Chapter 25: The Heart of a Rocket
Bolts of lightning tore the air inside the transport hangar, smothering all other sounds in a barrage of thunder. Pichu countered the first couple of strikes with bolts of her own—much smaller but perfectly timed to deflect the stronger attacks. Stray lightning flew wildly, colliding with walls, lancing along the ground, and narrowly missing the vehicles parked in the far end of the hangar. But it quickly became obvious that Raichu wasn't going to let up, and the smaller mouse would run out of electricity first.
"Agility!" Ajia called out. Pichu dropped to all fours and dashed around in a zigzag pattern, accelerating to the point that her movements were hard to follow. Raichu charged up another Thunderbolt and fired it straight at her, but by that point she was moving so fast that his attack completely missed its mark.
"Why are you so committed to them? After everything they've put you through?" Ajia asked, her voice calm and matter-of-fact, like she was just having an interesting discussion with Starr and not whatever the hell this was.
Starr clenched her teeth. "You don't know what you're talking about," she growled. "Raichu, Quick Atta—"
"Encore!"
Before Raichu could even process the command, Pichu seamlessly switched from running to clapping her paws together, unleashing a shower of white sparks over Raichu. The moment the sparks touched his fur, strings of electricity jumped from his cheeks, and he was forced to charge up another lightning bolt.
"You're only doing this because you're afraid of them," Ajia went on.
"Shut up! Shut! Up!" Starr screamed, clapping her hands over her ears.
Raichu was already panting from the effort of all the wasted Thunderbolts. Ajia took advantage of his momentary exhaustion and ordered a quick Nasty Plot. At her words, Pichu froze, deep in concentration. The mouse's face split into a twisted grin as a dark glow started to spread across her body. And then one of Raichu's bolts finally found its mark—I flinched as the burst of lightning knocked Pichu's tiny frame rolling along the concrete like a ragdoll. But the mouse regained herself within seconds—far faster than I would've thought possible—and retaliated with a burst of star-shaped energy discs. Raichu lunged out of the way in time, but it didn't make any difference—the stars just looped around and struck him in the back of the head. He pivoted around, readying another Thunderbolt, only to catch another Swift to the face. Starr ground her teeth out of frustration, looking ready to punch Ajia for that move. But then a manic grin spread across her face when the white sparks clinging to her Pokémon's body finally faded.
"Now! Quick Attack!" she called out.
A shimmering flash caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I glanced over and—Espeon was back! Before I knew what was happening, I had already dashed over, practically sliding to a stop in front of her.
"Are the others alright?"
The psychic fox nodded, lifting her chin to show off the two Pokéballs clipped to her collar—Aros and Stygian, both safely recalled. I let out a huge sigh of relief and unclipped them both, replacing them on my own belt. At least that was one less thing to worry about.
Meanwhile, Raichu was refusing to let Pichu gain any ground in the match. He dashed after her, matching her move-for-move, making it harder and harder for her to avoid him. But then she started firing more swift stars behind her as she ran, hitting him dead on now that he was so close.
"Raichu, use…"—the larger mouse staggered back, pelted by stars—"Use…"—he started charging up another Thunderbolt, but lost concentration halfway through as more stars struck him right in the face—"Come on, we can't lose to her! Use Mega Kick!"
Raichu was in bad shape. He'd wasted most of his electricity on pointless Thunderbolts. His trainer was beyond flustered and not at all prepared to deal with Ajia's tactics. His moves were stronger, but that didn't mean much if he kept getting bombarded with small hits and never got a chance to focus. Ajia was winning.
Raichu shot forward with the speed boost of a Quick Attack, pulling out of it at the last second and catching Pichu in the side with a powerful kick. Without warning, a flood of electricity surged into him the moment he made contact. Raichu cried out in pain and alarm, staggering backward under the force of the lightning. And then Pichu jumped up and headbutted him in the face, knocking him to the ground with a thud. The larger mouse lay there twitching wildly for several seconds, struggling to lift his body from the concrete. Finally, his limbs gave out, and he collapsed.
