"2046." Kain spoke in a low tone. "What-"

A punch met his face and Kain landed harshly on the floor.

"Had been wanting to do this for a looooong time now. Man, did that felt good."

Kain coughed and spat out the blood before raising his head, still trying to pick himself up from the floor. He is getting on in his years. His body is starting to give him problems that come from old age. He can do nothing as 2046 dragged him by the back of his shirt and entered the vault with him.

How? Why? What is going on?!

A foot slammed his head back down into the ground.

"Think you can Hypnosis me forever? Think again."

"You-!"

Kain shook with visible fear, anger, and shock at that statement. There's no way 2046 should have known about that. How did he-

He heard a pained yell from somewhere. It was only when he found his mouth open and throat screaming did he realise that the person yelling is himself.

The sound of jaws crunching could be heard as Kain saw a gengar slowly chewing on a bloodied hand.

His hand.

He doesn't know how long he had been screaming in pain, but he did stop screaming after an undetermined period of time. 2046 chose to continue speaking after seeing that he had calmed down.

"Eh, ignore gengar. She's a little hungry and when she's hungry, she tends to rip people's hands out to snack on. Habit from work, you see. It resurfaces from time to time."

"2046. Do you know-"

"Oh, trust me. I know very well what I'm doing." 2046 replied coolly as he placed a portable tablet in front of him, showing the televised National Day celebration, live on TV. A massive houndoom pressed him down onto the ground, snarling angrily as its searing breath can be felt brushing dangerously across his face.

From his position where he was forced to see the tablet's screen, Kain can see how the Indigo Stadium had turned into a literal battlefield. The Indigo forces are trying to stop things from spiralling out of control with Lance leading the Indigo forces. Rockets had started to appear from out of nowhere and there's nothing to be seen other than chaos and more chaos.

His dream, his utopia. All of his hard work is going to come undone if something is not going to be done about it.

"W-What are you planning to do?" Kain asked, not liking where this is going as he continues to bleed from where his hand had been ripped out from his arm.

"Let's see…" 2046 stroked his chin in thought without seemingly a care in the world. "You can say this is for revenge, you can say this is for you to be remembered as the largest stain of Indigo in their history books. You can say this is for everything and at the same time, nothing at all."

There is a beep from 2046's phone and 2046 checked his phone. He let out a sadistic grin that gave Kain the shivers and briefly showed him what is on it. It's that blasted website. A website that Team Rocket set up for the sole purpose of airing every single unlawful act he had done and authorised for the greater good of Indigo.

"Remember what Archer said on screen earlier? Everything that you have done, we will make sure that the world will not only get to know about it, but also remember it. I got to say, Giovanni's little porygon army works fast. Just a minute after I've given the order and already the message has been sent out to the entire world about the existence of this website. Everything is now everywhere for everyone to see. Congrats! Now the whole world knows how much you had done for Indigo! Look at you, the star of the concert!"

Shaking with rage, Kain whipped his head to where 2046 is at, who is scrolling through his phone as he nodded his head to an inaudible rhythm that only he can hear and not even looking in his direction.

"Oh, that's right, I've been wanting to ask you this. You really had a hand in abducting Professor Oak's granddaughter? She was my partner, you know. You remember her, right? Her name is Jane. But… the Professor Oak? I know you and him don't get along at all when the professor was the Champion, but… damn. What did he ever do to you? Giovanni didn't tell me much about your conflict with Oak."

"Giovanni?" Kain asked through his teeth, a mixture of rage, fear, and hopelessness swirling in his mind.

"Yeah, the leader of Team Rocket. Did I not tell you about this?" 2046 gave him a look of confusion before a look of faux realisation appeared on his face. "Oh, I must have forgotten all about it! Silly me! I've been so forgetful lately! Right, ninetales?"

As if mocking him, the fox pokemon gave a lazy yawn.

"All of my hard work." Kain spoke in a shaky and angry voice. "All of my efforts in maintaining the peace in Indigo. You destroyed it."

"Just as how you destroyed our lives, all 359 of us. This is for them. For us." 2046 said with a sadistic smirk on his face, a dagger twirling lazily in his hand. "Just as how you destroyed SKIP through the fabrication of your web of lies, just as how you destroyed all 359 lives of Project Illusion, I will destroy you with my own methods, using whatever it takes."

Kain spit at his rogue operative.

"Because of you, Indigo will fall into chaos. Because you sided with the Rockets."

"Uh, uh." 2046 waved a playful finger at him. "That's where you are wrong again. You always think you are right, think about how you are wrong for once. I don't side with the Rockets and I'm certainly not siding with you. The only person that I would ever stand beside is Jane and you took her away from me."

A sudden seizure of pain assaulted Kain's body, making him scream in pain.

