I know you're probably tired of reading these author's notes. But trust me; this one is going to be short, mainly because there isn't much to be said. If you haven't done so, read Anomaly and Tales of Flame already! Want to know why? There have been character references (and even appearances as you have already seen) made that lead back to those two inter-related fan fictions. Not to mention that they are damned good! If searching up the titles doesn't work, look for the authors Dark Magician Girl Aeris and Buwaro. The writing these two are capable of is more than worth the effort. And now, without anymore stalling, onto Chapter 19: Heavy Burden!
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Houndour's POV
"Did something happen when you were ordered out of the room by Crescent back in the base?"
It was shocking, to hear that the Treecko cared so much about me that he would ask me that question. His face might not have said it, but he knew that there was something wrong. And, it was comforting to feel that he at least asked, even if he didn't really care.
But... I didn't want to think about what had happened. About what I hadn't done to prevent Mudkip and the pokémon I knew was formerly Ralts from getting even more hurt. It was a painful memory, something I would rather not trouble anyone else with. It was my burden and mine alone, "I would rather not-"
"I'm going then," I blinked in confusion when Jack got up and left suddenly like that, but then again I really shouldn't have been that surprised; He didn't like me from the moment I started to travel with him because of our first encounter. I couldn't blame him, seeing as former Master had ordered me to kill him. But... That was merely the tip of the guilt I felt consuming me.
I couldn't help but remember, as I lied down where I was, what had happened in the Rustboro Base. I had just... I couldn't do anything. And because of that...
"You should have crawled back to Master while you had the chance, pup," The ghost pokémon Misdreavus cackled at me after those cruel words were spoken, a ball of shadows being formed in front of her at that time. She looked upon me with contempt before her gaze shifted back to master, "Master, can I finish the intruders now? They seem to have been a thorn in your side for too long... Allow me to remove this awful thorn."
Former master looked towards Misdreavus only briefly before she looked upon Mudkip, the pokémon I knew was Ralts and myself with a sadistic smirk, "I'm going to enjoy hurting you, you traitorous dog. You are going to regret the day you ran away from me in Dewford Base, one painful minute at a time before I eventually kill you. Misdreavus, use Shadow Ball on them now."
I couldn't stand to look anymore when Misdreavus made the energy even larger, and with my ears flattened against my head I clamped my eyes shut and turned away. However, what I wasn't expecting was exactly what happened; Rather than feeling the impact of the attack, I heard a cry of pain through my covered ears.
The moment I opened my eyes I saw Mudkip collapsed in front of me; it seemed like she had taken the blow from the Shadow Ball instead of me while I just stood there and waited to be attacked. I couldn't believe it; she had risked herself for me, a mere stranger in her life? And here I was, still holding the psychic pokémon on my back while I stared at Mudkip's now unconscious form. She was brave where I was nothing more than a coward...
"You have to have little water pokémon standing up for you now, pup?" Misdreavus cackled as former Master stared at me, then at Mudkip, then at me again. However, it wasn't former Master I heard talking but Misdreavus again, "You really are pathetic! Beating you will be a piece of cake!"
I had heard that phrase before, humans around me having often used it when they thought an opponent was weak. And, what's exactly what I was; weak and cowardly, not even able to stand up to those who used to fight by my side. It was still so hard, even after having seen Mudkip collapse in front of me. These were the pokémon and the human who practically raised me; to turn on them so suddenly, it simply didn't feel right, even if I knew that their intentions were far from good...
My thoughts were lost when I felt an overwhelming force surrounding me, howls of pain echoing through my ears as I was blasted backward, watching Ralts' new body falling helplessly onto the ground in front of me. Everything was becoming dark; I was going to fall into a state of unconsciousness soon. The last words that I heard before everything actually did black out was Master talking about how we were weak and not even worth capturing... Or in my case, taking back even to torture and kill for my insolence.
"Wakey wakey!" I nearly jumped as the voice snapped me out of my thoughts, a firm-yet-gentle grip being taken on my ears causing me to react further. But, I relaxed when I saw the familiar face of a human, the human girl we had worked so hard to free in fact; she was smiling weakly at me, as if she felt sadness for me. Despite how I didn't deserve such sympathy, "I heard about all you've done for me, and I just wanted to say thanks. What're you gonna do now though...?"
I could only stare at the girl when she asked the question; was she honestly expecting an answer? Truthfully, I didn't even know. And if I did, how could I expect her to understand? It seemed that humans lacked the ability to understand what a pokémon said after all. But, I was saved the trouble of pondering when the girl reached out and began to pet me again, "Don't worry about it. Dad wants us to rest a day or two here, before we decide anything. So just relax, okay?"
"Maybe you should be brainwashed more often," I shot a glare at the human boy who walked up while the girl merely blinked at him, which of course gave the boy incentive to continue, "You seem a lot nicer after that. Being grateful is a good look for you."