Pichu had defeated Raichu. A fellow electric-type far bigger, far stronger than her, and she'd managed to win. I never would have believed it if I hadn't seen it happen firsthand. The tiny mouse stood there on all fours, trembling slightly, but then turning and flashing a grin back at Ajia and me. Her trainer smiled back and opened her bag, and the little electric-type dashed over and jumped back into it.
Starr stood rooted to the spot, jaw locked, fists shaking, face red with rage. "Raichu's not my only Pokémon," she growled, recalling the orange mouse and reaching for her belt. But before she got the chance to open another Pokéball, someone began clapping slowly.
"As much fun as it is to watch you two battle, perhaps we should get to business."
Everyone froze. That was him, wasn't it? Slowly, we all turned to face the entrance to the transport hangar, where the leader of Team Rocket now stood, flanked by executives. He was a tall, broad-shouldered man, dressed in a crisp black suit bearing the Rocket insignia. Every inch of him oozed professionalism, from his slicked-back hair to his dark, piercing eyes and sharp features. I'd seen him before—as my hometown's representative, his battles were frequently shown on TV. But that didn't compare to seeing him in real life. TV couldn't capture the overwhelming aura of authority that he gave off. I couldn't help feeling small and insignificant just standing in the same room as him. This was a gym leader, and strong enough to command the respect of everyone on Team Rocket.
But none of that was important. Right now, the only thing that mattered was the fact that he had ownership of Mewtwo. This was the moment of truth.
Espeon's eyes flashed blue, and a psychic aura surrounded Giovanni. The executives surrounding him recoiled backward in shock right before a minimized Master Ball flew out of his pocket. It shot toward us, pulled by Espeon's telekinesis—our plan had actually worked?!
And then the ball froze in midair. Espeon stared at it, confused. The fox squinted in concentration, jerking her head as though trying to force the ball closer to us. But it didn't move. It was like her psychic abilities had just stopped working.
Oh no. No, no no no no. Her powers hadn't stopped working. They'd been negated.
The Master Ball slowly drifted back toward Giovanni, who grabbed it and replaced it in his pocket. A subtle yet condescending sneer crossed his face. "Really now, I'm a bit disappointed. You honestly believed I would walk right in here and allow you to snatch something so valuable and use it against me? I was expecting something a bit more creative."
Out of the shadows behind Giovanni emerged a tall, humanoid shape. Pointed ears, a catlike face, a long purple tail—Mewtwo now stood alongside the head of Team Rocket, his eyes radiating an eerie cobalt aura.
We'd been played. I threw a panicked glance at Ajia, whose eyes had gone wide. She made eye contact with me, then tilted her head toward her Espeon.
Wait… her Espeon. That's right! We could still teleport out of here! There was still a chance for us to escape! The violet fox suddenly bolted towards us. She'd reach Ajia first—I just had to grab Ajia's hand and then reach out to Starr and—
My body froze, like an invisible force was gripping me from all over. An unrelenting, smothering, all-powerful force—one that pressed down from all sides, threatening to crush me with its sheer presence. I couldn't move. No amount of effort made any difference.
"You're not going anywhere. I want to have a discussion with you three," Giovanni said calmly, gesturing to Mewtwo with all the nonchalance of someone giving orders to a family pet.
The psychic hold on us relaxed, and I doubled over, coughing hard. Even if we could move again, the point had been made very clear. Mewtwo could stop us no matter what we tried. We were trapped. Trapped with Starr and the boss and the combat unit and Mewtwo. With just one move, the boss had completely dismantled our plan.
More Rockets kept funneling into the transport hangar behind Giovanni, laughing once they saw us trapped here like this. As if we needed an audience. As if it wasn't bad enough that Mewtwo had us completely pinned, no, we needed half the combat unit here as well.
I glanced at Ajia again as a wave of cold dread washed over me. But she smiled weakly and mouthed the words, "It's going to be okay." I didn't believe her. This was so many levels of not okay, and I got that it was kind of her thing to be reassuring in these kinds of situations, but what were we supposed to do now?
Giovanni surveyed us carefully for some time, no doubt mulling over what to do with us. Finally, his cold, disapproving gaze settled onto Starr.
