2/2

"We never factored in one thing into our plans, something which we never foresee. Mew is a pokemon that is so gentle that it never wants to harm any other pokemon or human, no matter how evil they may be. In fact, its unwillingness to hurt us was why we even managed to capture it in the first place. We never managed to convince Mew to fight for our cause, no matter how much we talked to it. Mew understands where we are coming from and it showed us sympathy, but it never agreed to help us. To Mew, agreeing to help us will mean that it will have to hurt others. This is why Mew hid itself on that island, so that it will never hurt another being. To not hurt another being is its own personal rule that it strictly adheres to. Mew is a pokemon that is simply too kind. It is never fit for the battlefield. Realising that, the initial plan for Project Rebirth was hence deemed a failure."

My mind is now working overtime, piecing together all the clues and knowledge I know about this world. If recruiting Mew is deemed a failure, and knowing how the plot of the original games turned out, then...

"By that point, we were desperate, because it was getting harder and harder to hide SKIP's existence among all the chaos. Kain was already onto us and had listed us a Level 10 threat, saying that our group's existence directly threatens Indigo's sovereignty and is to be dealt with extreme prejudice. Meanwhile, Kanto was on the verge of experiencing an economic depression. Kantonians are starting to turn violent because they have no way to feed themselves while Johto is still bathing in their riches, uncaring about our plight. It didn't take long for Kantonians to turn their hate towards Johto, viewing them as the reason for their circumstances. Honestly, they weren't wrong. The Indigo Government of then were filled with corrupt politicians and many of them are Johtonians who exploited Kanto for their own ends. Sentiments for separation through force were at an all time high. War could erupt at any moment. If that were the case, Kanto will lose. Billions of Kantonians will die if a war took place because there is no way we can win a war against Johto, not when they can easily direct their Legendary Beasts against us and our Legendary Birds were still nowhere to be found. We desperately need a pokemon that Project Rebirth is supposed to bring about. When we were at our most hopeless and desperate, Fuji and Blaine came up with a mad plan. A plan so insane that the rest of us rejected it initially, but later learnt to see the beauty of it."

Giovanni let out a resigned sigh as he closed his eyes.

"We all accept the fact that pokemon on the level of the Legendary Birds and Mew are extremely rare to come by. It is hard enough to even meet them as it is, let alone catch it and then tame it. Hence, we came up with this crazy idea. Instead of catching a legendary pokemon, we would create our own legendary pokemon. A new pokemon. An entirely new species of pokemon that would defend Kanto no matter what it takes. Our initial plan failed because Mew was too kind. Our scientists found out that Mew's DNA has the genetic code of every single pokemon in existence that we know of. In that case, Fuji and Blaine theorised that if we can use a sample of Mew's DNA to create a pokemon that can fight against other legendaries, one that is cold enough to cast its morals aside and strong enough to stand against all odds, Kanto might be able to survive a war with Johto should it come to the worst-case scenario. Even if we managed a peaceful separation, that pokemon can act as our deterrence should Johto want to consume us under the flag of the Indigo once more. That idea quickly became the new direction which Project Rebirth took because that was the best idea we can come up with. That new pokemon is what we called Mewtwo, the second Mew. For Kanto, for the sake of our ideals, we worked day and night. We started to create Mewtwo. Things had also started to take a turn for the better. SKIP had finally found a way to avert the possibility of war and there were signs that it was working better than intended. It should have worked as we planned."

Giovanni suddenly had a very angry look in his eyes before he growled out his next words.

"But Kain had a hypno. A hypno so absurdly powerful and skilled in the move, Hypnosis. It was because of that experience with his hypno back then that I decided to see if we can train our most trusted and skilled members in Team Rocket to be proficient in using Hypnosis, because even I have to admit it is useful. However, over the years, only you ever succeeded to train your pokemon to be masters in that move. Everyone else failed. Training pokemon to do what your pokemon can with Hypnosis is not easy. For that, you have my respect as a trainer, Plague."

Kain once owning a pokemon is not an information that I am privy of. However, it did explain what pokemon put that mental suggestion in my head. Right now, I'm glad that the hypno is no more, even if I have no idea how it died.

I tried not to give anything away as I made my reply.

"Thank you, Sir."

Giovanni did not acknowledge my reply, but continued his story instead.

