I would just like to preface this chapter with a warning:
THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS THEMES THAT SOME READERS MAY FIND DISTURBING, READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED
That's not me trying to sound edgy or dramatic either, there's some pretty heavy topics that are in this chapter. I won't go into graphic detail about said topics but they will be very much so implied.
Aside from that, please enjoy the chapter.
"Very well. Then let's begin..." Goff reached for the folder with Meridia's and Andromeda's photos on them. "I suppose we should start with the most enigmatic of the bunch. Unfortunately, our field agent wasn't able to gather much information on these two, but we were able to learn a few things about them. Let's start with the woman known as 'Meridia'."
Jack, Diego, and the twins leaned forward a bit in intrigue as they had been the ones to interact with Meridia the most prior to finding out she was aligned with this villainous team, even those that worked under her looked interested.
"From what we do know of her, Meridia is neither her real name nor a code-name she uses within the organization. Rather it appears to be a name she has simply given herself. The reason for this is unknown for the time being but we speculate that it may have something to do with her birth name. The reason as to why she joined Team Dark Star, as well as any motivations she may have are a complete mystery to us. The only things about her that we are aware of is that she specializes in Fairy-type pokemon and that she has talked about the Champion of the Hoenn region."
Jack's eyes widened in horror upon hearing that, millions of thoughts entered his mind and he wasn't even sure if he could or wanted to learn the answers to those questions. Part of him wanted to say something but the sudden shock of learning that this person might know his father kept him quiet.
"Do you know anything about her family or friends?" Styles asked.
"Unfortunately, no. She's a complete enigma and our agent hasn't been able to talk to her much to even get any information without risking his cover. The only information about her that we've actually been able to find is that she joined Team Dark Star shortly after it was first formed. As for her role within the organization, she is the third in command behind Singularity and Andromeda themselves. Everyone else answers to her."
"She's really that tough?" Snow asked, garnering a nod from the three officers.
"Unfortunately, yes." Looker replied. " She is almost on par with the one known as Andromeda, the second-in-command of Team Dark Star, who is known collectively within the organization as their 'Empress'."
"There's more." Looker added. "One of their more deadly additions to their arsenal is the RM-24i; a Mightyena that has been scientifically altered into a robotic killing machine. According to the schematics we were able to analyze, it's organic body was cloned but it's consciousness is only regulated to one body, with the others remaining dormant until it's current body has been sufficiently damaged or destroyed. Simply put, it's spare bodies are kept locked away until needed."
"Hey, we've fought it before!" Diego piped up.
"Yeah!" Julia added. "It was right after we left Lavender Town!"
"You fought it too?" Jack asked. "I fought it outside Rock Tunnel and destroyed it... So there are copies of it?"
"Yes." Anabel nodded. "Not only that, but we are receiving ongoing reports stating that Team Dark Star is currently mass producing a fully robotic version of the RM. It is incapable of direct speech and slightly less durable than its predecessor, but just as dangerous. From what we are aware of, they are currently being referred to as 'Fenrir's' and Meridia is overseeing their production as well as being in charge of the RM. Having all these resources makes Team Dark Star an incredibly powerful threat."
"Hold on a second." Diego interrupted. "You guys call them tough, but Jack beat both of them and this Singularity guy once before! All of us have gotten tougher since then, we could take them!"
"While it is true that you've grown stronger, so have they." Goff replied.
"Another thing..." Anabel added. "Did Jack truly beat them? Or did they simply let him win?
Julia motioned to speak up but Anabel continued to speak. "Based on the records from the officers that had arrived on-scene following the confrontation at Celadon and surveillance footage that was able to be salvaged, Jack only defeated Singularity due to the latter merely testing the Chimera and Missingno. Aside from those two, Singularity used both a Mega Tyranitar and Mega Metagross simultaneously by wielding some sort of gauntlet that appears to be fitted with multiple Key Stones. The reason we bring this up now is because we have no confirmation as to if there is more than one of that gauntlet in existence. If there is, then it's very likely that the Team Dark Star Empress and their Elite Agents would also have one."
"On the subject of Andromeda." Goff piped up. "I'd like to begin discussing the information we have on her as we don't have anything else on Meridia."
"What do you have on her?" Styles asked, he and Sinead taking a quick look of concern at Pandora, who was shaking slightly, but noticeably in between them. Her eyes stuck in a nervous, unblinking stare.
"Pandora, are you alright?" Goff asked in concern, going over to the young lady and placing a firm hand on her shoulder. "You are free to head to bed if you feel this is too much for you."
"No." Pandora replied, despite her trembling and her cube being vigorously fiddled with in between her hands her voice was completely firm. Her old teacher looked back at her with concern but nodded and returned to his seat and opened Andromeda's folder.
"Very well. As is obvious, Andromeda is simply a codename which fits more with the space motif that this organization appears to have, with the name being the galaxy neighboring ours. Our field agent has been able to uncover her true name; Rosalia Tibuan. As the underboss of Team Dark Star, she answers only to Singularity, who just so happens to be her husband."
"So this group of crazies is lead by a psycho couple?" Aiden pondered.
"To put it simply, yes." Looker answered. "Though she did add Singularity's true last name onto her own as a result of their marriage, we will keep their names separate for now, just for the sake of simplicity. From what we were able to uncover from Mrs. Tibuan, she has a bit of a history of being on the wrong side of the law. From what we were able to uncover from her past, she was born in the Almia region but moved to Mahogany Town in Johto at a young age. As she grew older, she became involved in a less-than reputable crowd..."
"She joined a local street gang that took over an old ninja base in Mahogany Town that would eventually become the old Team Rocket hideout that was hidden in the basement of an old shop. Among this gang, Rosalia quickly rose through the ranks by means of cruelty towards both people and pokemon."
