Chapter Six – Duality
~Strength doesn't come from brute force or sheer intellect. It isn't born of trusting in any one instinct or feeling. Strength is the culmination of loss, sorrow, and the will to attain a higher level. Those who can break through the wall and surmount the hurdle that is loss, shall become unstoppable.
"Come on! If you can't reach the top than you'll never be strong enough to beat Team Rocket!" Candela barked.
"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" Lucy panted.
I gazed down at Lucy as I struggled to keep my balance. Blanche and Spark were ahead of me a ways and Candela stood tall at the top. She had insisted that mountain climbing would show me something about myself. I wasn't sure how much I trusted that seeing as we had climbed three cliffs already and it was beginning to get dark.
"If Candela can do it then surely we can as well." Blanche shot back.
"Man, this is really difficult. I don't know if this is actually safe." Spark gasped.
"Yeah, maybe it's hard cause you're wearing leather pants." Blanche shot back.
"I like these pants." He said indignantly.
"Are you babies going to keep crying or are you gonna keep climbing?" Candela challenged.
I gritted my teeth and began moving at an accelerated pace. I aggressively grabbed each ridge in the cliff as I pushed myself farther.
"You won't beat me." I seethed.
"Good. Accept my challenge."
I kept my eyes centered forward, climbing further and further toward Candela as she smiled down on me. Her grin was filled with cockiness that dared me to move forward to reach her. I heard a voice call out to me as I glance down.
"Ryan!" Lucy screamed.
"Lucy?" I screamed downward.
Her screams filled my ears as I instinctively released my hold on the cliff and plummeted downward. I passed Blanche who's face had went from stunned concern to extreme disbelief. I knew she couldn't call Articuno in time and I knew Candela couldn't call Moltres. Lucy came in to view, falling with tears in her eyes as I forced my way toward her. I drew her into my arms and held her close.
"Ryan?" she shouted in disbelief.
"Don't worry I'm here." I smiled.
I struggled to grab my Pokéball off of my belt as the wind assaulted me with its sheer force.
"Come on out, Pidgeot!" I called.
Pidgeot burst from its ball and circled around in the air; grabbing us out of its frantic embrace. Pidgeot carried us upwards as we passed Spark and Blanche. He took us all the way to the top of the mountain as Candela frowned at me.
"Couldn't make it all the way huh?"
I called Pidgeot back to its ball and glared in the other direction. Lucy wore an embarrassed look on her face.
"I'm so sorry-" she began.
"Don't. I'm sorry master."
"Suck it up. You can think about this shortcoming while you're climbing back down."
Candela turned and made her way for the other side of the mountain and began climbing down. I squeezed Pidgeot's ball in my hand.
"I'm sorry I got in the way…" Lucy sulked.
"Don't be. Friends come first. They always do."
"Hey what's going on? Did Candela give you a new task?" Spark asked.
Lucy and I turned and saw Blanche and Spark make their way toward us. Spark was covered in sweat and out of breath. Blanche looked rather calm, and as put together as always.
"I am relieved to see that you are both unharmed." Blanche said.
"How aren't you sweating?" Spark Wheezed.
"I don't sweat." She replied.
I chose to side-step the leaders'… uniqueness. I told them about Candela's order to climb back down and Spark and Blanche had differing responses.
"But we just got here!" Spark sighed in disappointment.
"Ugh, that girl can never sit still for longer than ten minutes. It's unprofessional, irresponsible, and infuriating."
"Come on, it's just her way of doing things… everyone's got their own style right?" Spark reasoned cautiously.
Blanche turned and glared at him. She decided to drop the matter entirely. She silently walked past us, and began scaling the cliff once more. I was about to follow in her footsteps until Spark put his hand on my shoulder.
"That was really cool what you did back there. Risking your life for your friend. Mad props bro." he grinned.
I was caught off guard by his praise. Travelling and training with Leader Blanche and Master Candela didn't yield much praise. I nervously shrugged and scratched my head.
"It wasn't a big deal. She would've done the same for me."
"Keep that love in your heart man. You'll never find a better power than the one you get from those you care about. That kind of power makes you unbeatable."
"Are you guys coming or not?" Blanche shouted at us.
"Right behind ya!" Spark shouted back.
Spark took the opportunity to skate away using the wheels on his shoes as he left Lucy and I standing together alone.
"I promise you won't have to protect me always," She began.
I was surprised to hear those words come from her mouth. I surely didn't think I'd done that much for her.
"Blanche and I have been travelling for a year now trying to help our team adapt to the Go program. In all of that time I've never needed help and now that you're here I feel like I'm relying on your strength too much."
"I mean, we're teammates. I've got your back, just like you've got mine right?"
"Well, yeah. Although, you haven't officially been registered with Team Mystic."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Your Pokédex, it hasn't been registered to a team has it?"
I grabbed my Pokédex and opened it to the main screen. Surely enough, the screen had my profile and all my trainer information, but the team section was blank.