"Astrid, get over here."
It took her several seconds to acknowledge the fact that he'd said anything. With slow, shaking steps, she approached the leader of Team Rocket, avoiding eye contact the whole time. Several times she opened her mouth to speak but couldn't find the words. Finally, she managed, "I… this isn't… I would never betray Team Rocket, you know that."
"This isn't a question of your loyalties to this team. It's whether or not they exceed your loyalties to its enemies," Giovanni said slowly, his tone unreadable.
"I am not a double agent!" Starr practically screamed. "I would never do anything against this team—haven't I shown that?! Just because I don't want them dead doesn't mean I'm on their side!"
Giovanni wasn't listening, however, and had focused his attention back onto Ajia and me. "You've certainly done a good job of ruining my head combat executive, although I wouldn't expect anything less. I finally have the honor of meeting one of the most notorious criminals in Team Rocket history. Haven't had your fill of luring high-ranking members towards treason, have you? You certainly caused quite a mess last time."
Ajia… was one of the most well-known enemies of Team Rocket? With a history of luring Rockets into betraying the team? That couldn't possibly be true, could it? But… it was what we were doing right now. Starr had accused her of ruining Rockets' lives. That was… also what we were doing right now.
Giovanni fixed his gaze on me, and I couldn't help flinching. "And… who is this one?" he asked his subordinates with an amused tone.
The executive nearest him whipped out a tablet and tapped the screen a few times before answering, "Jade Arens—a member of the rebel team. Crashed a transport jet; stole experiments eight, nine, twenty-four, and twenty-five; was captured during operation L005 and broke out of Celadon detention block."
The boss's lips curled into a smirk. "So you're the rebel that keeps mysteriously escaping unscathed. I'd have chalked it up to dumb luck, but it appears you've had help on the inside after all."
Starr's face lit up with panic. "I never let her escape! I don't know how she broke out of Celadon! That wasn't me!"
"Even if it wasn't, it's clear that you need to sort out your priorities. But never let it be said that I'm not fair." His face split into a cruel grin. "If I can't be confident in your loyalties, then you deserve the chance to prove them to me, wouldn't you say?"
"I… I don't…"
He turned to face her, his expression cold and unflinching. "I'm giving you one last chance, Astrid. Here we have two rebels against our cause—a common situation. I believe you know the protocol."
Starr glanced around anxiously, fidgeting with her gloves. "But… they knocked out Raichu…"
"No, no, not your favorite Pokémon," Giovanni said, his voice dripping with false amusement. "Punishment from your Raichu just isn't… isn't effective enough. No, I was thinking more along the lines of your first Pokémon."
Starr stared at him, eyes wide and pleading, but he didn't say anything more. Finally, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to steady herself before removing a Pokéball from her belt and opening it.
Her first Pokémon. Which one was her first?
The burst of energy took the shape of a huge reptile—tall, upright, and towering over her. White light became leathery blue scales and jagged crimson spikes. Piercing amber eyes leered at us like we were prey. Massive, toothy jaws opened and snapped shut.
A Feraligatr. The final evolution of Johto's water-type starter.
My chest tightened. I'd actually forgotten how much she used to love water Pokémon. What else had I forgotten from all the time we'd spent together? Five years ago… I clenched my fists, fighting back a wave of nostalgia obscuring my thoughts. Not now, dammit. I couldn't handle it.
"Much better," Giovanni remarked. "Now…"—he leaned back against the wall, like a spectator watching a tournament—"you know what to do."
Starr glanced from Giovanni, to Feraligatr, to us, and then back to Giovanni again, gaping in disbelief. "What? You can't be serious."
"Did I not sound serious?" he asked. "I assumed this was the perfect test. After all, you've given the order many times before, and I should think you'd be able to do it again. Unless there's something different about these two rebels." The last part was said in a more threatening tone.
"But… that's not—I can't just…" Starr's eyes flew from side to side, desperately searching for an answer.
