didn't have any weapons or guns of some kind, but they did all have a Pokeball at their belt.
"Okay, I made it clear for only the girl to be brought to me, not this man." A voice echoed throughout the warehouse, a man talking to another. I tried to find the two men who were talking, but the echoes made it hard to locate the talking men.
"Sorry sir, but when we grabbed the target we didn't notice she was with anyone else. If we had known we would've dealt with him before bringing her back with us."
The other man grunted. "But I suppose this'll do for now. You there young man, now tell us; why are you here?" He asked with a slight chuckle.
"I'm escorting her to this town. Protecting her from you guys. The Chasers, am I right?"
"Heh, didn't do a good enough job at that if two of my men managed to get her here." The man's voice echoed, followed y the laughter of his followers. "Listen; you are getting in our way. Our business is with the girl, so run along so we can-"
"Not gonna happen! The Savior's were just waitin' for you idiots to walk right into their trap. They'll be here soon to bring ya'll to justice for what you have been doing!"
The mans' followers looked at one another, looking as though they were worried about The Savior's being close by. 'Where are they?' I thought.
"Oh? And you are supposed to be… what? Her bodyguard?" He chuckled.
"The name's Brent Jackson. I'm a member of The Savior's tasked on making sure she arrives in Lavender Town safely. I have dealt with people like you. I know your kind."
"A Savior? You are meant to be hunting every last one of these evil people down, not escorting them to safety. Cruel and wicked people like her deserve to face justice!" He yelled, his voice echoed throughout the warehouse as other members of The Chasers agreed with him.
"They had no control over themselves. Every person and Pokemon 'joined' Team Annihilation Reborn had their free will taken, they were controlled by an evil Pokemon known as Shiny Latias, my friend Zack Raines defeated in battle for good, freeing all controlled under her ability."
"You really expect us to believe that?" He scoffed. Then one of 'em walked forward on one of the large containers in front of us. He was an old man, bald, dark eyes, and wrinkles all over. "My name is Alexander, and I am the leader of The Chasers. I will tell you this; Savior, as why it is we go after certain people, so you can tell your other co-workers and the media if you wish. Our reason for us chasing and killing people and Pokemon is because of one thing they did that was wrong; joining Team Annihilation Reborn."
"What?"
"We started to get together in groups. A small number of us suffered the loss of a dear loved one by Team Annihilation Reborn. We knew the soldiers of that evil team were still roaming around, free without justice ever served. We heard in the news that most of their soldiers simply walked away without being punished. The pain was unbearable; we couldn't just sit there and allow them to walk free for what they did. So we formed The Chasers, a group dedicated on chasing after and killing those associated with Team Annihilation Reborn." Alexander glanced over at his followers. "Our numbers may be small, but one day we plan to spread our numbers across the world so that we can kill the soldiers escaped to other regions. All of us have a reason for joining, a common one; all of us have suffered the loss of a loved one because of Team Annihilation Reborn."
"I don't understand how evil such as Team Annihilation Reborn can exist. Hundreds and then thousands from all over had made their decision to join such an evil team." Alexander began walking around the container her was on. "To hunt down and kill our loved ones. My wife was killed right in front of me by that girl!" He growled angrily as he pointed at Keiko. "She did it without mercy. Oh she had reasons; it's because she and Team Annihilation Reborn are evil, every last one of them! They want to take over everything! You let her walk away after all of this and you will be sorry! Every last one of you will regret letting that evil monster walk free." Alexander's followers threw a bag of money in front of me. Couldn't say how much exactly, but there were a lot of stacks of cash in that bag.
"Accept that bag of cash and we'll let you go. This is the price for her we are offering to you. The price for not just your life, but the lives of The Savior's for getting in our way. That is a lot of money we are offering. A new start for you perhaps. Just let us handle this monster and the others that remain in this world and you live to see another day."
"Accept the money or we'll kill you, you loser!" One of his followers yelled at me. Some of his followers agreed, some urging me to accept the money and start anew. To forget about Keiko and let them kill the soldiers controlled to do Shiny Latias' bidding.