"Kain is the most paranoid and distrustful bastard I ever come across, to the point that the only pokemon he ever trusted and used was that hypno I talked about. Even after that hypno died very much later on for reasons unknown Kain never got around to replace it because he never trusted any other pokemon other than his hypno. Anyway, by some unfortunate luck back then, Kain found out that one of the experts in SKIP was also working for the Government. Guess what he did after he captured my comrade?"

"He extracted information from him using the hypno and used it against SKIP."

"You are partially right, but Kain did even more than that. To quell the civil unrest in the fastest way possible, he publicly declared that SKIP is working against the interest of Indigo, exposing our existence to the world immediately. Kain, being the paranoid and ruthless bastard as he is, pointed his finger at us and held us responsible for fanning the flames of rebellion in Kanto. He twisted every single fact about us, saying that we are the ones responsible for inciting hateful sentiments in Kanto and trying to start a war. The whole Kanto immediately became our enemy."

Knowing Kain, it must have ended in a bloodbath.

"All of a sudden, the Indigo's forces were suddenly onto us. We were technically an illegal and underground group, so when he Kain said that no mercy was to be shown, nobody can say otherwise. He ordered the immediate execution of all of SKIP's members and their families. All because in his eyes, we are a dangerous threat to the safety of Indigo that must be swiftly exterminated. If it wasn't for Samuel using his authority as Indigo Champion to secretly help and warn us of the incoming threat, all of us would have perished."

Giovanni dragged a tired palm across his face before continuing.

"Thankfully, we were long prepared for such a possibility. Not all of our identities were exposed. All of SKIP's members never fully knew the entire organisation or its members, just like what Team Rocket is doing now. Like how only the Executives in Team Rocket know of my identity, only very few in SKIP know of the fact that people like me, Samuel, Agatha, Blaine, Fuji, and Bill were its leaders. Our identities were never discovered and we survived, but the same cannot be said for many others and their families. In one night, SKIP was eradicated."

It was then I saw something that I never expected to see. Giovanni shed a single tear.

"I was the youngest in my family. My parents, brothers and sisters, cousins, even my dear nieces and nephews that I loved so much. My closest friends. All of them sacrificed themselves to make sure that none of SKIP's works fall into Kain's hands, especially our military projects because who knows what that bastard will do with our works if he ever gets his hands on it. They were holed up in SKIP's HQ, making their last stand. I wasn't fast enough to reach them since my wife and I were trying to secretly escort Fuji and Bill to safety while Agatha and Blaine got the rest of the researchers and scientists to escape to the Sevii Islands. Samuel was in charge of releasing Mew back to where it came from so that no one can ever get their hands on it. To make sure Kain learnt nothing of the true leaders of SKIP and to protect our organisation's work, my family and friends sacrificed themselves by bombing our HQ sky high. I don't even have any of their remains left to bury them. SKIP was officially exterminated at that moment."

I cannot help but clench my fists upon hearing this. This is the truth that I had always been searching for.

Kain. It's him again. It's always him. Like me, Giovanni is also a victim of his actions.

What do I do now?

"We have no choice but to disband SKIP because of how hard Kain is hunting for us. Samuel felt a deep sense of regret after that incident. Too many died and a war nearly erupted. He felt that he could have done more, because if he did, Kain wouldn't have used us as his scapegoat. He felt that all the deaths were on him, because he was our Champion and he failed his duty to both Kanto and Indigo. He tried to hold on, I know he did. Blaine and I also tried our best to support him through the aftermath but I guess everyone has their limits. Strong as he may be, Samuel never fully conquered his inner demons."

Giovanni rested his forehead against his left fist and closed his eyes before giving another sigh.

"About eight months after SKIP fell, Samuel couldn't take it anymore and resigned as Indigo Champion and settled down in Pallet Town, later becoming the world renowned Pokemon Professor that we know today. Lance, not knowing the truth behind Samuel's resignation, took over Samuel's duty as Champion when Samuel stood down. Blaine and I followed Samuel's example the moment he left and we dropped our titles as Elite Four members. Agatha stayed on, only retiring recently. Blaine resigned because he was getting on in his years and his body could no longer handle the strain of work that is expected from a member of the Elite Four. I resigned because I have no wish to take commands from a Johtonian, not after how my family and friends died. Since there happened to be open slots for Gym Leaders in our respective cities, we took on the job as Gym Leaders since the workload is considerably lesser. Fuji, being the kind man he is, also felt remorse for trying to play god and create life. He opened a daycare in Lavender to continue to help pokemon and humans alike. Bill was not even an adult back then. After the fall of SKIP, he went on and became a brilliant inventor and the proceeds from some of his inventions had helped Kanto stand afloat on her own, even if it was only for a short while. I knew he could go far."

