START Chapter 4: Our Canon
Holt Locke
[Tuesday, February 6, 2024. 15:22 PST]
Group 2 fared better than the first. Not by much, but enough to impress the lieutenant.
The brown haired girl Courtney stood next to her hoothoot. Her four teammates had a rattata, the boy with the houndour and the girl with the purrloin from the bus, and a poochyena.
The image of the fierce hyena pokemon from the other day ran a shiver down my spine. The one snuggling up against its trainer. Sheila, I think her name was.
Matis stepped up after doing a quick check on his shinx.
"You kids might think you're at an advantage now. Little K9 here just took down five of your cohort like it was nothing," Matis shouted. "That's your number one mistake."
With that, they sprung into action.
"K9, close the distance!"
Shinx lunged forward with another spark attack in his maw. Ramming into the purrloin, he shook the cat pokemon around while sending volts of electricity coursing through its body. Purrloin tried to counter by pawing at K9 with its paws, but its claws barely even fazed the electric type pokemon.
"Rattata, super fang!" The boy yelled. Rattata managed to sink its giant teeth into the shinx, who howled in pain.
"Playing in the big leagues now, huh? I like it!" Matis grinned. "Thunder wave!"
With the rattata still on his body, K9 sent a small shockwave that smacked it clean on the face, paralysing it. The rat fell limp to the ground, occasionally twitching and making a whimpering sound. Shinx turned to face the remaining three foes, the houndour, Sheila's poochyena, and Courtney's hoothoot.
"Hypnosis!" Courtney shouted. The bird hopped up in the air, sending a psychic wave towards K9, who just nimbly dodged out of the way. The shinx was starting to slow down, however, as the effects of the poison damage from the earlier battle were beginning to show their toll. Matis didn't have much time left, and Courtney seemed to realise that as well. "Send a gust attack as well, Smartie!" The hoothoot, Smartie, flapped its tiny wings at an incredible speed, kicking up dust and dirt in a powerful wind towards the shinx.
"Ember, now!" The boy yelled to his houndour. Houndour spat out the fire type attack, but it was quickly blown away by the hoothoot's gust and didn't even reach Matis's shinx.
"K9, flank 'em," Matis ordered.
Shinx dashed between houndour and poochyena, tossing his head and using the built-up electricity in his fur to try and paralyse them at the same time. Houndour was smacked in the face with static while the poochyena was able to scurry out of the way.
"Extrasensory 30%, Smartie!" Courtney yelled. Hoothoot closed its eyes, before becoming engulfed in a pinkish aura. In just a few moments, the shinx was also enveloped in this pink energy, and began to writhe in pain. His limbs were shaking and seemed to be squeezed by an invisible force. He collapsed onto the floor.
"Thunder wave," Matis commanded. But K9 didn't respond, and simply barked its anguish. He looked like he flinched from the muscle spasms. "Shock wave!" Matis then ordered.
Struggling to get to his feet, K9 managed to rub his fur until a sphere of condensed electricity burst out of his maw. It circled around him, fading in and out of existence, before spiralling in the direction of hoothoot.
"Dodge it Smartie!" The hoothoot tried to leap up into the air as the shock wave attack approached, but to little avail. The electric type attack smacked it clean in the face, and the bird pokemon toppled backwards.
Poochyena and its trainer took this opportunity to launch a counterattack. Dashing forward, the poochyena unleashed a blood curdling howl that increased its attack power. Slamming into K9, the two pokemon fell into a heap of wrestling bodies.
"Finish this, boy. Let it all out. Show 'em a discharge!"
K9 scrambled to his feet, quickly rubbing his tail against his fur. Gathering up all the remaining electricity in his body, he unleashed the attack against all three of his remaining opponents. Houndour, who was just struggling to remain standing, fell instantly to the devastating lightning onslaught. Poochyena bore the brunt of the electric shock. It was slammed into the ground, no longer able to move.
Courtney's hoothoot, Smartie, tried desperately to repel the oncoming electricity by using another extrasensory. However, it was only able to push away some of the volts before it too took a hit.
Now, it was simply a battle of attrition between the two remaining fighters. Hoothoot had taken considerable damage from the two attacks that it had stomached. K9 the shinx on the other hand, was clearly on his last legs after the discharge.
However, the victor was clear as Smartie collapsed onto the ground. K9 nudged the bird's body with a paw, before prancing proudly back to his master.