A young woman, around the age of 17-18, walked through the slightly dimmed lights of the run down hideout. The Persian statues that lined the wall were cold and dead, a thick layer of dust settled on them after years without use. The woman herself had jet black hair that went down to her back, from beneath her pair of Black Glasses were a pair of jade green eyes that lacked any sort of empathy, as the poor Rattata in her left hand was experiencing as she held it by the tail with a firm grip. The Mouse pokemon flailing about but quickly stiffened when Rosalia shook it violently.
The Normal pokemon could only look down at the girl's black jeans and shiny black high-heeled boots. Rosalia thought they matched well with her red tank top that left her midriff bare and black leather jacket that had a rather graphic depiction of a Duskull with a blood splatter across the bone. The woman descended down the stairwell to the lower floor of the basement and made her way to the room that was once the base's power generator. The six containers that once housed Electrode now damaged beyond repair and rusted over.
Various other delinquents appeared to be waiting for her, some of them wore the same type of jacket she did while others simple wore unkempt school uniforms.
"That your haul?" One of the teens asked, referring to the still wriggling Rattata in Rosalia's hand.
"During her time within this gang, she would often partake in the barbaric act of torturing, mutilating, and in some cases, killing of pokemon. While we have no concrete reason as to where this behavior came from, we believe it may stem from her home life."
"Heh, you're always bring in some of the coolest stuff." Another delinquent added.
"Yeah, well, I couldn't just keep bringing stuff like Ledyba and Metapod, could I? Too easy. I wanted a challenge and seeing this one made me think of the old fart." Rosalia answered, smirking at the group before grimacing. "That sh*t stain... Why can't he just go and die somewhere..."
"Your mom still dating him?"
"Yeah." Rosalia sighed, tossing the Rattata to the ground with enough force to stun it for just long enough for the girl to stomp on it's head, putting an end to its squirming... "He wants to 'take her out to dinner' and then have some 'coffee' later." As she added air quotes, the teen made a gagging motion at the thought of what her mom was doing. "I can't stand the fact that she even let's that greaseball touch her, I'm certain she knows that he's been perving on me since they met but she just can't keep her legs closed long enough to see how much of a problem that creep is!"
"Heh, at least he hasn't actually touched you." One of the non-jacketed boys commented. Without hesitation Rosalia approached the boy and jammed her hand into his mouth and pulled out his tongue as far as it could go before digging into her pocket and pulling out a switchblade which she pressed against the boy's tongue just enough for it to trickle blood.
"He has touched me you dumb f*ck! Another word out of you and I will guarantee that you won't live to even get your own jacket. The Bloody Duskulls don't tolerate any kind of back-sass! Understand?!"
The boy whimpered as he nodded. As Rosalia put her knife back into his pocket, her victim let his mouth hang open as it quickly filled with blood...
"We found that she eventually moved to Oreburgh City in the Sinnoh region..." Looker continued.
"I don't care who the hell he is, he is not my father and I will never call him that!"
"Sweetie, please, he's a good man and he's working hard for us! Sinnoh will be the start of a new beginning for you, you'll see!"
"Screw you! You're just spouting that bullsh-"
"HEY! Be nice to your mother! You don't get to have that attitude while you're under my roof!"
"I WILL HAVE WHATEVER ATTITUDE I WANT TO HAVE!" Rosalia screamed. "I'm not a little girl, I'm twenty years old and have been forced to suffer living with you for five years now! So you know what? If you want me gone so badly, then I will gladly leave!"
With a slam of the door, Rosalia left home before her mother had time to object and while her mother and step-father called out to her as she ran away, she did not look back at all. Instead, she ran until she found herself just outside the entrance of the Oreburgh Mine. With nothing to really do in the rather barren area, the young woman kicked stones and lumps of coal around in frustration.
"No gang... no hideout... not even another person I know. Urgh, I hate this!"
"It was here that we believe that she met Singularity for the first time."
The sound of something sliding down the rocky slope nearby caught her attention. A man that looked to be just a bit older than Rosalia regained his footing after sliding down the aforementioned slope. He wore a green mining uniform and carried a pick-axe in his right hand and a construction helmet in his left, revealing disheveled black hair. His olive green eyes were glazed and emotionless as he looked right through Rosalia.
"What are you looking at?" The young woman asked. "What, do you think that seeing a woman out here is an opportunity for you, you sick f*ck?!"
"Hm? ... Don't flatter yourself, I have a girlfriend. I just..." Heaving a sigh, the man that would eventually be known as Singularity brought a gloved hand to his face and wiped it in frustration.
"Just what?"
"I shouldn't be doing this. I used to be a part of something great, part of a group that used to strike fear in people! But it all came crashing down..."
"Heh, I know how that feels." Rosalia chuckled, the man cast a deadly glare her way but she didn't flinch at all. "I used to run a gang over in Johto, but... let's just say some family drama ended that."
"I guess I know how that feels." The man replied, lowering his guard a bit. "When the group I was a part of broke up I found out that my girlfriend was kicked out of her house for being a part of the team, since she didn't have anywhere else to go I ended up taking her in. Problem is that taking care of someone else and myself ain't exactly cheap, so we ended up having to move here since it's cheaper and find work just to survive. But this..." The man turned and opened a backpack that Rosalia didn't even notice he had before pulling out a can that the young woman was able to see was beer. As he opened the can, he essentially chugged at least half of it before continuing. "This type of job isn't worth the headache. I used to step on others to get ahead, now I'm digging through the dirt just to make a dime!"
As he finished drinking the remains of the can, Rosalia looked on in wonder. She wasn't sure how but she felt better talking to him. At the very least it felt good to know that she wasn't the only train wreck in this city.
"But it's not too late for me!" He went on, digging through his bag again and taking out a poster that had a logo resembling the letter 'G' on it. "There's this group making the rounds recently, found this in a local bar and I'm going to take my chance with them! Pay's better than this trashy job and I'll get to climb my way back up to the top!"
Raising an eyebrow in intrigue, Rosalia approached the man to get a better look at the poster, a smirk growing on her face.
"You know, this doesn't sound half bad... Team Galactic..."
