After telling Green to meet up with me tomorrow morning, I studied out of boredom and messaged the contacts on my phone to pass the time.

Joy was the most surprised about that detail, not being aware that I was in the hospital until I told her.

"You're in the hospital? What for?" she had asked.

"Boat ride got attacked by Team Rocket."

There had been a brief silence at that as she digested that info. No doubt she was searching up any and all info about the attack on the S.S Anne now.

Hoenn and Kanto were fairly close to each other. Not nearly as close as Kanto and Johto, or Johto and Sinnoh… but close enough where some info would definitely leak over there.

"I heard about that. You were on that boat?"

"Yep. Got clocked in the head with glass. Luckily didn't need any stitches."

"Fuck. That's not good at all. At least you lived. Team Rocket is getting far too bold and it's concerning."

"Tell me about it… that reminds me. Did you wipe my records after I used your center?"

"Yeah. I did. You won't tell me if I'm right, but I'm pretty sure you're being targeted by someone so I just wiped your records to make sure they didn't know you came to Hoenn. It worked out well considering you didn't use a single other Center over here."

"…Thanks, I appreciate that. Whenever I come back to Hoenn, I'll drop by and visit."

"Whatever you say kid."

"Who are you talking to?"

I didn't bother looking up from my phone. "None of your damn business," I muttered instinctively.

…

I froze.

Whose voice was that?

My gaze sharpened and I swiftly looked up—

Only to freeze once more, this time in horror.

A pretty face with sharp features glared down at me. Red eyes and red hair dominated the person's appearance…

But what stood out the most, was how similar this person's red hair was to mine… down to even the style.

There were some key differences. My hair had a spikier tint to it compared to her smoothness… but both the ends of our hair flared out at our shoulders.

The key differences of our hair, seemed to be in the fact that I had bangs that bothered my eye, while she didn't… and that annoying cowlick of mine, that stuck straight up, had nothing on the evolved form of hers.

Well damn, I really was my mothers child.

"I do hope that wasn't my sister you were messaging," Ariana grit out, wearing a casual white shirt, along with long black pants.

There was no sign she was apart of Team Rocket right now. She just looked like an angry mother.

…

I was trapped in a hospital room, with my mother who was an executive of Team Rocket and she looked pretty pissed at me…

She was dangerous… Ariana was a talented trainer and judging by Lorelei's words, she was very formidable...

"How the fuck did you get in here?" I scowled.

...But none of that would ever matter to me because my mother was a bitch.

Unlike Giovanni, my mother didn't regard my words with thin amusement.

No my mother was very clearly ignorant enough to match my energy.

Guess I know who I got that from.

"How the fuck did I get in here?! How the FUCK DID I GET IN HERE?!" She hissed, waving her hand.

I watched in surprise, as a Zoroark materialized from thin air. It stared down at me with recognition in its eyes and I sneered at it.

It barely reacted.

"I got in here, the same way you got out, you brat!"

She wasn't bothering to hide her shouting and I couldn't help but notice not a single person was coming in to check the noise…

But of course that was cleared up as I saw a Gardevoir of all things materialize as well, eyes glowing with purple psychic energy.

It turned its gaze towards me for a moment and I watched as it flinched back horribly, energy faltering for a brief minute, but it shook its head and gazed away from me, keeping the room soundproof.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Silver?!" Ariana shouted at me with fury in her eyes. "What is this?! What are you trying to prove?!"

I glared at her, stamping down my fury as Loki released himself from the pokeball.

Zoroark perked up at that and it's eyes gained a slight spark in them.

At the same time, Ariana glanced down at her belt in annoyance and released a Ninetails who was gazing at Loki with recognition as well.

…

Wait, the Zoroark was pretty self explanatory… but was Ninetales Loki's other parent?

That would make sense. Loki did have Extrasensory...

What a terrible situation to be in. It was time to prepare for the worst.

Though, I had no intention of backing down for even a second.

I sneered at my mother, noticing the way Loki never faltered in the face of his parents. They were horribly stronger than us right now but despite that, we both glared at them.

"What do I think I'm doing? What am I trying to prove?" I snarled, rocketing off my bed and glaring at her.

Ariana was taller than me so I had to glare up at her but I didn't let that stop me at all.

She looked taken aback by my aggression, eyes widening in surprise slightly but I ignored it because this woman evoked so much more crushing emotions out of me than Giovanni, that it was nauseous.

This woman didn't make me feel angry because of their expectations. She didn't fill me with fury at her abuse.

No, my anger and rage stemmed from an intense disappointment in the woman who claimed to be my mother.

So I let that side take over.

"Since when the fuck do you care about what I'm doing?! All of a sudden, you're some caring and prime example of a good mother?! Give me a fucking break!" I shouted at her.

Ariana took a step back at the raw fury in my gaze, mouth opening in shock.

"The only thing you give a fuck about, is making sure daddy dearest doesn't throw you away like yesterday's trash isn't that right? You'll do anything to keep him satisfied as long as you're safe!" I spat venomously.

"You're so damn pathetic! All that matters is that you stay on his good side, even throwing your own son to the side and now that I'm fed up that both my fucking parents suck, you want to suddenly care about me and wonder what I'm doing?!"

" Why don't you just fuck off and leave me alone?!" I roared at my mother, eyes blazing with pent up fury.

Ariana said nothing.

"When I needed you, you did nothing. Stop acting like my mother. You failed your job and you know why you failed? Because you're weak," I hissed.

"You're too weak to stand up for yourself. You're too weak to have your own voice. You're too weak to do what you want to do and you're too damn weak to even put up a fight against your sister. It's no wonder you crawled into some ditch and went into hiding —"

SMACK.

I abruptly stopped speaking, as a hand connected firmly with my cheek.

There was a hot rage in Ariana's eyes and she looked at me with a fierce scowl.

"Don't you ever speak to your mother like that again," she hissed at me. "You have no idea what I've been through and you'd dare belittle me like this? You'd mention my damn sister around me?!"

"I don't have to explain my actions to you. Pack up your things. We're going home. This way, you won't have to throw yourself in situations that will get you killed."

I said nothing for a while, merely taking the time to register that yes, my mother just slapped me across the cheek.

I tentatively put a hand to my cheek, feeling the stinging sensation.

But despite that, I didn't feel all angry.

No, I just felt my resolve tighten.

"Do you want to know something?" I asked, eerily calm as I turned my boiling silver eyes onto her. "You're the reason I hate weaklings."

Ariana's eyes flew open in a rage. "Did you not just hear anything I said —"

"You're the one who taught me what it meant to be weak and I hate that feeling more than anything. You stand there and look proud of yourself for submitting to a stronger force. Now, you're trying to keep me weak with you and I won't let that happen," I swore to myself.

"You can take me back if you want. I will run away again. Imprison me for as long as you'd like, I'll find a way to escape… and if it comes down to it, I'll take you out to earn my freedom. You've denied me long enough, I won't be denied anymore."

----------------------------------------

Ariana shuddered.