"Heheh… Not bad, girl. What's your name again?" Matis asked, quietly feeding his shinx a pecha berry.
Courtney looked up to the lieutenant, cradling her pokemon. "My name is Courtney," she replied.
"That's a tough bird you got there, punk." He shook her hand. "I respect that. Now go stand over there with the rest of the losers," he said, gesturing to the line. She trudged over with her fainted partner, frowning with disappointment.
Matis looked over to the rest of us, his eyes looking even madder than before. Returning K9 to one of the pokeballs, he unclipped another one from his belt. He clicked the button and tossed it into the air.
A burst of light, and another metal sphere emerged from the capsule. Small, grey, and adorned with two magnet-shaped appendages. It had a tiny screw on the top of its head, which twisted and turned, loosely. A single giant eye stared at us, expressionless.
"Who's next?" Matis cackled, pointing us towards his new pokemon: magnemite.
It was a massacre. None of the members of the third group even stood a chance against this new foe. Magnemite was nowhere near as mobile as the shinx, but it made up for it with its superior firepower. Matis barely even had to issue orders to the magnet pokemon, it began to blast away at the pokemon that it went up against with a barrage of thundershocks and sonicbooms.
I was now absolutely one hundred percent sure that this man who called himself Matis was the electric type gym leader from the Gen 1 games. His shinx alone was testament enough, but the possession of a magnemite had him dead to rights.
A kid named Eli tried to muster up a counterattack with his ekans. He managed to get the snake pokemon to clamp its fangs on the magnemite with little resistance. But against the steel typing of its foe, ekans could only really damage it with a bite attack. None of its poison stings even made a dent, as magnemite finished it off with a shock wave.
It was almost time for my group to step up to the ring. Corbin with his politoed were next to me, and he looked as pale as a ghost. Politoed was croaking curiously at his trainer, who was as still as a statue.
I placed a hand on Corbin's shoulder, trying to be reassuring. "We'll be fine. Magnemite has a type advantage, but your politoed is a fully evolved pokemon. You'll be able to outgun him, easily." Corbin just smiled back, but his eyes were still clearly full of worry. He kept wiping his palms on his jeans while muttering to himself.
Next I checked on Rajesh, or Raj as he asked us to call him. He looked little better than Corbin, eagerly petting his houndour. "Hellfire has a wicked ember attack. I think we got this?" Raj said.
I just nodded. Houndour would definitely be the biggest asset in this fight, with his fire type attacks being super effective against the steel typed magnemite.
Something was gnawing at my mind, however, and I could not figure out what it was.
Lastly on my team was Micah with their starly. They were just staring at their feet, with a blank expression on their face.
"Micah? You good?" I asked.
They just frowned. "Yeah… it's just, I won't be able to do much," they said.
"Yes you can. Just provide aerial support like we talked about. None of the other teams have a strategy like us, which is why we're gonna be the team to kick Surge's ass," I said.
Micah looked at me with a puzzled look on their face. "You keep calling him Surge, Holt. Isn't his name Matis? Do you… know him?" They asked.
"Err… not exactly," I replied. "He's just like this character from the games, right? Have any of you played Firered or Leafgreen? Any of the Kanto games?"
Corbin and Micah shook their heads, while Raj just looked deep in thought. He finally nodded, but hesitantly. "I've played Leafgreen before. I mostly played Emerald though," Raj said.
"Then you must remember Lt. Surge. The 3rd gym leader? He uses electric types, just like Matis, right?"
Raj glared at me, "I've got no fucking clue what you're talking about, man," he snapped. "The third gym leader was some flying type or something. I've never seen a Lt. Surge before."
I stared blankly back at him, more confused than ever.
"NEXT GROUP!" Matis yelled, breaking me out of my thoughts.
Corbin and Rajesh stepped up with their pokemon, with Micah quickly behind them. I made my way to the ring as well, still distracted by what Raj had said.
I was almost dead certain that Lt. Surge was the third gym leader in Kanto. He was the electrifying caricature of an American soldier. Clearly, Raj was making a mistake. Right? Unless I was mistaken…
"You all understand the rules correctly?" Matis, no Surge, asked. I was now dead certain that they were one and the same person. "Excellent! Magnemite, it's action time."
I stepped back and let Rodie take the field. My herdier was the largest pokemon among the four, facing off against the magnet electric-and-steel-type pokemon.