My stomach had dissolved away into nothingness. He seriously was trying to make her kill us. As if it wasn't bad enough that we were going to die here, he was making Starr be the one to do it? And she'd done it before. How much of an idiot had I been to think maybe there was a chance she wasn't too far gone?
We had to do something. But what? With Mewtwo there, what could we possibly do? Fight back? We couldn't fight him. Not even Ajia could remotely hope do that. I made eye contact with Ajia, desperately hoping for… something, though I wasn't sure what. But she just stared at the floor, tenser than I'd ever seen her.
"Are you under the impression that your actions here will decide their fate?" Giovanni asked, once the silence had gone on too long. "They are enemies of Team Rocket. It should be quite obvious what will happen to them either way. This decides your fate, not theirs." My body went even more rigid at his words. No way. No way, this could not be happening. We had to do something.
Starr took a half step backwards, hands trembling, staring at him wide-eyed. "Anything but that. Please. Anything at all."
"I have generously offered you the opportunity to prove your loyalty," her leader snapped. "You will accept it, or you will be regarded as no different from the likes of them. This discussion is over."
A deadly silence fell over the area. Feraligatr shifted uneasily and glanced at its trainer, obviously confused by her hesitation. Giovanni tapped his foot against the concrete. Starr glanced around frantically, from us, to the boss, to the combat unit, her expression one of petrified horror. My heart pounded so fast I thought it was going to explode and save her the trouble of having to decide whether or not to kill me. Because there was no reason for her not to. Giovanni had flat out said that we were going to die either way. Every time I blinked, my mind generated the image of her pointing forward, Feraligatr lunging, its claws and fangs tearing into us… There was no reason for her not to, and the anxiety of waiting for that single, inevitable moment was tearing me apart. I'd have given anything for it to end.
And then the words—two simple words—came and shattered my every expectation into a thousand pieces: "I can't."
"What?" Giovanni demanded.
"I said I can't—you had to know I couldn't!" Starr exclaimed, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Starr had refused. She absolutely would not, could not kill us, even if refusing wouldn't save us, and would only doom her. It didn't make any sense. It didn't even change anything. And yet, for some reason, I had never felt more relieved. It was so, so stupid. We weren't saved. Nothing had changed! She'd only screwed herself over by refusing. But in that instant, it was like nothing else in the world mattered.
Giovanni stared at her, his expression flickering between outrage and shock. And in that moment, it honestly looked like he had no idea what to do. It was so weird seeing that level of hesitation from the leader of Team Rocket. The Rockets surrounding him started throwing sideways glances around and muttering amongst themselves, like they couldn't believe it either.
"I will not lose another Rocket leader to rebel ideals," Giovanni said slowly, his voice shaking with suppressed rage. He then glanced back and forth at the executives nearest him and said, "Raven, Ender—escort Astrid to a detention cell. The rest of you may dispose of the rebels in any manner you see fitting."
Two executives broke from the lineup and advanced on Starr. She took several steps backward, shaking her head slowly, whispering, "No…" under her breath all the while. And then, without warning, all the fear and hesitation and pain on her face contorted into utmost fury.
"No!" Starr yelled, bolting towards Ajia and me. She reached us within seconds, pivoting around to face the Rockets, her eyes lit with rage. "I'm not leaving them."
This was it. She had really, truly chosen us over Team Rocket. I couldn't believe it, even though I'd just watched it happen.
Giovanni stared at her incredulously. "You know what this means."
"I don't care!" she snarled, fixing the boss with a venomous glare. "I gave up everything for this team! But you're always singling me out with this kind of bullshit! I'm done!"
It took several seconds of stunned disbelief for her words to sink into everyone. Feraligatr stared at Starr like she'd gone insane, but then slowly lumbered over to stand alongside its trainer, facing down the Rockets with her. The pair of executives that was originally supposed to apprehend Starr shot a glance at their leader questioningly.
Giovanni's cold gaze rested on Starr for the longest time. Finally, he closed his eyes and turned his back to her, saying, "Then you're no different from them."
And in that moment, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the faintest hint of a grin appear on Ajia's face. Out of nowhere, an explosive pulse of dark energy shot towards Mewtwo, striking the clone right in the face. My jaw dropped through the floor—what the actual hell had just happened? Slowly, my eyes slid down to Ajia's Umbreon, who was currently tensed up in an anxious fighting stance, eyes glowing red.