Yes… she shuddered. Ariana shuddered because currently, in this very moment, her 12 year old son looked far more unnerving than Giovanni did…

Hell currently, her son looked even more unnerving then that Mewtwo.

His silver eyes bored into her with a chilling amount of ice, no hint of emotion on his face as he spoke his resolve to her.

His eyes had always been a unique point about him. He had inherited practically everything from her but those silver eyes of his...

That was all him. It wasn't grey like Giovanni's eyes were... that was something unique to Silver and right now it was —

They were unnerving, narrowed in a way that reminded her of an intelligent predator. He reminded her of a feline, patiently waiting for her to make one wrong move before he could sink his claws into her.

There was no emotion on his face, even with the red mark on his cheek and he just continued to stare at her.

Distantly, she realized that Gardevoir was utterly terrified of her son and it was then Ariana had to wonder, just what had happened to Silver.

Gardevoir had always been somewhat wary around him but this far exceeded that...

What happened? What had happened to Silver? This wasn't the son she remembered...

You've denied me long enough, I won't be denied anymore.

"I'm just… trying to protect you," Ariana said quietly, breaking eye contact with her son.

"You failed. I don't want your protection."

"You saw what happened on the ship! You nearly died because I wasn't there to watch you," she pressed.

"Even when you were watching me, I never felt safe. Besides it was your organization that almost killed me," he said coldly.

Ariana scowled, ignoring how the first sentence made her feel. "It wouldn't have been like that if you just stayed with us. Just come with me! I'll make sure nothing happens to you!"

"You think I believe that? Do you really think for even a second, that I think you'll keep me safe?" Silver asked in genuine curiosity.

She hated the way her stomach was currently twisting. He truly had no faith in her at all. Not even an ounce.

"I... I admit that I've made some mistakes in the past but things are different now," she tried. She didn't even know what she was saying anymore.

"Different... right. If things are different, then you wouldn't be here trying to force me to come back home," he bit out.

"Zor," his Zorua said in determination.

Ariana's expression nearly cracked as frustration built up. She was seconds away from dragging him home, warnings be damned.

"Don't you understand, Silver?! This isn't some game! Why are you trying so hard to go against Giovanni?!"

"Because I get to decide how I live. No one else. I don't want to meet his expectations because his expectations don't align with what I want to do."

…

"You plan on becoming our enemy, don't you?" Ariana said in realization.

Giovanni... if Giovanni realized what Silver intended on doing, he wouldn't be so amused by this entire thing.

Silver knew that. He knew what Giovanni could do but yet he still intended to go against him just to earn his freedom.

"…" Her son said nothing.

He was serious. He truly was hellbent on taking out Team Rocket.

How on earth was her son ever going to do that?

Giovanni thought this was some teenage rebellion but Ariana knew otherwise. She knew the moment she looked into the eyes of her only child, that this was no joke to Silver.

This was his goal and nothing was going to stop him.

Not her. Not Giovanni… and not even Mewtwo.

Did Silver even know about Mewtwo? Did he not realize how futile it was?

"When you fail, don't think I'll be able to protect you from Giovanni," she whispered.

"You never protected me before. Why do you suddenly think I have expectations for you? I don't need you," he said calmly.

Ariana ignored the stabbing in her chest that had been getting stronger as the conversation went.

His words didn't feel good to listen to. They felt downright awful. Even worse than the disappointment in her parents voice.

I don't need you.

"Foolish boy. Do whatever you want then," she said bitterly.

Her son raised a brow. "You don't plan on taking me back?" he asked incredulously.

"What's the point? You're stubborn. You'll just constantly find a way to escape. Only a crushing defeat will reign someone like you in," she said.

Silver snorted. "I'm not you. One loss won't make me give up all hope. I'm tired of being a caged prisoner. I'll fight to my last breath and if that fails, then I'll die."

Ariana clenched her fist.

Die? He would accept his death? What was this madness that he was spewing? How could he look his own mother in his eyes and tell her he'd rather accept death then go back with her?

How did he think something like that would make her feel? No one would ever want to hear that, especially a mother from her son.

She was someone who admired strength. Ariana respected strength and knew when to submit to it…

So why wasn't Silver the same? Was it because he didn't see the monstrosity known as Mewtwo?

Giovanni was far ahead of her in strength, so naturally she submitted to his power…

Why wasn't Silver doing the same?

"You're the reason I hate weaklings."

…

Was it because she was weak? But she was far stronger than Silver was...

What wasn't she understanding?

"Refrain from ever speaking to me like this again. This is the only time I'll let such a thing slide. Do it again, and I'll remind you who birthed you," she promised.

He just continued staring at her, idly scratching at the bandages wrapped around his head and reminding Ariana that he had gotten injured under a mission she was in charge of.

She really could just capture him, consequences be damned. It's not like he could stop her. Silver's team was full of babies in comparison to her.

But Ariana did not because Ariana knew that for multiple reasons, doing such a thing would be one of the biggest mistakes she could do.

Silver was… someone who desired freedom from his stifling parents.

It sounded disturbingly similar to her and once Ariana tasted freedom, she had forgotten about her stifling household.

It wouldn't be… right of her to deny him what she herself sought at one point in her life.

And a small part of Ariana, one that she would never admit existed, didn't want the relationship she had with her son to be unsalvageable.

"I won't tell Giovanni what you plan on doing but he will find out eventually," she said stiffly, beckoning her team over to her side.

"Thank you so much," he said sarcastically.

They both watched as Zoroark and Ninetales approached the little Zorua, before the duo each licked apart of his fur.

"Zor!" Loki barked indignantly, recoiling away from them and shooting them a steady glare, maintaining his protective position in front of Silver the entire time.

Ariana stifled her jealousy at her own pokemon and returned them, right before Gardevoir's eyes began glowing and they teleported away.

----------------------------------------

I watched my mother disappear with a stormy expression, stifling the vindictive satisfaction down at tearing into her.

Now that I wasn't pissed to high hell, I could admit that my mother's reaction to my words was fairly uncharacteristic.

It's not like I knew Ariana well, but I doubt she'd have stopped at a single slap. I definitely inherited my temperament from her and I can confidently say I wouldn't stop there.

In fact, I'm surprised that I was still in my bed and not being forcefully teleported away with her.

…

It was weird.

"That was weird, right Loki?" I asked him absentmindedly, rubbing my cheek.

"Zor," Loki nodded in agreement.

"...Wanna go to sleep?" I asked.

"...Zor," Loki nodded once more.

I sighed and grabbed him, pulling him close and shutting my eyes.

I'd think about this at a later date.

As soon as I woke up, I gathered everything I needed to go, almost flipped off the nurse who wanted to do one final checkup and met up with the ever patient Green in the reception hall.

"Finally! We can get our journey started again!" Green beamed, hugging me in joy at seeing me cleared.

I grunted and let her hug me, dragging her body out of the center in the process. "Let's not waste anytime. I can't believe I got held up there for so long."