"Begin! Magnemite, hit 'em with a sonicboom!" Surge shouted. Magnemite whirred and whistled, before shooting a blast of sound towards our pokemon.
I didn't need to issue a command, as Rodie dodged out of the way easily. The politoed and houndour weren't as lucky, as they were each grazed by the sonic boom attack. Starly just fluttered out of the way, frantically beating her wings.
"Like we planned, Corbin!" I shouted.
"Politoed, mud shot!" Corbin commanded. The green amphibian pokemon slapped the ground with his wet hands, creating a bunch of mud on the battlefield. With a flick of his wrists, politoed sprayed the mud towards the magnemite, dousing it in wet dirt.
The magnemite buzzed in fury, its singular eye now squinting squarely at us. It crackled with electricity, before barrelling forward with a spark attack. The uncanny speed at which magnemite surged forward caught politoed off guard, as the frog pokemon was slammed in the face by the blow.
"Rodie, helping hand," I shouted.
Rodie ran up next to Hellfire the houndour, imbuing him with some strange normal type energy. Helping hand was a move that I was only able to try out right before the fight with Surge, due to never having gotten a chance at battling with a partner. I had no idea that it would look like that. Heck, I was surprised that it worked since we'd never practised it.
Hellfire coughed, hacking out some of the excess flames, before blasting magnemite with an ember with increased power. Magnemite was forced to back away from the politoed in order to dodge the fire, but a good chunk of its metal body was singed.
This fight was looking like it would soon be over. Politoed was still recovering from the spark attack, but he'd be able to pull off another mud shot soon, which would clinch us our victory. Especially since houndour's job was to keep its distance and maintain pressu-
"This is our time, Hellfire! End it with a fire fang," Raj said, grinning.
"NO! Stick to the plan," I shouted. But it was too late, houndour charged forward with a mouthful of flames, chomping onto the magnemite.
Just then, the magnemite started to glow with an ethereal energy. Houndour was blasted off as magnemite was coated with light, and began to flicker in and out of our view. One sphere of metal split into three different ones, more magnets sprouting out of each of the additional spheres. Even more screws emerged, until the pokemon finally stopped glowing. Magnemite had evolved into a magneton.
"Huh, ain't that something. THERE WE GO!" Surge shouted, punching the air. "Magneton, finally! I knew that some battle experience was all we needed to get you that final power-up." K9 the shinx was also yipping excitedly next to Surge's feet.
Magneton wasted no time in charging up its new stores of electricity, before turning to Hellfire the houndour. It clicked as though saying something, before blasting the fire/dark type dog with a brutal thundershock attack. Houndour was hit with the full force of the assault and crumpled to the ground.
Politoed clawed through the mud before unleashing another mud shot at the magneton. Magneton just zapped the oncoming mud attack with a lethal shock, evaporating the mud into harmless dust. Locking its eyes into politoed, it began to charge up another attack.
I knew that I had to stop it, somehow. Politoed was our only viable damaging option, since Hellfire had fainted. Then I noticed starly was still circling in the air, not really doing anything.
"Micah, you're our only shot," I said.
They looked at me, vigorously shaking their head. "There's no way, dude. That thing is a monster."
"As long as starly doesn't get hit, then you'll be totally fine. There's a move that'll help."
"What is it?" Micah asked.
"Double team. Ask starly to use double team then to attack with gust," I said.
Turning back to the situation in front of me, I nodded at Micah, who returned my signal with a sigh. They shouted the command to starly, who began accelerating at an increased speed. Starly circled the air above the magneton, too fast for the eye to follow, spinning and spinning until there seemed to be multiple versions of the bird pokemon in the air. "Gust attack, starly," Micah yelled.
Similar to how hoothoot did earlier, strong wings from starly's wings began to kick up dust and dirt until it was swirling around the magneton. The attacks themselves barely did any damage to the magnet pokemon, but it was unable to focus on any particular target and released the electric attack that was geared towards politoed.
"Take down that pesky bird with a thundershock!" Surge commanded.
Magneton let loose a burst of electricity into the air, but it only destroyed some of the decoys. Frustrated, it whirred and spat out some stray bolts of electricity. There was no way that my herdier could get anywhere close without getting fried unless…
"Rodie, keep your distance, uh…" I spotted the puddles of mud that politoed had created. An idea was forming in my head. "Run through that mud over there! Get dirty, boy," I shouted.