"Come now, there is no need for that." Alexander glared at his follower who had yelled that to me. "Do as you're told Brent Jackson, I do not want innocent blood to be spilt because people like you got involved!"And that was what set me off, this anger that had been building inside me all these years. Gritting my teeth I roared.
"Shut your fuckin' mouths!" And the voices of Alexander's followers silenced. Never before had I shouted that angrily in my life. The tendons in my fists hurt, and my eyes narrowed as I looked into the eyes of all of his followers.
"She isn't a monster. I haven't known her that long, but I can tell ya this, she ain't cruel or a damn monster! She isn't either one of the things you think she is. I have been fighting Team Annihilation for a long time in my life. I fought them when they became Team Annihilation Reborn lead by Shiny Latias. She had an ability she used to control all whoever looked into her eyes. From someone with free will, to a mindless puppet without control over their body. The person inside cannot regain control over themselves while under Shiny Latias' control. The only way you can be free of her control is by getting knocked out. I have spoken with others who had been under her control, the things she made 'em do, it was like living a nightmare for all the things she made 'em do." I turned around and spoke to the other members of The Chasers.
"The Savior's have files on Team Annihilation Reborn, how the 'soldiers' or civilians and Pokemon were being controlled. They had no free will of their own. I'm sorry all of you had to suffer because of 'em. Keiko hasn't done anything wrong; she had no control over herself. If she did, I know she would never pull the trigger. The controlled had suffered as much as you have. The things Shiny Latias made 'em do… they'll have to just live with it for the rest of their lives."
Alexander rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Oh what a speech, Mr. Jackson, bravo. A speech probably given to you via earpiece we can't see from your men stationed elsewhere? Well fortunately for us we have all the firepower should they attack us and an escape route prepared should things turn ugly. Now that I remember, I believe I have heard about you before, Mr. Jackson. Oh yes, it was in the papers. You, along with another young woman from the Sinnoh region, a Miss Lisa Rivers, and a white Dewott with black and red eyes by the name of Zack Raines. We don't want to hurt you or kill you. So how about you leave us with the young lady so that we may continue with our mission on freeing the entire world from Annihilation Reborn?"
"Or how 'bout I just kick your wrinkly old ass right here and now instead of callin' in my team, just waitin' to catch this sorry circus you have started?"
"Or how about we settle this matter right now between us." Alexander smirked and then jumped off the container and grabbed one of his Pokeball's off his belt as he cracked his neck. "I'm not the leader because of my charisma, you know. I was a trainer in my day. My Pokemon has been with me for a while. Together we have faced many challenges, met incredible opponents uncertain if we would win or lose the battle, but we never gave up, not until the last Pokemon stood." He pointed at me, talking to his followers more than me. "You have only one Pokeball attached to your belt. I have one Pokeball attached to mine. Everyone else here has either one or two or more with them. So if I lose, Mr. Jackson, you're going to have to fight them all. Either way, if I win or one of my followers' Pokemon defeats your only one, you and Miss Takamura are as good as dead. And you will wish you had run while you still had a chance." He was right 'bout that. If I defeated him I would have to fight his followers. I didn't know if I would be able to defeat 'em all, but like he said before, he was uncertain if he and his Pokemon would win or lose, and they never gave up. Neither would me and Seviper would give up.
Gripping Seviper's Pokeball tight in my hand before throwing it up to release Seviper, I said to Alexander. "Let's battle!" Seviper landed right in front of me and hissed aggressively at Alexander, snarling as he released his own Pokemon, a Haxorus.
"Never expected this kind of Pokemon, eh? Most trainers would tremble at the sight of my Pokemon. We have been through so much, we can handle any foe. So I suggest for you to give up right now sparing your Pokemon's life."
"I suggest you shut the heck up, old man! Go Seviper, let's show 'em what we can do! Seviper, use Screech!" Seviper opened up his mouth and made an horrible screech that echoed throughout the warehouse and hit Haxorus lowering its defense. But it didn't stop Alexander from unleashing its first attack.
