Origin Story: Part 1 - Haunted by the Truth

CH20: Painful Truth or Fearful Lies

You thought were you being quiet. You really did. Everyone seemed to be rather busy, going about their business, trying to get from one spot to another, or they were sitting around, having power naps or looking around in boredom.

But, you should have expected a sneak attack as arms suddenly grabbed your shoulders and you were spun around, staring upward with wide eyes.

"Violet! Where have you been?! –"

"W-well I –"

"I have been looking all over for you! I thought you ran off or something, but now you're here? What the hell?? –"

"Mark –"

"I thought you were in trouble, but when I went to your cabin no one was there. I thought you were kidnapped, kid. Kidnapped! But nooo~ –"

"Marko, just shut up for one little second," you growled, holding up a finger in his face, but before he could utter another word you decided to say, "please."

"... Fine," he huffed, letting go of your shoulders, but glaring down at you with his arms crossed over his chest. "Explain."

"Look, I knew if I told you I was planning on leaving you'd freak out, like usual, and probably lock me in a storage closet or something –"

"I would never lock you in a room without your consent –"

"But I already suspected foul play and honestly... I don't need people holding my hand all the damn time. I don't need some random guy bringing me to some other strange place just because he was told to. I-I need to be able to make my own decision, okay? I'm sorry for not telling you that I left the boat... I wasn't really sure if I wanted to leave or not, you know? I just felt it was easier to."

"... Vi you could have just told me –"

"Where's Rickie?" you interrupted the young man, glaring up at him sternly as you crossed your arms over your chest, leaning onto your right foot so your left leg wouldn't hurt so much.

"In the center –"

"Why? –"

"He got poisoned by those traitors," he growled underneath his breath, glaring off to the side to a particular blacked out vehicle that you can only assumed held a bunch of prisoners. "But he'll be fine. Barely a scratch... Tell me why you're here then, kid."

"W-well," you chuckled nervously, scratching the back of your neck, "you see, it's a very, very funny story. You're going to laugh~ and laugh~ –"

"Don't stall. Just spit it out," he told you, but noticing the slightly amused and content look on your face, even though there were dark circles forming underneath your eyes from a lack of sleep, he couldn't help but let a slight smile appear on his own face, seeing you in a familiar state of being.

"So, ah... That relative I apparently have, right? Well, this morning, I snuck into Surge's room and found the slip of paper with the address on it. So I stole a water pokemon and made my way to the island," you decided to tell him, your eyes glancing away to stare off at the Rockets all around you, noticing that no one seemed to notice, or care, that you were even standing there. A child, much too young to be part of some criminal organization, was being yelled at by a mere grunt for being, well, an idiot. "... I staked the place out until people showed up. It is, or rather was, a Team Rocket base on this island."

"... Wait, Vi, are you saying –"

"About four Rocket vehicles were ambushed by some rival gang, I'm guessing," you continued, ignoring the obviously shocked look on the man's face as you looked towards the center's doors, wondering if you should grab your stuff or not. "They wore dark blue and black. I-I don't know what that means, but... they weren't Rockets. I noticed shit was going down, and considering I was going to be sent to that very location, I knew something was wrong. Either Lt. Surge betrayed me, or my grandfather was being betrayed by someone else.