…
…
sanguine
Red and the six people who mattered most to him
his nemesis
…
…
sixteenth of June 9:05, door bell rings,
man at the door says if I want to stay alive a bit longer,
there's three things I need you to know... three!
coming from a long line of traveling sales people on my mother's side,
I wasn't gonna buy just anyone's cockatoo,
so why would I invite a complete stranger into my home?
would you?
The kid is different. Giovanni knows that, and he knows that well after the kid walks into his Celadon base of operation, crushes the guards, defeats him, and states his name like a curse word on the tip of his tongue.
Red. Red is his name.
And the first time they meet, Giovanni gives him a fake Silph Scope and watches him go, puzzled. He wonders what exactly a boy can do.
It's only later when he realizes that Red swiped the real thing on his way out, headed over to Lavender Town, and ended operations there as well.
It's then that he calls a meeting with every single member of Team Rocket.
"We will not be defeated!" he tells them. "Your job is to make sure that this… this punk of a kid doesn't get away next time! Train harder, move faster. Do whatever it takes!"
Of course, that doesn't work either, and in no time at all, Giovanni hears a quiet tapping on his office door and curses under his breath.
After all, Red's always been such a modest kid. Or something like that, he thinks, before the kid steps in, says nothing, and crushes him (again, again).
"Why are you doing this?" he asks, resigned, as he recalls his last battered Pokemon. "What do you have against Team Rocket? After all, we only look for the best in people."
That's the first time that Giovanni actually sees the childish look on Red's face, the uncomprehending puzzlement as he says simply, softly, "Team Rocket's bad. It's my job to get rid of bad people."
Giovanni, terrified, flees, bringing his young son with him.
The son, not realizing exactly what it means, accuses his father. "You're weak!" His voice, so much stronger and more piercing then his nemesis, is somehow also more childish. Red is wise, his son is foolish.
How can he value his enemies? He grieves then, hugging the boy and sobbing into his shoulder, "I know."
Silver runs away the next day.
By the time Red finally arrives at his gym, Giovanni is solid again, like the earth he's supposed to represent. Too bad Red crushes him into the dust. "I can't keep up," he finally admits to his face. "Team Rocket… maybe we are bad. But we were strong. But not anymore. We will disband, until we can be strong again."
And he disappears, before Red can leave and casually give away his hideout to the nearest police officer, as Giovanni knows he will.
By the time Team Rocket (and Giovanni, and his son) return, Red's just a legend. How can one destroy a myth? Of course, for whatever reason, Red's perfectly content with destroying himself.
"We're not so different, you and I…" Giovanni muses from his hideout in Tohjo Falls. Both fleeting, both keeping to themselves (because no one can help them in the end). On opposite sides of the equation. But do they balance each other out? Giovanni somehow doubts that.
But, since he is returning, he grins maniacally before preparing to go to Goldenrod City. After all, Red isn't around any more. He can't do anything about Team Rocket anymore.
Maybe, with Red off his back, he can finally breathe…
…
…
Author's Note: …at least, that's what Giovanni thought, until Ethan/Lyra showed up and kicked his butt.
This one's different from the others, in my opinion. The first two were more musical, more introspective. Third one seemed to be P. Oak's thoughts on what happened. And this one, out of all of them, is the least derived from the song itself and focused more on Giovanni's plight, and how Red destroyed really everything that the guy had. Family, evil organization, career… really.
"Breathe" by U2. I don't own anything.
I wonder if you can guess who the next chapter is about. Only two more, by the way.