Herdier gleefully dived into the mud, squirming around until his fur was coated in grime.
"Take down! Ram that magneton into the ground." Rodie charged into the magnet pokemon, driving it into the ground and covering it in more mud. Magneton tried to counter with thundershock after thundershock, but the mud coating mitigated the damage that Rodie actually took.
Starly continued to create more double team decoys, but had slowed down a bit to take a rest. Politoed had also recovered enough to start slamming the dirt into more mud. With slick green hands, it began to build up one final mud shot attack.
"Magneton! Flash cannon!" Surge yelled, a last ditch effort to seize the win.
The magnet pokemon began to glow, the light around it seemingly being sucked inside. As politoed unleashed the mud shot, it let loose a devastating steel type ball of energy. Starly failed to dodge this attack, and succumbed to the powerful hit. Politoed teetered, before collapsing as well. Magneton just fell limp as soon as the flash cannon was released, having run out of steam.
The only pokemon remaining on the field was Rodie, which meant that our team had won the fight.
All the previous teams that had gone up against Matis began to clap wildly. One of them, the boy who had the rattata, even started whooping and shouting in excitement.
For the first time in my life, I could feel a roomful of applause directed at me. It felt like all the fatigue and stress of being in a battle melted away. Rodie also seemed to enjoy the positive emotions coursing through the atmosphere, as he started soaking up the praise.
Surge returned his magneton, shaking his head. "Good job, maggots. A bit shaky on the execution, but a solid idea," he said. Surge grinned and clapped my back. "This kid here! Got some talent, he does. More than I can say for the rest of you sorry meatbags."
The applause died down as the surrounding trainers began looking away from Surge's wandering eyes.
"I have half a mind to boot every single one of you out of Olympia, send your butts to Idaho or something," Surge said. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Unfortunately, the big man in Chicago needs me to whip most of you into fighting shape. The first line of defence is in the hands of civilians, my God."
Surge snapped his fingers, and some cadets ran over from the other room, holding a giant crate between the three of them. The side of the crate was labelled the Leona Monti Foundation, a charity group that had been making waves in the news recently. After they set it down on the ground, Surge picked up a crowbar that one of the cadets had passed him and pried the crate open.
"Single file line, all of you. These are still off the market, mind ya, but they've been tested till kingdom come and back," Surge said. He picked up one of the backpacks that were inside of the crate. "I'm about to introduce you all to the most state-of-the-art revolutionary technology. It's going to be our crown jewel against those savage creatures that have been destroying our homes."
Surge rummaged around the bag and removed a fistful of shrunken red and white spheres. These backpacks were filled with pokeballs!
"The government doesn't want the public to have access to these quite yet. He thinks you all will end up as vigilantes or something," Surge snorted. "You might be good enough to mug the occasional old woman, but you're nowhere near good enough to be a real threat. Not most of you, anyways."
He tossed the first backpack at the nearest trainer, who barely caught it in time. It was the girl with the purrloin from Surge's second battle. She quickly pulled out one of the pokemon capturing devices, grinning from ear to ear.
"You each get 20 pokeballs, straight from the factory in Michigan. Don't ask me how the science works, because I ain't got the answers. All I know is that they use these plants called apricorns and some computer technology that's too nerdy for me. They work. Don't ever doubt that."
The cadets surrounding Surge began passing out more backpacks to the rest of the crowd. Soon enough, the trainers began to swarm forward in their haste to get one of the coveted prizes, and were clutching onto pokeballs as if their lives depended on it.
All except me. When I moved forward to pick up one of the bags, Surge shook his head, mouthing for me to stay back for a bit. Reluctantly, I stood by as all of the bags of pokeballs were claimed.
"Recruits! You will now be following Officer Janine to the projectile-launching practice zone. Let's make sure your throwing arms aren't completely useless before we let you terrorise the public."
The eighteen or so other trainers fell into line as 'Janine' led them out of the arena room. Only Micah turned back to look at me, before hurrying along not to fall out of the herd. Pretty soon, it was just Surge and me left alone.
Once Surge confirmed that it was actually just the two of us, he turned back to face me, his earlier grin now gone.
"What's your name, kid?" he asked.
"Holt. It's Holt Locke," I responded.
Surge raised an eyebrow. "That's a stupid name. Your mama give it to ya?"
"What kind of name is Surge?" I asked.
"The name is Matis, kid. I have no idea how you got the name Surge from. It's from my days in service, probably when you were in preschool."
