A Vacation, an Adventure, and the Story of a Lifetime

Chapter 86- Tyrant

I'm heartbroken to do this, but with real life stuff keeping me constantly busy and my running completely out of prewritten material (even the loose plot I had drafted out), updates will probably be even slower than they have been. Maybe this'll even be on a mini-hiatus. That does NOT mean I'm discontinuing or abandoning this fic! We're so close to the end, and I promise we'll get there eventually. I even want to do a sequel at some point, continuing alongside the anime with a lot more content, but this final arc has me stumped for some reason. I've never finished a longfic before so trying to wrap everything up is proving difficult for me.

Thank you so much for staying patient with me in these difficult times; every one of my readers has kept me going. Every vote, every comment, even my silent kits who don't say anything but still come around to read the new updates, it all means the world to me. You guys are so lovely and patient, and I want to do this story justice- for myself, and for all of you.

        -Luna the Space Fox

Key:

Author's notes

Thoughts

"Telepathy"

"Speech"

"{Pokemon speech}"

Disclaimer: If I owned Pokemon, this wouldn't be a Wattpad fanfiction and the Sun/Moon anime would've had the same animators as X/Y~

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Luna didn't know what to do. She was already trapped in place, but the cold, dark, pure fear running through her was so sudden, so jarring, and so powerful that she just. Stopped. Time wasn't passing in slow motion, yet her every nerve was on such high alert, zipping by so quickly, that she was completely lost. Losing touch with reality, feeling her conscious separate from her body.

Her vision was blurry, and she couldn't ground herself, not even enough to take a breath. Her mind was screaming a thousand thoughts at once, and yet it was so empty and silent she felt like she was in another plane of reality entirely. Like passing on, up and dying on the spot, with only a single figure the root cause.

(Well, not entirely. The past days, maybe weeks, that all blurred together. The hours upon hours of lying or being hung in utter silence, unable to move or do anything but think. The bright white walls. The feeling of helplessness, the complete and total failure she felt, the constant terror clashing with the creeping numbness. Everything she knew being snatched away and knowing it was her fault. Seeing Giovanni was just the final nail in the coffin.)

All the positivity she clung to, the tiny whisper in the back of her mind that had promised her hope, all were put on hold for those few seconds as the man stood before them. Moon was at his side, a smirk on her face. A face so familiar, so bittersweet, and Luna felt beyond terrible for having forgotten her, yet she had been so young... How could she have known!?

She would have tried to help her if she could have, she didn't want her sister, her twin, to go through anything terrible, not again. She deserved a good life like Luna and Cloudy had had, but running away, believing the world to all be bad, had allowed Giovanni to manipulate her. Moon was just a girl, a kid, even if she was the same age as Luna who had become Champion multiple times, that didn't mean either of them were done growing, that they weren't immune to being manipulated or overpowered. They still had so much to do... it couldn't end here, and yet in that moment, all Luna could think was, This is it. I'm going to die.

His dark, cold eyes swept over the groups in cages, but they lingered on Luna the longest. The glint in his eyes, something evil- something monstrous- visible and scheming beneath the surface, was chilling. Powerful enough, even though he was technically human, that even a single look at him was enough to send her mind tumbling into a spiral of helpless terror she couldn't process. Like going through all five stages of guilt in a single moment, and all the whiplash that came with it.

"Giovanni."

She didn't even realize the hoarse, choked voice was her own until after she heard it aloud. The lack of decent food or water had reduced her usual cheerful, powerful voice into nothing more than a parched whisper, throat burning just from saying the name.

Really, she should have known he was coming. It was a logical conclusion to reach after first seeing him on Ariana's tablet screen back when she, Lunalox, and the Hydreigon trio were first captured. Yet back then she was so sure she would escape, that it wouldn't come to that. That she was safe and hidden in her Pokemon form. Now she was strung up in the air, completely on display in her human form, and he was there, in person, and it was so many more levels terrifying than she could have ever imagined.

They had met before. Luna being Champion- heck, even before then, way back in Kanto- she had always been foiling Team Rocket's plans, helping to free the Pokemon they caught or stole that were being maltreated. Interfering with the many occasions they managed to make or extort money in terrible ways. Even downright fighting them in battle, and winning more and more often as she and her team grew stronger. They had even had direct standoffs in the past, when Team Rocket was attempting to catch legendaries and she had to stop them. Each time things got uglier, and more personal.

Luna had always been wary of him, but never truly afraid, because she had the upper hand. A powerful team, family members and backup teammates that were plenty strong enough to beat the goons Rocket hired. Even Giovanni's team itself had common weaknesses. Being able to Synchro-Mega and use more than four moves, as well as strategize on the fly, had always given her the edge.

Yet she had always known to avoid being on the receiving end of his wrath when at a disadvantage. He was merciless, and if he had any way to overpower you, he would ensure you were reduced to rubble at his feet, begging for forgiveness, before he would step on you and crush you to bits. And she had finally be introduced to that terror when she realized she had been captured and rendered powerless by the evil team in which he led.

Giovanni's eyes came back over to land on Luna after she spoke, his grin almost manic. He put a hand on Moon's shoulder. "You did well in catching all these mutts for me. Especially that one." He slowly lifted his other arm, pointing at Luna. "She's been a thorn in my side and a hindrance to the team for quite a long time. Many years, in fact. Having the runt and her pesky rats rounded up will allow us to further expand our business greatly. You were the right choice for my second-in-command."

"Thank you sir," Moon bowed, though with her ducked head she shot Luna a wicked smile. As if to say, Who's the better sister now? See? I've won!

"I trust you to deal with them until I return. The ones prime for battle can be boxed and sold, the rare ones can be set up for breeding, and the humans... Well, I'll let you figure out what to do with them for now."

"Roger that, Boss!"

There was a sickening sense of dread Luna felt as Giovanni approached her, taking slow, calm steps up to the platform holding her restraints up. He reached up and grabbed her head by her hair and ears, grip suddenly iron as he forced her to look up at his eyes. Pain seared through her as he held her, but it was his words- and the sick thrill and satisfaction clear in them- that truly made her fear for the lives in the room, including her own.

"I have plans for you, little light. Big plans. But you'll just have to wait and see about those."

He roughly let go, turned, and walked away.

Eternal servitude. Hours upon hours of torture. Starvation. Being locked up for days, weeks, without any supplies. Humiliation. Shame. Guilt. Forcing me to use my abilities to hurt innocent people and Pokemon, maybe even to fuel Team Rocket's upcoming schemes. Experimentation. Psychological torture--hurting and killing everyone I know and love one by one. I know Giovanni; he's not going to give me the liberty of death, not even a long and painful one. No... He'll do everything to ensure I stay alive to witness everything terrible he does, knowing I can't stop it. Making sure every moment I spend in agony- physical, mental, and emotional- suffering for ever working against him. It's gone beyond a grudge; this is personal, and everyone has to pay the price for it.

He's going to make the rest of my life an eternal, living hell, at the expense of everyone I've ever known.