Right in his palm are two brightly coloured stones.

Charizardite Y and Pidgeotite

These are rare mega stones even for the Indigo League. To think that these stones are now in his hands is a little too surreal for him. Even he himself is seeing these stones for the first time. When he had given the order to attack Johto National Park, all he was expecting is for his subordinates to do something better than Team Aqua.

He wasn't to get something else on top of it.

Not only that, all objectives of the mission parameters had been met spectacularly. Fear had not only been driven into the hearts of Indigo's citizens, but into the ruling body of the Indigo itself. He was there during the Thirteen Pillars emergency meeting. He knows.

The Rocket's Exterminator is truly dangerous. Plague is one of his best members. He's like a sheathed dagger. Dangerous when sheathed and carried around, but absolutely lethal when drawn.

He had proved himself to be one of Team Rocket's most valuable assets. Someone of his skill and experience is priceless within the organisation.

"Even after hearing how he had done it, I still want to see for myself how it was done." Giovanni spoke in amusement as Archer stood at the other end of the room at attention. Giovanni himself is still admiring the mega stones. "Too bad all security footages were erased."

"Elite Officer Plague is one of a kind, Sir." Archer spoke up. "It's not just me. I'm sure Ariana had already told you about how impressed she is of him. Petrel is his direct superior, he also has many good things to say about him. "

"And Proton?"

"Proton and Plague didn't have many opportunities to work together, I'm afraid. Proton doesn't really know Plague all that well, but seeing from their few interactions how Proton didn't try to maim Plague on sight, I guess Plague left a good impression on him in the few times they met."

"I've been thinking of promoting him to Executive for a while now." Giovanni admitted as he sat down in the office chair, leaning comfortably on it. "He passed my test with flying colours too when I approached him undercover."

"I didn't know you had already met him personally, Sir."

"I was curious about him, especially when I found out just how he earned the title of Exterminator." Giovanni said as his mind went back to that snowy night at Viridian. "He still felt regret for killing his partner, which is understandable considering that they were probably lovers, but his loyalty is undoubtedly with us. His skills at maintaining cover without raising any suspicions even when a supposed Gym Leader confronted him out of the blue is worthy of praise."

"Does he believe in our organisation's true ideals, Sir?"

Giovanni closed his eyes as a faint smirk appeared on his face. He can still remember Plague's answer to his hidden question. The most important question of his test.

"You aren't wrong. I think that way too."

"He does. There is a reason why Ariana and I chose all three of you to be our Executives, Archer. You know this. It's because we are Kantonians. It's because all of us had suffered under the hands of the Johto administration in one way or the other. Kanto is our homeland and only we will know what is best for her and her people. Only we can protect Kanto from Indigo, who are made up of our Johtonian oppressors."

"If my memory serves me right, Plague is a Kantonian as well. More specifically, he's-"

"From Viridian. Like me." Giovanni completed Archer's sentence as he opened his eyes once more, a knowing smirk on his face. "I had already heard Ariana's and Petrel's opinions on this, but what do you think about having another Executive join our ranks, Archer?"

"For one, I'm hoping that my workload will lessen if he joins us. I don't think Proton will disagree with me."

Giovanni let out a brief chuckle at Archer's honest words. Once the laughter left him, his voice turned serious once more.

"What about Plague's condition? How long more can he last?"

"Petrel and I are having the doctors and scientists working on a cure ASAP, Sir. We know just how invaluable Plague is to us and the fact is, he is our precious comrade and friend. The scientists are still baffled at what is… plaguing him, but they suspect that Mega Evolution may really be the reason." Archer reported dutifully to the leader that he had sworn his loyalty to. "They theorised that Plague must have overused its powers in the countless missions he had been assigned to complete, and it somehow backfired on him instead of his pokemon."

"Had he ever go past the five minutes safety guideline?"

"No, at least none as far as we are aware of. The scientists suspect that it might be the frequency of usage rather than the duration of the usage that is the cause of this unexpected illness, Sir. There is no one we know in the organisation that uses Mega Evolution as often as him. I personally think that this is because he had been sent on too many dangerous missions. We relied on him too much because there were many missions in our organisation that only he can do as our Exterminator. Also, Plague's condition had relapsed after the last mission, Sir. I had given him strict orders to take two weeks of medical rest and lay low."

"In that case, do me a favour and help remind the rest of the Executives to only use Mega Evolution when strictly needed. I don't want to lose any of you because of this unknown phenomenon. I will have Plague lay low for the next six months. You tell the scientists and doctors to use this time to hurry and stabilise his condition. I will personally reassign him to that hideout during this period. He can rest properly there while helping me to guard that thing. Plague needs to stay hidden. He is too good. He had completed his mission so well that now Morty and Falkner are hunting for him. Even Karen is interested in his abilities as a fellow Dark Specialist. We will have Plague disappear off the grid until we need him again." Giovanni instructed as he crossed his fingers. "The rest of you can easily continue what he started from here. There won't be another need for an attack as massive as the one on the park, just do some small scale attacks every now and then to constantly remind Johto that we are still around. It's always the unseen and unknown that creates fear in people's hearts, remember that and you will do well."

"Yes, Sir. Anything else?"

"Prepare a new set of Executive uniform, and also arrange a time for me to meet your newest colleague. I will personally give him his new assignment then." Giovanni stood up from the chair as he walked out of his office, Archer following him from behind.

"It's time I officially meet the Rocket's Exterminator as the leader of Team Rocket."


My heist worked.

The Charizardite Y and Pidgeotite I stole, on top of the exemplary results the attack on the National Park had achieved had made Giovanni very, very happy.

I am now Executive Plague of Team Rocket, and right now, I am finally granted a meeting with the true leader of this organisation face-to-face.

"Surprised?"

"Yes, Sir." I replied, making sure to display the hidden surprise on my face. "I suspect that our initial meeting was not coincidental, but I wasn't… expecting this."

"I wasn't lying when I said that I'm sure that a good man like you will undoubtedly go far in your career no matter what path you choose." Giovanni replied with a confident smirk, hands in his pockets. "That uniform looks good on you, Executive Plague."

"Thank you, Sir."

I nodded a reply as I tried my best to not show any hints of emotion on my face. Giovanni looked back at me with a grin, one that unsettled even me.

This is Giovanni, the leader of the largest criminal organisation in Kanto and Johto. He is also currently one of the strongest trainers walking around. He is the Gym Leader of Viridian. He is supposedly the strongest Gym Leader in Kanto and was once a member of Kanto's Elite Four in his youth.

One look and I know that he is out of my league. If I want to bring him down, a head-on battle will never work.

"Even way before I met you, I had heard many good things about you, Plague, especially from Petrel and Ariana." Giovanni continued to speak lazily as he turned around to look at the scene behind him. We are currently at the roof of a tall building in Saffron overlooking the entire city. On paper, this building belongs to an investment holding company that had no traces of getting itself involved in criminal activity. In reality, it belongs to Team Rocket.

"I asked you a similar question the first time we met. I will ask you again. Tell me, what do you think of the state of Kanto?"

"It is a land that looks peaceful on the outside but filled with strife and impoverishment on the inside." I spoke neutrally as my mind began to run through the list of possibilities of what Giovanni really wants to hear from me. I am already somewhat confident in my suspicions thanks to the digging I had done after our first encounter, but one can never be too sure when dealing with someone like Giovanni.