Green giggled at my displeasure. "That's okay, Silvy! We made pretty good progress anyways! We can just go to Lavender really quickly, then go straight to Celadon!"

I grunted. "Yeah."

Green remembered something and rummaged in her bag, pulling out my egg and handing it over.

"I almost forgot! I was taking care of the egg while you were in there. Hope you don't mind! I just made sure nothing too dangerous happened to it!"

I accepted it easily and nodded. "You're too good of a person, Leaf."

She blushed in embarrassment and rubbed the back of her messy head. "Aww don't say stuff like that! You're gonna end up embarrassing me!"

I huffed in amusement, taking in the morning air with a soft sigh.

"G-Green? S-Silver?"

…

One fucking second of peace. That's all I ask for.

Just one second.

"Mason!" Green cheered, clapping happily. "How are you?!"

Mason blushed bashfully and rubbed the back of his head. "I've been… pretty good! I got two badges now!"

"Seriously?!" Green exclaimed, looking genuinely joyful at hearing that.

"Y-Yeah! I caught an Oddish on the way to Cerulean and I studied what I could teach him! He really helped me out in winning! How about you guys... I um, heard about what happened with the S.S Anne," he muttered.

Green's smile dimmed. "It's a good thing you weren't on there. It was a mess," she said somberly.

Mason flinched back. "S-Sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories. I'm just really glad you two are okay!"

I zoned out the conversation and sighed.

The S.S Anne was a talking point everywhere you went. I'm sure it was even being spoken about in other regions.

It was one of the most disastrous events in recent years after all. Thousands dead, ship completely destroyed and culprits still on the loose...

Team Rocket was very quickly being recognized as a global threat. I wouldn't be surprised if other regions began aggressively pushing to intervene. Doubt was being thrown Lance's way on if he could truly handle this by himself.

For all his strength, Lance was still very young. It was obvious that the older generation would think him not capable of such a thing.

Ungrateful. That's what they were. They should be glad that Lance was the one running the region cause if it were me, I'd pull a petty move and just leave.

"S-Silver! I wanted to thank you and Green for helping me figure out how to improve!"

I blinked and zoned back into the conversation.

"Huh?" I grunted in confusion, tilting my head. "What I do?"

Green giggled. "Silvy! You gave him advice! Don't you remember?"

"No."

Green stopped laughing at my serious answer. She instead stared at me with a slack jaw.

"T-That's okay!" Mason laughed nervously, gazing at me.

The short boy reminded me of a mouse. He was jittery and nervous all the time. Maybe losing so much had ruined his childish confidence.

"You might not remember but I do! You told me what I needed to do to and I won my first rematch against Flint since! T-Then I didn't even need to battle the Cerulean gym again because I began strategizing! I've even been winning more battles!" he exclaimed.

I stared at the genuine joy in the kids eyes and nodded. "Not bad."

He nodded eagerly, looking at me with sparkling eyes. "A-And the best part is, I think Charmeleon is actually beginning to respect me a bit! We haven't lost a battle in so long!"

"Cool," I shrugged. "Now you don't have to be afraid of being maimed in your sleep."

"S-Silvy!"

"I'm telling the truth."

"D-Do you two have any advice against Surge?" Mason asked curiously. "I heard he's uh… really strong."

I sighed.

"What's your team?" I asked blandly.

"U-Uh… Charmeleon, Sandshrew, Fearow and Oddish!"

"That Sandshrew should be close to evolution. I'd suggest achieving that before you think about battling him. His Raichu will eat you alive otherwise. If Oddish is close to evolving, work on that too," I said gruffly.

Mason nodded along with my words eagerly, hanging onto everything with a level that was making me very uncomfortable.

"A-Alright! Thanks guys! I'll let you know how my battle goes when it happens!" he exclaimed, scampering off to the center with haste.

"See ya Mason!" Green waved happily.

"Bye Green! Bye Silver!"

I watched him go with a befuddled expression.

"The fuck?" I mused.

"You're like his mentor now!" Green beamed in joy.

"Shut the hell up. Let's go," I scoffed, marching off towards Route 11. "We've got distance to make."

"Kay!"

----------------------------------------

Route 11 and 12 were pretty peaceful routes. Kanto, when not being mugged by a band of villains, was really just a vibe of a region.

Our trip was pretty uneventful through Route 11. The events of the S.S Anne left the area around Vermilion rather quiet.

It was odd seeing the routes so subdued and quiet. Even the pokemon seemed to sense the solemn air and kept to themselves.

Despite Lance and Lorelei claiming I saved a lot of lives… many died all the same. Not everyone had a way to escape.

The S.S Anne was a giant ship that could fit thousands of people on it and the group I directed was only 4 strong…

It would be naive to think I saved everyone, especially considering Mewtwo probably obliterated the ship.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Many more people lived than if I hadn't intervened… but many people died regardless.

"Did Ash and his friends survive?" I asked randomly.

Green jumped, looking puzzled at my question before nodding her head as she remembered the instructions I had given her.

"They did… Brock was one of the first people we managed to wake up and he helped ward off so many Rockets! His team was amazing! I didn't think the rockets were expecting someone as strong as him to be on the ship but he single-handedly kept so many at bay!"

I nodded at that.

It was good that they managed to secure Brock's help. With him, it would have been easy to regroup and defeat the Rockets.

We continued through Route 11, only encountering 2 other trainers that didn't have the energy to battle us.

It was peaceful. I took the time to release Gaia and Loki and they kept pace with us as the sun slowly move through the sky.

Vee was snoozing away in his nearly permanent residence of Green's hair, almost fully blending in with it, while Togee sat on her shoulder, arrogantly leading her with his tiny fingers.

I caught him shooting me a few looks of horror occasionally but I hadn't bothered him in a while so they confused me mostly.

We walked in a peaceful silence, only making noises of slight interest as we entered the bridge that made up Route 12.

It was fascinating. Lavender and Vermilion were directly connected by one massive bridge that occasionally connected to plots of land.

Without the creation of the bridge, it would take a significantly longer time to reach not only Lavender, but Fuchsia as well…

Kanto was really good with that. It made getting to every one of the normally difficult cities, more convenient to reach.

"Silvy can we talk?"

I paused at that and nodded, gazing at Green with a curious expression.

She looked nervous and beckoned me to a more private area where we could take a small break. We had been at it for about an hour so a break wasn't out of the norm, but we could normally go longer.

Must have been something important she wanted to talk about.

"What's up?" I asked her with narrowed eyes.

My companion sighed and steeled herself.

"I was going to wait a bit before telling you this but… I figured if I just told you now, it would help in the long run…"

I raised a brow.

"I-I know everything about you um stealing Gaia from the lab and… being apart of Team Rocket," she whispered.

"B-Bay?!" Gaia spluttered in horror, eyes going wide at the reveal.

Loki went stiff in my grasp.

I went stock still, body freezing over completely.

"A-And I know that Giovanni is also probably apart of Team Rocket too…"

"…" My face turned expressionless at that and Green gazed nervously at me.

That… was not what I was expecting at all.