No one dared to move an inch. Mewtwo's eyes were closed, his facial muscles clenched—the only sign he'd even felt the attack.
Giovanni stared at Ajia incredulously, then slowly broke into a deep, echoing laugh. "Are you planning on fighting Mewtwo?"
"Isn't that what it looks like?" Ajia replied simply as both her Espeon and Umbreon leaped forward, putting themselves a good distance from us.
Ajia was going to fight Mewtwo. Ajia was going to fight Mewtwo what in the hell how? She might have been the strongest trainer I'd ever seen (as strong as Stalker?) but fighting Mewtwo?!
Giovanni's laughter died down to a quiet chuckle. "I could do with some entertainment after all of this." His eyes slid to the psychic cat still standing at his side before he snapped his fingers and said, "Destroy them."
Mewtwo's eyes flickered blue, and the clone drifted forward, levitating a few inches from the concrete. He extended a bony arm, flexing his bulbous fingers outward and firing a burst of psychic energy at the pair of foxes, who scattered immediately. Espeon's form blurred into a dozen illusory copies while Umbreon dissolved into a shadow tracing the ground. In response, Mewtwo gave a slow, sideways hand sweep, dispelling all of the copies instantly and knocking Espeon flying. Seconds later, Umbreon emerged from the shadows behind the clone, lunging for him and a striking with a dark aura. Slowly, the psychic cat turned his head to face his attacker, staring down at the fox like he was nothing. Umbreon flinched, eyes going wide with panic.
"Aura Sphere," Giovanni said lazily.
Without hesitation, Mewtwo brought his palms together by his side, focusing energy into a pulsating blue orb between them. Umbreon jumped back in alarm, then melted into shadow once more, but the clone hurled the orb, and the orb pursued. It zeroed in on the shadow instantly, mere inches away from striking when it suddenly exploded in a blinding flash. I shielded my eyes from the glare, and when it waned, I saw Espeon standing firm in front of Umbreon, eyes squinting in pain, steam leaking off her body.
It took me several seconds to figure out what had happened. Espeon had teleported into the Aura Sphere's path. She had taken the attack to protect Umbreon. But most importantly—she was still standing? I mean, sure the psychic fox had a natural resistance to fighting-type energy, but damn. Espeon took that moment to generate more afterimages of herself dashing around the hangar, and Mewtwo wasted no time picking off the copies with multicolored Psybeams shot from his fingertips.
This wasn't a fight. This was a game. What did it matter if we had ten, or even twenty more Pokémon between us? I'd seen Mewtwo take on all three Legendary birds at once—each bird a match for twenty Pokémon on its own. But Ajia was completely absorbed in watching the events unfold, as though this were the most important battle of her life and not Espeon and Umbreon running around stalling for time while Giovanni and the other Rockets all laughed at the inane resistance. The fact that she was even willing to fight Mewtwo at all had initially staved off the cold dread of imminent death. But now the truth was starting to sink in—Ajia didn't have a plan. Neither of her Pokémon could remotely hurt Mewtwo. And if we tried to teleport again, Mewtwo could stop us just as easily as he did last time.
And yet… in spite of everything… there was still a part of me that would not, could not accept that. I couldn't just go down without a fight. If Ajia was willing to go down fighting, then so was I. And my Pokémon would definitely prefer that. Especially the experiments—I couldn't just let them get recaptured without them even knowing about it.
So it was settled. I was going to fight.
"Not you too," Starr muttered once I'd grabbed a Pokéball. "This is a waste of time. You can't beat Mewtwo—no one can."
"Then why did you side with us if you knew we were screwed?" I asked, giving her an incredulous stare.
Starr dropped her gaze to the ground, eyebrows furrowed like she was in pain just thinking about it. "I don't know." She screwed her eyes shut, muttering through clenched teeth, "I don't know, I don't know—"
And then, without looking back at us, Ajia randomly announced, "You were forced to join Team Rocket, weren't you?"