I was about to tell him about his role in the video games. My mouth opened, and the word Kanto was just about to leave my mouth-
But I couldn't.
No matter how much I tried to speak about where I learned of Surge's identity, nothing came out. Surge looked on, a concerned expression on his face, as I continued struggling to even speak.
"The hell is wrong with you, punk?" he exclaimed.
"I- I have no idea," I replied, barely louder than a whisper.
Something, or someone, was stopping me from talking about Surge's identity at that moment. Whatever divine power had brought pokemon to this world didn't want me telling the Lightning American about his video game history.
The Catastrophe did not end with the emergence of pokemon. In fact, it had only just begun.
Antonin Monti
[Saturday, February 10, 2024. 11:38 EST]
Congressman Idu Okolacajit strode into the room, a large man standing at 6 '3 and built like a horse. A former career prosecutor in Cook County, he had just won his seat as the congressman of the 9th district of Illinois.
The Monti Corporation's generous campaign donations certainly didn't hurt with that.
"Nino, my good friend! How are you?" Idu asked, smiling. He was wearing a crisp suit and a purple tie, probably costing thousands of taxpayer dollars overall.
"Good afternoon, Idu," Antonin replied. He gestured to the empty seat, which Okolacajit glided over towards. "How is life in D.C. after the Catastrophe?"
Idu sighed. "Not easy, Nino. We suffered a hit. We lost a president and six senators when that black bird monster took out our nation's capital."
"Yveltal?"
"Yes, yveltal. Quite a silly name, if you ask me. All the ridiculous names that people come up with. They're saying he was the harbinger of destruction," he laughed.
"This whole situation is juvenile," Antonin shrugged. "We must respond with all the more precaution."
"Oh Nino. Ever the same." Idu rubbed his hands together. "Now how can your local congressman help you? Speak, and the great Okolacajit shall provide." He smiled.
Antonin quickly checked his notepad, reading through the last few entries.
"I need three hundred million dollars in federal funding," he said.
Okolacajit whistled. "Three hundred million dollars. That's not too much, no…" He slightly leaned forward in his seat. "But what could a real estate tycoon want with that much money? Is it for this Leona Monti Foundation that I am hearing so much about these days?" He leaned forward.
Antonin's face remained neutral. "This is just for our immediate plans. I'll need more money and the full cooperation of the U.S. government by the end of the month."
He picked up the report that Alice had left on his desk, handing it over to the congressman.
"The SILPH program in Japan. I have two people on the inside, who have supplied me with their prototype device. We are currently producing them in our domestic factories in Michigan and Pennsylvania. I'm sure this is enough incentive to get a budget vote rolling."
Idu leafed through the pages, humming to himself as he skimmed through the content.
"This is impressive, Nino. Very impressive. Our negotiations with our Japanese friends happened this morning. They were not as… open with us, about their progress. Not as far along as your report suggests," Idu said, placing the papers back on Antonin's desk. "I'm afraid that this does complicate matters, old friend."
"There are no complications. I will have results soon enough. With your money and my connections, we'll-"
"Tell me, Nino. Have you ever heard of eminent domain?" Idu asked.
Antonin froze, his grip on the crutch tightening.
At this, Idu smiled. "I see you're well aware. Excellent! That will make this process a lot easier than I thought it would be." He hummed while rummaging through his suitcase. Pulling out a sealed document, he tossed it onto the desk, next to the SILPH report.
Antonin just stared at the envelope, which was labelled United States Congress.
"That's the nuclear option, should you force our hand. We have the power to take over everything, Nino. Your company's assets, your factories that you have been relentlessly purchasing. Everything."
He pushed the document further down the desk, until it was almost touching Antonin's hand.
"That's option 1. We'll pay you for it, how does three hundred million dollars sound? For a businessman like you I'm sure it's insulting," Idu said, rapping the desk with his knuckles. "Especially now that we know you possess illegally acquired designs from SILPH, it'll be child's play for the government to take over. Pokeball development is still a hot topic, I'm sure you understand why we can't let it just fall into the private sector."
"My hands? You bastards want to take my company? My company?" Antonin screamed.
"Nino, you're so impatient. You haven't even heard option 2," Idu chided. "Option 2 is simple. You hand over the SILPH plans, and any other information that you have. We'll still take over the Leona Monti Foundation, of course, but you get to keep everything else! Isn't that wonderful?" Idu smiled.