After saying that, the look in Giovanni's eyes suddenly turned sharp.

"However, even if the remnants of SKIP decided to bury our past, I couldn't. My entire family died believing in my ideals. They gave their life for it. Still, I tried. I gave Kain many hints and chances to prove himself but each time I just got more and more disheartened. Kanto is still suffering. Kanto had always been suffering and will always suffer under the hands of Johto unless somebody does something about it."

Giovanni's angry fist banged against the metal railings once more.

"In the end, I gave up on Kain. The only person standing by me was my wife. The two of us gathered whatever resources leftover that we could find after SKIP's disbandment and we started anew. The older legal businesses you see today that are now run by Team Rocket, many of them are the results of my SKIP comrades who set them up more than twenty years ago to provide more job opportunities for Kantonians. What we have today is only possible because of the contributions from my comrades from SKIP who Kain had framed, wrongly accusing them for things that they never did. It was when I was visiting the graves of our family and comrades with my wife that I realised that Kanto have to ruled by Kantonians if we want to protect our people. I can order the assassination of Kain right now and succeed without question, but another Johtonian tyrant will simply rise to take his place. No, the only way for Kanto to protect her own interests is if we separate from Indigo. There's no other way out of this. After realising that, I made my decision."

Giovanni turned to face me, his steely gaze meeting my eyes.

"If I cannot make Kanto peaceful separation a reality through peaceful means, then I will achieve it with whatever it takes, even if it means going down a violent and immoral path, even if it means starting a bloody war. I need to amass a nation's worth of wealth. I need to amass an army for Kanto that would not lose to Johto's own. I need everything to be on my side for Kanto to win. There's no way I can do this legally, so I chose to stain my hands in blood by creating an organisation filled with the vilest men I can find to fulfil my vision, because the underground world is the only place left where I can get the resources I need. I had poured everything I had into this. My time, my wealth, and even my family and friends had also sacrificed themselves to help me. I cannot dishonour them by taking this lying down. I will finish what we started. My wife and I created Team Rocket for this very purpose. To make SKIP's vision a reality, I became Team Rocket's secret leader while spying on the Government and the League as a Gym Leader. My wife managed the organisation in my stead because I'm often not free to do so. You know her as Ariana, even if she had never make any appearances for quite a while now."

Unexpectedly, Giovanni let out a happy chuckle.

"Ariana and I just had our first child, a son. We named him Silver because it was the colour of SKIP's logo. One day, I will bring you to see our son, because Ariana and I trust all of our Executives with our lives and our son deserves to know our wonderful comrades who had worked so hard to protect Kanto. Even the ever grumpy Proton cannot help but love him, which is hilarious in itself."

That, is not what I am expecting.

"Since we are on the topic of names, I should also tell you that Ariana and I named our organisation Team Rocket because we will be the rocket that propels the separation of Kanto from Indigo, like a rocket leaving the earth. This, Plague, is the true purpose behind the creation of Team Rocket. To this day, we had never looked back."

I spoke up.

"Sir, I have a question."

"Feel free to speak your mind."

"What about Project Rebirth? If SKIP had Mewtwo with them-"

Giovanni shook his head.

"It was never completed on time. The first Mewtwo prototype SKIP started was unfinished. It was what my family and friends were trying to destroy before they sacrificed themselves, so that Kain will never get his hands on it. When Ariana and I decided to form Team Rocket to continue where we left off, I secretly tested former SKIP leaders like Samuel, Agatha, and Blaine to see if they were interested in continuing the project, like how I had tested you in Viridian. However, they have no more wish to continue what SKIP was doing. Not after how everything had failed."

Giovanni leaned his body against the metal railings. The winds began to pick up once more.