Starr bristled. "What are you talking about?"
"You tried to figure out what was up with the sudden relocation to Johto, but you got in over your head and found out too much, didn't you? You had no choice but to join at that point," Ajia went on, not taking her eyes off the battle.
Starr glared at her for several seconds, then turned her gaze away sharply, refusing to make eye contact. "That's not… It was my choice…" Her tone wasn't very convincing.
Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that they both knew something I didn't. "What does her moving away have to do with Team Rocket?"
Ajia shot a surprised glance in my direction. "Wait, what? I thought you knew—"
"I'm the boss's daughter," Starr answered before Ajia got a chance to say anything.
Oh. Oh. That did explain a lot, didn't it?
"Do you still want to side with Team Rocket?" Ajia quietly asked. "They might have given up on you, but we haven't."
"It's not like I have a choice at this point. But what does it matter, we'll all be dead soon," Starr muttered, staring brokenly at the floor.
Ajia put a hand to her forehand. "Starr, it'd be a big help if you stopped being such a pessimist while I'm trying to get us out of here."
What. What was she talking about?
"Umbreon, it's time!"
At once, the panic and fear crossing Umbreon's face twisted into a wild grin, and his eyes flashed red. Then, without warning, a cloud of black fog billowed out from his body, quickly enveloping both him, Espeon, Mewtwo, and Giovanni in total darkness. What was Umbreon doing? What kind of move was this? And even if Mewtwo was weak to dark-type attacks, it was still Mewtwo.
"An amusing tactic, but ultimately pointless," Giovanni said. Then, to Mewtwo, he added, "Dispel it."
Mewtwo's eyes flashed blue from within the haze, but nothing happened. And then out of nowhere, a brilliant white light pierced through the fog. Two different grunts of pain rang out, followed by the sound of something clattering to the ground. Then, without warning, the haze vanished into thin air.
And all I could do was stare in utter shock and confusion at the sight in front of me. Espeon and Umbreon, both panting and looking incredibly tense. Mewtwo, trembling and on his knees, one hand over his face. Giovanni slowly standing to his feet, his expression a mixture of outrage and shock. And at his feet, Mewtwo's Master Ball—broken. Snapped clean in half, the insides blackened.
No way. How the hell had that happened? What had I missed? Had anyone else seen it? Something had managed to drop Mewtwo's defenses long enough to break his Master Ball? Espeon? Umbreon? How?!
Giovanni's face went white as he absorbed the details of what had just happened. An expression of utmost horror slowly crept across his features. "No… NO! Somebody bring another Master Ball! Articuno, Moltres, assault rays, anything!"
At once, the hangar exploded into a frenzy. Half the Rockets immediately made a break for the exit, and the other half released an army of Pokémon. And at the center of it all Mewtwo rose stiffly, swaying a bit as he stood to his feet. His tail twitched. Fingers clenched and unclenched, like he was controlling them for the first time—and he was. Finally, his eyes snapped open, revealing a pair of brilliant purple irises. He turned his head from side to side, taking in his surroundings, and the numerous opponents taking shape all around him. And then the clone laid eyes on me, and I froze. Something flickered across his expression—recognition?—and he gave a slow, curt nod, followed by a sideways flick of the wrist that obviously meant for us to leave.
We'd actually done it. Mewtwo was free. We could escape. We were going to live.
My ears caught the nearby sound of a Pokémon being recalled, and I spun around to see that Umbreon was back in his ball and Ajia was now walking towards me with Espeon. She held out a hand, and I took it. Then I held out my other and said, "Come on Starr."
Starr had gone rigid with shock. Her Feraligatr nudged her shoulder gently, its face alternating between concern for her and disdain for us.
The hangar shook with a massive impact. Mewtwo had just destroyed one of the assault rays by hurling it against the wall with a heavy metallic crunch. Countless Pokémon attacks flew towards him, but he deflected them with a barrier and sent a blast of psychic energy at his attackers, smashing them into the concrete.
"Starr, come on!"