"But Team Galactic ended up getting stopped, right?" Yuki asked.
"Precisely." Looker answered. "I was on their trail at the time, studying them as much as I could. Though Champion Cynthia and a group of young trainers were able to stop them much more handily than I could."
"Don't sell yourself short." Cynthia smiled. "Your help was just as instrumental as the others. But back to the point; it is true that Team Galactic was beaten and their team was disbanded. What happened to Andromeda after this?"
"From what we were able to gather, she returned to her home in Oreburgh following the news that Cyrus was stopped atop the Spear Pillar." Anabel stated.
With a depressed look on her face, Rosalia exited a cave along the mountainside of Mt. Coronet, a sign pointing in the direction of Oreburgh City posted close by. With a sigh, the young woman trudged on, after watching her boss get swallowed up in a portal, she just stopped caring about Team Galactic. Some kid thrashed her in a battle easily, another blonde boy zoomed right on by her like she didn't exist and then the Champion of the region did the same. Some members of the team lost hope and turned themselves in while others ran while they had the chance, she was part of the latter group by technicality only because she didn't really run; she walked. She walked because all the work she had done to get to that point felt meaningless.
As she began to see the city in the distance, Rosalia wondered if maybe her mother would allow her back home. It had been months since she stormed out and she never looked back once. The sound of rocks crashing into something snapped her out of her thoughts. Following the source of the noise, she found Singularity, tossing rocks at the side of the mountain in anger. It had been a while since she had actually saw him, Team Galactic actually kept them apart since they both joined and they rarely saw each other.
"Hey." Rosalia greeted. "Been a while."
The man looked at her, his anger fading just a bit when the two locked eyes.
"Hello." He said, his voice still ripe with anger.
"You seem happy."
"I don't need your sarcasm." The man hissed, kicking another rock. "All of that work, just to lose to a child again!"
"So what are you going to do now?"
Singularity was silent, with a deep breath he leaned back on the mountainside and slowly sat down.
"It... it looks like I'll have to find another job to support my girlfriend. I was going to propose to her when we won to celebrate the creation of the New World."
"You can still propose to her. Just because Team Galactic is done doesn't mean the relationship is done."
"Perhaps... But she also wants to move to another region. Too many bad memories of this place with our being in Team Galactic and all." He explained.
"Where will you two go?" Rosalia asked.
"She wants us to move to her parents' old place. Some place in the Beryl Ward of some region neighboring Orre. Says it'll be a fresh start for both of us. Apparently she can hook me up with a job with the Water Treatment Center they have over there."
"Honestly that doesn't sound too bad."
"You'd think that, but just before we headed out to Coronet, she told me she wants to have a baby someday."
"Don't think you'd be a good dad?" She asked.
"It's not that..." Singularity responded. "I just know that I'm meant for something much greater... What about you though? What do you plan on doing?"
Now it was Rosalia's turn to be silent. Team Galactic was all that she really had and now that it was basically done, she didn't have a clue. She only planned on going back home because she had nothing else to turn to. She turned and looked up at the sky, the soft moonlight illuminated the land around the two while the clear sky above allowed the light of the stars above shine.
"I don't know." Rosalia answered, her eyes still glued to the stars. "I always figured I'd be the one in control of my own destiny and that I could just beat down anyone that tried to stop me, but..."
After another stint of silence, Singularity stood up as Rosalia finally looked back at him.
"This isn't over." He said, confusing the woman but also raising her interest. "I'll figure something out, and when I do I'll make sure I come out on top! I will be among the stars one day and follow Cyrus' plan! No... no I'll surpass Cyrus and do something greater!"
Before Rosalia could even say anything, Singularity began to walk away in a huff. As she watched him go she found herself laughing just a bit before shaking her head and turning to Oreburgh City again.
"It would take several years, but Singularity would eventually go on to recruit Rosalia into Team Dark Star..."
"This meteorite is said to be a remnant of that broke apart when entering the Earth's atmosphere centuries ago. The other fragments are believed to have landed in other regions around the world, such as Hoenn and the Aevium region."
Rosalia explained the origin of the charred black stone that sat in a glass case, a fake smile plastered on her face. She wore a formal uniform with a small patch on her shirt saying 'Oreburgh City Museum' on it. As the museum-goers photographed and studied the meteoroid, Rosalia scouted the crowd and grimaced at the sight of a Chatot hiding nearby. The second she arrived at home her parents essentially kept her locked up; only allowing her to leave home to find work. The Chatot was there to keep watch over her to make sure she didn't try to leave again.
She had already hated her stepfather for being a creep and she hated her mother for being so attached to him. But after years of being a prisoner in her own home, she just wished they'd keel over already, in her mind it was a shame that it was at least twenty more years before that would happen. While she wished she could lament more, she did still have a job to do as she lead her group to the next part of the exhibit. After just taking a few steps though, the ground began to shake before a part of the ceiling exploded above them. Among the screams of the museum patrons, the Chatot fluttered about in a panic as it tried to see Rosalia among the debris and smoke. Rosalia herself coughed as she tried to wave away the smoke and dust.
"It's been a long time." A voice said from above, Rosalia's eyes went wide as she recognized the voice.
"You..." She said in shock. Singularity leaped down to the floor and looked right at her, allowing her to see just how much he had changed. His disheveled hair was shaved, or at least it was previously, as it had begun to grow back. His eyes were full of fire as the woman got a look at the Salamence that stood behind him.
"Do you remember what I said the last time we saw each other? That I was meant for something greater? Well I am going to make that vision a reality, and I'd like your help in making that happen. Will you help me?"
If it meant getting out of the hell she was living in, Rosalia would gladly take it, and she did as she grabbed the man's hand. The two hopped on Salamence and flew off into the distance, Chatot too stunned to follow.
"So, where to?" Rosalia asked, undoing the ponytail she was forced to put her hair in for her job.
"I think it's time I headed back to Kanto. We can build our base of operations there." He explained before looking back at her. "Heh, you know it's nice to see your hair in that style. You look much more beautiful like that."