"You should try it too. It might stop you from looking so stupid all the time," The human girl stood up with a bit of a smirk on her face, and of course after that they seemed to get into an argument. I watched with only a slight smile tugging at my lips; I still felt guilty over all that happened, and like it or not there was most definitely someone who deserved my gratitude.
And, with a quick look around the building I spotted the pokémon I had in mind.
I quickly trotted forward and immediately got the pokémon's attention while I did so. I supposed that should have made things easier, but that really couldn't stop the large lump in my throat from welling up, "Mudkip... I'm so sorry for what happened..."
"Stop," I blinked, a bit stunned when Mudkip sighed and smiled at me. What was she smiling about now? "You froze up because those pokémon and that human were like family to you, right? It'd be hard for anyone to just fight against those who were close to them. I don't think anyone blames you for that."
"But... You got hurt-"
"Because I was stupid and jumped in the way when I should have pulled you out," Mudkip's face seemed to redden slightly before she shook it off, "Look, forget about it. Let's just move on; I think Greg and Alexa are going to stop arguing soon. Have you thought about what you're going to do once we've rested up?"
"I... I don't know," Immediately my eyes were facing the tiles below, thoughts of the future now plaguing me. Would I go back to find Sister, to try and get her away from the human that was formerly Master? Would I leave and live my life peacefully in the wild? Or, I could possibly travel with this group, with the hope that I could live happy and help in any way I could. But... "This is a decision for another day; we still have time to rest."
"Right. There's a room down the hall we're allowed to go to, that's where Greg and Alexa are staying..."
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Jack's POV
There was a lot of activity going on around me, not much of it that I considered to be truly interesting but a lot of it nonetheless. Greg and Alexa had gotten into an argument, something that made me smirk and shake my head. Idiot was talking to one of the nurses, something that was probably considered normal. The mutt and Mudkip were going back towards the rooms we were staying in, also normal. What wasn't normal, however...
Was the fact that not one of these groups seemed to notice that a sadistic Kirlia was making sure I stuck to the roof like I was glued there.
"Oiy! Put me down you bloody psychic! I'm not a bouncing pokéball for Mew's sake!" Again I was falling towards the ground, and somehow I knew this was going to hurt; it hurt the last fifty or so times Kirlia had let me drop, so what reason was there for it to stop hurting now?
"Apologize for calling me girly!" I winced at the telepathic voice booming around me (and I swear I heard some other pokémon's giggling somewhere, why weren't they helping me already?) before I ended up smacking into the ground again. That had hurt... That was stating the obvious, but that didn't stop the stinging sensation on my belly and nose from getting to me, "I'm not girly! I've evolved you insensitive twit!"
"You sure are acting like a girl, being all moody and such. You didn't even mind when I kissed you, and that says something..."
I was pounded into the ground again (I probably deserved it that time but that wouldn't stop me from complaining) but this time someone finally seemed to have noticed that the psychotic one was kicking the crap out of me before I was lifted into the air, "Kirlia! Take it easy, we just had a rough battle!" Alexa was sticking up for me. I knew there was a good reason for getting her out of that base. She was at least good for preventing Ralts... Err, Kirlia, I still had to get used to that... Anyway, she was good for making sure Kirlia didn't kill me. When she was around and not arguing with Greg anyway.
"This isn't over," I winced when Kirlia glared at me then, but a bit of relief washed over me when I saw Alexa returning Kirlia to his pokéball. Someone was a little bit too touchy about gender issues, but then that's what made Kirlia so much fun to tease. Granted I did get hurt a lot whenever I decided to tease him, but it was still a lot of fun.
"You should really be more careful. I think Kirlia might not like you if you keep insulting him, Jack," Great, I was getting a lecture now. Insert sigh here. I started zoning out until she finally said something that caught my interest again, "Now come on, let's go get some food! I haven't had breakfast yet, and I'm guessing you haven't either."
"Now you're speaking my language," I grinned as I was carried over to the table and placed onto the floor. However, what I found in front of me didn't exactly seem appetizing; what looked like little brown blocks were placed in a bowl in front of me, but then I remembered that I had eaten them before; they tasted fairly decent, they weren't enough to make me choke anyway. Food was food, and with that thought I shrugged and began to eat heartily.
Soon enough the bowl was empty, the contents now swishing around in my stomach as I sat back and sighed, "I needed that..."
"It looks like Jack enjoyed the food," Alexa grinned down at me while talking to Idiot and Greg. I shrugged in response and got to my feet, planning to go back to the room. No one made any motion to stop me so I guessed I was allowed. I saw Mudkip and Houndour sleeping on one of the beds, immediately turning towards the other one after.
You honestly didn't expect me to sleep on the same bed as the mutt, did you? Really, I thought you readers were smarter than that.
As soon as I hit the comfortable sleeping spot I was, in fact, sleeping. I think I might have dreamed something or another about 'thank you' or whatever, but really I wasn't paying attention. I think I'd rather just take the well-deserved nap rather than dream, so that's exactly what I did. End of story. You can leave me alone now.