"Since nobody from SKIP wanted to continue to work for Kanto's separation, I didn't pressure them to. In their eyes, Kain had somewhat learned from the lesson of SKIP's uprising and was subsequently focusing his efforts to improve Kanto's situation. He had to if he wants to prevent something like that from breaking out again. Since Kanto's situation had taken a better turn, even if it was far from what we liked, the rest of the former leaders of SKIP decided not to take any further action. For me, I'm not satisfied because that doesn't change the fact that Kanto is still being oppressed. Kain is only giving just enough to Kanto for her to stay afloat. All the riches are still going to Johto. Kain is not genuinely interested in helping Kanto improve. I know him long enough to see through him."

Giovanni's left arm spread out, gesturing to the scenery behind him, the city of Saffron, the hub of Kanto.

"Look at this, Plague. Look at what Team Rocket had done. Even when Team Rocket is a terrorist organisation, Ariana and I achieved even more than Kain will ever do for Kanto. It's fine even if our former comrades never learnt of what we did for our homeland throughout these years or chose not to join us. I can understand their apprehension and I never blamed them for it. So, I left them alone and continue with my own work, building up from the fruits of labour of SKIP that my wife and I had scavenged. However, I still believe in Fuji's and Blaine's idea of creating a new species of pokemon to defend Kanto, even if they sincerely regret ever bringing the idea up in the first place. We need something to defend ourselves. I had remnants of Mew's DNA with me along with the most crucial research data about the project. I was the one in charge of destroying said items, but I never erase it because I never stopped believing in SKIP's ideal to free Kanto. I still believe that Kanto can one day regain its freedom. Every surviving member who was a part of SKIP had thought that the project had been buried and erased. It wasn't the case."

Giovanni smirked.

"I restarted Project Rebirth and renamed it as the Mewtwo Project. The Mewtwo Project is the continuation of Project Rebirth. The progress of Mewtwo Project is a lot slower without scientists like Samuel, Fuji, Blaine, and Bill helping out, but progress has still been made despite the fact that it took two decades for it to be near completion. Soon, Mewtwo will be born. Six months from now at the fastest and one year at the slowest, but we will have our Keeper of Darkness with us within the span of a year from now. This is why I ordered you to lay low for the next six months, because if all goes well, you will also be fighting alongside us and Mewtwo when the time comes. Executive Plague, this is your new assignment."

I immediately stood at attention and gave my salute.

"Executive Plague reporting for duty, Sir!"

"You will be posted to our most guarded and secret hideout at Fuschia where Mewtwo is being created. I need someone reliable to guard it at this very critical period. That person is you, and failure is not an option. I cannot allow this project to be destroyed again. Use this time to rest properly while Ariana and I prepare for our next big plan. Ariana and Silver are also there, you will also be guarding them during this period. Their safety is of utmost importance to me. In these six months, Team Rocket will find a cure for you, or at the very least, stop your condition from worsening. I give you my word as the leader of Team Rocket. Not only because we need our Exterminator to exterminate Johto from our motherland, but also because you are our precious comrade. It doesn't matter if you are a criminal or a monster. To Ariana and I, you are our precious friend like how all of our Executives are to us."

Ignoring my looks of disbelief, he carried on rambling.

"The wait was worth it. The Mewtwo project will come to fruition very soon. We can finally overthrow Kain and the Indigo League! Kanto can now be freed of his tyranny!"

I stared at the man whose patriotism to his motherland twisted himself into a fanatical madman hellbent on forcing his ideals on everyone. He is laughing with an insane gleam in his eyes.

Either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain. Giovanni embodies this very statement. He's not evil, not truly. Unfortunate circumstances and his one-track mind made him that way. In fact, I cannot find anything to hate about him now that I learnt of his past.

I have been searching for the truth this entire time, but now the truth is in my hands, I have no idea on what I should do.

Jane, what would you do if you were in my shoes? If I was the one dead and you are the one standing here today?

What would you do?

Like Giovanni had shared, there is still an underlying hostility between the citizens of the two regions even if things had never escalated to a point of no return before. There were many corrupt government officials in the Indigo Parliament, and they are slowly getting cleaned out and replaced by other upright politicians. I still find them to be overall inept in managing Indigo, but Kanto's economy is picking up, and Kantonian's standard of living are slowly beginning to get better.

Slowly, but surely.