At this point, Antonin's face had turned almost purple in anger. He glared at the man sitting across from him. "... Why?"
Okolacajit shrugged. "Loose ends, my friend. You're a loose end and I'm just the messenger."
Antonin listened. His fist unclenched from the crutch. Smoothing out his features, he pressed the intercom button. "Alice dear, lockdown 3 please." Rook takes knight.
A brief pause, then a feminine voice answered, "Yes boss."
Idu looked puzzled. "Nino? Antonin, what do you mean by lockdown?"
Antonin just rose from his seat. He was a smaller man but no less intimidating.
"Don't do anything rash, my friend. You'll regret it," Okolacajit cautioned.
"Then I choose to regret it," Antonin said.
A small click of the door signalled that it had been locked from the outside. Alice had made her move. The queen had taken action, it was time for a swift checkmate.
With a quick lunge, Antonin burst forward and slammed his elbow into the congressman's face. Okolacajit stumbled backwards, clutching his now-bruised cheek.
"-the hell?" Idu stepped backwards. "What do you think you're doing, Monti?"
"Something I should have done a long time ago, Mr. Congressman. The millions of dollars I spent trying to get you on that filthy seat," Antonin spat.
"You just assaulted a United States Congressman, which is a felony," said Idu, who straightened his back and tried to look intimidating. "You're in over your head, you son of a bitch."
Antonin said nothing, only pulling out a small metal sphere from his pocket. He tapped it pensively, staring down his former friend.
"In a past life, maybe. But you forget…" he clicked the sphere, and a surge of light filled the room. A small pinkish creature emerged from the ball, hovering in the air. "I'm just a man, just like you."
"The hell is that…"
"Mew, silence him."
The creature looked hesitant, but a sharp look from his master shook him out of it. The pokemon, mew, levitated in front of the Okolocajit, staring him down.
"Wait, let's talk this thro-"
A fearsome wind-up and a devastating punch slammed into the congressman. He stood there, stunned, as blood trickled out of his mouth. Idu tried mouthing some words, but nothing came out.
"The time for talking has long passed." Idu made a gurgling sound at that. "A crushed windpipe, I'd imagine. One more time, creature."
The last thing that Congressman Okolocajit of the 9th district of Illinois saw was the fist of a legendary pink pokemon. The rest was darkness.
Antonin stood over the deceased man, sombre and silent. Head down in quiet respect, he prayed. Prayed that he had made the right decision. His quest would not be deterred by the audacity of government. The societal bonds that had long since shackled him, he would rid himself of such meaningless chains.
By any means necessary.
"Mew's power is amazing…" Alice whispered, staring at the security footage. Her long red hair was tied up in a neat bun, a few loose strands poking out.
The image of the now-deceased Congressman Okolocajit was playing on the screen. He exited the Monti Building, got into his car, and started driving away.
"I believe one of our researchers called it the transform manuever," Andrew replied.
"To perfectly replicate human anatomy… imagine what we can do with all this technology," Alice was practically frothing at the mouth. "With such a fast rate of reproduction, maybe even transplantation…"
"No. We must draw the line somewhere, my dear," Antonin said. He was nursing an injured elbow himself, which was being treated by Peter.
"Boss… What happens now?" Andrew asked.
"For now we continue on as if nothing happened. That's the official story. We must stick to it at all costs," Monti replied.
"You just offed a congressman and made it look like nothing happened!" Peter exclaimed. He was greeted by a glare and quietly went back to work.
"Congressman Okolocajit's death was an unfortunate incident. Has he been dispersed in an ideal location?"
"Yes boss," Andrew said. "His car, along with the body, will be found in a trampled field full of rhyhorn. They're not the brightest of pokemon and they are easily provoked. Nobody will bat an eye."
"I assure you that his death will still get attention. We must act quickly before questions are asked," Antonin said. "What are our relocation plans looking like?"
Andrew skimmed through his small stack of papers. "It looks like our best option would be to move out west. California or Washington state, probably. You do have a few buildings in Santa Monica-"
"California is out of the question for now. Governor Alejandra has cut off all communications with the outside world while she struggles to keep the state under her control. She's fighting a losing battle, but we do not want to draw further attention to our operations. Tell me more about Washington."
"Yes sir. In Olympia, we have a recruitment base that's being run by… a lieutenant named Matis. He sent us an update on the latest batch of trainers. We've issued pokeballs for all of them, and managed to recruit at least three into our foundation."