"That was Curse. Gengar is really having her fun with you right now, slowly finding out how good your pain tolerance is. So far, none who had experienced this VIP treatment of hers lasted for more than five minutes. Do us a favour and don't kick the bucket too soon, okay? Pokemon moves really aren't supposed to be used on humans like that, so I really do not know what will happen to you. I mean, I would know. Experiencing Dream Eater to stop my own nightmares was a really enlightening experience."

"DON'T YOU SEE WHAT YOU ARE DOING?!" Kain could no longer keep his cool as he screamed his words. "YOU ARE DESTROYING INDIGO! YOU ARE DESTROYING THE WORLD! IF INDIGO FALLS, THE PWL IS RUINED! WITHOUT INDIGO, THE WHOLE WORLD WILL DESCEND INTO THE DARKNESS!"

"You took away my world." 2046 spoke, his voice dangerously sharp and cold as the houndoom pressed its body weight further on Kain's back.

"I had always thought that it was weird how Jane was found out. She's always been too gentle for this whole spy gig, but she was good at her job. She found out some of your dirty secrets that she is not supposed to know, am I right? I don't know what Jane found out about you that you had to eliminate her by ratting her out to the Rockets. I don't even know how you did it without me knowing, but I don't really care right now. All I care about is to make you suffer like you made us suffer. Like I said, this is all for Jane, but it is also for all 359 of us."

"That failure." Kain spat. "You want to know so much? Fine. Let's talk."

"Then speak."

"She was the first one to find out about the Hypnosis and successfully broke free from it. She tried to do the same for you but my hypno found out in time, so I sent someone to terminate her. Do you want to know who? Don't you want to take revenge on the person who directly caused her death?"

Kain sent an angry 2046 his most vengeful glare.

"That someone was you."

There was an obvious break in composure in 2046. He didn't outwardly react, but there's no mistaking the tightening of his grip on the dagger and the slight trembling of his body.

"You're lying."

"I'm not. Why else would every single Team Rocket member believe her when she said you ratted her out? Because it is true. Everyone was there to see it. Everyone remembered it but you."

Kain let out a vindictive laugh. He lost. He had lost everything. He had always been in control, he had always foreseen everything and the one thing that he had been absolutely sure that he always had in control had slipped out of his grasp without him knowing. It's a mistake that had created his downfall, and subsequently Indigo's downfall.

There's nothing he can do now, he recognised this fact. That doesn't mean that 2046 will have the last laugh.

"Oh, she tried." Kain continued to speak in a mocking tone. "She tried to erase my control over you the moment she found out about my Hypnosis trick but I was faster. I had two failsafes that I put into every single of my operatives' mind when my hypno cast the Hypnosis, you see. The first one is a Future Sight that fries my operatives' brain if they were ever captured by their enemies who want to get information out of their minds, and has a secondary effect of helping to guarantee my operatives' loyalty to me. The second one is an implanted hypnotic suggestion that allows me to have total control over my operatives' every action through hypno, whenever I want to and no matter where I may be. Better yet, if I so wish to, the afflicted target will have no memories of them being controlled the entire time. There's no way to fight back against this particular failsafe once it is triggered, hypno and I made sure of it."

Kain started to laugh softly.

"I got lucky on that end. When Hypno detected that something was wrong with you I was lucky to reach you fast enough to stop her from freeing you. She was so close from totally freeing you from the second failsafe. You really were the best operative I have, 2046. The moment I reached there and commanded you to dispose of 2043 immediately, to erase her without any trace of foul play and maintain your cover at all costs, your mindless perfect operative self decided that the best way to do so was to rat her out in front of everyone in Team Rocket, using Team Rocket to help us eliminate the threat."

There was a sharp stab of pain in his shoulder as 2046's dagger found its place there.

"You're… lying."

Despite the horrid pain, Kain cannot help but smirk at 2046's trembling form.

"Am I? Why not ask your gengar? It is the haunter that belonged to that failure, right? That failure is such a forgiving fool, even going so far as to command the haunter to erase your memories of you ratting her out before you let her get herself caught red-handed by the Rockets. Of course, I'm sure you remember nothing. 2043 may be a failure, but she's also good at her job, I will give her that."

"Don't you even dare speak of her-"

"Since my Hypnosis had already come undone, do you even understand how you broke out of it so easily?" Kain questioned with a sneer. "Do you naively think that I wouldn't have had contingencies for situations like this? If you broke out of the Hypnosis it means that you realise that you only encountered one failsafe. There were supposed to be two failsafes and both can be reapplied over and over again, so why did I not reapply it on you? Aren't you curious?"

Taking satisfaction in seeing 2046's furious look, Kain continued.