Rosalia blushed at the sudden compliment but looked taken aback.
"I don't think your wife would like you saying that. You did marry her and have that kid she wanted, didn't you?" She asked, being surprised by the growl she got in response.
"That witch... she tried to kill me! I don't want anything to do with her, she can rot for all I care! As for our baby girl; I'll miss her, sure, but once we accomplish our goals I can have her to myself if I really wanted to. Until then, I'm focused solely on reaching my goal!"
Rosalia couldn't help but laugh upon hearing that, but she wrapped her arm softly around the shoulders of the man and leaned her head onto him.
"Then I guess we better get started!"
"The two would then build Team Dark Star from the ground up, slowly recruiting more people and building their numbers. Eventually, it grew to be what it is today." Goff finished, closing the folder of Andromeda, the woman once known as Rosalia Tibuan.
"And it's only going to get heavier from here I take it?" Renée asked.
"Somewhat." Anabel answered. "For the two agents known as Sirius and Typhoon we don't actually have all that much data on their family lives but their introduction into Team Dark Star. From what we do know about them, Sirius appears to be a man by the name of Cedric Blackwell, a man from Saffron City. When it comes to Typhoon though, the only name we could pinpoint to him is Joel, no last name."
"What else do you have on them?" Ryan asked, his eyebrows raised in intrigue.
"Well, we do know that Mr. Blackwell does have a background in the military, he was actually in the same unit as Lt. Surge of Vermilion City during the war. What we know is that following the war, he struggled to find work. This inability to maintain a steady income eventually went on to affect his home life..." Goff began.
"What do you mean they let you go?!"
Cedric Blackwell was a man approaching middle age, or at least he looked like it. In truth, he was approaching 30 at this point, it had been just two years after his time in the military ended. His unit had all gone their separate ways, trying to keep in touch with each other but his search for a well paying job took most of his time. He thought Surge was lucky to get that position as a gym leader. The two of them, along with their other two friends, were experts with pokemon but officials within the Kanto league weren't looking for any other positions that needed filling. Ever since then, Cedric tried applying to jobs at Silph Co., the Celadon department store, even the Lavender Radio Tower, but no luck. Currently, he had been hired, and subsequently laid off, by the Saffron City Magnet Train company. His wife was clearly not happy with the news.
"They said that they're laying off a quarter of their staff to-"
"NO! I don't want to hear it! I don't want to hear any more excuses! I should have known better than to think you could actually hold a job like a normal person."
Without another word, Cedric's wife stormed out of their house with a slam of the door. With a sigh, the man headed over to his bedroom and looked at himself in the mirror; blonde hair that was in a buzz cut, sky blue eyes and a rather chiseled jaw. People might say he was handsome but the bags under his eyes and visible stressed out look he had on his face added ten years to him. After deciding that he had had enough of looking at his own misery, Cedric grabbed a photo that sat by him on the nightstand before sitting down at the edge of his bed.
The photo was of him and his wife before Cedric was deployed to serve in the war, both of them looked happy as the man made sure that the boy that was sitting on his shoulders was secure. The boy looked to be about three or four years old and had hair that matched Cedric's in color, though his eyes were of his mother, an icy grey.
"Hey, Dad, I just saw Mom storming off. Is everything okay?"
Cedric looked up to see his now teenage son looking at him with a look of concern and confusion on his face. The years had certainly been better to him than to his father, his hair was longer now, reaching down to his shoulders, but it strangely suited him, Cedric remembered thinking he looked like he wanted to be a rock star when his son told him and his wife that he wanted to grow it out. That thought practically manifested into reality when his son started listening to more hard rock and metal music and he even caught a Durant as his first pokemon. The pride he felt in his son only ever grew as time went on.
But this was something that a teenager shouldn't have to be worrying about. Even if he wasn't a kid anymore, his son shouldn't have to worry about his parents' marriage problems.
"It's... it's something complicated between myself and your mother, you don't need to worry about it."
"You two were fighting again, weren't you..."
And there went any hope that his son didn't know about the issues already...
"Dad, Mom's always screaming at you about something and it's getting really annoying. Especially because these days, if she's not mad at you, she's mad at me for who knows what. I may not know much about girls but I've been planning on getting something nice for her to at least get her off my back. Maybe we can do that together?"
For the first time that night, Cedric actually smiled.
"Sure. I think I'd like that."
As the two headed to the front door to potentially find something, Cedric's wife returned and waved a stack of papers in front of her husband. As he began to look at the papers, his blood ran cold.
"Eventually Blackwell's wife would divorce him, and as he had no source of steady income at the time, the courts ruled that he was unfit to continue caring for his son, with full custody going to his now ex-wife. With nothing else to really turn to, a percentage of his income would unfortunately begin going to alcohol as a means of dealing with his problems." Looker explained.
"I feel like that happens way too often." Diego interjected.
The pitter-patter of rain cascaded along the road that Cedric walked, the umbrella in his hand casting a shadow over him that felt bright compared to the shadow inside of him. Somehow he was managing financially on his own, but that didn't help with the hole in his heart. Turning a corner, the man methodically turned the doorknob and entered what appeared to be a bar. Quickly hanging his coat, Cedric sat down at the counter and ordered a drink, the noises and voices coming from the other people around him were simply blocked out as he quickly swallowed his drink and ordered another.
Swirling it around gently in its glass, Cedric looked down at the reflection staring back at him from the caramel-colored drink. It had been over two years since the divorce and while he was happy to not have her yelling and arguing with him anymore, he still missed her dearly. He expected her to not try contacting him since then but the fact that their son hasn't called him since then hurt worse than anything she could have done and left him with questions that Cedric wasn't sure he wanted the answer to; was she making sure his son couldn't get in touch with him? Or... did he lose respect for his father and not want anything to do with him?
"Good evening."
"While we have no way of confirming this to be true, we believe that Cedric Blackwell first met the Team Dark Star boss through a bar the two frequented."