I continue to explain my answer.

"The situation is improving, but another big event is all it needs to break the fragile peace. There are always loopholes in the legal system, one that our organisation exploited to get to where we are today. Food and agricultural produces in Kanto are scarce and our economy had never managed to do well enough to sustain us as a whole. The rich just get richer while the poor get poorer. Because of that, Kanto has the largest economic inequality as compared to the other regions. But that is our advantage. Because people cannot find jobs, they are willing to join us in desperation. Because they have no homes to return to and nothing else to lose, they turn to us to keep their stomachs filled and to have a roof over their heads. It's how we secured our members' loyalty, by promising our members that they can not only survive, but also have the chance to flourish so long as they work for us."

"Splendid observation, Plague! Just what I expected from my Executive!" Giovanni turned back around to praise me with a large smile on his face. "You are an Executive now, so there are some things that you need to know if you work under me as one. Humour me once more, what do you know of what I did before I became the Gym Leader of Viridian?"

"That you were once a member of Indigo's Elite Four, Sir." I stated matter-of-factly. "There wasn't much record left of what you did as a member of the Elite Four and I wasn't born yet at that time, so I don't know much of what you really did other than hearing some of your exploits through word of mouth. You stepped down to become the Gym Leader of Viridian at the same time Professor Samuel Oak stepped down as Indigo Champion. If my memory serves me right, Blaine was also an Elite Four member. He did the same thing you did and became the Gym Leader of Cinnabar in that same period."

"Kain." Giovanni sneered in hostility the moment the current Indigo President was mentioned. "That good for nothing, self-centred bastard. He promised. He promised to solve the problems in Kanto, to help lift the region from poverty. He did nothing."

I don't know what Kain did to Giovanni, but our opinions of Kain is at least one thing that we can agree on. We can be best buds just from this alone.

The main difference between the Indigo League and the Indigo Government is that one is in-charge of pokemon-related affairs and the other is not. The Indigo President that heads the Indigo Government and the Indigo Champion that leads the Indigo League do not cross with each other unless necessary because their duties are separated from each other. They do not interfere in each other's affairs unless strictly necessary and it is a system that the other regions adopt as well.

But Kain meddled in everything. His reach is so vast that there are many things about the Indigo League that even Lance himself does not know, but Kain knows. The secret facility that houses the prehistoric pokemon was one of them, even if I only found that out much later. Lance knew nothing about it when something like that was supposed to be under his jurisdiction. It's all because of Kain's secret meddling. He is an absolute control freak that wants to control everything because he trusts no one but himself.

I knew Giovanni was an Elite Four member more than twenty years ago. He was still young back then, a young promising trainer that swiftly climbed his way up as a member of Kanto's Elite Four. But sometime after he became a member of Kanto's Elite Four, Giovanni had stepped down for reasons unknown, although many suspected that it was a power play to replace the Kantonian Elites with Johto trainers, maintaining the ratio of 1:1 for Kanto and Johto Elite trainers in Indigo to keep the harmony between regions, portraying the image that there are no biases in Indigo's politics. That they are equal.

I only found out more about the regional difference after much digging. Officially, Kanto and Johto may be two regions but are considered as one and the same. There aren't supposed to be much discrimination or hostility. At least on paper, everyone is given a fair chance to try and strive for their dreams no matter the region that they came from.

In reality, the differences are always there no matter how small it is. Sure, it is a lot better than when Indigo was first founded, but there will always be some lingering animosity and distrust from both sides towards each other for many reasons. It is a delicate topic for the League to handle and also an extremely volatile one. Just look at the Kanto ban Senator Langley had brought up. The effects of simply bringing that topic up is already beginning to spill over the entire Indigo. Giovanni is really a master at causing dissent and chaos.

I just don't know to what extent is Giovanni interested about the concealed distrust between Kantonians and Johtonians.

The divide in Indigo is troubling, and it is not uncommon for third party groups to spring up every now and then, championing for their region's rights or to even campaign for the separation of their region from Indigo. The Indigo League and the Indigo Government had always been swift in suppressing such groups to maintain the delicate peace. Over time, people had learnt to not voice their opinions out loud, but that doesn't mean that their sentiments had subsided.

Johto is a land with much more resources. Unlike Kanto, their lands are fertile. Johto's lands are also not dotted with numerous unscalable terrains that made travelling from point A to point B difficult, a problem that the Kanto region has that severely hindered its economic development. Johto had always been the richer region because of that, and the League always have to direct a sizable amount of resources from Johto to Kanto to help keep the region afloat, especially when it comes to the food problem that Kanto always face.

Obviously, there are Johtonians who are not pleased with the arrangement. Remember the mess that resulted simply by bringing up the Kanto ban? The resentment didn't build up over a few days, it had been accumulating for centuries. On Kanto's end, they had always accused Johto of exploiting or oppressing them especially when it comes to the topic of the usage of Kanto's vast deposits of the rare minerals and stones. Kantonians accused Johto for depriving Kantonians of work opportunities and economic benefits that might lift Kanto out of poverty. Johto accuse Kanto of constantly leeching off them. There are many more arguments of who exploits who and each of them are doing a fantastic job in painting themselves as the victim.

Honestly? I couldn't bring myself to care unless it affects my plans.

While the number of dissenters is by no means small, most of Kanto and Johto citizens worked relatively well with each other. Our shared history and geographical location meant that our regions will always be closely entwined with each other whether we like it or not. The only reason why there is so much dissent and mistrust are because the politicians of the old are corrupt shits that mainly consists of Johtonians. The current politicians of now that made up the Indigo Government are useless in resolving conflicts, or simply not interested to make Indigo a better place to live in because they themselves are not affected by it.

It's all about politics and self-serving interests.

There are other politicians from other political parties that could have better solved this issue but the current one that made up most of Indigo's Parliament are too reluctant to let go of the power they currently hold. It doesn't help that the Indigo Government used to have a number of corrupt Johtonian politicians in their ranks that exploited Kanto for their own benefits, although that issue is in the process of being rectified from how Kain is weeding such politicians hiding in his Parliament.

In my opinion, the process is still too slow because Kain stubbornly insists on doing everything by himself. He doesn't trust anybody else to do the job for him when they clearly can. He really could have just delegated his work to someone else. That man is more stubborn, egoistic, distrustful, and paranoid than anything else that I have ever seen in both my lives.

In any case, it still doesn't change the fact that Kanto's citizens suffered.

The Indigo League is doing fine when it comes to handling pokemon related affairs, but the same cannot be said for the Indigo Government and the duties they are entrusted with. It is also because of the ineptitude of the current Indigo Government that Team Rocket was able to flourish. Team Rocket grew from the cracks in the laws that were placed, exploiting legal loopholes, preying on children and adults that had nowhere to go and desperate for help, help that the Indigo Government should have given.

Now, keep in mind of the situation that I had just explained and think about this: What happens when your own government, the ones who are supposed to be your protector, failed to give such help and another party gave it to you instead?

Team Rocket provided such help, and it was how they managed to be the King of the Underworld in Indigo and secured the loyalty of many of Kanto's desperate masses. In fact, considering the number of legal businesses Team Rocket secretly owns, I have no choice but to admit that Team Rocket is actually crucial in supporting Kanto's economy. If all of Team Rocket's secret legal businesses falls in a single day, Kanto will be doomed. Many Kantonian grunts in Team Rocket are extremely loyal to their cause because to them, Team Rocket are their saviours. Not the Indigo.

