LOG 8: The Lighthouse

A new morning came as I set foot away from my room and head west to Little Bell Forest. I did my research about the landscape, and it turns out, it wasn't dense at all. It would be easy to get through with no deep roots, dangling vines, and little to no space at all between trees.

It was eight when I left Wagner's inland border, having found myself in a checkpoint of armed guards. They asked my business inside the forest and so I calmly replied that I was a trainer who plans to enter the next Unova League and that I needed to train my Pokemon.

They were in disbelief at first but my casual outfit, with the Pokeball belt strapped around my waist made them think I was truly a trainer. They gave me their thumbs up and lifted away the barrier. They also told me to be alert as they are in search of a group of bandits known as Team Rocket. Well, I told them I don't know who Team Rocket is but if I do encounter them, I swore that I'll let the police be alert of this.

Though the forest wasn't dense, it was dark. Taking few steps from the checkpoint to the rustling glass cowered me in slight anxiety. The leaves of the trees here were the darkest green I've ever seen. It was like passing through a long arc with trees serving as the walls and their leaves as its roofs.

Hidden behind the bushes, I could see eyes peaking out at me. The wind was powerful, fondling my hair and jacket. It was hard to stay put on the ground. I could hear Pokemon fluttering around me but they were to fast for me to spot where they were heading to or where they are.

An hour went by of heading North. I came and rested near a dark and dirty lakefront. It was gray mixed with some sort of dark blue like weird yucky paint. On the other side, the grass were a bit gradient with the color similar to the lake.

"I must be close by," I whispered softly and checked my map on the Rotom Phone and indeed I was near.

I continued from there and just to make sure, I threw a stone at this blue grass. Luckily, nothing happened to the stone, confirming that I could pass through with ease.

I had arrived at the light house about six minutes later. The lighthouse was bathed in rainwater and brine, the pure and the salty, season in and season out. Around it were the rocks both proud of the waves and submerged. Its walls didn't have a pattern of red and white. There were no stripes at all. It was more of a tower of a princess waiting to be saved by a knight.

The metallic door collapsed within a single kick. I used my flash light to see more of the inside because it was dark and obscure. There were chairs, topsy turvy tables, a whole lot of broken glass and the blue liquid Madam Boss was talking about.

I threw a pebble at it to be notified of what would happen then in turned into ice in an instant.

<Snor... Snorunt!> A snorunt appalled me from behind. I let out a scream and tumbled myself and inch away from the blue puddle. The Snorunt laughed and went outside of the light house, all leaping with joy. I had to curse it.

I became more careful and aware of my next steps. The door to the stairs were at the other side of the room. And to get there, I must go through a lot of puddles and avoid many more surprises from any more Pokemon.

My feet were gentle. There were some puddles that were an inch away from each other that the only option for me was to jump into. Sadly, there were puddles that were just to large that agitated me if I were to jump. I dealt those kinds by clinging unto the chains dangling on the ceilings. It took me three times to exert a momentum great enough to swing my body to the other side.

I was given a chance to rest upon reaching the stairs. There were no puddles so I figured of resting for a while. There were Snorunts which tucked themselves under the stairs that glared at me with their pepper eyes.

I sighed and just looked away.

The second and third floor were of no interest but the fourth was where I was riveted. These was the chamber filled with those test tubes Madam Boss was talking about. I did a little bit of detour and perused some of the documents to learn more of the foundation's project.

It was something about a failure of finding a Pokemon that was part of the Dao Trio, the strongest of them all, Kyurem. Since they couldn't discover where it lived and was urged by their ally, Russia, during the cold war, the team had no choice but to result in creating a chemical that was at least as powerful as Kyurem's ice moves.

The bodies that lie inside of the test tubes had no expression in them. As if they were willing to let themselves in except for one. There was a girl, looking somewhere in my age that had a long blonde hair and sharp eyes. Her hands were extended to both left and right, her teeth were grating each other, and it seemed as if she was struggling.

There was something stilted about her uniform. It was black and had an R logo.

"So, she's like one of us? I wonder what happened to her. It was impossible that she's from the Cold War and was captured by absurd scientists because back then, Team Rocket didn't exist yet.