Fuck. This entire time I was trying to shield her from the truth so she could claim ignorance but she ended up knowing anyways.

"Guessing you listened into the conversation with Gold and Crystal?" I asked with a frown.

She followed us? How? I didn't even feel her.

Her skills in stealth were better than I gave her credit for.

Green nodded hesitantly. "I-I won't tell anyone!" she suddenly blurted.

I paused at that. "You won't?" I asked dumbly.

"No way! You're my friend Silvy!" she scowled. "I-I was a little hurt when I found out but then I realized you were dealing with so many things!"

"You're not a bad person at all Silvy! I've been traveling with you long enough to know that you have a reason for everything and… and you really are my friend and I don't want anything bad to happen to you. If I tell anyone what you did, something bad will happen to you and I might never see you again," she whispered.

I watched as the girl began shivering slightly.

"I-I already thought I lost you during the boat ride and I realized... that I don't want that to ever happen."

I blinked in shock as a warm feeling coursed through my body.

"So even though you're a criminal… I won't say anything because you want to free yourself and Gaia is happy that you took her and I'm happy that you're my friend… so I'm gonna be selfish," she finished with a small breath.

"The only thing I ask, is that you trust me and let me help you deal with Team Rocket."

…

I stared at my companion with an inscrutable expression and mulled over her words.

"Okay," I said eventually.

Green looked surprised at that. "Really?!"

I nodded. "I don't know if you realize, but I'm a criminal and you just said you won't tell anyone. I'm not really in a position to say no to you."

"You're… my friend, Leaf and we're already traveling together so yeah, I'll accept your help."

Green grinned.

"But you have to listen to everything I say when we're dealing with them. If you don't, I'd rather you just report me."

"I'll listen! You can trust me Silvy!" she assured.

Trust…

I smiled sardonically. "Don't regret that, Green. I'm a criminal after all."

"You're the only other person who knows Giovanni is in Team Rocket," I informed her with a frown. "Considering you haven't revealed it to anyone yet, you probably realize why I haven't done it."

"Because you're apart of them too. Forcefully," Green deduced intelligently.

Don't let her mannerisms fool you. Green was a smart girl and she had probably come to her own conclusions with the info she had been storing about me.

I nodded. "Yeah. For my own sake, I have to take them out without anyone else figuring that out. I don't wanna go to prison."

Green frowned at that and nodded. "We could leave anonymous tips in the future. It doesn't have to be known who is working on taking them out."

"Food for thought," I mused with a sigh. "We'll talk more in a more private area. Let's continue for now."

Green nodded and dusted herself off, before we both continued our path to Lavender.

"Togee was stolen by the way. You might not wanna reveal that."

…

…

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"

"TOGEPI?!"

----------------------------------------

Green took to being an unintentional accomplice fairly well. She panicked a bit after learning that I stole Togee's egg (may as well be honest with her) but surprisingly, she decided that there was no way she was ever going to give the Togepi up.

"It's not like Togee wants to leave me a-and I don't wanna give him up!" Green explained.

"Tog! Tog tog epi!" he ranted, clutching her dress protectively as he stared at me in a mixture of horror and respect.

"If you don't say anything, I won't. We'll come up with a coverup on how you got that egg," I said truthfully.

She nodded hesitantly and I felt a little bad at the stress on her face.

Green was a goody two shoes. She probably had no idea how to react to this information.

"Don't worry. If anything ever goes wrong, I'll take the full fall," I grunted. "You aren't going down with me. Not my style to shift the blame to someone else."

"Neither of us are going down," Green said firmly, as we walked along the bridge. "It's like… keeping a secret!"

...

"...My mom is going to kill me if she ever finds this out," she moaned sadly, holding her head.

"You unfortunately, have no one to blame but yourself," I shrugged. "No one told you to be so insistent with me."

"Shut up! How was I supposed to know you were a criminal?!" she hissed.

"My bad temper, my refusal to let you look into my bag, how secretive I was… should I go on?"

"...No, I think I get the point," Green sighed in defeat.

I sighed too. "Just claim ignorance if you ever get caught. I'll reinforce the idea that you had no idea."

Green just stared at me, expression unknown to me before she reluctantly nodded.

"I won't tattle on you. I'm serious!"

"I appreciate that Leaf. Now let's keep going, we should be there soon," I said with a shake of my head.

"...Silvy, are we still friends?" Green asked tentatively. "I don't want you to think you have to do this… if you really want me to, we can go our separate ways and I'll never tell anyone a thing."

I paused at that and turned towards her.

"Don't be stupid. You're on Team Rocket's shit list anyways. You may as well keep traveling with me and we can both give em hell," I grunted.

Green looked stunned by my response, before she grinned brightly and nodded vigorously.

"C'mon! Let's keep moving!" she urged, rushing forward with purposeful steps.

"Stop rushing you idiot. You're going to —"

"A-AH!"

Splash.

"—Fall," I finished with a sigh.

She was so hopeless.

----------------------------------------

Green had taken to walking with Larvee to dry herself off after her trip into the water and I grunted, unamused by the fact that I had to save the dumbass.

I dunno why. Not only did she have Lapee, Green knew how to swim. But she looked way too helpless floundering about.

"Sorry," she mumbled, squeezing her hair and getting another fountain of water to drop out.

Vee, Togee and I just glared at her, all a victim to her stupid antics.

Larvee tilted her head in confusion at why we were all glaring at her trainer.

"We're almost there," I scowled, marching forward as I saw a massive tower in the distance.

It was tall as hell, being the only thing visible so far in the swiftly approaching city and in unison, Green and I upped our pace.

We entered the Checkpoint Gate that was littered all over the Kanto and Johto regions, nodded to the guard there and made our way to the exit.

Gloomy. Depressing as fuck.

Those were the first words I thought of, when I took in the sights of Lavender Town.

This place was dull as hell.

"We're leaving as soon as we finish with the tower," I grunted.

"Agreed," Green nodded, fully supporting my decision. "What happened here? I know Lavender town is… not the most lively place but this is way worse than I was expecting."

"Dunno," I frowned. "Wanna go to the Center?"

"Nah. I think we'll just camp out in Route 8 after we finish our business here," Green said immediately.

"Sounds good to me," I snorted in agreement.

With that, the two of us headed straight to Pokemon Tower.

----------------------------------------

"I wonder if I'll find a Gastly! A really cool ghost type is Froslass! Get it? Because it's Ice type! Oh but I'd really love a Mimikyu! They're so cute," Green said to me, looking excited at the prospect of a sixth member.

I listened to her rambling with one ear, shaking my head in exasperation.

"What about you Silvy? If you were to catch a ghost type, what would it be?" she asked curiously, turning towards me.

I hummed, letting the cool air of Pokemon Tower brush against me.

If Lavender was depressing to be in, this place was the reason why because it was goddamn stifling how gloomy it all was.

"A Chandelure," I said truthfully. "If I could catch any ghost, it would be Chandelure, Aegislash or Trevenant. Dusknoir would be cool as well."