"The reason why I did not reapply the second failsafe on you was because I can't. 2043 made sure of it. My hypno was killed by her. The only pokemon I ever trusted and was skilled enough to perform such a high level of Hypnosis, 2043 killed it before you used the Rockets to terminate her. She commanded her pokemon to kill my hypno so that its Hypnosis can never be planted in anyone again. I'm sure that to protect your already fragile mind when she forcefully removed that second failsafe from you, in a last desperate attempt to save the only person she ever cared about, she made absolutely sure that you remember nothing of how you truly betrayed her so that you wouldn't go insane from the mental backlash. I would know, I was there to hear it when she kept commanding haunter over and over again to make sure that you remember nothing about this by muddling your memories with Nightmare and Dream Eater, so that you wouldn't realise anything about the Hypnosis I put in your mind. Do you want to know why she did that? Do you?"

2046's only reply was a glaring look that would freeze the world if it could.

"The answer is stupidly simple. It's always because of you. You matter too much to her. She doesn't want you to realise about the Hypnosis and the failsafes back then because your mind was already damaged. You have to admit that you were a lot more reckless in your youth, and you would have done whatever it took to remove those failsafes even if the chances of failure were high and would mean certain death. That failure knew you inside and out, that this is exactly what you would do should you learn of the Hypnosis. It would be too dangerous to do another failsafe removal until your mind had completely healed from the damage she was forced to inflict on you to free you from my second failsafe. That alone is a recovery period that could take anywhere from a few years to a decade to achieve full recovery."

Kain laughed. He began to laugh and laugh even if he doesn't know why he is laughing.

"I'm sure that the moment her gengar realised that your mind had healed enough to withstand the full removal of the remaining failsafe, that ghost planted subtle suggestions in your nightmares for you to realise that something is wrong with your mind. Because how else are you free from my control right now? Nothing other than your very mind is stopping you from freeing yourself because my hypno is gone and I had no suitable pokemon to replace it. All along, I had thought that you never recovered because you put up such a convincing act all these years, until now. You know what? I could still remember that day when you were restraining her after she somehow killed my hypno. She didn't even put up a fight against you because she loved you."

"No." 2046 gritted out. "You're lying. You're lying!"

"You should see yourself." Kain whispered with vengeance. "You were the perfect operative when I activated the second failsafe in you. Emotionless, cold, merciless, efficient. The perfect tool. You surpassed every and all expectations. Your performance was so satisfactory that if I had my way you would never have free will ever again and will always be under my total control, forever. You want to know what really happened that day? You personally restrained her before the both of you disappeared into the Rockets' Fuschia hideout to carry out your new mission I had given you: to dispose of 2043 while maintaining your cover."

Kain could feel a wide grin forming on his face.

"She could have fought back, could have run and never returned, be free from my control forever, but she never did that. Instead, she stayed to try and free you from my control while you forcefully restrained her and brought her back to Team Rocket, and throughout the entire time she was still trying her best to free you. Of course, she could have broken free and run, but she didn't want to leave you behind doing who knows what under my total control and she didn't want to hurt you. Foolish girl. I supposed she wanted to at least try breaking you out of the second failsafe before you brought her to Fuschia, so that you would never be under my total control again, but she was still too slow. You still managed to rat on her to the Rockets before she finally broke you out of my control. As for what happened after you reached the Fuschia hideout, this, you do remember, am I right?"

Kain watched as 2046 visibly held in his anger and slowly turned his head to face the gengar, who was averting its gaze away from 2046.

"Gengar." 2046 rasped.

The ghost did not dare look at 2046 in the eye.

"Is it true?"

Silence permeated the air.

"IS IT TRUE?!"

After a long period of silence, the ghost finally gave a silent nod. 2046's breathing became heavier as he visibly struggled to not heave for air.

"But 2043 is still a decent operative." Kain continued without a care in the world now that he had nothing to lose.

Everything had gone up in flames. His efforts, his dreams. The peace he is trying to uphold. Nothing is left right now as they are starting to crumble right before his very eyes. The National Day celebration is still being broadcasted live on TV and already he can see that there is mass chaos breaking out on the Indigo Plateau right now. All his ministers that were sitting in their seats earlier who were supposed to be alive, had all been slain in the most bloodied and morbid ways without anyone knowing. Somehow.

Must be the work of that zoroark standing right beside 2046. Maybe the Langley that he was talking to earlier is also another illusion and that the real Langley was long dead like the rest of his ministers. He should have terminated 2046 sooner, he shouldn't have trusted that hypno's Hypnosis would continue to work properly after its death.

It's always either him or them. He should have done something to avoid this fatal mistake.

"At least after her death, you were born. The Rocket's Exterminator. The perfect operative of Indigo. Her death was necessary to push you further and to better serve Indigo. Look at what you accomplished after her death. Look at you."

There was a violent twist of the dagger that was stabbed in his shoulder. Kain let out another pained cry.