People between the two regions who used to dislike each other are now starting to accept each other, trying their best to put their past conflicts behind in an effort to build a better future. I hate the Government and I hate the President even more for what they force me to do but for all its faults, even they have been making sincere and substantial efforts to maintain the peace too. There are even special concessions made to Kantonians, benefits that only they enjoy. It is Indigo's subtle way of helping them, and also a silent apology for all the exploitations Kanto had been exposed to under the administration of previously corrupt Johtonian politicians.

I really don't like Kain as a person since that bastard has the stupid mentality that only he knows what is best for everyone, but he did manage to help improve Kanto's economy in the end. I know for all of his faults, he did have Indigo's best interests at heart, including the Kanto region.

However, Giovanni will never believe that. His experiences with Kain made him believe that Kain will forever find ways to oppress Kanto. Giovanni will always think that Kain will help Johto profit at the expense of Kanto. Nothing Kain does will ever change Giovanni's opinion of him because lives had been lost. People who Giovanni had loved died while believing in Giovanni's ideals, sacrificing themselves for him like how Jane died for me. Like how now the duties and lives of the former 358 operatives of Project Illusion are now resting on my shoulders, on Giovanni's shoulders lie the lives of his former SKIP comrades. We are both doing the exact same thing, fighting for each of our own personal goals.

Kain's mistrust of people really backfired in the worst possible way. This whole Team Rocket mess is entirely his fault.

For once in my life, I really have no idea on what I should do.

But right now, I believe that Kanto cannot be separated from Johto and likewise, Johto cannot stand on its own without Kanto. Even after what Giovanni and Ariana had done, Kanto still relies too much on Johto for agricultural produce. Johto relies heavily on Kanto providing vital resources critical to keep Indigo's economy as a whole up and running. One cannot live without the other and it will definitely be the case for the foreseeable future.

But here is a patriot that is still clung on to the past, unwilling to let go and unable to accept this reality. I can sympathise with him, but it is just that: sympathise. However, his ideology is dangerous. I am sure that there are many with the same views as him, mostly the Kantonians who had been directly affected by the previous actions of the previously corrupted Indigo Government. I know there are many people who will join Giovanni's cause without hesitation in overthrowing Indigo. Mistrust that lingered for so long can never be so easily erased even after decades, or maybe even after a century. If Team Rocket really succeeded in creating Mewtwo and has enough influence to spark a sudden successful rebellion across Kanto, or even Johto if they are capable enough, a war will erupt.

More people and pokemon will die. It doesn't matter if you are a Kantonian, Johtonian, an innocent or a rebel. War sucks everyone up and doesn't end until it cannot sustain itself anymore. Another war between regions can possibly doom ourselves. There are no winners in war, only the survivors.

Deaths will be everywhere.

Just what on earth had I gotten myself into?

"Executive Plague, your strength is extraordinary, and you have shown that you are loyal to a fault. With people like you around, Kanto can be freed! We don't need tyrants like Kain ruling over us! Kanto should only be ruled by Kantonians! Johtonians shouldn't have a say in how we run things and they will never, step, another, foot, onto our land! NOT IF WE HAVE A SAY IN IT!"

God, Giovanni's thinking is just… dangerous.

"Team Rocket will free Kanto. The preparations are almost complete. Mewtwo is about to be born soon. Rejoice, Plague, for you will witness the birth of a new Kanto! You will be part of the story of our struggles and victory! We will create a Kanto freed from tyranny! We will no longer be oppressed! To remain free and protect our sovereignty, there is only one way out for Kanto! WE will be the oppressors! We will NO LONGER be a part of any alliance! There is NO LONGER a need for the Pokemon World League! All regions shall be ruled by Kanto! Team Rocket and Kanto will conquer the WORLD!"

The only thing I can say when Giovanni asked for my support in his endeavour was a solemn "Yes Sir!"

AN: Sorry if the wait took a little long. I decided to make heavy changes to this chapter at the very last minute that delayed the entire process. I personally am very happy with the results.

Now, I know that I might be over worrying about things that aren't there, because I have always been a poor judge of what is a sensitive topic and what isn't, so I'd rather play it safe by putting up a disclaimer before shit hits the literal fan.