"Go Haxorus, and use Dual Chop." Haxorus had jumped up a few feet before it charged right at Seviper and hit him across his face using its paw. But the second attack, another Dual Chop Alexander used were dodged quickly as Seviper slithered back away from Haxorus. "Use Dual Chop again! Keep at it and you'll get him!" Haxorus attacked again, but like with the second attack, Seviper dodged them by slithering away.
"You got this boss!" Shouted one of Alexander's followers.
"Show that Savior who's boss around here!" Another shouted, cheering him on.
"Seviper, Poison Jab." I said quickly just when Haxorus was in reach. Seviper's tail began to glow a dark shade of purple as it jabbed Haxorus at its chest. The attack hit, but the status Poison wasn't inflicted. This attack however did anger Alexander's followers.
"He's trying to poison Haxorus! Kill his Pokemon quickly before it defeats you, boss!"
"Haxorus, use Laser Force, and attack Seviper with Dual Chop. Keep trying until we got it!" Haxorus roared as it used Scary Face, affecting Seviper's speed as he backed off a little as Haxorus' Dual Chop was used. Haxorus was able to land a few good hits on Seviper, hitting him in his face and upper body.
"Seviper, get back. Don't let 'em hit you!" Seviper dodged as best as it could, but the attacks were too fast for it evade and ended up getting hit multiple times. Seviper was strong, but he woulnd't be able to withstand more attacks if this kept up.
"You the man, boss!"
"Show him who's the best boss! You're best!"
"Woohoo! Take 'em out boss!" Cheered Alexander's followers as Alexander began to grin at the praise from his followers.
"Haxorus, grab Seviper!" Haxorus using its paws grabbed Seviper by the neck and awaited the next command from its trainer.
"Seviper! Quick, use Poison Jab to get out of there!" I gritted my teeth, hoping Seviper would break free before Alexander could really inflict some serious damage.
Seviper used its tail to jab Haxorus over and over again at its chest to break free. If I could get Haxorus poisoned, I could then use Venom Drench to give me a chance at this. "Haxorus, at this range we could definitely kill Brent's Seviper. Use Dragon Pulsem right at its face."
"Seviper!" I shouted, watching in shock as Haxorus opened up its mouth and began to charge up Dragon Pulse while aiming at Seviper's head. I didn't have any other Pokemon with me. Muk, Koffing, and Murkrow were back at the lab. I grabbed Seviper's Pokeball and tried to recall him, but Haxorus was in the way for me to recall him back inside the ball. "Seviper, Nooo!"
Then, a beam of light appeared beside me and blasted right at Haxorus at its side. The blast powerful enough to push it over and for it let go of Seviper freeing him from its grasp. But Haxorus did use Dragon Pulse, but it missed and instead hit parts of the warehouse, damaging the ceiling and the beams holding up some of the containers.
I looked back to find a Clefairy walking up to the battle field. Then I looked back to see Keiko with her Pokeball in her hand. She turned to me and nodded. "Need some help?"
I smiled and turned to Seviper while Keiko stood next to me. "Heh, anytime. Let's get 'em!"
"H-hey! That's cheating!" One of Alexander's followers shouted angrily at us.
A few members of The Chasers grabbed their Pokeball and prepared to join in on the battle; but Alexander held up his hand and shouted to his followers. "No one interfere! This battle is mine!" And glared at Keiko. "At least you can watch your precious Pokemon die before I come after you! Haxorus, get up and fight them. Use Dragon Pulse again! Target whoever you wish."
Haxorus shook its head after standing up and again charged up Dragon Pulse. "Clefairy, use Snore on Haxorus. But be careful of Haxorus' Dragon Pulse." Clefairy nodded before using Snore on Haxorus, but it didn't seem to do anything yet. It did slow it down a little, buying Seviper time to use the next move.