I'm starting to think that Team Rocket is simply more than just a terrorist organisation. With how active they are in genuinely developing Kanto's economy and providing honest jobs to jobless people, I'm suspecting that Giovanni is more in favour of helping Kanto than in destroying it. Many of the employees of Team Rocket's secret legal businesses don't even know that they are actually working for Team Rocket, which make things more complicated for me. What would happen to Kanto when everything is brought to light and they lose their jobs?

Disaster will strike, that's what.

Assuming that Giovanni sincerely wants Team Rocket to help improve Kanto's economy, I just don't know why he chose to use the facade of a terrorist organisation. He is a Gym Leader, a person of power and influence. Surely there are better ways than to set up Team Rocket to achieve this?

Now that I am looking at the entire situation from a new perspective, I also have no idea why the Indigo Government always assume that they made the correct decisions. Terrorists acts aside, look at what Giovanni achieved for Kanto as compared to what Kain had done. Over the years since the organisation's founding, Giovanni's Team Rocket had single handedly generated more than 50% of the jobs currently available in the region as compared to what Kain had done. It somehow reminds me of when I had told Kain many times so many years back that Marowak Skull has to be allowed to continue to survive in Kanto if we were to delay Team Rocket's rise to power. Only Marowak Skull had the ability to keep Team Rocket in check when the police force in Kanto were still too incapable to do anything about this issue.

Kain didn't listen, and told me to continue playing my role as a double agent. Because I was not allowed to sabotage Team Rocket's plans to increase their influence, I had no other choice than to follow Team Rocket's orders and wipe out Marowak Skull. I was proven right when Team Rocket's influence expanded aggressively just a short few months after Marowak Skull's disbandment. Kain is still adamant that he made the correct choice despite the results showing otherwise.

On the bright side, jobs in Fuschia suddenly sprung up in many places the moment Marowak Skull was gone, so it wasn't entirely a bad thing for the people. Homeless people suddenly had homes to stay and jobs to work in, something which I had missed previously because I was so engrossed in revenge.

I am this close to beyond caring about my spy mission at this point. The only reason I haven't tried to leave everything behind and escape to the ends of the world is because I want to make sure that Jane's sacrifice wasn't in vain.

I want her death to have meaning. I don't want it to be pointless. There were originally 359 operatives and now I am the only one left. I don't want the sacrifices of all 358 operatives of Project Illusion to be pointless. I will finish what they started, because this is the right thing to do and the only reason that keeps my alive.

Giovanni tilted his head a little towards the sky as he began to speak, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"When I was young all I wanted is to make Kanto a 'better place'." Giovanni mocked with a sneer. "I saw from my travels in Kanto how impoverished we are, how bad our security is and how it allowed criminals to do whatever they want. But improving the economy is the job of the Indigo Government, not the Indigo League. The most the League can do about this problem is to help improve our internal security. Our respective responsibilities dictate that our roles and duties cannot cross. So, the moment I became an Elite Four, I told Kain about Kanto's state, even going so far as to put down my status as a member of the Elite Four and begged him for help. He promised me that he will do something about Kanto's state of poverty. To me, the state of my homeland is way more important than my own pride. It was the reason why I wanted to be an Elite Four in the first place, so that I can have the power to do something."

Giovanni then turned to face me.

"But Kain did nothing. In fact, he exacerbated the problem. That egoistic bastard thinks that he knows it all and tried to interfere with both the Government and the League affairs when the League affairs are strictly none of his business. As a result, he is stretched too thin and unable to direct his focus to things that required immediate attention. Kantonians suffered greatly because of it, and no one noticed because the media, which is under Kain's control, would never report on things like these."

"Was no one on your side, Sir? I find that hard to imagine."

Giovanni chuckled.

"There were many. Our Champion back then was Samuel Oak, and he was also frustrated in Kain's needless meddling in the League's affairs when he had no reason to. Kain always found some way to meddle with Samuel's job behind his back, one way or another, because he simply doesn't trust Samuel no matter what he did. Kain always thinks that only he knows what is best when Samuel is obviously the expert when it comes to pokemon affairs. For crying out loud, Samuel is a Pokemon Professor. That title alone says everything. But did Kain place his trust in Samuel to do his job properly? No, he didn't, even if Samuel is one of the best experts on pokemon I ever had the honour to work with."

From personal experience, I can say for certain that Kain never trusts anybody that he cannot totally control. In this aspect, I can relate to Giovanni.

"On top of that, Kain put in place many stupid policies that deprived Kanto of her rights. Trade restrictions, increase in taxes, depriving Kantonians of jobs in Johto and even in our motherland, not giving financial aid to those who need it but decided to use it to build new luxury apartments in Johto instead, because doing so brings about more financial benefits to Indigo as a whole. Hah. Whole lot of crap. The only people who benefited were Johtonians. It's always Johtonians who benefited from his policies, not Kantonians."

The rage in Giovanni's voice is loud and clear.

"I should have expected it. Kain is a Johtonian, of course he would only care about his own region. Of course he would exploit Kanto's resources to further Johto's own. I pleaded to Kain many times to help Kanto, because he is the President of Indigo and it is his duty to do so. I chose to place my trust in my President but each time I was simply brushed off. I got bitter. I was angry. And it was then I decided that I should take this matter into my own hands."

Giovanni spread his arms out as he continues to make his great revelation.

"Our deposits of rare stones and minerals aside, Kanto really has nothing else that can help guarantee the survival of her economy. Kanto may lack natural resources, but we have something that other regions don't. We have our people, and our people are some of the brightest minds in the world. Just look at Samuel, Fuji, Blaine, and Bill. Among the seven regions, our region had always birthed the most geniuses that helped make the world a better place."

I am not too sure about things not related to pokemon, but Kanto are indeed known for birthing the smartest pokemon researchers and scientists in the world. We were the ones who invented something as ridiculous as Fossil Revival Technology. The living proof is still in Brock's gym in Pewter in the form of a revived kabutops, the first successful specimen that didn't die straight away after its revival. Still, where is this conversation heading to?

"You have to understand, Plague, Kanto's state of poverty was no laughing matter back in the days." Giovanni emphasised further, a serious look on his face. "But I'm a pokemon trainer, not an expert in running Kanto's economy. I am not in a position to do anything. So, I did all I could. I used all my connections to try and find like-minded individuals that can help me. As long as they are experts in areas that can pull Kanto out of poverty, I approached them in secret and convinced them to join me in my cause. My family gave me my full support, and so did my close friends. Together, we started something. Something that can hopefully help Kanto. Slowly, my wife and I managed to form a small team that consists of experts in many areas. Be it in economics, finance, law, geography, pokemon, anything that we think is necessary, we gathered them all. We called ourselves SKIP, Separation of Kanto from Indigo through Peace, because that is our belief. What we are aiming for is to help Kanto leave Indigo, but none of us want to start a war because we know how horrifying war can be. We are not warmongers. It was because of this belief that we were adamant on making it a peaceful separation. As you would already suspect, SKIP would later be reformed by me and my wife into the Team Rocket that we know today."

So this is how Team Rocket truly started. This is not what I was expecting when I finally got to meet Giovanni in person.