On the base of her test tube was a red button. I know what Madam Boss said about "No touchy touchy," but she's Team Rocket. At first I was hesitant and planned to be hesitant all the way, even going back and forth the room four times. At the end, I couldn't help myself but to release her.

Smoke escaped. It smelled like the ones in the hospital. With a stick, I smacked her out of the tube just as if I was opening a lock door with a crowbar. It was hard to remove her since she's frozen.

I placed her body at the corner of the room and brought Mismagius since for sure Volcarona wouldn't listen to me. With her Mystical Fire, not directly attacking the individual, I was able to keep this frozen agent warm.

She had her name embroidered on her chest pocket and had a epaulette similar to mine except it was bronze in color.

Once she was warm and her first movements showed, we locked eyes. She tilted her head sideways and gazed at me like a confused Pokemon. Immediately, she grew angry and started throwing punches on my face.

I was able to deflect most of them. No matter how I tried to keep her reposed, she didn't stop attacking me. I had to fight back. I drove a punch to her solar plexus, forcing all the air out of her lungs with a hard loud gasp by causing the diaphragm to spasm. This way, she was frozen for about three seconds, enough for me to grab her hands and calmly whisper to her ears.

"Y--you're a member of Team Rocket?" the woman said.

"Yes! And I know you are too."

She finally took a deep breath.

She looked around her surroundings, bedazzled and worried. She had her head scratching as she pulled her hair in stress.

"What's the day?"

"Thursday..."

"Did the executives send you?"

"No. I was sent by Madam Boss. The executives are long gone. So, Giovanni was dead when you were here."

"Y-yes, I guess. All I know I was from a region known as Unova and that they sent me to go for the Reveal Glass and everything then these police officers came by out of nowhere and froze me inside the chamber. I... I... I was seventeen back then."

"Seventeen? If I do the math since I was based in Johto back then, you're twenty-one years old."

"Twenty-one?" She shrieked. She immediately covered her hands. "I'm that old already?"

She proceeded on hugging me and thanking me for setting her free. "So, who are you? And what happened to Team Rocket?"

"It's been successful, in my opinion. I mean, we hold a legendary Pokemon already. Madam Boss, Giovanni's mother, have you heard of her?"

"Yes." She said, while massaging her head.

"She's the new leader. A lot has changed. The executives were demoted, a lot of traitoring happened recently, and Unova, we nearly blew it up. All in all, couldn't be more happier with Team Rocket."

"And you?"

"I'm Luna. Luna Evergreen."

"Luna? My name's Valery, a lieutenant Colonel."

"Oh... We're talking about ranks too? Well, I'm a colonel! One rank higher than you. But that makes you one age higher than mine."

She checked her pocket and sighed in relief after noticing her Pokemon was still with her.

"I must notify Madam Boss about this. You're a lost agent! You're label must be deceased in our records."

"You can tell her later. I still have a mission to accomplish. Thanks again, Luna."

She went on and moved out of the door.

"Hey, wait! I'm the one who's getting the fragment not you! You're going back to HQ."

"No, no. I need to gain back my reputation. I'm getting the reveal glass."

"No, I will!"

"I'm one rank higher than you, you follow me!"

She spat out her tongue. "I'm older than you!"

"I'll the cops. They're looking for a Team Rocket agent. Oh and is that an agent I see, wearing a Team Rocket uniform?"

She was planning to say the same thing to me but found out I was wearing a casual attire. "Oh, right... Er, fine. I'll let you tag along."

"No what? I'll be the one to let you tag along."

"Fine, fine, let's make an arrangement since you rescued me. We'll get the shards together, the reveal glass, the other Pokemon and go home to HQ safely. This a partnership, not a tag along. Colonel to colonel... In general terms."

"That, I can agree on."

"Then let's do this again shall we? You can call me Valery." She smiled and extended her hand.

"And I'm Luna."

We shook hands.

"So, Luna, you swear not to be a traitor no matter what?"

"I promise, as long as you do the same."

"Cool! Now tell me more about Team Rocket and what's happening today."

"About after mission?"

"No, no, while going up. There's still fourteen floors from here!"

"Alright. As long as you tell me about these cops who imprisoned you."

"Well, okay. But they're just cops. But... Okay."