"Venom Drench, Seviper on Haxorus. But be careful!" Seviper hissed and used Venom Drench as the liquid from Seviper's mouth soaked Haxorus's head and lowering its stats. But this didn't stop it from using Dragon Pulse, trying to aim its move at our Pokemon as they did their best to dodge the attack. They dd evade the attack, but the warehouse was badly damaged, sending parts of the ceiling and beams falling down onto the battle field.
"Use Bite on Haxorus! Do some damage!" Seviper shot up from the ground at Haxorus and bit into its arm, roaring loudly from the attack. It tried to shake Seviper off but couldn't.
"Clefairy, use Pound." Keiko's Clefairy ran up and jumped up in front of the Haxorus and attacked it right in its face causing the Haxorus to fall back with a heavy thud.
"Haxorus, No! C'mon, get up and kill them!" Alexander yelled as his Pokemon struggled to stand from the attack. Keiko and I decided to end this battle right here and now.
"Seviper, let's end this with another Bite on Haxorus!" Seviper once again jumped up at Haxorus and bit it.
"Clefairy, use Moonblast on Haxorus." Clerairy placed it paws out in front of it and used the same beam of light I saw it use to save Seviper with and it hit Haxorus in its stomach, again knocking it over and defeating it.
The warehouse became quiet; everyone was speechless and starring in shock at their leaders defeat. Alexander stood there with his mouth agape. But before he could utter anymore words, I ran as fast as I could at him and punched him right in his face knocking him out cold before he could try anything.
The rest of The Chasers didn't battle us as I thought they would. They instead ran out of the warehouse. I thought it was because of how we defeated Alexander, but with a heavy clang, I began to realize the whole place was coming down.
Alexander's Pokemon had damaged the warehouse quite a lot. Parts of the ceiling began to collapse, containers toppled over and beams falling. I ran over to Keiko, horrified to find a large beam of metal on top of her leg.
"B-Brent, save yourself. Go!" She pleaded, pushing me with her arm. The ceiling above us was about to collapse. It wouldn't be long until the ceiling collapsed. Keiko would die if I just left her like this. I refused to give up. Seviper helped me lift the beam up off of her. "Brent, the ceiling is about to fall. Leave me." She began tearing up. "Alexander… he's right, I am a monster. Save yourself. Forget about me… please-"
"No! Keiko, you ain't a monster. And I'm not gonna just simply get up and leave you like this!" I looked her in the eyes still trying to get the beam off of her. "Shiny Latias used her ability to control you and all of her other victims to do her bidding! You had lost your free will while she kept you under her control. She made you do terrible things, but you never did 'em. It wasn't you doing those evil things. You got your free will back. You got your life back. You said it yourself, there are Pokemon back where you work, they're waitin' for you, excited to see their friend again, someone that is helpin' 'em out, someone who needs 'em to become the Pokemon they want to be someday. It'll be hard at first, but you can make it. I know you can. You have a future. Everyone does. I also have a future. I don't know how sour or how sweet it might be, but I know it wouldn't start well if I left you here to die. Too many people and Pokemon have died in my life. I don't want to see anyone else dyin'." Keiko looked at me, and then let me use all of my strength to free her from the metal beam. It was a heavy sonovabitch, but me, Seviper and Clefairy never gave up. With one last pull of the beam, Keiko was finally free. Her leg was badly cut up; she wouldn't be able to get up. So I picked her up in my arms and ran for the exit of the warehouse with Seviper and Clefairy just as the ceiling began to collapse.
"Brent…" She smiled as a tear trickled down her cheek. "T-thank you."
Outside surprisingly were hundreds of members of The Saviors and police arrestin' the Chasers who had fled from the collapsing warehouse. The police and some members of The Savior's saw us and assumed at first we were members of The Chasers. All it took for them to cool off of me was I told 'em my Savior ID number and my name. a stretcher was brought over to us and I helped Keiko onto it and let the paramedics take her away.