"For our beliefs, we worked tirelessly. We need to find ways to allow Kanto to stand on her own and sustain herself without any external help. We knew we lack natural resources that is not our precious stones, and they are perishable resources that will run out one day. Maybe not now, but we have to think about our future. What we fear will happen somewhere in the next few centuries if we rely too much on our precious stones."

Giovanni began to slowly pace about as he continues his story of Team Rocket's history.

"With this in mind, the experts I gathered developed ways to work around it. Our solution was our people. We found ways to invest in our people. Education, for one, is an area that we had heavily invested in. Since all we can rely on are our people, we invested in them. Not only did we secretly set up numerous schools across the region that provide quality and affordable education for any child that needs it, we secretly helped Kanto to develop its service sector, aiming to let Kanto become an international hub that can provide professional services to whoever needs it, from whatever region they hail from. People from around the world will flock to us to use the services our people can offer because our people will be just that good, because we invested in them. That was our plan and vision for Kanto, to help her stand on her own two feet without relying on Johto, all by investing in her people. We cannot rely on Johto since they are outsiders. Kanto is not their home, they wouldn't care whether we live or die. They will always find ways to oppress and exploit us. Look at the past 500 years. Our history said it all."

Now that explains a lot on how Giovanni's Team Rocket has its fingers in almost every pie. He didn't manage to do it alone. He had help from experts in many fields from days long past. But what really happened to them? I barely knew anything about SKIP other than its destruction from what little I knew during my digging for more information. If Giovanni's SKIP was so successful, why was Team Rocket born?

"However, we also knew that what we did was technically illegal, even if it is to help Kanto. Knowing Kain, he won't stand for SKIP's existence once he learnt of it. Do you know why, Plague?"

"If I have to make a guess, Sir." I replied in an even voice as my mind began to piece the picture of Kanto's situation based on what Giovanni told me. "SKIP's existence was undermining the very authority of the Indigo Government. If SKIP proved itself to be too efficient and good in solving Kanto's problems, no one in Kanto would support the Indigo Government. There would no longer be a need for Kanto to be a part of Indigo. As Indigo President, that is one outcome Kain will never accept, because Indigo is Indigo because of the merger of Kanto and Johto."

"Got it in one. I expect nothing less from you." Giovanni nodded in satisfaction. "Like you said, our existence itself might very well topple the Indigo Government. The founding members of SKIP knew that from the very start, that SKIP cannot be exposed in the open or a violent revolution might be sparked when Kantonians learnt what we secretly did for them. That was not an outcome SKIP desired, so everything we did was of utmost secret. SKIP will help Kanto from the shadows and even if no Kantonians knew about what we did for them, it's fine. We never demanded for recognition of our work. All we wanted was for Kanto to prosper and be free. That was all we ever asked."

Really made me wonder just what happened for SKIP to turn into the Team Rocket that I know of today.

"However, we were no fools. We knew that we always need to have a backup plan. Hence, we also prepared ourselves for the worst case scenario, where a peaceful separation of Kanto from Indigo is not possible and war between the two regions break out despite our best efforts. We realised that if our worst fears came through, that we have no choice but to fight back for our own independence and prevent Johto from continuing to oppress and exploit us, we need one thing. One crucial thing that Kanto always lack. We need firepower."

Giovanni sighed as he looked upwards into the sky.

"Johto has the Tower Duo and the Legendary Beasts, who are usually present in Johto, but we had nothing like that on our side. Kanto's only legendaries are the Legendary Birds, who are usually somewhere outside of the region flying to Arceus knows where, only stopping to rest in Kanto when they need a break. We cannot rely on them to defend us in our time of need because they most probably won't be there. In that case, we need something on the level of a legendary pokemon to help defend us, because if we ever found ourselves in war once more against Johto, like what happened before Indigo was founded five centuries ago, we need it to defend us. We need that kind of pokemon, a pokemon who can turn the tide of any battle into our favour."

Giovanni raised two fingers.

"So, SKIP separate ourselves into two groups, like how the Indigo separates itself into the Indigo Government and the Indigo League. One, headed by my best friend back then, will continue to find ways to improve Kanto's impoverished state and make Kanto's peaceful separation from Indigo a reality. Another group, headed by me, will find a way to get a pokemon on the level of a legendary on our side so that when all else fails, we have a way to defend ourselves. My wife and I gathered a team of pokemon trainers, researchers, and scientists for that cause. You might know some of them. Oak, Agatha, Fuji, Blaine, and Bill were people who my wife and I once worked with. We embarked on a secret military project, Project Rebirth."

A military project? I would need to secretly check on the Indigo's own database when I have the time. Maybe the League will have information on it that Giovanni chose not to share with me.

"Samuel Oak is a Kantonian and is able to do something as our Champion, and he was sympathetic to our cause when I tried to recruit him back then. Like me, he had given up on Kain and was frustrated at the level of mistrust Kain has towards everybody else. Samuel is also a brilliant researcher and scientist. He agreed to help us behind Kain's back because he knew that something needs to be done if we want to prevent Kanto from crumbling from within. The signs were all already there. Just one unfortunate event gone wrong will bring about a violent war. As Champion, it was his duty to make sure that didn't happen, so he readily took the offer we gave him."

I have a feeling that I really wouldn't like what I am going to hear.

"I trust Samuel with my life. Since he is more capable than me, I let him take charge of Project Rebirth. With him spearheading Project Rebirth, whose objective is to get a pokemon that can defend our lands from Johto's own legendaries, we made some headway. The combined efforts of the team uncovered the existence of another powerful pokemon whose existence everyone had thought to be a myth for the past millennia. A pokemon that can easily fight against Johto's Legendary Beasts on its lonesome. The pokemon who is said to have the DNA of every single pokemon in existence and the knowledge to use every pokemon move we ever know and even more."

My eyes widened a little in realisation as I quickly pieced the clues together.

No. Damn. Way.

"That pokemon is Mew. By tracking the roots of its myths, we found an old sea map that marked the location of a remote island that is Mew's home. With the combined efforts of Oak, Agatha, Blaine, and I, aided by certain equipment that Fuji and Bill invented, we caught the elusive Mew."

At this point, I cannot help but voice my own thoughts.

"Sir, if we had Mew on our side, then why aren't we already fighting for Kanto's independence?" I asked perplexedly. "Like you said, Mew is a pokemon said to be able to use every single pokemon move in existence with power that puts itself above many other legendaries despite being a mythical pokemon. You said that even if it was a 3 vs 1 scenario, Mew definitely has a way higher chance of beating Johto's Legendary Beasts. Kanto still hasn't found a way to bring herself out of poverty. We are still overly reliant on Johto for our food supply and the only thing we have in abundance here are our rare minerals and stones, and usage of it is still being hindered by the Kanto ban. Those stones are limited resources that will be depleted one day. There is still a sizable group of people from the public who supports Kanto's separation from Indigo. All the motivations and resources we need in fighting a war for Kanto's independence is in our hands. There is no reason why Team Rocket had not already started a war long ago. Why wait?"

Giovanni gave me a weary look.

