Pokémon Red (Book 3)

Looker's Dilemma

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Chapter - 34
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Giovanni woke up from his soundest sleep, opening his eyes with a grin that had never been there before. He stretched his arms and legs, realising that he no longer carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. He removed the comforter and slowly got off the bed, slipping his feet into his new warm Treecko flip-flops. He made his way to the washroom and immediately started to brush his teeth. Realising that he had nowhere to go, nothing to do and no-one to meet; he started brushing slower, taking his own time without rushing his tasks, he looked at himself in the mirror, imagining how the world could be if he hadn't done those things that led him on this path.

After taking a long warm bath, he finally put on a comfortable pair of black-color silk pyjamas. He walked into the dining room, his breakfast already ready and placed in a corner of the huge dining table, making him realise how alone he truly is. He could have had this life with his family; if only his wife, son and daughter would've been here with him. But Giovanni did not want that, he didn't want his family to be a part of the world that he had created for himself. He wanted them to be happy, and for himself to be at peace. Giovanni grabbed a pair of sunglasses and walked outside the house.

The lawn outside was spacious. Giovanni laid on the sun lounger with his shades on, with bright sunlight providing him enough warmth to relax him to sleep.

"What's he doing?" Looker enters the surveillance room. The room had about thirty screens for thirty surveillance cameras scattered everywhere in Giovanni's house that was provided to him by the FBI. "Gordon, what's he doing?"

Gordon is astonished by Looker's presence and immediately removes his earphones. "I'm sorry sir, didn't hear you the first time. Well, Giovanni is...uh...doing absolutely nothing. He's been relaxing the entire time."

"Anything odd that you noticed?" Looker asked sitting next to Gordon, closely observing Giovanni. Gordon stared at the screens, trying to remember anything unusual. "Not really, sir." He said.

Suddenly, the surveillance room door opened. "Looker, I need to talk to you." Said Felicia, standing at the door. Looker looks at Gordon, then back at Felicia. "Yes ma'am." He says.

Looker walks outside the surveillance room. "What do you wanna talk about?" Asked Looker. Felicia looks around. "Can we go somewhere private? My office?"

Looker walked inside Felicia's office and pulled a chair for himself. Felicia locks the door from the inside and sits opposite to Looker. She looked miserable and confused. "What's the matter, Fel?" Asked Looker.

"I need to offer you something." Said Felicia, taking deep breaths. "I just don't know how to tell you this."

"Tell me as it is. You don't need to overthink it with me." Looker assured. "You can trust me." Felicia stared at Looker, worried.

"I've been given two options." Felicia started. "One, you join us and I'll be able to offer you wealth, power and whatever you want. Two, I have to kill you."

Looker was astonished. Who would ask Felicia to kill me? Where is this offer coming from? She won't kill me, wait, is that why she's worried. That she'll have to kill me? Which means she knows I won't agree. The only reason I'm not gonna agree is if the offer is coming from a criminal organisation — Looker thought, finally realising what's going on.

"Giovanni, huh?" Looker was disgusted by Felicia. She was working with Giovanni. "So this whole thing is a sham, right? You have been working for him this entire time?"

Felicia continued to weep, she was embarrassed of herself and the fact that what Looker had said was the absolute truth. "I have to do this, Giovanni threatened to kill my brother. I had no other choice."

Looker's eyes were filled with sorrow, all his life he had expected or presumed multiple possibilities of what all could happen during his service but he had never expected to be in this situation. Felicia had been friends with Felicia since forever, and he could never believe of what was happening. He was not angry or disappointed, he was just surprised.

Looker closed his eyes to sort his thoughts, he took a deep breath in and quickly knew the right course of action. "Hm. What do you want me to do?" He asked.

Meanwhile in Samuel Oak's Laboratory, Oak was solving an equation on the whiteboard. He seemed confused and wanted to rest, but he couldn't do that.

"It's done!" Ben walked into the room. He tossed a file on the table. "I figured out a way to track Mewtwo. I think we should act upon it right now, we don't want Team Rocket capturing it before we do. They're already after it anyways."

"That's the least of my concerns at the moment." Oak continued to look at the board. "I don't think Team Rocket wants to capture Mewtwo anymore, I think they want to kill it."

"What?" Ben asked, bewildered. "What are you saying? Why would Team Rocket want to kill Mewtwo, they created it! Without Mewtwo, their plan won't work. It won't work, unless they have an alternative."

"And that is exactly what I am suggesting." Oak turned his computer screen for Ben to see it. "Unless they do have an alternative!"

Ben stared at the screen in dismay.