Alexander was shortly taken away by the police. The Chasers were all brought to justice, every captain, general and grunt all brought in without problems. Within days all members were all eventually located and the group shut down to join the pile of other shut down Team's that have been showin' up all over the world. I was surprised at 'em for that, thinking they wouldn't simply give up that easily, they would put up more of a fight, but we could all rest easily knowin' these Chasers were gone for good.
The Savior's HQ – Pewter City
'The Chasers no more' was the headlines of the newspapers from all over Kanto. The Chasers were all captured and taken into custody awaiting trial. They mentioned Alexander and how he was their leader, his motives for starting up the group, and how they were planning to expand throughout the world so they could hunt down the remaining people and Pokemon controlled by Shiny Latias.
I was mentioned and often praised as a hero for stopping The Chasers for good. That didn't sit well with other members of The Savior's who were still being a jerk to me. But I made sure to tell to buzz off if they tried anything. I was done with 'em.
My bosses however, they wanted to see me up in their office. Give me a breakdown on how I handled things, damage report, how long it had taken me to complete the mission.
"Congratulations Mr. Jackson, you not only escorted Miss Takamura to safety, well except her having a broken leg, The Chasers are all gone, every last one of them." Suzan Sinclair said after reading the newspaper in front about my battle with Alexander in Lavender Town. "We doubted you, you could pull this off. But I believe you proved yourself as a value member of The Savior's."
"All members of The Chasers are all taken care of, and right now we have to deal with lowlife thugs and problems people have all over this region." Peter nodded with a short sigh. "Yes, everything is back to normal."
"Mr. Jackson," Josh Cunningham said as he opened up a small box he got out from his suit pocket and opened it up. "After some time we have discussed amongst ourselves that your place is out there, doing good for the people and Pokemon of this region. Therefore I do hereby offer you the promotion to Rank 01 of The Savior's Kanto branch." Josh Cunningham placed the badge in front of me on the desk. It was a shiny platinum 'S' badge with the numbers '01' in the center. A Rank 01 badge, something I had always wanted ever since joining as a Savior was in front of me. It was mine. "So what do you say, Mr Jackson? Do you want to become a rank 01?" Staring at the rank 01 badge, a shiny platinum 'S' I had longed to see for a long time, since I first became a Savior alongside my friends. I remembered how I was treated by everyone here, the words of my bosses saying they would rather have me away from them, from this building. I never felt that I truly belonged here, that this place wasn't my calling.
"What do I say? Well, I say no." I said my eyes still on the Savior badge.
"What?!" Josh Cunningham snapped. "You refuse?"
"Yeah, I refuse." Looking at the shiny badge in front of me I told 'em. "Ever since joinin' as a Savior, I had always wanted this badge, this rank. But I can't accept it. As a Savior, we treat each other as family. We support each other no matter what. And yet I feel unwelcome here. Ever since I joined, I never felt welcome. I can't walk ten steps without someone staring at me, whispering things behind my back about me, how I disobeyed orders to help save people who needed help. Clark Stone, the previous boss of The Savior's Unova branch would've done something about it if team Annihilation Reborn attacked here or elsewhere, because that's what Savior's do."
"It's like… something is keeping me from this place as a Savior. I feel as I don't belong. So I'm going to find my own path. Keep that damned badge and this one." I took off my rank 02 badge and threw it on the desk. "I quit. It's what you wanted, right? Me, the loose cannon away from The Savior's? Fine, I'm gone."
"Wha… h-hey! Brent Jackson, come back here this instant!" Josh Cunningham yelled at the top of his lung for me to walk back in front of the desk. "Mr Jackson, you are wasting something good here. So come back here and do as you're told!"
Opening the door, I stopped and turned towards 'em. "Fuck off." Before shutting the door and walking towards the stairwell to go home.
Speaking to my bosses like that, well there was no way to keep my job now. So there was nothing else for me to do but simply leave and go home. I just hope I had made the right call.