"Wow! Unique picks for sure," Green awed, flicking open her pokedex to go look at each of them. "They all look really cool!"

"Right?" I agreed, ignoring all the graves around me and pushing up the stairs.

"You know that's something I realized about you! You're fairly picky huh?" Green asked.

I mulled it over and nodded. "Yeah. I don't really chuck a ball at anything, regardless of how strong it is."

"You just catch what you like!" Green beamed.

"Yup," I agreed.

The two of us perked up as a Duskull mulled about.

Green's eyes widened in excitement but before she could even contemplate the idea of catching it, the thing jolted, let out a screech and vanished.

…

Green's smile turned strained. "That was the fourth one, Silvy."

"Yeah."

"Not only are we barely running into any ghosts… the few we run into immediately bolt it."

"Astute observation."

"I can't help but notice the same thing happens with psychic types."

"Seriously, you're a lot smarter than I give you credit for."

I watched Green's smile twitch and shrugged helplessly.

Funny story... from the moment Green and I entered Pokemon Tower, famous to most of the ghosts that inhabited Kanto, we ran into a staggering… three (four now!) ghosts.

And all four of those ghosts took one look at our group and bolted.

I had the strangest inkling they were avoiding me.

"Split up?" I suggested.

There was no way she was going to catch a ghost while I was traveling with her. Best to let her attempt to find one while alone. She didn't have many answers to ghost types but I believed in her ability to deal with them.

She nodded with far too much speed for my liking and I grunted in amusement.

"I'm going up 1 floor at a time! Just make sure you aren't on the same floor as me! Bye and stay safe!" Green urged, rushing off without any hesitation.

I tilted my head and nodded, watching her go.

Guess I'd just head to the last floor and work backwards until we met up. She should have caught something by then.

I turned towards the elevator and pressed it, stepping inside and heading straight to the top of the building.

As I arrived to floor 6 (Allegedly there were 7 floors but the elevator didn't go to 7), I stepped out and into the deep fog.

I grunted, nonplussed by the strange air and made my way through the floor.

Not a ghost in sight… seems like Green's observations were true and I was being avoided by ghost types.

Can't say I'm surprised. Crystal's Misdreavus took a real long time to get used to me and still not getting fully used to it.

Ah well. Just another on a long list of issues that I had.

Floor 6 was filled to the brim with gravestones. There were a few people about, each expressing themselves differently in front of a grave but all sharing the anguish that made me uncomfortable.

It was depressing. I could see all manner of pokemons in here and all of them were expressing their sorrow.

From the family with the Vivillon and Butterfree, to the man sobbing while a somber Machoke lay a palm on his shoulder.

I quietly brushed past them, not staring at the Tangela offering emotional support to a distraught older woman.

This was making me uncomfortable. I didn't really wanna be here anymore.

"I wonder if they'll be adding more graves for the people and pokemon of the S.S Anne? I wonder who here lost someone from the S.S Anne," I thought without really putting much stock into it.

Frowning at the rather dark thought, I shook my head to ward them off and continued making my way through the tower.

As I walked, the fog seemed to deepen, but strangely enough, it wasn't really hampering my vision. It brushed against me, almost seeming to grasp at me at times, before recoiling away.

I paused and raised a brow, as the fog began condensing further and further the deeper I went.

It got heavier and heavier and right as I made it to the entrance of the final floor that couldn't be reached by elevator, I stopped.

My eyes narrowed slightly and I idly released Loki from his ball, as something began manifesting in front of me.

It was a pokemon, that much was obvious, with a black body. Green flames surrounded the creature's thin body and its bone weapon, as gray eyes stared at me.

An Alolan Marowak? Weird. I guess it made sense for that to be the ghost of Lavender over a normal Marowak. I didn't know the specifics about it but I didn't care enough to question it.

It was staring at Loki and I warily, set in a defensive stance. The creature looked wise beyond its years, making me wonder how old it actually was.

"Leave this place."

I blinked.

"Huh?" I asked, looking around slowly for the voice that said that and eventually focusing on the Marowak again. "Was that you? You can communicate with me?" I asked slowly.

"Correct. I am the guardian of this tower and you are disrupting its peace. Forces that should not reside here have touched you."

Hm…

"Will you kill me otherwise?" I asked, already set on heading back. I had no belief that I could beat this Marowak. Something about it screamed too strong to stop by the average trainer.

"No. I refuse to touch one like you."

I grunted at that and shrugged. "Whatever. I'll go. Not like I'm here for any reason," I muttered.

Was it weird that an Alolan Marowak was speaking to me? Yeah. But honestly, I was too far past giving a fuck to question it.

I had more things to worry about then this. The most interesting thing about it, was its confirmation that I was the one disrupting the ghosts… and that it had no intention of doing anything physical to stop me from doing so.

Ghosts came in different personalities but many ghosts were not afraid to use their abilities to get their way. If Marowak saw me as a threat, I'm very sure the guardian of the tower would eliminate me…

After all, I heard that at an earlier time Team Rocket came by and this Marowak (if it truly was the guardian) right here was the one who dealt with it.

Yet it refused to attack me.

It was obvious why, right?

Because deep down it feared me and wanted nothing to do with whatever was protecting me.

Whether it was this Foggy Fortress or Mewtwo's dormant psychic energies inside me… something was scaring and causing the ghosts to act out of turn and even this ancient Marowak wasn't immune to such a thing.

So I would leave. It's not like I was here for a mandatory reason. I doubted I'd find a Litwick or Honedge in here so my desire for a ghost wasn't that high.

Maybe I'd find a Duskull but they'd definitely not wanna approach me.

Ah well. Ghosts were cool but if they couldn't function well around me, kinda defeated the purpose of catching one.

"I'm actually gonna wait in the center. Without any ghosts its kinda boring."

"Kay! In that case, get a room for us to hang until it's time to go! I battled Blue earlier!"

"Kicked his teeth in?"

"Hell yeah I did! It was actually disappointingly easy..."

"Good. It should be easy."

I pocketed my device and headed straight to the elevator again, making my way down to the first floor and exiting the building.

I could almost hear every ghost exhale in relief the moment I stepped out the building and I snorted at that.

Psychics avoided me, ghosts avoided me… I already had Metang but how the hell was I going to ever catch a ghost?

Oh well. Nothing to do but go with the flow.

I absentmindedly headed to the Pokemon Center to reserve a room momentarily.

Best to just get my own space until Green was done. It was about midday so depending on when she finished we could probably travel some more.

As I was about to enter the double doors, it opened preemptively and I deftly moved to the left to avoid the body speeding out, thanking myself once more for having incredible reaction time.

"Watch where you're going, dipshit," I grunted.

"Eat a dick, dumbass," the voice snarled.

I paused and tilted my head.

At the same time, the offender froze and turned towards me.

"Ah, if it isn't the Oak boy," I said in realization, gazing at Blue with an uninterested gaze. "No wonder you were in such a rush. Green just told me you got slammed by her."