I don't know where you are from and which country you belong to because my readers come from all around the world, so the topics of discussion in this chapter might or might not anger you depending on your own personal experiences. I cannot tell for sure. In any case, I made it very clear in the Author's Note at the very start of the story about the nature of RE, so don't say that I didn't give you a heads up. I know that the appearance of this chapter somehow, by hook or by crook even if it was never my intention, fits in very well with what is currently happening out there in the real world right now. (You probably know what I'm talking about. One word: Iran. Two words: Hong Kong).

I will say this here and I will say this once:

The timing of the appearance of this chapter is strictly coincidental. This chapter had been sitting in my laptop for at least eight months now, way before any of the real life events occurred ever since I played Firered Rocket Edition for the second or third time. It is up to you to believe it. It's only recently that I managed to somehow find a way to use this idea of nationalism and turn it into a crux for a story that I had tried to write and had only successfully done so recently. The story is what you are reading now, Rocket's Exterminator.

If I offended you in any way, I can only say I'm sorry. In any case, I warned you that the themes discussed here may not be what you are comfortable with. All I ask is that you take your opinions of the real world offline elsewhere if you really are so offended by it. This story, is fiction. As in to say, it is NOT REAL. So don't bring in real life events into the picture. I'm not here to start a war.

Read things with an open mind and put aside your own perspective. Always try to see things from another pov, only then as a race can we improve and learn, to learn how to be a better person. Like I said at the very start of the story, people turn to crime for a variety of reasons. They can be petty reason. It can be noble reasons. I just want to explore that idea in RE.

(I have just finished saying the most important things I want you to know as an author. If you are not interested in what I have to say next, you can choose not to continue to scroll downwards.)

For the curious ones who wants to learn why I wrote RE in this manner, the reason why I decided to use the theme of nationalism was because Firered Rocket Edition used the same theme, AND I WAS GODDAMNED IMPRESSED BY IT. The complex plot of that game was what inspired me to write RE in the first place.

Of course, even if I was inspired by its plot and borrowed elements from it, I don't want to be accused of plagiarism. I made sure to try my best and made many changes to the point that it became a totally different thing (and I hope it really is a different thing) and the plot of RE definitely started differently and is heading in a different way. However, the general idea stays the same. I want to make Giovanni a villain that people can sympathise with, because he is doing what he is doing because he sees no other way out. He is a victim of circumstance, merely fighting for his own beliefs in the only way he knows how. The divide between Kanto and Johto is also another theme that is also present in the game and I want to try my hand at writing something ambitious like this. This was why I had been giving subtle hints in the previous chapters about the regional divide and dissent, about Team Rocket's influence in all areas of Kanto, all to slowly build it up for this big and unexpected reveal.

There are a few things that I always avoided when writing stories. Making associations to real life events is one of my big taboos, but I decide to break my own personal rule this time despite the unfortunate timing of what is currently happening in the real world outside, because I think we can all learn from Giovanni's past in RE. Stories aren't meant to be just entertaining. Truly good writers, in my opinion, would want their readers to take something away from it. The really good stories are always the ones that teaches us life lessons. Think about it. What is a truly good story that you have read and still remembered today? Did you learn something out of it? I bet that my answer would be 'Yes'. For me, that story was Naruto even if his yelling annoyed me to no end.

This level of impact on readers, to learn something out of reading fiction, is what I have been trying to achieve ever since I started experimenting with my writing. I first started for real by writing the darker elements in Walking On Thin Ice in my brief exploration of the theme of depression, PTSD, and suicide. Sure, I know not everyone can digest stories like these. People flamed me for doing it by Chapter 9 of WOTI and this is why I decided to never ever write anymore ANs in that story. There was a good reason why I named that chapter 'Break', because I was so close to discontinuing it because no one seems to agree and accept that depression and PTSD is a real problem. The subsequent chapter was named 'Try' after I left WOTI alone and people started to send in their encouragements. For them, I tried to write chapters for WOTI again. I have to thank them, because I really like how WOTI turned out in the end. So, thank you.

My experience with WOTI led me to believe that I will let my own story do the talking instead of explaining myself in the AN. That's why I haven't been writing ANs at the end of chapters as often as before unless I really need to or want to. That's why my stories suddenly changed in style and flavour after that, because there will always be people who will never understand. That's the sad truth.

If people hate my stories so much, by all means, do us all a favour and don't read it. Hateful comments made out of spite or your own personal twisted pleasure does nothing but spread negative energy.