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Kujaku's POV
It had been so close. My promotion was in reach, I could have tasted it. And, the damned girl's friends and pokémon had come to save her. They freed that traitor Reiko, made sure Kazu deactivated the device and, to top it all off, blew up Rustboro base! Not to mention they couldn't catch the damn Mew that had appeared, the pokémon I knew Giovanni wanted above all others! It had already been a long day, re-organizing the grunts and trying to make sure that they'd make it to Mossdeep Port to re-group, but before I went on my way I'd have to contact the boss. And, I doubted that this news would be good for him; I'd either get the worst warning and lecture of my life or I'd get the pink slip itself. Either way, it wasn't going to be pretty...
I sighed before using my lap top to contact Rocket Headquarters in Kanto, adjusting my headset to be able to communicate with the other side while talking to the person who answered before being put on hold. Great, I had to wait even longer before- "Report, Kujaku. Today was the day that you were supposed to hand in the reports on the mind control device, so let's hear it already. I don't have all day."
It already sounded like Giovanni was irritated. And the look on his face didn't help either, it looked like he already had some really bad news come to him earlier. So, the only thing I could do was get the report over with...
"I have good and bad news, sir," Hey, that wasn't a complete lie! I did have something which could possibly help him, "The Mind Control device was a complete success and the plans were in the midst of being transferred over to the base in Olivine City."
"And the bad news?"
"... The test subject escaped, sir. Several pokémon broke into the base, deactivated the device and destroyed the base before the transfer could be complete. Only the prototype was successfully transferred to Olivine City before the base's destruction-"
"Not another one!" That was probably the first time I heard the boss actually shouting, and on the other end of the video phone he got to his feet while glaring at me, "First several of my agents and their pokémon get seriously injured on a mission to retrieve the clones and the first clone destroys the base near the Sevii Islands! Now, you're telling me that things have gone south in Hoenn as well? I should fire you for your incompetence, Kujaku!"
"It's not my fault, sir!" I started feeling desperate when I saw just how furious Giovanni was; at this rate he really was going to fire me! There was no way though, I valued my job far too much for him to just give me the boot! "They had the help of the legendary pokémon you've been pursuing so much! The Hoenn bases are the only ones you didn't prepare to face Mew!"
"Mew? Mew appeared in Hoenn?" The boss was staring at me now, and silently I gave him a nod in response to his question. He continued to stare at me, something that I found to be rather unnerving, before he simply sighed and sat back down in his seat, a hand being clapped to his forehead in frustration, "That damned pink cat was probably responsible for what happened at Dewford Base as well. Have you at least made sure that the grunts are re-grouping at Mossdeep City?"
"Yes sir!" I saluted to him, though I stopped immediately after receiving a look from him. You know, the kind of look you only get when someone is really really pissed with the world. I nodded to him now, "No grunts were hurt but the traitors managed to escape as well. I have no information as to their current whereabouts."
"You are lucky that it was someone else's foolish mistake not to arm Hoenn in the case of Mew's appearance, Kujaku. That is the only reason why you still have your job," The steely glare Giovanni gave me made me shiver a bit, but I managed to keep myself together as he continued, "You're teetering on the edge, Kujaku. One more slip up and you lose your job. The executive I've placed in charge-"
"What are you-"
"Do not interrupt me again if you value your job, Kujaku," Man was the boss ever pissed, that much could be said through his tone alone let alone his words, "As I was saying, the executive I've placed in charge of operations in Mossdeep City will inform you when I've assigned you with a new task. Before then, the Rockets will be supplied with weapons especially formed to fight against psychic pokémon for the case that Mew shows up again to try and thwart my plans," He paused thoughtfully before smirking, "Your next assignment will be your one chance to get back in my good graces. Understood?"
"Sir!" I saluted once more before the screen went blank, a sigh leaving me before I packed up the lap top and headset. What a day... Well, at least I was fond of the executive, and he of me. Otherwise, things wouldn't work out at all. I still had a chance of getting myself back into the boss's good graces, and maybe even becoming an executive myself in the future. But, it would take a hell of a lot of work. And it was all because of those kids, that gym leader and those meddling pokémon! I was definitely going to work my ass off to regain my dignity, no question. But, that didn't mean that revenge wasn't high on the priorities list...
I'll find you, brats. And you'll pay for what you've done to me and my career!
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Oooh, ominous ending! I thought it'd be fun to look into the mind of a villain, though granted I didn't go as deeply into Kujaku as I wanted to. Regardless, we see a bit of how her mind works, more of her characteristics, and reasons why she is a half-decent villain. I know, it took me too long to update again, and I blame the emo phase Houndour's going through. Honestly, I hate writing that shit when I'm not in the mood for it. Also, the Document Manager has been really really stupid about letting me upload this chapter, but as you can clearly see I found a way around it. I won't keep you though; thanks for reading and for being so patient with me! I'll see you all next time!