"We never factored in one thing into our plans, something which we never foresee. Mew is a pokemon that is so gentle that it never wants to harm any other pokemon or human, no matter how evil they may be. In fact, its unwillingness to hurt us was why we even managed to capture it in the first place. We never managed to convince Mew to fight for our cause, no matter how much we talked to it. Mew understands where we are coming from and it showed us sympathy, but it never agreed to help us. To Mew, agreeing to help us will mean that it will have to hurt others. This is why Mew hid itself on that island, so that it will never hurt another being. To not hurt another being is its own personal rule that it strictly adheres to. Mew is a pokemon that is simply too kind. It is never fit for the battlefield. Realising that, the initial plan for Project Rebirth was hence deemed a failure."

My mind is now working overtime, piecing together all the clues and knowledge I know about this world. If recruiting Mew is deemed a failure, and knowing how the plot of the original games turned out, then...

"By that point, we were desperate, because it was getting harder and harder to hide SKIP's existence among all the chaos. Kain was already onto us and had listed us a Level 10 threat, saying that our group's existence directly threatens Indigo's sovereignty and is to be dealt with extreme prejudice. Meanwhile, Kanto was on the verge of experiencing an economic depression. Kantonians are starting to turn violent because they have no way to feed themselves while Johto is still bathing in their riches, uncaring about our plight. It didn't take long for Kantonians to turn their hate towards Johto, viewing them as the reason for their circumstances. Honestly, they weren't wrong. The Indigo Government of then were filled with corrupt politicians and many of them are Johtonians who exploited Kanto for their own ends. Sentiments for separation through force were at an all time high. War could erupt at any moment. If that were the case, Kanto will lose. Billions of Kantonians will die if a war took place because there is no way we can win a war against Johto, not when they can easily direct their Legendary Beasts against us and our Legendary Birds were still nowhere to be found. We desperately need a pokemon that Project Rebirth is supposed to bring about. When we were at our most hopeless and desperate, Fuji and Blaine came up with a mad plan. A plan so insane that the rest of us rejected it initially, but later learnt to see the beauty of it."

Giovanni let out a resigned sigh as he closed his eyes.

"We all accept the fact that pokemon on the level of the Legendary Birds and Mew are extremely rare to come by. It is hard enough to even meet them as it is, let alone catch it and then tame it. Hence, we came up with this crazy idea. Instead of catching a legendary pokemon, we would create our own legendary pokemon. A new pokemon. An entirely new species of pokemon that would defend Kanto no matter what it takes. Our initial plan failed because Mew was too kind. Our scientists found out that Mew's DNA has the genetic code of every single pokemon in existence that we know of. In that case, Fuji and Blaine theorised that if we can use a sample of Mew's DNA to create a pokemon that can fight against other legendaries, one that is cold enough to cast its morals aside and strong enough to stand against all odds, Kanto might be able to survive a war with Johto should it come to the worst-case scenario. Even if we managed a peaceful separation, that pokemon can act as our deterrence should Johto want to consume us under the flag of the Indigo once more. That idea quickly became the new direction which Project Rebirth took because that was the best idea we can come up with. That new pokemon is what we called Mewtwo, the second Mew. For Kanto, for the sake of our ideals, we worked day and night. We started to create Mewtwo. Things had also started to take a turn for the better. SKIP had finally found a way to avert the possibility of war and there were signs that it was working better than intended. It should have worked as we planned."

Giovanni suddenly had a very angry look in his eyes before he growled out his next words.

"But Kain had a hypno. A hypno so absurdly powerful and skilled in the move, Hypnosis. It was because of that experience with his hypno back then that I decided to see if we can train our most trusted and skilled members in Team Rocket to be proficient in using Hypnosis, because even I have to admit it is useful. However, over the years, only you ever succeeded to train your pokemon to be masters in that move. Everyone else failed. Training pokemon to do what your pokemon can with Hypnosis is not easy. For that, you have my respect as a trainer, Plague."

Kain once owning a pokemon is not an information that I am privy of. However, it did explain what pokemon put that mental suggestion in my head. Right now, I'm glad that the hypno is no more, even if I have no idea how it died.

I tried not to give anything away as I made my reply.

"Thank you, Sir."

Giovanni did not acknowledge my reply, but continued his story instead.

"Kain is the most paranoid and distrustful bastard I ever come across, to the point that the only pokemon he ever trusted and used was that hypno I talked about. Even after that hypno died very much later on for reasons unknown Kain never got around to replace it because he never trusted any other pokemon other than his hypno. Anyway, by some unfortunate luck back then, Kain found out that one of the experts in SKIP was also working for the Government. Guess what he did after he captured my comrade?"

"He extracted information from him using the hypno and used it against SKIP."

"You are partially right, but Kain did even more than that. To quell the civil unrest in the fastest way possible, he publicly declared that SKIP is working against the interest of Indigo, exposing our existence to the world immediately. Kain, being the paranoid and ruthless bastard as he is, pointed his finger at us and held us responsible for fanning the flames of rebellion in Kanto. He twisted every single fact about us, saying that we are the ones responsible for inciting hateful sentiments in Kanto and trying to start a war. The whole Kanto immediately became our enemy."

Knowing Kain, it must have ended in a bloodbath.

"All of a sudden, the Indigo's forces were suddenly onto us. We were technically an illegal and underground group, so when he Kain said that no mercy was to be shown, nobody can say otherwise. He ordered the immediate execution of all of SKIP's members and their families. All because in his eyes, we are a dangerous threat to the safety of Indigo that must be swiftly exterminated. If it wasn't for Samuel using his authority as Indigo Champion to secretly help and warn us of the incoming threat, all of us would have perished."

Giovanni dragged a tired palm across his face before continuing.

"Thankfully, we were long prepared for such a possibility. Not all of our identities were exposed. All of SKIP's members never fully knew the entire organisation or its members, just like what Team Rocket is doing now. Like how only the Executives in Team Rocket know of my identity, only very few in SKIP know of the fact that people like me, Samuel, Agatha, Blaine, Fuji, and Bill were its leaders. Our identities were never discovered and we survived, but the same cannot be said for many others and their families. In one night, SKIP was eradicated."

It was then I saw something that I never expected to see. Giovanni shed a single tear.

"I was the youngest in my family. My parents, brothers and sisters, cousins, even my dear nieces and nephews that I loved so much. My closest friends. All of them sacrificed themselves to make sure that none of SKIP's works fall into Kain's hands, especially our military projects because who knows what that bastard will do with our works if he ever gets his hands on it. They were holed up in SKIP's HQ, making their last stand. I wasn't fast enough to reach them since my wife and I were trying to secretly escort Fuji and Bill to safety while Agatha and Blaine got the rest of the researchers and scientists to escape to the Sevii Islands. Samuel was in charge of releasing Mew back to where it came from so that no one can ever get their hands on it. To make sure Kain learnt nothing of the true leaders of SKIP and to protect our organisation's work, my family and friends sacrificed themselves by bombing our HQ sky high. I don't even have any of their remains left to bury them. SKIP was officially exterminated at that moment."

I cannot help but clench my fists upon hearing this. This is the truth that I had always been searching for.

Kain. It's him again. It's always him. Like me, Giovanni is also a victim of his actions.

What do I do now?

"We have no choice but to disband SKIP because of how hard Kain is hunting for us. Samuel felt a deep sense of regret after that incident. Too many died and a war nearly erupted. He felt that he could have done more, because if he did, Kain wouldn't have used us as his scapegoat. He felt that all the deaths were on him, because he was our Champion and he failed his duty to both Kanto and Indigo. He tried to hold on, I know he did. Blaine and I also tried our best to support him through the aftermath but I guess everyone has their limits. Strong as he may be, Samuel never fully conquered his inner demons."