This is fanfiction. I gain nothing out of doing this other than my personal pure enjoyment and because I know to some people, the updates of my stories make their day. I try, okay? I goddamned tried but I am not superhuman and I have my own sad life to live. Writing is DIFFICULT. Writing affects my own damn mood as well. Writing things like suicide and PTSD made me depressed for two whole weeks until I got better. I cannot consistently produce chapters because I myself, like you, am human. I have my own ups and downs. Even then, I continue to write about these heavy topics despite how much I dislike it, because people need to know. I saw friends and people around me losing their lives because they lost to their inner demons. I myself almost lost myself to my inner demons until I pulled myself out somehow, HOW else do you think did I managed to write about suicide in WOTI? I've been through it. In fact, my contemplation about the sad meaning of my own life was what got me started writing in the first place. IJWTTTW was born because I was depressed when I had too much time to think and too little to do. The experience is horrible. I don't want it to happen, ever again, to anyone else if I can do SOMETHING about it.

I know I'm not the only one with the same experience. That kind of experience is something that no one will admit and share because you will be judged for it. Writing is the only way I know how to reach out to people because I was never good at speaking. If my stories can help them somehow, then I will try and continue to write.

I know people like to read different genres of stories and this is why I keep producing stories that differ so much in character despite my own shitty life that I never seemed to manage to get together and write things that I had never actually experienced. Why else do you think for all my stories, I try to insert a comedy chapter every now and then? I also want to make people laugh, to make their day.

Do understand that my time is limited. Like you, I only have 24 hours a day. Writing a chapter like this took hours to complete the first draft. I took months of edits to get this particular chapter to appear before you like this because it is arguably the most important chapter in RE. I have a lot of pride in my work because it is my work, even though there will always be mistakes that I know that I will never catch until I publish it and annoying grammar nazis starts to fire their artillery the moment they had the AH HA! moment and spotted it. If Shakespeare can invent his own goddamn words, I can jolly well invent my own grammer, my own words, my own rules of CaPiTaLiSaTiOn and, how, to, use, punctuation. Sue me.

Sad thing is, I have to prioritise which stories I want to update. I'm sorry if I have not been updating your favourite fic in a long time. (I really am, okay?) I know each of you have your favourite story that you want to see updated, but please stop sending me PMs (or worse still, hateful or prejudiced ones) because of it. Inspiration doesn't come in a snap of the fingers. Determination to carry on writing doesn't come out of the blue. Quality work takes time and effort to be produced. Please understand. Most of my time as a writer is not spent writing. It is spent staring at a blank screen not knowing what to write and how to present the idea in my head. Ask any people around you who writes regularly. They can testify to that.

I know many people don't like 'angst' stories. Fine, I understand that. That's also why I have stories like To Defy which is more or less like a crack fic. I also want to make people laugh if I can. I want to be that someone whose story updates can make someone's day feel better after they went through a long and shitty day like what some authors did for me. This is why The Sun Of Sunyshore generally have a more carefree and laidback theme, with enough fluff to give anyone diabetes. It is why I insert a comical Fuzzy in IJWTTTW. It's on purpose, basically my fanservice to those who only wants to read happy things. I know people like to read happy stories because I do too, but we have to acknowledge that there are many people out there with unfortunate circumstances and this is very real as well. Things like misguided beliefs, suicide, depression, PTSD, etc etc. These are all very real problems plaguing our world. We need to recognise it as a fact and do something about it if we want to make the world a better place.

Thank you for reading my rant up to here thus far. Sorry for putting up with my angsty self, but I think I really have to get this out of my system before I can continue writing because I'm so fed up with certain people flooding my inbox and ruining my day with their PMs. You know who you are.

As per usual, hope you guys enjoy the story.

Name: Jayce

Official Identity: Jacob Myers

Indigo Government Identity: Operative 2046, Code Name: Gengar

Indigo Government Rank: Special Agent

Team Rocket Identity: Executive Plague

Team Rocket Rank: Executive

Pokemon Team:

1. Ninetales, female

2. Exeggutor, male

3. Weavile, male

4. Honchkrow, female

5. Gengar, female

6. Houndoom, male

7. Umbreon, male

8. Hydreigon, male

9. Drapion, female

10. Zoroark, male

11. Bisharp, male

12. Shiftry, male

13. Porygon, (Nosy), genderless