"It doesn't matter."

Kain struggled to look up after hearing what 2046 had to say.

"It doesn't matter who had killed her. She's already dead and I'm already dying. I will ask for her forgiveness and grovel by her feet when I see her, if I see her. But you."

The dagger stabbed deeper into Kain's shoulder and he screamed.

"You are not even fit to be in her presence." 2046 looked on with cold fury. "Do you know why I brought you here of all places?"

2046 pointed towards two huge stone statues in the middle of the empty Vault. One of them is a human male, the other female. Both statues looked worn, having existed since the founding of Indigo. Just by looking at the statue, it's difficult to try and even make out how the First Champion really looked like.

"I don't know who that female statue is supposed to be, the nameplate is too damaged to make anything out of it, but that other statue, is the statue of the first Indigo Champion, Ishikawa Katsuo. The man who founded Indigo."

2046 ruthlessly dragged Kain across the floor, leaving behind an easily visible trail of blood leaking from the stump of his arm. A rusty and dented pokeball fell out from the pockets of Kain's coat, the reminder of who he was and why he became who he is today. Instinctively, he reached out his other working hand to try and grab the pokeball, the only thing he had to remind himself of the only person who had loved him and who he could trust with all his heart, only to fail in that attempt when 2046 threw him right before the feet of the statue of the Indigo Champion.

Even then, he still struggled to reach for that rusty and dented pokeball with his only remaining hand, the pokeball that his father had used up almost all his money to buy for him and had given up his life in doing so. The pokeball that kept reminding him why he is doing this throughout the past six decades of his life.

For his beliefs, for the greater good.

"Where do you think you are looking at?"

A harsh stomp of 2046's boot on his fingers made him cry out in pain. His fingers are now broken and he was forced to tear his gaze away from the only memento he had of his father when 2046 violently spun him around to face the statue of Indigo's First Champion, the person who had built and founded their nations with his own two hands.

"I will ask for forgiveness from Jane and even if she never forgives me, I will never stop loving her. I will still willingly place my soul in hell for all eternity to atone for all I had done. But for you."

2046 pointed at the stone statue of the first Indigo Champion.

"You ask for forgiveness from him. For failing him. For failing him and the long list of your every predecessor. For failing the people of Indigo and the people who you had wronged. For failing to do your rightful duty as the President of Indigo. You will ask for forgiveness from him for all your mistakes that killed so many others in the name of the greater good. Someone like me doesn't have the right to judge anybody else, but surely he is qualified."

2046 forced Kain to look up from where 2046 made him kneel by the feet of the statue of the first Indigo Champion, accompanied by the other stone statue of the unknown female. A female with ethereal looking features and long beautiful hair, the mysterious companion of the first Indigo Champion whose name had been purposely erased from history by the first Indigo Champion upon her request. The erasure was so thorough that no one had ever managed to figure out her identity even till now. All that is left are a few artifacts that she left behind at a small corner of Azalea and in the Vault. The few stories of her that were passed down through word of mouth throughout the centuries claimed that Indigo would never have been founded if it wasn't for her supporting the first Indigo Champion.

"You will die here today, Kain Briggs. We are not accepting any objections."

It was then Kain recognised it, how similar they are.

Doing whatever it takes to achieve their goals, how the only one person who had loved them forced them to walk the paths that they took, the look in his eyes which showed him that the child really believes that what he is doing now is the right thing to do. To protect the thing that they treasure most, they will do whatever it takes to see it done.

It's either him or them, that's what the child believes in too. He never sided with him, never sided with the Rockets, but sided with himself. Like him, he is someone who will never trust another soul ever again.

Kain let out an uncontrollable morbid laugh upon that realisation. A laugh from the bottom of his heart.

He's not wrong, he could really still see what others could not see. He's still right, he was always right all along. He really was right and yet he is also wrong. This child clearly is different, too different for his presence to be tolerated by the world. After today, there wouldn't be any place in the world that will and could take him in.

Like how he was ostracised by others as a child for being too brilliant, this child will be ostracised by the world for being too different. There will be no place for him in the world because of what he had done, because of how different he had lived his entire life.

He still has the last laugh, because he's still right.

"You won't die a pleasant death too, 2046. We are one and the same."

"I knew that a long time ago. I had long since made my peace and I know I will see you again, in hell." 2046 replied as gengar slowly opened its jaws wide and houndoom steadily closed in with its fangs bared.

"And I'm no longer 2046. Jane gave me a name."

The two people looked at each other for one last time. All the lies and deception, it ends today.

"My name is Jayce."


Character and Pokemon List:

Name: Jayce

Age: 22

Official Identity: Jacob Myers

Real identity: Oldest son to Grimsley Dandolos

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-Z, (Nosy), genderless