Finally, after several seconds, Starr managed to move her arm enough to take a Pokéball from her belt and recall her starter into it. Immediately, I reached out and grabbed her other hand. And then the dark, concrete surrounding of the Rocket base melted into shimmering light. We reappeared in a small clearing ringed by sparse woods with an overcast sky hanging over us. Judging by the peak Mt. Silver in the distance and the nearby sounds of city traffic, we had teleported to somewhere on the outskirts of Viridian.
We'd survived. I'd been so sure we going to die, and somehow, we had managed to escape. My body was still shaking with the remnants of fear and adrenaline as my brain struggled to grasp that single, unbelievable fact.
"Well… it might not have gone the way we planned, but Mewtwo is free," Ajia announced, breaking the silence.
I snapped my attention to her. A single, burning question surfaced in my mind and threatened to consume all other thoughts until I got an answer: "What on earth did your Pokémon do back there?"
Ajia's face fell immediately. Shadows of guilt and sympathy flickered through her eyes. "I'm sorry, Jade—I really am—but I can't tell you that. In fact, I really, really wish it hadn't come to that, but with Mewtwo screwing up our first plan, I didn't have a choice."
My throat clenched up. Ajia had a backup plan the entire time. That whole time I thought we were going to die, and she had a plan. I guess she had tried to tell me it was going to be alright, but… I hadn't believed her. I really had no idea how to feel about all of it. We'd survived. Things had worked out in the end. So why didn't I feel satisfied by any of it? All I could feel was a burning, useless frustration with nothing to point it toward.
"And you really can't tell me?" I said incredulously.
She nodded. "I'm sorry."
"Why not?"
She closed her eyes, shaking her head. "I'm sorry. I just can't."
I sighed. Just another thing to add to the list of secrets I didn't know about Ajia. It was starting to feel like I barely knew her at all.
Starr was still standing motionless, staring at nothing with a look of total shock. Honestly, in spite of how angry I'd been at her earlier, I couldn't help feeling sorry for her. It finally made sense. She'd been forced to join Team Rocket because her father was the boss. The sheer amount of pressure she'd been under, combined with zero tolerance for disloyalty. And then in an instant, her life had been turned completely upside down… because of us.
Starr blinked a few times, her eyes growing more focused. She weakly glanced around at her surroundings like she was seeing them for the first time. And then her eyes fell on Ajia and me, and her expression slowly hardened.
"You guys fucking ruined my life."
Ajia rubbed the back of her head. "That's a bit overdramatic."
"This isn't a joke! What the hell am I supposed to do now? Team Rocket was all I had. There's nowhere for me to go now… Why couldn't I have just done it? Why? Why, why, why?" Starr collapsed to her knees and buried her face in her hands, mumbling continuously.
I clenched my teeth and looked away. She didn't actually wish that she'd been able to kill us. That much was obvious at this point. But there was no denying the fact that her life would have been much, much simpler if it hadn't been for us.
Starr finally pulled her hands from her face and stared at the sky hopelessly. "It doesn't matter what I say, the point is I couldn't do it. I don't know why. Maybe those memories meant more to me than I wanted them to."
Again, her argument seemed to hinge on there being no real problem with murder so long as it wasn't us. I was really getting sick of it, especially since there was no possible counterargument that would work on her.
"I still don't understand," she continued. "Why were you guys willing to risk your lives for something like that?"
"Maybe those memories meant more to us that we wanted them to," I said quietly.
Starr laughed. "Well we're a sentimental bunch of idiots, aren't we? I thought I'd trained myself better than that."
Ajia sighed and walked over to Starr, her steps slow and cautious. She crouched down next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder before speaking in an impossibly calm and measured tone. "I know this is a big shock. It always is. But if you're worried about Team Rocket hunting you down after this, I've got a lot of experience at avoiding them. And I know some friends who can help with—"
"Just go away."
Ajia paused, looking taken aback. She stood there, staring wordlessly for some time before standing up straight and turning away.
"If you say so," she said quietly. She then made eye contact with me and forced a smile. "You'll be okay, right?"
Honestly, at this point it was hard to imagine myself being fazed by anything. That was the only good thing about having endured everything up until now.
