Pokémon BW: Rise of Clarity (book 3 of the HBoD series)

Chapter 11: Remembrance

"And here we are at our first stop of the day. Liberty Garden!"

"You sure you don't want to come with us?"

"Yeah," N waved off Robert with a pained smile. "I don't feel that great at the moment. I'll be fine, I'll have a friend with me, so you all can go on without me." Zorua yipped and leaped into his lap, curling up. N sat on a bench, a slight green tinge to his face. The three of us bid him farewell and left the ship.

"Let's find a quiet spot," I said, taking this opportunity. "I don't want to be overheard." We walked around the island, a soft wind rustling the grass. Moving away from the lighthouse where all the tourists were hanging out, we went to the edge of the island where there was no one but a few Patrats and the waves crashing upon the rocks.

All of our Pokemon were let out to enjoy the sunny day, Arcaneis starting to roughhouse with Ninetales while the others watched.

"So?" Alex asked once the three of us sat down.

I stared at the waves quietly, as if deciding where to begin. "Back... back when we went our separate ways after Alola, you remember me telling you both about how I met up with my brother, right?"

"Yes," Alex said while Robert said, "You have a brother?"

"You never did get around to telling him I think," Alex said. "Y'know, with all that business with Radiance and the Cult."

"Right," I sighed. "I have a brother named Silver. