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In the morning I found my way back to Celadon City Gym under the pretense of another flower arrangement class. The receptionist led me to a classroom, one different from last time. In a few minutes, Erika, dressed in her lovely kimono with floral patterns, entered the room. She bowed, closed the doors behind her so that we were alone in the room, then pressed a code in the keypad on the wall.
The doors locked audibly, shutters came down to cover all the windows, and finally an electronic voice declared: "room secured."
"First and foremost, allow me to express my gratitude," Erika said, bowing. "Your help in finding and rescuing my sister was most appreciated."
"No thanks is needed. She is my friend. Is she okay? I didn't call the local hospitals or clinics in case the Rockets were looking for her again," I said.
Erika smiled and pressed a different code into the keypad. A part of the wall unlocked and a secret doorway opened. I followed her and found Erina resting in a patient's bed with medical equipment reading her fortunately stable vitals. She weakly opened eyes, and smiled at the sight of me.
"Our doctor is an old family friend. Erina will be safe here," Erika explained. "She inhaled a bit of Koffing gas and received a few bruises, but fortunately, she's okay." Erika looked at her injured sister with what seemed like a mixture of sadness and anger.
Erina must've picked up a bit of this, because even in her weak state she said, with some confidence: "I told you, I didn't tell them anything, sis. They don't know who Green-"
"That's NOT why I am angry!" Erike raised her voice, surprising both her sister and me. It was the first time I had heard Erika break the equilibrium of her emotions. Who knew that underneath that meek demeanor she puts on in public, was a badass tigress. "You should not have gotten involved."
And just as quickly, her anger was replaced by an expression of fear.
"If- If anything had happened to you… If you had gotten-" Erika paused and took a deep breath. "I would never have been able to forgive myself if you had gotten hurt," she said.
A heavy silence fell upon the room.
Finally Erina started. "I'm sorry." Tears started to flow down Erina's face.
The two sisters hugged one another, both of them crying silently. I quietly left the room and gave them some space.
After a bit of time, Erika came out, as composed and poised as ever.
"She fell asleep," she said, closing the door to Erina's recovery room behind her.
"So," she said, becoming more serious. "It seems like both of us have a sort of secret life, operating behind a mask."
"And a public ruse," I said.
Erika smiled. We stared at each other's eyes for a few moments.
"I'll tell you my secrets if you tell me yours," she said.
For the proceeding two hours, over some tea and biscuits, I told her about Mt. Moon, how Erina and I had met, our unavoidable run-in with Team Rocket, and how Surge was working with them. I told them about how I sabotaged every Rocket operation that I came across. Erika listened in silence, then told me her story. It was far more interesting than mine.
Erika's family came from an old line of nobles that founded the settlement that we now know as Celadon City. Though rich and powerful beyond imagination, her ancestors did not allow greed or hubris to corrupt them. On the contrary, they became true benefactors and protectors of the city and its inhabitants. They invested in helping the poor, the development of commerce and technology, and sustainable energy (there was a reason why the Celadon City Gym was Plant-type).
Generations ago, the head of the family made the decision to stay out of the spotlight of the media and politics, but to serve the people of the city in unseen ways. In the more recent years, when Erika and Erina's parents had passed away from an unfortunate accident.
"My parents sensed Team Rocket trying to expand their influence into Celadon City, and had successfully repelled them. They had heard about Team Rocket activities in different areas of the region and were…" Erika could not finish this sentence. It was clear that although there was no substantial evidence, she thought that Team Rocket was somehow responsible for her parents' demise.
"My grandparents were already elderly, and they completely dropped out of the public sphere to raise me and my sister."
Erika's grandparents had been too old to combat Team Rocket the way her parents could, but they were not helpless. They had been successful in erasing all public records of Erika and Erina's connection to their family, keeping them from being in Team Rocket crosshairs. They had also preserved the family's considerable wealth in various ways. Finally, they had been able to limit, if not completely avert, the vermin's influence to the rat hole from which Erika and I had rescued her sister.
These days, Erika had taken the reins as the acting head of the family, while her grandparents lived quietly, protected from those who might hurt them by anonymity. But things were not all well in Celadon City. There was a limit to what Erika could do, as she had to run the gym during the day, and lived the life of a superhero through the night. After Mt. Moon, Team Rocket had somehow connected Erina to "Green," and well, now we're mostly caught up with the story.
"So now we're here," I said. "Where do we go from here?"
Erika pondered for a bit.
"It's clear we both share a common enemy. And to be truthful, I have been keeping track of your activity since you have met Erina."
"What do you mean? Like you've been spying on me?" I asked. Have I been less than careful somewhere?
"Not YOU exactly," Erika smiled, probably amused by my perplexed expression, which I was not doing a good job of hiding. "I've been keeping tabs on as much Team Rocket activity within the Kanto region as I could, of course. But starting a few weeks ago, a mysterious power had been putting a wrench in their plans. I first picked up the trace at Mt. Moon, of course, hearing from Erina. Then I'd been keeping tabs on the mysterious person's movements through Cerulean, Vermilion, etc. I hadn't been able to identify the person, but I'd been following the patterns. And it turns out… it was you."
I felt a kind of relief. It was alright that Erika had been able to put things together, as long as I knew I hadn't slipped up somewhere to leave traces of my identity. It wasn't just me I had to worry about, of course. There was Bill, Misty, Brock, and other allies working in hiding.
Erika seemed to follow a thought that entered her head, and then broke out in a laugh. My god, she was beautiful when she laughed.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
Erika composed herself and explained.
Apparently, during an annual meeting of the eight gym leaders in the Kanto region, Misty had approached Erika and tried to make small talk. Erika had the facade of an innocent tree-hugger to uphold, so she simply made polite responses without making an effort to start a friendship. After a while, Misty said her goodbyes and walked away. Meanwhile, Erika noticed Brock by himself, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, scanning the room silently. At the time, she thought he was staring at the female gym leaders in a creepy way (could be partly true!), but now that she thought about it, she said, it was because…
"Wow!" Erika laughed again. "Misty and Brock, huh?"
She must've sensed my slight panic because she tried to put me at ease.
"Oh, don't worry, you didn't give anything away. It's just… all this time, I thought it was just me… Trying to fight them all by myself, to try to protect my sister, and my home. I could never have been sure the other gym leaders were innocent of Team Rocket influence."
I recalled how Lt. Surge had been working with Team Rocket, even though he wasn't a Rocket himself. It made sense that Erika had to be careful, to be skeptical about other gym leaders.
Erika was lost in her thoughts again, at first she was smiling (probably thinking of Misty and Brock), then her expression turned serious again (probably thinking of how Erina was in danger).
"You think you'd be free to take a phone call tonight?" I interrupted, and she turned towards me with a questioning expression. "I'd like to introduce you to a few friends."
"I-" She hesitated, but only for a fraction of a second. "Yes. I'd like that." And thus the Resistance had expanded.
The call that night, with Misty, Brock, and now Erika, continued into the very early hours of the morning.
Would appreciate your support as I continue this journey:
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