"Don't sweat it too much. You'll get the chance to choose your team sooner than you think." Lucy said as she headed for the cliff face.
I'll get to choose my team… Blanche, Candela, Spark… they each had such different personalities. Each leader instructed and lived by a different means, but which one could I follow? Time passed slowly as Candela led us up and down two more mountains before we finally got a chance to relax. We'd decided to stop at the Pokémon center in Pewter City to rest up from Candela's nightmare boot camp. Blanche say beside Lucy and me in her coat as Lucy and I marveled at her ability to exist sweat-free post Candela workout.
"Don't tell me you wimps are this exhausted after a couple mountains." Candela challenged walking over with a towel around her neck.
"You're insane…" Lucy said shaking from fatigue.
"That's always been Candela. All brawn and no brain."
"At least I don't have a stick up my ass all the time."
Blanche shot Candela a disapproving glare before ignoring her.
"Fine, be that way. I'm hitting the shower." Candela grinned walking away.
"First time for everything." Blanche muttered.
"Be nice," Lucy retorted.
"I'm gonna go on a walk. I'll catch you guys later." I said walking away.
….
The dark room shook under her command. Amongst several rows of rocket grunts standing with their heads bowed, Solaris stood with his teeth gritted together. Hyde stood by his side, both men wore sullen faces. They stood before a white screen with the Team Rocket logo embroidering it. A female voice boomed over the intercom.
"Am I to believe that you imbeciles were not only crushed at the Professor's lab, but you've also managed to fuck up in Viridian Forest as well?"
"It's not our fault Mistress, that Team Mystic bitch got in our way." A grunt interjected.
The screen cut to the undershot of a woman's body cut off just below the neck. She was dressed in a scarlet red jacket with a black undershirt with the signature Rocket logo on it. Her hair was long and white, falling just to her shoulders. She sat at a shady desk with a large red button resting on her right. She pressed the button in response and the grunt who spoke up was shocked by a vicious jolt of electricity before falling to the ground in a smoking heap. The other members flinched and even screamed a bit. The woman crossed her hands.
"I don't tolerate insubordination. I also don't tolerate failures. Solaris, Hyde, you are both commanders. You shouldn't be getting bested by children!"
"Yes milady," Hyde replies meekly.
Solaris steps forward slowly.
"I vow to never lose again. Next operation you put me in charge of, I swear it will go off without a hitch."
"I won't tolerate any more failures from you or any of your men. Know that defeat equals death in this world. You of all people should understand that Solaris."
Solaris trembles slightly with his head down.
"The next report better yield good news or there will be hell to pay."
The transmission cuts out as the Rockets are left standing before a blank screen and a smoldering corpse. Solaris is the first one to snap out of the stupor and take charge.
"Let's get Johnson's body out of here and begin Operation Excavation!" Solaris commands.
….
It didn't take long for her to track me down. My "dramatic" exit was definitely felt in some way by Lucy and something compelled her to follow me out to the Pewter lookout. She found me atop a large hill overlooking the trial to Mt. Moon. She stood by my side and remained silent. We just stood there. I decided I'd take a chance and speak.
"I don't know what team to choose. Don't get me wrong, I'm very appreciative of you and Blanche, it's just that…" I began.
"What? What is it?" She questioned.
"Team Rocket." I spat out.
"You want the power to fight them, right? You're worried that you won't find that with us…"
"No, it's more than that. I want the power to crush them, destroy them, annihilate them. I don't want a single trace of their sorry group left.
Lucy grabbed my hand and placed it on her chest.
"W-what's going on?"
"I want to share something with you."
I felt my face get hot as my language came out in a jumbled stammer.
"Whoa, this is all so sudden. We should take a moment and think about this."
"This is where Team Rocket stabbed me…"
My face dropped as she stared back at me with tears in her eyes.
"It was a few years ago. Team Rocket had invaded my town and raided it for resources and Pokémon. My parents were injured very badly. My father is paralyzed from the waist down and my mother is in a coma. The night they attacked, they gave everything to protect me, and it was almost futile. A Scyther attacked me and my father threw himself in front of me. It ran him right through, causing severe damage to his spinal cord and taking his mobility from him. The blade went right through him and pierced my chest. I barely survived…" she cried.
I pulled her into my arms and she cried even harder.
"Why are you telling me all of this."
"I'm telling you this," she sniffed pulling away from me to look me in the eyes. "Because we're the same. We were both harmed by Team Rocket and left abandoned. We were both alone when we found Team Mystic. I follow Blanche because I believe she will help me find the path for me to achieve atonement. I guess part of me hoped you'd felt the same… hoped that someone understood what I felt."
I gazed into her eyes and saw something different. The walls were coming down and the trainer that I had grown to know as unshakable, had shown her vulnerability to me. I pulled her back into my arms and squeezed her tight.
"Hey… don't cry. Don't let those Rockets force anymore tears out of you. Let's fight them together."