That was the only thing to catch Cedric's attention in the ocean of voices surrounding him. His attention shifting from the 2nd empty glass to the man that had sat down next to him. The man was a bit younger than Cedric was, his hair was a neatly combed jet black color that seemed to strangely pair well with his olive green eyes.
"Oh hey, didn't see you there." Cedric replied, scooting over a bit as to give the man a bit of space.
"You seem troubled, friend, do you want to talk about it?" The man asked. "Bartender, a couple of drinks right over here!"
As the bartender handed the two their drinks, Cedric turned to the man in confusion.
"You don't have to." Cedric began.
"Perhaps, but you look like a man that appears to have a lot on his mind. If you're willing to talk about them then I'd be willing to listen."
With a hint of reluctance, Cedric began to open up about his current and past issues, continuing to share drinks with this mysterious man as he did.
"Two years man, it's been two years and I ain't hear nothin' from 'er, from my boy, or my old buds from the army!" Cedric drunkenly exclaimed, slurring just a bit as he spoke before hiccuping.
"I hear ya' man, I hear ya'!" The man replied, slightly less intoxicated. "I don't hear from my wife no more since she went crazy and I ain't allowed to see our baby girl no more!"
"All I want is to see my boy again! I'd do anything for that!"
"Anything?" Singularity asked, slightly more sober now. "Well, what if I told you there was a way for me to do that for ya'?"
"Y-you mean that? You ain't messing with me?"
"Nah, brother, no foolin'. My new lady and I are planning something big and we're gonna need all the help we can get with this. If we get this project done then you'll be able to see your boy as much as you want. Can we count on you to help us?"
Singularity held out his hand for Cedric to shake, which he appeared to be hesitant to as he also sobered up just enough to understand what was going on.
A chance to have his son back. But to get it he would have to join with this man in whatever he was working towards. He already disliked his job and was barely scraping by so if this man was going to pay him something aside from just with what he wanted most then it could be the thought of reconnecting with his son, the only member of his family that he had truly connected with before and after doing his service that he could truly talk to, was too enticing.
What did Cedric really have to lose?
"One interesting piece of information we received from our agent is that while Mr. Blackwell, who would later become known as 'Sirius', is among Team Dark Star's highest ranking members, he supposedly acts as if he is equal to the grunts and scientists around him, sort of acting like a mentor to some of them." Anabel noted.
"Too bad that sentimentality is going to a terrorist organization." Styles scoffed.
"If I may." Cynthia said. "There is one thing that has me a bit confused. Team Dark Star is similar to Team Galactic in that their general theme revolves around space, with this extending to most of their codenames; Andromeda being the nearest galaxy closest to ours, Sirius being the name of the brightest observable star, and even Singularity is defined as a point in which gravity is so intense that spacetime itself becomes ill-defined. However, the last high ranking member of this group that we have yet to go over is named 'Typhoon', which is a wind-themed name. Have you managed to uncover any information as to why that is?"
"Indeed we do!" Goff replied, opening up Typhoon's folder. "However, we quickly learned that this admin is very selective on what sort of information he tells people. We know just slightly more about him than we do about Meridia. The reason for him having such a large folder is due to the police records we have from him being detained. But while we have records of his many crimes, we have also learned that he is very skilled at hacking and covering his tracks."
Goff laid out various transcripts and other files from within Typhoon's folder to one from Sirius', the first thing that everyone noticed is that there was no available picture of what Typhoon looked like without his mask on any of the files. The second was that a large section of each of the files were censored and blacked out.
"We've tried contacting the law enforcement offices that provided us with these files if they were able to uncensor the information that is hidden but they were unable to. When we tried to decrypt them ourselves we also had no such luck."
"So we just have no idea what this guy actually looks like? Not even your spy or those of us who used to be part of this group?" Yuki asked.
"I'm afraid not." Max replied. "The only time I would imagine Typhoon ever removed his mask is in his own private quarters, which are always locked to everyone except him."
"Our agent is continuing his efforts to identify him but for now we have no info." Anabel explained. "Nonetheless, we were able to find that Typhoon first met Singularity somewhere near Cherrygrove City in the Johto region..."
"W-Wait?! Where did all the money in the register go?" A PokeMart employee cried out in shock.
"Maybe the lights going out was planned! I'll call officer Jenny!" Another added. As the two employees panicked, a young man with blonde hair laughed to himself as he slung a backpack over his shoulder and walked casually past the city limits, his smile only growing wider as he could hear the sounds of Officer Jenny's motorbike speeding towards the store he just exited.
As the man left the city limits, he hid behind a small set of trees and sat down in order to count his bounty.
"It's just way too easy." He said to himself.
"Not bad. You really have honed your skills."
The man jumped up to the lowest branch of the tree he could grab, nearly dropping some of his "earnings" as he looked down at the woman who had caught him off guard. To his surprise, confusion and general annoyance, she was dressed like a nun which creeped him out more as she looked right at him with her piercing red eyes.
"Who the hell are you?!" The man asked, the nun kept her gaze on him with an unamused glare as another man approached the two of them. The man had slick black hair that was shoulder length, just like the younger man's, his olive green eyes had an aura of smugness within them as they met the sky blue eyes of the younger man.
"Hahaha, I hope you can forgive my associate for catching you off guard, but we simply wanted to talk." The man greeted.
"You guys feds or missionaries? That nun makes it hard to tell."
"Neither." The woman replied flatly.
"We're... a part of something much better than either of those groups and believe me, we wouldn't dare associate with either of those two groups, too much risk." The man added.
"What do you mean 'too much risk'? Just who are you clowns?"
The fact that she had just been insulted that way only intensified the glare the nun was giving.
"I am the leader of an up-and-coming group that aims to bring about change that suits our needs."
"Let me guess, you guys have had your eyes on me and you think I'd be a great addition to your cause?" The man rolled his eyes, sitting onto the tree branch properly and looking down at the duo skeptically.