Giovanni rested his forehead against his left fist and closed his eyes before giving another sigh.

"About eight months after SKIP fell, Samuel couldn't take it anymore and resigned as Indigo Champion and settled down in Pallet Town, later becoming the world renowned Pokemon Professor that we know today. Lance, not knowing the truth behind Samuel's resignation, took over Samuel's duty as Champion when Samuel stood down. Blaine and I followed Samuel's example the moment he left and we dropped our titles as Elite Four members. Agatha stayed on, only retiring recently. Blaine resigned because he was getting on in his years and his body could no longer handle the strain of work that is expected from a member of the Elite Four. I resigned because I have no wish to take commands from a Johtonian, not after how my family and friends died. Since there happened to be open slots for Gym Leaders in our respective cities, we took on the job as Gym Leaders since the workload is considerably lesser. Fuji, being the kind man he is, also felt remorse for trying to play god and create life. He opened a daycare in Lavender to continue to help pokemon and humans alike. Bill was not even an adult back then. After the fall of SKIP, he went on and became a brilliant inventor and the proceeds from some of his inventions had helped Kanto stand afloat on her own, even if it was only for a short while. I knew he could go far."

After saying that, the look in Giovanni's eyes suddenly turned sharp.

"However, even if the remnants of SKIP decided to bury our past, I couldn't. My entire family died believing in my ideals. They gave their life for it. Still, I tried. I gave Kain many hints and chances to prove himself but each time I just got more and more disheartened. Kanto is still suffering. Kanto had always been suffering and will always suffer under the hands of Johto unless somebody does something about it."

Giovanni's angry fist banged against the metal railings once more.

"In the end, I gave up on Kain. The only person standing by me was my wife. The two of us gathered whatever resources leftover that we could find after SKIP's disbandment and we started anew. The older legal businesses you see today that are now run by Team Rocket, many of them are the results of my SKIP comrades who set them up more than twenty years ago to provide more job opportunities for Kantonians. What we have today is only possible because of the contributions from my comrades from SKIP who Kain had framed, wrongly accusing them for things that they never did. It was when I was visiting the graves of our family and comrades with my wife that I realised that Kanto have to ruled by Kantonians if we want to protect our people. I can order the assassination of Kain right now and succeed without question, but another Johtonian tyrant will simply rise to take his place. No, the only way for Kanto to protect her own interests is if we separate from Indigo. There's no other way out of this. After realising that, I made my decision."

Giovanni turned to face me, his steely gaze meeting my eyes.

"If I cannot make Kanto peaceful separation a reality through peaceful means, then I will achieve it with whatever it takes, even if it means going down a violent and immoral path, even if it means starting a bloody war. I need to amass a nation's worth of wealth. I need to amass an army for Kanto that would not lose to Johto's own. I need everything to be on my side for Kanto to win. There's no way I can do this legally, so I chose to stain my hands in blood by creating an organisation filled with the vilest men I can find to fulfil my vision, because the underground world is the only place left where I can get the resources I need. I had poured everything I had into this. My time, my wealth, and even my family and friends had also sacrificed themselves to help me. I cannot dishonour them by taking this lying down. I will finish what we started. My wife and I created Team Rocket for this very purpose. To make SKIP's vision a reality, I became Team Rocket's secret leader while spying on the Government and the League as a Gym Leader. My wife managed the organisation in my stead because I'm often not free to do so. You know her as Ariana, even if she had never make any appearances for quite a while now."

Unexpectedly, Giovanni let out a happy chuckle.

"Ariana and I just had our first child, a son. We named him Silver because it was the colour of SKIP's logo. One day, I will bring you to see our son, because Ariana and I trust all of our Executives with our lives and our son deserves to know our wonderful comrades who had worked so hard to protect Kanto. Even the ever grumpy Proton cannot help but love him, which is hilarious in itself."

That, is not what I am expecting.

"Since we are on the topic of names, I should also tell you that Ariana and I named our organisation Team Rocket because we will be the rocket that propels the separation of Kanto from Indigo, like a rocket leaving the earth. This, Plague, is the true purpose behind the creation of Team Rocket. To this day, we had never looked back."

I spoke up.

"Sir, I have a question."

"Feel free to speak your mind."

"What about Project Rebirth? If SKIP had Mewtwo with them-"

Giovanni shook his head.

"It was never completed on time. The first Mewtwo prototype SKIP started was unfinished. It was what my family and friends were trying to destroy before they sacrificed themselves, so that Kain will never get his hands on it. When Ariana and I decided to form Team Rocket to continue where we left off, I secretly tested former SKIP leaders like Samuel, Agatha, and Blaine to see if they were interested in continuing the project, like how I had tested you in Viridian. However, they have no more wish to continue what SKIP was doing. Not after how everything had failed."

Giovanni leaned his body against the metal railings. The winds began to pick up once more.

"Since nobody from SKIP wanted to continue to work for Kanto's separation, I didn't pressure them to. In their eyes, Kain had somewhat learned from the lesson of SKIP's uprising and was subsequently focusing his efforts to improve Kanto's situation. He had to if he wants to prevent something like that from breaking out again. Since Kanto's situation had taken a better turn, even if it was far from what we liked, the rest of the former leaders of SKIP decided not to take any further action. For me, I'm not satisfied because that doesn't change the fact that Kanto is still being oppressed. Kain is only giving just enough to Kanto for her to stay afloat. All the riches are still going to Johto. Kain is not genuinely interested in helping Kanto improve. I know him long enough to see through him."

Giovanni's left arm spread out, gesturing to the scenery behind him, the city of Saffron, the hub of Kanto.

"Look at this, Plague. Look at what Team Rocket had done. Even when Team Rocket is a terrorist organisation, Ariana and I achieved even more than Kain will ever do for Kanto. It's fine even if our former comrades never learnt of what we did for our homeland throughout these years or chose not to join us. I can understand their apprehension and I never blamed them for it. So, I left them alone and continue with my own work, building up from the fruits of labour of SKIP that my wife and I had scavenged. However, I still believe in Fuji's and Blaine's idea of creating a new species of pokemon to defend Kanto, even if they sincerely regret ever bringing the idea up in the first place. We need something to defend ourselves. I had remnants of Mew's DNA with me along with the most crucial research data about the project. I was the one in charge of destroying said items, but I never erase it because I never stopped believing in SKIP's ideal to free Kanto. I still believe that Kanto can one day regain its freedom. Every surviving member who was a part of SKIP had thought that the project had been buried and erased. It wasn't the case."

Giovanni smirked.

"I restarted Project Rebirth and renamed it as the Mewtwo Project. The Mewtwo Project is the continuation of Project Rebirth. The progress of Mewtwo Project is a lot slower without scientists like Samuel, Fuji, Blaine, and Bill helping out, but progress has still been made despite the fact that it took two decades for it to be near completion. Soon, Mewtwo will be born. Six months from now at the fastest and one year at the slowest, but we will have our Keeper of Darkness with us within the span of a year from now. This is why I ordered you to lay low for the next six months, because if all goes well, you will also be fighting alongside us and Mewtwo when the time comes. Executive Plague, this is your new assignment."

I immediately stood at attention and gave my salute.

"Executive Plague reporting for duty, Sir!"

