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Chapter 25
"Funeral of a Innocent Man"
It is important to remember that while the hunt for Team Rocket's Mozart of Terror, there was still the collateral damage from the bombing of Philippine Airlines Flight 434. On December 19th, I was back in Tokyo to cover the funeral of Haruki Igami, the businessman who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, murdered by a Pokemon forced to kill for evil. In a way, it kind of reminded me when we buried Scarlet and all the victims of Pan Am Flight 103 seven years earlier. Instead of nearly 300 people, it was just one man. But it could have been me among the dead, it could have been Psyduck, it could have been any Pokemon that were on board Flight 434.
But, it was only one man. Why would one man come to represent the latest evil Team Rocket was plotting to instill upon the world? Even as I looked down at the urn bearing the cremated remains of Haruki, I still couldn't help but wonder: what is Team Rocket really seeking to kill? Pokemon Trainers so they could reach their Pokemon without resistance or just anyone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Those questions would be answered during the eulogy by Haruki's younger brother, a member of the International Police.
"It's funny, isn't it?" he began. "One moment, you have your loved one next to you and sharing life with you and the Pokemon under your care. The next moment, a Pokemon forced to do something it didn't want to do, takes your loved one away from you. My older brother never wanted to be a Pokemon trainer. He found them time consuming and a distraction. But, he supported those who wished to be trainers, myself included."
It was nice to hear that Haruki supported those who wished to be Pokemon trainers, even if he never intended to be one.
"Haruki saw Pokemon not as weapons or pieces of property," continued his younger brother. "He saw them as living creatures like lions and tigers. Pokemon have habitats and homes. They are creatures who are meant to be protected. Just the fact that Team Rocket used a Pokemon to kill my brother is enough to again send a message that Team Rocket must be eliminated from this earth!"
Slamming his hands down on the podium, the congregation felt his rage, his anger, his sadness for something of this magnitude to happen.
"If Pan Am 103 wasn't enough, if Air India 182 wasn't enough, if Philippine 434 wasn't enough, then what is enough? How much more blood from people and from Pokemon must there be spent for an ideology that will never exist? Haruki, I promise you that when all is said and done, you will not have died in vain!"
A hushed silence fell on the congregation as Haruki's younger brother stepped down from the podium. After all, that again could have been me in that position. There could have been over 200 passengers and crew that could have joined Haruki, but it was only Haruki who was killed.
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Once the funeral was over, I walked over to Haruki's brother as he was smoking a cigarette at the reception.
"That was a powerful eulogy you gave," I said as Haruki's brother sighed. "I'm sorry about your brother."
"Thanks," he sighed. "You're Lucy Stevens, aren't you? The reporter from Ryme City?"
"Yes," I replied, seemingly caught off guard that he knew who I was. "I was on the same flight as Haruki. Matter of fact, I was sitting a few rows back from him."
"Then, you know how dangerous Team Rocket is, don't you? I remember your reporting on the bombing over Lockerbie. You said that Team Rocket is an entity that needs to be eliminated, yes?"
Of course, it had been seven years since Pan Am 103 and I couldn't remember every single word I said after the bombing.
"Your silence says that you know," he said. "The International Police will not stop until Team Rocket is exterminated, especially now that this is personal to me. Team Rocket fights for what's wrong…for mayhem…for madness…and rare Pokemon and they will kill anyone who stands in their way of achieving that goal, person or Pokemon. The day that Team Rocket is exterminated is the day that I will sleep well again."
Sighing deeply, I saw Haruki's brother walk back into the banquet hall where the reception was being held. It was true that the events of recent struck a chord with those who were victims of these monsters, even if they weren't indirectly affected.
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On the way back to Ryme City, I continued to play the eulogy over and over again in my head. The cries and screams of the family of Haruki Igami were a sign that this was not an act of terrorism, but an act of war and it would be a war that was going to continue for as long as Team Rocket was in existence.
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