"Then it's time we moved to Seattle for the next phase in our operations. Ensure that pokeball production does not fall behind, even after we leave. Who will be in charge of the Midwest branch once I'm gone?" Antonin asked.
"That'll be me, sir," Peter said.
"Good. Be on a flight to Michigan by tomorrow morning, please."
"Am I being thrown away?" Peter asked.
"On the contrary, son. Consider this your promotion."
"Boss?" Andrew spoke up. "I've been your right hand man since the beginning…"
"And you will continue to be so. All three of you, you are my most trusted colleagues… my friends…" Antonin said. "We must not falter in light of these recent developments. We must continue on, stronger than ever. You are my beacons, my rockets. Nothing will stop us. Nothing. Not even the government can overcome us. This is a new world, my friends. We must seize it now, or forever be lost in the stream of history."
Antonin stood up from his chair, tossing aside the crutch that he bore since the day his mother died. Holding mew's pokeball in his hands, he looked at each of his subordinates. Three pairs of eyes, filled with devotion and awe, stared back at him. Alice, Peter, and Andrew, his most devout disciples.
"Abandon your past lives, my dears. I have nothing else in this world but a mission of vengeance and God's righteous fury on my side. If you choose to follow me, then I promise you that I shall not disappoint," he said. "Follow me, and you shall rebuild this world and provide its salvation."
Andrew stood with his mouth ajar at Antonin's statement. Peter simply nodded along, while Alice looked deep in thought. She finally then spoke up, a newfound conviction in her voice: "Sir, if I may."
"Speak, dear."
"When you found me, I was nothing. I had a college degree and maybe 50 bucks in the bank. You took a chance on me, gave me a shot out of the rat race. You've mentored me, cared for me, and showed me how a great man shows great compassion. You made me who I am, sir, even if you don't remember it. If you're reaching for the stars then I would follow you to the stars and beyond," she said.
"To the stars!" Andrew repeated.
Antonin looked at Peter. He stood there quietly as the boss stared him down. A second passed. Then two, and three…
"...to the stars," Peter finally joined. Antonin Monti smiled. He lightly touched Peter's shoulder, then gently lifted his chin.
"Executive Peter, I've been told."
"It's just a joke, I promise-"
"It has a nice ring to it. But I'm afraid that Peter must die," he let go of Peter's chin and removed another pokeball from his pocket. Placing the pokeball in Peter's hand, he said "In christianity, the Messiah found a young man named Simon. Simon was a simple fisherman, a poor man who came from nothing. Not until he believed. He was then born again as Peter the disciple, the greatest of the apostles. So tell me, do you believe, son?"
"I believe, sir." Peter shuddered.
"Do you? Truly?"
"I do," he said. Louder and more determined than ever. "I believe in your vision."
"Then you shall be born again as my Executive Proton. You will be my net, who I will cast out into the world." Then turning to Andrew, he grasped the younger man's shoulder.
"You will be Executive Archer. You are my sword, my shield, and the voice of the new world's order," Antonin said.
Finally, he turned to Alice, who's eyes were now brimming with tears. "Alice, my dear. Your words have touched me, deeper than anything I know. I remember when we first met, even if you think I don't. 'Alice from Marketing.' Now that just won't do at all…" Antonin thought for a moment before continuing, "You will be my Ariana, who the Greeks called Ariadne. You alone hold the golden thread that shall lead us through the darkness. Executive Ariana, my precious rocket."
The three stood in solemn silence, newly baptised by their leader.
"And you, boss? What about you?" Andrew asked.
"Antonin Monti must die as well. It's time I embrace my sad and pitiful father's legacy. He was the lowest of scum, but he taught me a valuable lesson. I shall cherish that."
Antonin looked up, his eyes also glistening.
"My name was Antonin Monti. My father's name was Antonio, Antonio Giovanni."
The three executives bowed before him, trembling at whatever divine presence they had now devoted themselves to.
"I shall live on, carrying his name and his lessons in my heart. I am Antonin Monti Giovanni, and I will lead my rockets for now and forevermore."
END Chapter 4: Our Canon
A/N: None of this would be possible without the incredible feedback from Green_Bean_Parade. You can find him on "The Archive-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named"!
Main Character: Holt Locke (24)
Rodie (M) [Herdier]: formerly owned by Clayton, now trained by Holt