"You will be posted to our most guarded and secret hideout at Fuschia where Mewtwo is being created. I need someone reliable to guard it at this very critical period. That person is you, and failure is not an option. I cannot allow this project to be destroyed again. Use this time to rest properly while Ariana and I prepare for our next big plan. Ariana and Silver are also there, you will also be guarding them during this period. Their safety is of utmost importance to me. In these six months, Team Rocket will find a cure for you, or at the very least, stop your condition from worsening. I give you my word as the leader of Team Rocket. Not only because we need our Exterminator to exterminate Johto from our motherland, but also because you are our precious comrade. It doesn't matter if you are a criminal or a monster. To Ariana and I, you are our precious friend like how all of our Executives are to us."

Ignoring my looks of disbelief, he carried on rambling.

"The wait was worth it. The Mewtwo project will come to fruition very soon. We can finally overthrow Kain and the Indigo League! Kanto can now be freed of his tyranny!"

I stared at the man whose patriotism to his motherland twisted himself into a fanatical madman hellbent on forcing his ideals on everyone. He is laughing with an insane gleam in his eyes.

Either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain. Giovanni embodies this very statement. He's not evil, not truly. Unfortunate circumstances and his one-track mind made him that way. In fact, I cannot find anything to hate about him now that I learnt of his past.

I have been searching for the truth this entire time, but now the truth is in my hands, I have no idea on what I should do.

Jane, what would you do if you were in my shoes? If I was the one dead and you are the one standing here today?

What would you do?

Like Giovanni had shared, there is still an underlying hostility between the citizens of the two regions even if things had never escalated to a point of no return before. There were many corrupt government officials in the Indigo Parliament, and they are slowly getting cleaned out and replaced by other upright politicians. I still find them to be overall inept in managing Indigo, but Kanto's economy is picking up, and Kantonian's standard of living are slowly beginning to get better.

Slowly, but surely.

People between the two regions who used to dislike each other are now starting to accept each other, trying their best to put their past conflicts behind in an effort to build a better future. I hate the Government and I hate the President even more for what they force me to do but for all its faults, even they have been making sincere and substantial efforts to maintain the peace too. There are even special concessions made to Kantonians, benefits that only they enjoy. It is Indigo's subtle way of helping them, and also a silent apology for all the exploitations Kanto had been exposed to under the administration of previously corrupt Johtonian politicians.

I really don't like Kain as a person since that bastard has the stupid mentality that only he knows what is best for everyone, but he did manage to help improve Kanto's economy in the end. I know for all of his faults, he did have Indigo's best interests at heart, including the Kanto region.

However, Giovanni will never believe that. His experiences with Kain made him believe that Kain will forever find ways to oppress Kanto. Giovanni will always think that Kain will help Johto profit at the expense of Kanto. Nothing Kain does will ever change Giovanni's opinion of him because lives had been lost. People who Giovanni had loved died while believing in Giovanni's ideals, sacrificing themselves for him like how Jane died for me. Like how now the duties and lives of the former 358 operatives of Project Illusion are now resting on my shoulders, on Giovanni's shoulders lie the lives of his former SKIP comrades. We are both doing the exact same thing, fighting for each of our own personal goals.

Kain's mistrust of people really backfired in the worst possible way. This whole Team Rocket mess is entirely his fault.

For once in my life, I really have no idea on what I should do.

But right now, I believe that Kanto cannot be separated from Johto and likewise, Johto cannot stand on its own without Kanto. Even after what Giovanni and Ariana had done, Kanto still relies too much on Johto for agricultural produce. Johto relies heavily on Kanto providing vital resources critical to keep Indigo's economy as a whole up and running. One cannot live without the other and it will definitely be the case for the foreseeable future.

But here is a patriot that is still clung on to the past, unwilling to let go and unable to accept this reality. I can sympathise with him, but it is just that: sympathise. However, his ideology is dangerous. I am sure that there are many with the same views as him, mostly the Kantonians who had been directly affected by the previous actions of the previously corrupted Indigo Government. I know there are many people who will join Giovanni's cause without hesitation in overthrowing Indigo. Mistrust that lingered for so long can never be so easily erased even after decades, or maybe even after a century. If Team Rocket really succeeded in creating Mewtwo and has enough influence to spark a sudden successful rebellion across Kanto, or even Johto if they are capable enough, a war will erupt.

More people and pokemon will die. It doesn't matter if you are a Kantonian, Johtonian, an innocent or a rebel. War sucks everyone up and doesn't end until it cannot sustain itself anymore. Another war between regions can possibly doom ourselves. There are no winners in war, only the survivors.

Deaths will be everywhere.

Just what on earth had I gotten myself into?

"Executive Plague, your strength is extraordinary, and you have shown that you are loyal to a fault. With people like you around, Kanto can be freed! We don't need tyrants like Kain ruling over us! Kanto should only be ruled by Kantonians! Johtonians shouldn't have a say in how we run things and they will never, step, another, foot, onto our land! NOT IF WE HAVE A SAY IN IT!"

God, Giovanni's thinking is just… dangerous.

"Team Rocket will free Kanto. The preparations are almost complete. Mewtwo is about to be born soon. Rejoice, Plague, for you will witness the birth of a new Kanto! You will be part of the story of our struggles and victory! We will create a Kanto freed from tyranny! We will no longer be oppressed! To remain free and protect our sovereignty, there is only one way out for Kanto! WE will be the oppressors! We will NO LONGER be a part of any alliance! There is NO LONGER a need for the Pokemon World League! All regions shall be ruled by Kanto! Team Rocket and Kanto will conquer the WORLD!"

The only thing I can say when Giovanni asked for my support in his endeavour was a solemn "Yes Sir!"


AN: Sorry if the wait took a little long. I decided to make heavy changes to this chapter at the very last minute that delayed the entire process. I personally am very happy with the results.

Now, I know that I might be over worrying about things that aren't there, because I have always been a poor judge of what is a sensitive topic and what isn't, so I'd rather play it safe by putting up a disclaimer before shit hits the literal fan.

I don't know where you are from and which country you belong to because my readers come from all around the world, so the topics of discussion in this chapter might or might not anger you depending on your own personal experiences. I cannot tell for sure. In any case, I made it very clear in the Author's Note at the very start of the story about the nature of RE, so don't say that I didn't give you a heads up. I know that the appearance of this chapter somehow, by hook or by crook even if it was never my intention, fits in very well with what is currently happening out there in the real world right now. (You probably know what I'm talking about. One word: Iran. Two words: Hong Kong).

I will say this here and I will say this once:

The timing of the appearance of this chapter is strictly coincidental. This chapter had been sitting in my laptop for at least eight months now, way before any of the real life events occurred ever since I played Firered Rocket Edition for the second or third time. It is up to you to believe it. It's only recently that I managed to somehow find a way to use this idea of nationalism and turn it into a crux for a story that I had tried to write and had only successfully done so recently. The story is what you are reading now, Rocket's Exterminator.

If I offended you in any way, I can only say I'm sorry. In any case, I warned you that the themes discussed here may not be what you are comfortable with. All I ask is that you take your opinions of the real world offline elsewhere if you really are so offended by it. This story, is fiction. As in to say, it is NOT REAL. So don't bring in real life events into the picture. I'm not here to start a war.