"You catch on quick." The nun retorted, the blonde boy was growing increasingly fearful of her especially due to the fact that it looked like she hadn't even blinked since this conversation began.
"And you're going to say that you can offer me anything I want. I know the schtick and I've heard it all before."
"You truly are a smart boy." The ominous man proclaimed. "But it isn't what we can offer, it's who we can bring you to." That managed to get the boy's eyebrows raised. "We know you've been searching for two specific people."
That made the younger man pause completely for a moment as he looked at the two with suspicion, yet curiosity as he slowly came down from the tree.
"How... how do you know that?"
"We've seen your file, despite your talents you've been caught a few times and the police have a record of you. If you join us we can help cover up the information they have on you and help you reconnect with those that you're looking for."
The boy thought about the opportunity for a moment, questioning if this was actually happening or some kind of scam. It was definitely sounding too good to be true.
"Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?" The older man asked. "Well, I can assure you, this is very real. All I ask for in return are your skills tech and quick thinking. So... are you in?"
"All I gotta do is what I'm good at and you'll help me find who I'm looking for?" The boy repeated with a hearty laugh as a grin formed on his face.
"Not only that, but as you've been handpicked by me personally, you'll immediately be put in a high rank and will have as many subordinates as you may need."
"A bunch of lackeys that'll do whatever I say..." The man continued to laugh as he shook his head. "Alright, old man, you've got a deal!"
"So Singularity was able to coerce this man into joining Team Dark Star, which had since began it's true operations at that point." Looker explained, Goff visibly tensed up as he let out a sharp breath.
"What I can't help but find unsettling is that as Typhoon was recruited, most of you kids were in my class. Had I known this was all going on..."
"There was no way you could have known about this happening." Cynthia remarked.
"Aunt Cynthia is right!" Julia added. "You were just doing your job, well both of them I suppose, and looking out for us! All while being an awesome teacher!" All of Goff's other students were quick to voice their agreement, causing the man to smile as he sighed and leaned back into his seat.
"You've all grown so much." The teacher said softly.
"You've truly made quite an impact on your students." Looker praised, patting his ally on his back. "I suppose it makes sense though, you've always been eager to remain at that school."
"I've grown quite fond of my teaching position over the years!" Goff remarked with a chuckle before his expression changed to become more serious than any of the former students were expecting as he turned to face them. "But the last person we have yet to go over is Singularity, the leader of Team Dark Star. Now I know that we had given you all the opportunity to and head to bed before we began here but I am going to ask you again in order to warn you all; some of the information we have gathered on this man is downright vile. If you wish to instead go off to bed we will certainly not judge you."
"Professor, we've sat through hearing all of this, despite how intense it is. Whatever it is this guy did, I think we're ready to hear it." Styles replied, once again the rest of the trainers agreed, albeit a bit more hesitant this time. Jack locked his eyes on the file, his hands tensing up and his eyes narrowing. Julia gulped a bit as she linked her arm around his to try calming him down at least a little bit.
The TDS spy behind the counter sat as silently as she could beneath the counter, a bit curious to learn about the boss as well.
"Very well, I suppose the only thing we can do is begin." Anabel announced as she opened the folder, revealing a file that showed Singularity's true face for everyone to see. "While the initial amount of information we had was even less than that of Typhoon and Meridia, we did eventually find one file from decades ago that 'cleared a path' for us, so to speak, and allowed us to learn much more than we were honestly expecting. For starters, we were able to learn the real name of the boss of Team Dark Star.
Singularity's real name is Malakai Paraeah..."
"Paraeah has a long history of rather concerning behavior, even going as far back to his youth. The earliest that we were able to uncover is, rather surprisingly, involvement within Team Rocket during their initial attempt to take over the Kanto region. At the time he was still rather young and an employee of Silph Co. but the branch he was assigned to had its funding cut. Even when it did Malakai and the last person of the branch besides him were essentially reassigned from their fieldwork jobs to work in accounting before ultimately being laid off." Anabel explained.
"Are you saying that the boss of this criminal organization was a blue collar man? A damn accountant?!" Jack growled.
"Yes." Anabel nodded. "Following his layoff, he and the other person, a woman by the name of Angela Martir, would be recruited into Team Rocket."
The sound of the sliding doors of the Silph Co. was a normal one that was unremarkable most of the time within Saffron City, but to the two people that had just exited the building it was the last time they would likely ever hear them. One of them was an older looking teenage boy that had neatly combed black hair that he was currently ruffling to make it more casual looking. He wore a neatly pressed dark green dress shirt and black slacks with dress shoes of the same color. One would think he looked rather handsome until they learned of his true personality.
That one being the teenage girl who had exited with him, looking down at the pink paper in her hands with a crestfallen look on her face. Her hair was was a soft olive green that matched her eyes. Just as the boy was, she was dressed in business attire, with a light grey blouse and black skirt that reached her knees.
"I... can't believe this..." Angela sniffled, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "They really just tossed us aside like this!"
"Figures." Malakai scoffed. "Those idiots are throwing away an opportunity for something truly legendary!" Angela was quiet for a moment before speaking up again.
"So what do we do now?"
Almost as if he were a salesman with the perfect pitch, a man in a trench-coat hurried over to the two with an overly-excited look on his face.
"Did I just hear that you two got laid off?" He asked. "If you guys want I know where you guys can get another job in no time flat!"
Malakai knew where this was going, part of him didn't really care as work was work. If this guy gave him trouble then he was more than ready to fight if he needed to.
"What's the catch?" Malakai asked.
"The catch? Well you'd either have to put in a ton of fieldwork or help our scientists. You guys just stopped working here at Silph too and our boss apparently has a plan for them." Hearing that got Malakai interested.
"Tell me more." He said, his eyes focusing on the shady guy.
"Well the boss and most of the other higher ups know more about our plans than I do but I can take you to them if you're interested."
With a smirk, Malakai took a step towards the man. "Show me." He said. With a nod, the man motioned for the two to follow him towards the city limits leading towards Celadon. Before Malakai could follow, Angela grabbed onto his hand with a look of concern on her face.