Walking down the stairwell halfway, Seviper emerged from his Pokeball and hissed. I stopped and knelt down in front of him. "Well Seviper, guess this is it for our Savior days. Never thought it would end this way, but it's for the best. The way things were with me with them after coming back, they were bad. I'm going to try to find another path for me I can take. Maybe try another shot at this writing business? What do you say, pal? With me on this one?" Seviper nodded its head and wrapped itself around me. All I could do was kneel there with a smile on my face and wait until Seviper got off me…
"Uh, hey Seviper, you can get off of me now. Hey, c'mon the taxi is showin' up soon. Hey! Heeelllp!" And no help came and I was stuck in that stairwell until Seviper tired himself out after thirty minutes of a hug that almost choked the life out of me.
Saffron City – Café – 8 months later
Leaving The Savior's was a relief for me, a fresh start and a chance to focus on my writing for a change. I was at my laptop sitting at a table in the café of my home city. I had just finished typing up my last chapter of my very first story, well almost finished typing up the last chapter. How to end it was the problem. How could I finish this story well?
"Ahhhh… no one told me writing was this hard. Last chapter was a breeze, but the ending is…" I sighed and leaned forward to get a look at the screen clearly. And I read the final paragraph. " 'The four heroes had vanquished the evil for now, but one day soon they would have to take up arms once more to battle evil that is The Lord of Chaos and his underlings. Now the heroes rest until the day they are needed.' And that's about it… what more could I add to this? This needs something." I sighed back in my chair, feeling exhausted after all of this.
"A cappuccino, please." I glanced up at the sound of a familiar voice. "To go please." Keiko had just entered the café; she was using crutches to get around. Guessin' her leg hadn't healed up yet.
"How 'bout stay?" I asked as I got up to greet her.
She turned and gasped in shock before he smiled. "B-Brent? Oh my gosh, it's so good to see you again. H-how are you?"
"I'm good. I'm not with The Savior's anymore, not on another mission. I'm uh, trying out to become a writer. See how that goes for me. Uh, how's your leg? The doc told me your cast would be removed after four months."
"I thought so too, but I had to keep it on longer. It doesn't hurt as much as it did when I got this cast, but it's healing."
"See, I did tell you, you would be all right." I said as we both lightly chuckled.
"So Brent, are you busy? I was thinking we could hang out for while if you're up for it." She asked while blushing.
I shook my head. "No, I'm not busy." I stood up and helped Keiko in the seat opposite me. "I was just finishing up with this. So are you still a Pokemon breeder?"
"I am. Because of my leg I can't really do much there. But the Pokemon there are always happy to see me. You should come by the place that I work at."
"Yeah sure, I'll uh check it out sometime this week…" then turning my head at the laptop, I smiled. "Maybe tomorrow?" She smiled and nodded.
And as soon as the waiter had set her drink on the table, in my head I had thought up the best way to end the story. So sitting on my side of the table, I began to type. My first book was slow at first with sales and people reading 'em, but writing made me happy. My stories would become noticeable as I reached my elderly years. As for Keiko and I, we became a couple. Sorry to speed that part up, but our love life is our business, and a year down the line we had kids and lived a pretty good life. It was a future none of knew we would ever have. When I travelled in the future with Zack, Lisa and Espeon all 'em years ago, I saw in a bookstore was a book that I had written. I only knew that I became a writer sometime in my life, but never knew how I started off as one.
And back to the present, with an ending in mind for the story, I smiled and typed two last words to finish the story. It may have been a cheesy story with a cheesy ending, but I couldn't think of anything better than 'The End'.
The End of Side Story 05 of 05
Trivia:
This side story is the only one of the five I had planned to write as a spinoff featuring Brent Jackson as the main character after the events of Pokemon Dreams 05 Eternity.
AN: And there you have it, the final Side Story has finished so no more. This Side Story was way shorter in my mind before i wrote it. But i never expected for it to be this long. I suppose i didn't really want the final side story to end after 2-3k words and then 'The End'
I may come back to this and previous stories to fix certain chapters when I have the time, I don't know. I hope you enjoyed the story and the previous stories I wrote, if not then that's okay. Until next time.