"I'll be fine," I said, and for once, I meant it.
Espeon, who had wandered off at some point, now came trotting back to her trainer's side, casually flicking her tail from side to side. Ajia glanced at the psychic-type, then back at me.
"Get a Pokégear why dont'cha? We need to keep in touch."
I snorted. "Maybe once I have the money. But I'll call you when I get to Johto."
"Sounds good," she said, waving. "I'll see you, Jade."
I waved back, and the two of them blinked out of sight.
Now it was just me and Starr. Just like it had been when this all started yesterday morning. I shuffled my feet against the dirt, unsure of whether I should say anything. Of course she wouldn't want to talk to me right now. I'd just helped ruin her life, after all.
"I'm sorry."
"Why the hell are you apologizing?" she snapped. "Have you forgotten what I did to you?"
No, I hadn't forgotten. I'd never be able to forget that. And that's why I knew that none of this had come from any desire to put things right, or recover from what she'd done. It was solely because I'd been angry and had wanted answers. And only now that I'd gotten them was I able to see how badly things had gotten out of hand.
"What are you going to do now?" Starr asked, practically choking on the words.
For once I actually knew the answer to that question. Mewtwo was free. That was my last goal here in Kanto, which meant—
"I'm going to Johto. That's where the rest of my team might be heading, and it's the safest place from the Kanto force right now." That last part was somewhat directed at her. There was no doubt the rest of the team would be after her. Maybe Stalker's resistance could protect her too. I gave Starr a pointed look, hoping she'd get the hint. But she just continued to stare at the ground, arms clasped around herself, trembling slightly.
I swallowed. "I… do you want me to leave you alone too?" She didn't answer. I stood there, awkwardly watching her, waiting for some kind of response. But none came.
"I'll… leave you alone now," I said quietly, turning to leave. I barely made it five steps before she called after me.
"Jade!"
I closed my eyes, exhaling slowly through my teeth. "What?" I asked, turning to face her.
She fidgeted a bit with her gloves, avoiding my gaze. "Things… can't ever go back to the way they used to be."
Well, that was a bit insulting. "I know that. I'm not that naïve. Even if they could… I'm not sure I'd want that anymore."
"…Me neither," she said, looking away.
A long pause followed. I wasn't quite sure what she was getting at.
"But… if we could start everything over…" she began slowly, "I'd like that."
I blinked. If I'd been expecting anything, it hadn't been that.
She wasn't able to look me in the eye. "I don't have anyone else right now. I guess I didn't really have anyone else on Team Rocket either. Sure, at my rank, I had countless admirers. Any time I needed someone to chat with, or fool around with, I didn't have to look far. But… I didn't have anyone I could trust."
I didn't know what to say.
Starr closed her eyes and clenched her fists. "I guess… after everything that's happened… after everything I did… I don't deserve to ask that from you."
"Alright."
Her eyes snapped open to stare at me in shock. "…What?"
"I said alright. I want to start over too."
"You… you do?"
I took a deep breath. "Everything that's happened between us has been so messed up. But neither of us wanted that—it was only because we were on opposing teams. I think we both need the chance to move on." I was so, so tired of being haunted by that night. And this was probably the only way to heal from it.
I offered a hand to help her stand up. She hesitated, staring at it for a few seconds before slowly reaching out to take it. I pulled her to her feet. And then out of nowhere she threw her arms around me, pulling me into the tightest hug I'd ever felt. My body immediately tensed up, every instinct telling me to pull away. But then, after several seconds had passed, I found myself relaxing into the embrace. Slowly, I lifted my arms from where they'd been pressed to my sides, clasping my hands around her as she trembled all over, tears soaking my shoulder. Weakly at first, my hold gradually tightened until I felt some of the stress and hurt and anger finally starting to melt away.
I wasn't sure how long we stood there like that. All I knew was that it was the first moment since this all started that I didn't regret finding out who she was.
Starr sniffled a couple times, fighting to regain control of her breathing. And then she finally managed to speak, her voice barely audible.
"So, we're going to Johto, then?"
I swallowed hard and nodded. "To Johto."