"Are you sure about this?" She asked, gazing right into his eyes. As he looked right back into hers, Malakai turned and grabbed hold of her hands.
"Angie, I'm not going to let this opportunity pass me by. I'm meant for something greater than getting stepped on by Silph. Remember back when we first found that Plate? I could tell that you were excited and wanted to know more, even though you were nervous around it. Let's do this! I know this is suspicious but if anything happens, I have your back."
Malakai placed a gentle hand on Angela's cheek, earning a smile from the young woman who gave him a nod in return.
"Alright... I trust you."
The two followed the man into the Celadon Game Corner, the man gave a salute to the man and woman working by the coin exchange counter and hurried over to a poster, discreetly pressing a button behind it and revealing a hidden stairwell. As the made their way through the base, they passed by an office that had its door open just a bit where a stern-looking man in a suit with a Persian and a Kangaskhan lounging around as the man looked at a set of papers. For a brief moment, Malakai looked at the man from the door, the man looked back at him before Malakai walked away. The man furrowed his brow as an odd sense of foreboding washed over him.
The three eventually made their way into a different office where a man and woman waited for them. The man wore a sleek white suit and had blue hair while the woman had red hair and wore a white dress. The only thing they had in common was a noticeable R on their clothes.
"The two would be put into separate divisions led by the Team Rocket Executives; Ariana and Archer. However they would still interact rather often as Team Rocket was still enacting small-scale crimes at the time before beginning their plan of attempting to catch Mewtwo. One of their more major crimes during this time was killing a Marowak in order to threaten Mr. Fuji of Lavender Town to summon Ghost pokemon in order to further their plan. When it comes to the Marowak in question, Singularity was the Rocket member to do the deed." Anabel continued, to say that the trainers were shocked would be an understatement.
"Really?!" "Seriously?!" "You're kidding!" "That monster!" Were just some of their reactions.
"Hey!"
Malakai turned around to see Angela running over to him. The Team Rocket uniform fit her well, in his opinion at least, and she seemed much happier than she did after Silph.
"I heard you were sent on a mission by Lavender Town and Executive Proton told me to give you this." Angela explained, handing him a pokeball. "It's the Rattata from way back that was hiding in your shed, it actually evolved when they tried training it here! Proton said that he had a hard time getting it to cooperate though, when I told him it was by your home he figured maybe you could get it to listen."
"I see..." Malakai replied, looking at the pokeball with intrigue. He looked back at Angela when she grabbed his hand.
"I, um, wanted to thank you for last night too." She added, a heavy blush on her face as she sheepishly looked away.
"Of course." The man replied with a coy smirk. "But I suppose I should get going."
The trip to Lavender Town was rather uneventful, Malakai was going with two other grunts and they didn't seem up to talk much. After threatening some of the locals they learned he was in Lavender Tower. Finding him there was pretty easy, but it was getting him to follow their demands that was the issue.
"I refuse." Fuji asserted, a Marowak at his side and her baby Cubone behind its mother. "You being here is disrupting the eternal rest of these spirits, I am going to have to ask you to leave."
"We ain't leaving until we find those Ghosts, old man!" Malakai responded, he and his Rocket associated brandished their pokeballs. The threatening sight pushed the Marowak to hurry in front of Fuji and brandish its Bone Club. "Pshh, you think that thing will help you?"
Malakai sent out his Raticate, which looked around in a slight panic before looking at its master and jumping back in fear.
"My word..." Fuji said in shock. "Your pokemon is in absolute terror at just the sight of you. What have you done to it?!"
"Raticate isn't what you should be worried about." Malakai answered, looking down at the Marowak. "That thing, however... Raticate, if you know what's good for you, crush that thing with Hyper Fang!"
In a panic, Raticate lunged at Marowak faster than the Bone Wielding pokemon could react as its massive teeth clamped down onto its skull and neck. Any time Marowak was able to loosen Raticate's grip, the Rat pokemon clamped down onto another part of its body, even biting its eye at one point. Fuji tried to intervene, shouting in horror at the mauling take place in front of his eyes but the other Rocket members restrained him while they used their pokemon to stop the baby Cubone.
"Run, Cubone!" Fuji screamed before being gagged by one of the Rockets. With its skull head cracked and blood pooling around it, Marowak lay on the floor, watching as its child ran in absolute terror as it cried in anguish. Tears streaming down the poor mother's eyes as her eyes shut for the last time.
"Following Team Rocket's defeat, Singularity and Angela would struggle to find out what they would do next..."
"Damn it!" Malakai cursed, kicking a piece of machinery that had been destroyed, several other Rocket grunts sulking alongside them. They were in the remains of the Celadon Rocket hideout that had been ransacked when Red had come to them. "That kid single-handedly put us down! How did he beat the boss?!"
"M-Mal, please, sweetie calm down!" Angela pleaded.
"It's just like Silph!" He continued, the others too nervous or upset to speak up. "We put in all this work and it all just crumbles down." With a heavy growl, the man stomped towards the stairwell heading to the surface.
"I'll go talk to him." One of the male grunts sighed. "If Team Rocket's done with then we might as well try going straight."
As Angela watched the two storm off, she began to cry.
"H-hey, it's not that bad! You're a great girl, you can find something!" A female grunt said, trying to console the woman.
"It-it's not that! Mal, he's my boyfriend and..." Angela began.
"And?"
"Well, you saw how angry he is right now. I have something important I need to tell him and I'm scared of how he'll react."
"If he's a good boyfriend then he won't take his anger out on you. But if you don't mind me asking, what's so important that you're so worried about his reaction?"
"W-well... my family kicked me out of our home when they found out I joined Team Rocket. He's been so good to me and... I want him to marry me but with Rocket going under now..."
As the girls continued to talk, the male grunt followed Malakai outside.
"Hey, man, it's not the end of the world!" He began.
"Tch, not yet. What do you want?"