Blue glared at me heatedly, confirming my thoughts without saying a word and I snorted.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he growled lowly.

"I decided that stalking you after all your failures was too good to pass up," I said dryly, rolling my eyes at his sour attitude. "Do you think the world revolves around you? We just unfortunately happened to run into each other."

Seems like my day had been too boring, so they decided to throw this guy in it…

Funny. Too bad I didn't care. I wasn't in the mood to antagonize this guy any further.

I brushed past him with a sigh. I had been fairly moody lately and I blamed it on my encounter with Ariana.

"Hey. You were on the S.S Anne right?"

I paused at that and turned towards the frowning Oak.

"What of it?" I asked.

"..." he said nothing, looking highly uncomfortable.

I grunted at him. "Both your friends are fine. That Ash kid survived too," I informed him.

"That's not why I wanted to know!" Blue scowled.

"Sure," I sighed, raking a hand through my hair. "Now if that's all, I'll be heading off, Oak boy."

"Stop calling me that!" Blue barked, glaring at me with fury.

I barely spared him a glance.

"Nah, I don't think I'll do that. You threw a fit when I called you Gary Oak so now I'm calling you whatever the hell I want. I don't care about your family issues," I grunted. "If you have such a problem, you can gladly battle and put me in my place... but based on what Leaf said, I doubt you'll be much of a challenge."

He scowled, gazing at his pokeballs once more before shaking his head.

"Don't talk like you know anything about me. I don't have family issues."

"And I can't kick your ass in 10 different regions. I'm also capable of lying you see? Much better than you at least," I retorted dryly.

"Look. I don't really care about your issues and I definitely don't care about you. You're Leaf's friend, not mine so you can stop trying to initiate a conversation with me every chance you get," I told him boredly.

Blue looked more puzzled than confused at that.

"You don't care about my name?" he asked.

"I would punch you with a smile on my face. I could have sworn our first meeting made that clear."

"...But I'm an Oak. Why don't you care?" Blue frowned at that.

"Fuck. It's unreal how much of an ego you have. I thought I was bad," I sighed. "I don't give a shit about your grandpa dumbass. Why would I give a shit about you?"

Blue stared at me, those bright blue eyes of his glinting with a surprising amount of intelligence.

It looked like he was using said intelligence to piece together some type of puzzle.

I snorted and decided this conversation was no longer worth my time.

I felt his eyes on my back as I disappeared into the center.

Guess it made sense that he was surprised. Professor Oak was one of the few people who you could claim to be more famous than the Champions.

That most likely extended to the Oak boy too...

Oh well, I didn't give a fuck if Cynthia herself appeared in front of me. She would be just another person.

----------------------------------------

"Silvyyyy!"

My raised brow turned into a grunt as a figure leapt atop me.

"Get off me fatass!" I growled, struggling with the excited girl.

"Hahaha! Nope!" she beamed, shoving a pokeball in my face. "I caught a new member!"

"Great, get the fuck off of me!" I demanded, hoisting her up and tossing her off the bed.

She deftly landed on her feet, flailing slightly as she lost her balance before triumphantly standing straight.

"Tada!" she beamed, thrusting both her arms into the air.

I stared unimpressed at her impressive display of athleticism, dusting myself off..

Green was grinning ear to ear as she bustled about the room, practically dancing on her feet.

I huffed and sat on the edge of the bed, glaring at her all the while.

"What the hell did you catch that made you this excited?" I grunted.

"I don't know!"

I blinked at the answer.

"You don't?" I asked with a raised brow.

It had taken Green another hour to show up and I had taken the time to read up on a few more recipes that Jasmine sent me.

I planned on making stir fried rice today, I was pretty good at making rice already… may as well add some more flavor to it.

"The pokedex told me what it was, but I've never seen it before in my life!" Green grinned.

Without needing more prodding, my companion released her newest capture.

I stared at Green's capture with a tilted head, inspecting it thoroughly.

It was a tiny creature that looked like a reptile or an amphibian, with a dark green head, yellow eyes and pink gills. Two horns adorned it, that were dipped in pink and it's serpentine body had two long front limbs.

My eyes narrowed suspiciously as I rummaged through my memory to identify this thing.

I distantly remember seeing something like this but I don't know where…

"I just got finished battling Blue and then I was going to explore a bit more… then I noticed something was stalking me! I battled a Gastly and even though I considered catching it, I decided against it and kept looking! That's when this little guy came out!"

I nodded.

"Turns out, he's been getting bullied by the ghosts around the tower for being too weak! He saw how I battled and wanted to battle me so then we battled a bit and when I won, I captured him!" she beamed, holding up the little tangible ghost like it were a prize.

"His name is Dree! He's a Dreepy!"

A Dreepy…

Oh!

My mouth opened slightly.

I knew what a Dreepy was! When I was doing all that research on the other regions, it was one of the pokemon native to the Galar region that caught my attention!

Why? Because it's final evolution, Dragapult, was awesome, that's why!

I was also 90% sure that it was the pseudo legendary of the Galar region. It had three forms, it started off ridiculously weak and it evolved into the apex predator of its region, much like Dragonite, Salamence, Garchomp, Hydreigon... you get the point.

Wait… Green just got a massive capture just now didn't she? From what I remember reading, Dragapults used their absurd speed to hunt and battle.

Not only that, it was a ghost type. Trying to hit one of these little shits was a task and a half.

I stared at the Dreepy in blatant interest. The same Dreepy who was currently gazing at me like I were death itself.

"He joined you because he wants to be stronger?" I asked.

"Yep! He's tired of being a pushover so I'm gonna help him become strong!" she beamed.

I blinked at that and turned my gaze towards the terrified Dreepy once more.

"Do you realize what you just caught?" I asked with an impressed brow, recalculating Green's strength at full power with this new addition.

It was looking fun. Green's strength with just this single capture, catapulted into something that excited me quite a bit.

To think she'd get her hands on a Pseudo Legendary as well.

"That pokemon is spoken about in the same vein as Dragonite, Salamence and Metagross you know?" I pointed out. "It evolves into something called a Dragapult and they're real monsters. The apex predators of the Galar region."

Dreepy's blatant horror vanished a bit at my words and his eyes gained a shine to them at my praise.

"Wow!" Green awed. "I knew you'd know something! Hell yeah! You hear that Dree? Stick with me and you're gonna be real strong!" she assured.

Dree nodded enthusiastically, before looking at me once more.

I snorted.

"Green, remember how we mutually agreed that I was scaring off the ghosts?" I suddenly asked.

Green nodded in confusion.

"Did you ever stop to think that the ghosts you capture might… suffer the same issue?"

…

Green blinked slowly and gazed at Dree, before a horrified gleam entered her eyes.

"How are you like this?! Turn it off!" she demanded, glaring at me as she protectively held the Dreepy.

"Turn what off?!" I demanded with a scowl.

"You know what! What is it anyways?! You can scare off psychics and ghost types! Are you a Zoroark in disguise?! Are you Loki's dad?!"

"Are you a dumbass?!"