Read things with an open mind and put aside your own perspective. Always try to see things from another pov, only then as a race can we improve and learn, to learn how to be a better person. Like I said at the very start of the story, people turn to crime for a variety of reasons. They can be petty reason. It can be noble reasons. I just want to explore that idea in RE.

(I have just finished saying the most important things I want you to know as an author. If you are not interested in what I have to say next, you can choose not to continue to scroll downwards.)

For the curious ones who wants to learn why I wrote RE in this manner, the reason why I decided to use the theme of nationalism was because Firered Rocket Edition used the same theme, AND I WAS GODDAMNED IMPRESSED BY IT. The complex plot of that game was what inspired me to write RE in the first place.

Of course, even if I was inspired by its plot and borrowed elements from it, I don't want to be accused of plagiarism. I made sure to try my best and made many changes to the point that it became a totally different thing (and I hope it really is a different thing) and the plot of RE definitely started differently and is heading in a different way. However, the general idea stays the same. I want to make Giovanni a villain that people can sympathise with, because he is doing what he is doing because he sees no other way out. He is a victim of circumstance, merely fighting for his own beliefs in the only way he knows how. The divide between Kanto and Johto is also another theme that is also present in the game and I want to try my hand at writing something ambitious like this. This was why I had been giving subtle hints in the previous chapters about the regional divide and dissent, about Team Rocket's influence in all areas of Kanto, all to slowly build it up for this big and unexpected reveal.

There are a few things that I always avoided when writing stories. Making associations to real life events is one of my big taboos, but I decide to break my own personal rule this time despite the unfortunate timing of what is currently happening in the real world outside, because I think we can all learn from Giovanni's past in RE. Stories aren't meant to be just entertaining. Truly good writers, in my opinion, would want their readers to take something away from it. The really good stories are always the ones that teaches us life lessons. Think about it. What is a truly good story that you have read and still remembered today? Did you learn something out of it? I bet that my answer would be 'Yes'. For me, that story was Naruto even if his yelling annoyed me to no end.

This level of impact on readers, to learn something out of reading fiction, is what I have been trying to achieve ever since I started experimenting with my writing. I first started for real by writing the darker elements in Walking On Thin Ice in my brief exploration of the theme of depression, PTSD, and suicide. Sure, I know not everyone can digest stories like these. People flamed me for doing it by Chapter 9 of WOTI and this is why I decided to never ever write anymore ANs in that story. There was a good reason why I named that chapter 'Break', because I was so close to discontinuing it because no one seems to agree and accept that depression and PTSD is a real problem. The subsequent chapter was named 'Try' after I left WOTI alone and people started to send in their encouragements. For them, I tried to write chapters for WOTI again. I have to thank them, because I really like how WOTI turned out in the end. So, thank you.

My experience with WOTI led me to believe that I will let my own story do the talking instead of explaining myself in the AN. That's why I haven't been writing ANs at the end of chapters as often as before unless I really need to or want to. That's why my stories suddenly changed in style and flavour after that, because there will always be people who will never understand. That's the sad truth.

If people hate my stories so much, by all means, do us all a favour and don't read it. Hateful comments made out of spite or your own personal twisted pleasure does nothing but spread negative energy.

This is fanfiction. I gain nothing out of doing this other than my personal pure enjoyment and because I know to some people, the updates of my stories make their day. I try, okay? I goddamned tried but I am not superhuman and I have my own sad life to live. Writing is DIFFICULT. Writing affects my own damn mood as well. Writing things like suicide and PTSD made me depressed for two whole weeks until I got better. I cannot consistently produce chapters because I myself, like you, am human. I have my own ups and downs. Even then, I continue to write about these heavy topics despite how much I dislike it, because people need to know. I saw friends and people around me losing their lives because they lost to their inner demons. I myself almost lost myself to my inner demons until I pulled myself out somehow, HOW else do you think did I managed to write about suicide in WOTI? I've been through it. In fact, my contemplation about the sad meaning of my own life was what got me started writing in the first place. IJWTTTW was born because I was depressed when I had too much time to think and too little to do. The experience is horrible. I don't want it to happen, ever again, to anyone else if I can do SOMETHING about it.

I know I'm not the only one with the same experience. That kind of experience is something that no one will admit and share because you will be judged for it. Writing is the only way I know how to reach out to people because I was never good at speaking. If my stories can help them somehow, then I will try and continue to write.

I know people like to read different genres of stories and this is why I keep producing stories that differ so much in character despite my own shitty life that I never seemed to manage to get together and write things that I had never actually experienced. Why else do you think for all my stories, I try to insert a comedy chapter every now and then? I also want to make people laugh, to make their day.

Do understand that my time is limited. Like you, I only have 24 hours a day. Writing a chapter like this took hours to complete the first draft. I took months of edits to get this particular chapter to appear before you like this because it is arguably the most important chapter in RE. I have a lot of pride in my work because it is my work, even though there will always be mistakes that I know that I will never catch until I publish it and annoying grammar nazis starts to fire their artillery the moment they had the AH HA! moment and spotted it. If Shakespeare can invent his own goddamn words, I can jolly well invent my own grammer, my own words, my own rules of CaPiTaLiSaTiOn and, how, to, use, punctuation. Sue me.

Sad thing is, I have to prioritise which stories I want to update. I'm sorry if I have not been updating your favourite fic in a long time. (I really am, okay?) I know each of you have your favourite story that you want to see updated, but please stop sending me PMs (or worse still, hateful or prejudiced ones) because of it. Inspiration doesn't come in a snap of the fingers. Determination to carry on writing doesn't come out of the blue. Quality work takes time and effort to be produced. Please understand. Most of my time as a writer is not spent writing. It is spent staring at a blank screen not knowing what to write and how to present the idea in my head. Ask any people around you who writes regularly. They can testify to that.

I know many people don't like 'angst' stories. Fine, I understand that. That's also why I have stories like To Defy which is more or less like a crack fic. I also want to make people laugh if I can. I want to be that someone whose story updates can make someone's day feel better after they went through a long and shitty day like what some authors did for me. This is why The Sun Of Sunyshore generally have a more carefree and laidback theme, with enough fluff to give anyone diabetes. It is why I insert a comical Fuzzy in IJWTTTW. It's on purpose, basically my fanservice to those who only wants to read happy things. I know people like to read happy stories because I do too, but we have to acknowledge that there are many people out there with unfortunate circumstances and this is very real as well. Things like misguided beliefs, suicide, depression, PTSD, etc etc. These are all very real problems plaguing our world. We need to recognise it as a fact and do something about it if we want to make the world a better place.

Thank you for reading my rant up to here thus far. Sorry for putting up with my angsty self, but I think I really have to get this out of my system before I can continue writing because I'm so fed up with certain people flooding my inbox and ruining my day with their PMs. You know who you are.

As per usual, hope you guys enjoy the story.


Name: Jayce

Official Identity: Jacob Myers

Indigo Government Identity: Operative 2046, Code Name: Gengar

Indigo Government Rank: Special Agent

Team Rocket Identity: Executive Plague

Team Rocket Rank: Executive

Pokemon Team:

1. Ninetales, female

2. Exeggutor, male

3. Weavile, male

4. Honchkrow, female

5. Gengar, female

6. Houndoom, male

7. Umbreon, male

8. Hydreigon, male

9. Drapion, female

10. Zoroark, male

11. Bisharp, male

12. Shiftry, male

13. Porygon, (Nosy), genderless