"Well, I know this group must be important to you if you're so bent up out of shape about this. I heard Silph let you go and they pay pretty good money. There's no chance they'll take us but I heard there's a mine up north in the Sinnoh region that pays pretty well. It's not exactly an easy job but it pays really well. I've been thinking of heading up there and it would be great to have someone I know to work with."
Malakai simply grumbled as a response, the grunt gave him a sympathetic look but backed off a bit.
"Well, whatever you choose to do is your call, bud." He said. "But if you're ever interested, I have this."
Mal looked at the poster he was just handed, it was relatively plain looking but it went into detail of the qualifications, pay and so on. His expression sank even further as he read it. He knew he was destined for greatness, he felt that Team Rocket was a decent enough start, and to go from that to coal mining was... disgraceful...
"Angela's family had long since kicked her out of her home upon finding out she was part of Team Rocket, and so she ended up staying with Singularity. The two would head to Sinnoh and while Singularity began working at the Oreburgh Mine in Sinnoh for some time, he would eventually meet Andromeda for the first time and, as we discussed, would go on to join Team Galactic. As you already may know, Team Galactic would also be defeated. While Andromeda would eventually go back to her family, Singularity and Angela would eventually move to a faraway region on the other side of the desert region of Orre and marry, the two would then go on to have a daughter by the name of Lindsey." Anabel explained, tensing up a bit at the mention of the daughter.
The policewoman sighed and brought a hand to her face as appeared to try finding a proper way to explain what happened next.
"Perhaps I should continue on from here." Goff stated. "Following Singularity and Angela's move to this region, the weight of his previous failures made Singularity fall into a depression that he felt that alcohol would try filling. As this went on, his daughter would grow older and... well. He began to... take advantage of her."
"Y-you don't mean...?!" Sinead shuddered, her blood running cold. The silence of the room was rather unsettling. Even from behind her desk, the TDS spy was shaking in anticipation and anxiety.
"Yes." Goff finally replied. "This apparently began when Lindsey herself was approximately seven or eight years old, as of today she would be around twelve. This was all taking place without Angela's knowledge and when she eventually did find out, she snapped and shot Singularity in the chest. She... then attempted to drown both herself and her daughter out of guilt over not knowing sooner and stopping it. She also didn't want her daughter to have to live with what her father did to her. Unfortunately, Angela was the only one of the three to die. Singularity would eventually be taken in for medical assistance and there was no evidence to pin any crime on him as the region they were in had no record of their past crimes. As for young Lindsey, she was nowhere to be found afterwards and there hasn't been a trace of her that we were able to uncover since. Once he was fully recovered, Singularity would leave the region and reunite with Andromeda, the two would go on to marry and form Team Dark Star."
This revelation caused a variety of different reactions; some like Diego and Styles were completely stunned and their jaws dropped upon hearing this. Most of the girls felt sick to their stomach, with Sinead audibly gagging at one point, a garbage bag was passed to her but she was ultimately able to keep the contents of her stomach down. Jack however silently exhaled and let go of all his tension. Julia looked at him, unsure of what he was thinking, but he simply crossed his arms and looked over at Singulairty's picture with a look that was as dark as a Zoroark's Night Daze, yet at the same time was disturbingly serene.
"With all this now revealed to you." Looker began, breaking the heavy silence. "I'm sure you all now see why we must shut this organization down."
While everyone present agreed, some did it more quickly than others, as the revelation still weighed heavily on them.
"Very well then." Anabel proceeded, composing herself as best as she could. "For the time being, we will keep in touch with you all should we need assistance and while I must apologize on behalf of the International Police for placing all of this information onto you here, when this should be a more positive occasion. But your cooperation with all this is appreciated more than you will ever know. Please be wary of any suspicious activity and take care of yourselves and those around you. Ms. Cynthia, Ms. Lorelei, Mr. Apollo, as the most skilled trainers here alongside myself, I will have to ask for your assistance in a few upcoming tasks dealing with this issue.
"Of course." "Absolutely." "I'm game!" The three responded.
"Thank you!" Anabel smiled. "I suppose we can consider this meeting adjourned. For those of you still within the tournament, apologies for keeping you up so late and I wish you luck with the remainder of the tournament. I hope you will not let this distract you. Rest well, and be safe."
With a polite bow to everyone, Anabel and Looker left the lobby. As the trainers began to disperse, a few of the trainers tried talking to their peers but not many of them were in a mood to talk. With a few goodbyes to their teacher, Goff followed his associates outside. One by one, as the trainers all went back to their rooms, the TDS spy finally came out of hiding and resumed typing on her computer.
'Their little meeting is over. I wasn't expecting to hear so much about our admins and the boss himself... well he's really brutal. Like, more than I was ever expecting...'
The twins, Diego and Jack headed to their rooms in silence. Renée and Diego looked ahead, too many thoughts racing through their heads to notice Julia looking at Jack, who still had his dark expression. Eventually, the boys arrived at their room, which was when the silence was finally broken.
"Well." Diego began. "I, uh, guess I'll see you girls tomorrow."
"Jack, are you alright?" Julia asked, all eyes turned to the boy in question. His expression finally changed as he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and wiped his face with his hands.
"I already wanted to bring Singularity and Team Dark Star down." He began. "But after hearing all of that... I want to end Malakai Paraeah."
Without another word, Jack entered his room. Diego and the twins each shared a concerned look with each other before Diego followed him inside. Julia tried to gulp but the dryness of her throat prevented her from doing so. The only thing she could do was follow her sister to their own room as the moonlight continued to shine...
Well!
A lot of heavy implications in this chapter! I hope this doesn't force the story to be rated M. I know there wasn't really any action in this chapter and that will resume in the ones to follow as the tournament battles and some other kinds of battles will continue. I'm a bit nervous with the backstory revolving Singularity since it ties into Pokemon Reborn and this story will have a connection to it now more than ever. I'll try to respect the story of that game as best as possible.
For now though, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and will look forward to what lies ahead!