----------------------------------------

"So you don't actually know the specifics behind why you can scare them off?" Green asked tentatively.

I frowned and nodded. "Team Rocket probably did something to me. I don't know the specifics but that might play a hand in it."

It might have been a little risky to tell Green this stuff but I might have been more desperate for a person to trust then I realized.

Besides, she knew that I was apart of Team Rocket for at least a week before she told me and still managed to place that much faith into me.

I should repay the favor a bit.

Green's eyes gained a worried tint. "Is that why they're targeting you? They… t-they experimented on you?"

I nodded with a severe frown. "Possibly… actually, that reminds me of something."

I suddenly stood up.

Something very peculiar just sprung up in my mind.

Something that I could only attribute to my great memory stealing stuff from my old world when it came to this world.

It was such a minute detail too…

"So Green, you already know I'm a criminal right?" I said lowly.

Green suddenly gained a wary look on her face.

"Y-Yeah?"

"Well, I'm about to go potentially do something less than legal. I suggest you don't leave this room in case my actions turn... bad," I warned her.

She balked at me.

"W-What?!" she asked in horror.

I didn't reply further. "Be ready to evacuate the city. I'll shoot you a message."

"W-Wait just a damn minute Silvy, what do you think you're about to do?!"

"I'll tell you after I finish."

"N-NO! HOLD ON I'M COMING WITH YOU!"

----------------------------------------

Knock Knock.

I idly waved at the curious Cubone behind the gated field and threw a treat towards the excited Growlithe, Green nervously glanced at me.

She had no idea why I was knocking on the door to a random person's house.

Considering I told her I was about to do something less than legal, she was probably jumping to some wild conclusions.

Well, I did give her the chance to stay at the center.

If I was truly right about this, things were going to get fairly intense.

Then again, I could always be wrong.

"Just let me do the talking," I said calmly. "It'll either be a big misunderstanding, or I'll have a lead."

Green nodded hesitantly, clutching my arm nervously.

Since Green was here, I was not going to go guns blazing immediately and instead, I'd poke and prod instead…

But as the person on the other side opened the door, I watched with a neutral expression as they immediately zeroed in on me… only to play it off by gazing at Green next.

Gotcha bastard. This was going to be good.

"Oh, why it's been so long since I've had visitors so young!" Mr. Fuji greeted us with a kindly smile.

I flashed a disarming smile myself, no hint of recognition in my eyes… because I truly didn't recognize him at all.

Which is why this performance was all the better. I know you Mr. Fuji… I just don't know you.

"Hello!" I greeted cheerfully (I ignored the wave of horror emitting from Green at my display) and watched as he minutely relaxed. "We heard that you care for abandoned and orphaned pokemon. I was just curious about how you do such a thing just in case I ever encounter a new teammate who happens to be suffering from those circumstances," I stated kindly.

Mr. Fuji's beady eyes widened slightly at that.

"Why of course! I'd be glad to give you two young ones advice!" he agreed, smiling at the two of us and beckoning us in.

I nodded towards the stunned Green and stepped inside the building with her in tow.

She shot me a questioning look as the man faced away from us and I gazed at her.

"Just let me handle this. Act natural," I mouthed to her.

The poor girl looked terrified. This was why I didn't want to bring her here.

Ah well, she was insistent on following me. I'd shield her as much as I could but there was only so much I could hide from her.

But still... I sighed and grabbed her hand for just a split second and squeezed reassuringly, watching as she jumped slightly.

She gazed at my hand in awe and I watched as some of the fear actually melted away.

My companion smiled at me and I nodded, releasing my grip and focusing ahead once more.

"Are you interested in taking in abandoned pokemon?" Fuji asked us.

"Yeah," I nodded easily. "So many Pokemon have been abandoned for reasons out of their control, you know? I want to try to help them. It's only right. Sure they might be difficult… but you just need a little patience."

"I couldn't agree more!" Fuji stated with a smile on his face, radiating joy at my words.

"Yep. It's better late than never… I wanted to know though. Did you always care for abandoned pokemon or was there a reason that made you decide on this?" I asked curiously.

Fuji jolted a bit at that and I hastily put a single hand out to reassure him, internally sneering at him.

"Oh if it's something private there's no need to tell me! It's just, the reason I decided to start this road of mine is because I stopped an abandoned pokemon from getting too badly experimented on… just looking at it… I can't believe anyone would do such a thing. It's being cared for now because I wasn't qualified to do so, but I vowed to try to learn how to help them out."

The too innocent look in my eyes was missed by Fuji but immediately noted by Green and I watched as the realization hit her… before her expression darkened slightly.

Fuji must have thought I was too young to be making such implications because he just smiled thinly at me, trying to hide his nervousness as my comments began striking closer and closer to home.

"Many people have such good things to say about you though!" I clapped, abruptly changing the subject. "They told me if I wanted to learn how to care for abandoned pokemon, I should come speak to you! Your name precedes you!"

"I'm just an old man trying to make the world a better place, little by little," he said quietly.

"Really? That's why you have those pokemon out in the field right?" I asked.

"That's correct. It's good to give them sunlight and let them enjoy the outside. Lavender can be oppressive but there is some light in it if you just look at it!"

"Finding light in even the darkest of things..." I mused, mulling over the words.

"Yes. It's much like caring for difficult pokemon. You just have to be patient and find the holes," he explained to me.

"Oh! So is that why you worked with Team Rocket to create Mewtwo? Did you think there was light in them?" I smiled innocently, saying the statement like it were apart of everyday conversation.

I said it so casually, that it took Fuji a full second to register the weight of my words but when he did…

Oh when he did, I watched him go pale in horror.

"I guess whatever you did to me was apart of that too, right?" I asked him with a raised brow. "That's why the moment you saw me, you looked away right? That's why even now, you've yet to make eye contact with me… right?"

"I… I beg your pardon?" Fuji asked, trying to play dumb.

I sighed and released Metang from their ball.

"Dr. Fuji let's not play dumb," I said coldly, dropping all pretenses as Metang's eyes began glowing. "I know who you are and you know who I am. Now you're going to answer some questions for me or I'm going to ruin your life. I promise you can believe me when I say that."

There were no pokemon in here. All his abandoned pokemon were currently out in the fields so that meant it was just the three of us and Green and I's teams.

Not like they could have stopped me anyways.

"Don't try and bullshit me either. A single lie is all it takes for it all to come crashing down," I said harshly, eyes narrowed in a cold and calculated fashion.

I hid my anger very well. I remembered my meeting with my mother well. She had looked far more unnerved when I wasn't displaying any emotion.

Clearly it was a universal thing.

"You've built a nice and peaceful life after your horrific past. It would be a shame if you couldn't enjoy it anymore," I said idly.

"Tang," Metang droned, red eyes boring into Fuji.

At the sight of two intimidating eyes boring into him, Fuji broke fairly quickly.

"I just want to live a peaceful life now… I don't ever intend on going back to the person I used to be," he said pleadingly.

"Answer my questions then. You think I give a shit about what you're doing now?" I raised a brow, unmoved.

He glanced at my ruthless expression and let out a weary sigh.

"What… would you like to know?"

"Your affiliation with Team Rocket for one. Talk about it," I grunted, leaning against a wall as my gaze bore into him.

There was no sign that I was bothered by this conversation. I looked completely in control of the situation.

Green's sympathy was gone, a firm scowl on her face. If she felt bad before, it was all gone at hearing that he had affiliated with Team Rocket.

"…A long time ago, I was… employed by Team Rocket. They took notice of my skills as a scientist and commissioned me for a project," Fuji began in resignation.

"My task varied… I was meant to experiment on many pokemon… but my main mission was the creation of an artificial legendary along with cloning," he explained.

"He does not lie," Metang informed me.

"Why did you accept? Cloning is highly illegal. You could be put in jail for the rest of your short life," I grunted with narrowed eyes.

"...I wanted to bring my daughter back and as a result, I heavily studied cloning. That's why they took notice of me… because they wanted me to make a clone of Mew," he explained.

Green's eyes widened in horror. "Mew?!" she hissed. "Is that why you said Mewtwo? Did they successfully clone Mew?" she asked me in a quiet whisper.

I briskly nodded my head.

"You only succeeded in cloning Mewtwo?" I asked calmly, unbothered by the man's heartbreak at reliving painful memories.

"No… I created a copy of a Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle as well… the pokemon were able to survive through sheer virtue of being a pokemon but my daughter died," he admitted.

I stared coldly at him. "I see… and where did you operate exactly?"

"...It was a mansion."

"Everything he says is true. You may continue with the interrogation."

"Perfect."

"What did you do to me?" I asked with narrowed eyes. "You and your other scientists buddy. You did something to me. Tell me. Now."

Fuji's gaze jolted up and he gazed at me with wide eyes.

"I didn't…"

"Now's not the time to express regret!" I barked, silencing the old man. "You'll tell me what you did to me or else."

He quickly gave up on explaining at my merciless gaze, merely bowing his head.

"...I was not the one tasked with overseeing your progress. I only saw you occasionally… but from my understanding, we were tasked with injecting the cells of Mewtwo inside of you. I merely extracted those cells before giving them away."

…

"What…?" Green said in horror. She glanced at me in horror and I had a carefully blank expression on my face.

"Why?" I asked coolly.

"I'm not aware of the reason why. It was not my jurisdiction," Fuji replied.

"So which scientist's jurisdiction was it?" I pressed with narrowed eyes.

Fuji gazed at me in shock.

"I can't… I can't say. It's not my place. Besides, if this information gets out… they'll… I'll be in danger," he said shakily.

I hummed curiously.

"So a friend of yours. If I had to guess, they're someone still around and rather notable too," I informed him.

There was a look of horror on his face at my accurate assessment.

"Dr. Fuji. I don't think you understand the situation," I informed him, reaching into my pocket.

Before his eyes, I pulled out my Pokedex and smiled thinly, pressing a button on the device.

"…A long time ago, I was… employed by Team Rocket. They took notice of my skills as a scientist and commissioned me for a project. My task varied… I was meant to experiment on many pokemon… but my main mission was the creation of an artificial legendary along with cloning."

I watched in satisfaction as the color drained from Fuji's face.

"Voice capturing mechanism. Very useful," I said idly, pausing the recording. "State of the art. It's main purpose was to capture the cries of a pokemon or the ramblings of a researcher."

I smiled, no compassion at all in it.

"The most danger you're in right now, is and always will be because of me," I stressed coldly, pocketing my Pokedex. "Your life is now in my hands. Now, you'll tell me the name of who it was or the league will have a field day extracting the information from you themselves."

It was at that moment, that Fuji must have fully realized that I was no ordinary boy. Despite knowing I was experimented on and injected with Mewtwo's cells, he still thought there was a smidgen of innocence in me.

He truly must have believed in that new philosophy of his in seeing the light in the darkest places...

But there wasn't an innocent left in me. I didn't give a damn about anything coming out of this guy's mouth, unless it was answers to the questions I had.

And I would get my answers one way or another.

"…" Fuji. "I'm sorry, but I cannot give up a friend. At the very least, this warpath of yours can be focused on all but them."

…

I stared at him and shrugged helplessly. "Oh well, not much we can do about that. I'm sure Gym Leader Blaine will appreciate the fact that you went down without tarnishing his reputation. I'll see if he does the same in regards to you."

You could hear a pin drop at the silence that overtook us.

Green was staring at me with wide, horrified eyes, and Fuji was doing the exact same.

I smirked sardonically.

My knowledge on the happenings of the anime may not have been that good, but everything else? I was very knowledgeable about that type of stuff.

All Fuji needed to do for me, was confirm that he worked in the Pokemon Mansion in Cinnabar and I would have the answer to the question I was truly searching for.

Who did this to me?

I had a hunch it was Blaine but I could not go on theory alone. This was a different universe after all. It would do no good to track down such a famous Gym Leader and begin grilling him about what he could have potentially done to me.

"B-But how do you know that…?" Fuji asked in horror, not even bothering to mask his shock.

"One more question," I said, ignoring him completely. "Did you give yourself anyway to stop Mewtwo?"

Fuji was too clouded in shock to hide his answer and he merely shook his head numbly.

I sucked my teeth at that. "Figured. Alright, we're done here," I said, nodding towards Green.

Green was looking at me and Fuji repeatedly, before focusing on me and nodding tentatively.

"Please... I just. I just wanted to save my daughter," he said brokenly, gazing at me pleadingly. "I never intended for any of this..."

I said nothing, staring at the tears forming in the old man's eyes with a tilted head.

Then, I slowly walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, leaning in to whisper into his ears.

"I don't give a fuck about your daughter. Stop bringing her up like I care," I muttered cruelly.

With that, I pat the stunned man's shoulder and stepped back, turning away from him and making my way to the door.

"If anyone asks, we don't know each other. If I find out you said anything before I speak to Blaine… You and him are gonna be in for a bad time," I pulled out my Pokedex and waved it, before shoving it in my pocket.

"Thanks for your time, Dr. Fuji. Stick to caring for abandoned pokemon. You never know how much longer you'll be able to do it."

"You're... you're a monster," he sobbed in defeat.

Green whirled and glared at him with all the fury in the world but I simply looked back at him with a cold glint on my apathetic face.

"Monster... I wonder if that's what you called me while experimenting on me. I'm just the product of an environment that you participated in. You created two monsters, now reap the consequences of being a fucking idiot," I sneered.

With that, I left the building of the man whose soul I just crushed and blackmailed.

Should have picked better business and he shouldn't have fucked with me.

Right before I closed the door, I heard the old man let out a louder sob and watched as the Growlithe let out a bark of concern.

Monster huh? I wonder if he considered himself a monster for committing the atrocities he did.

I wonder if he called Mewtwo a monster right before handing it over to Team Rocket.

Fucking dumbass. Now I had to go and clean up his mess.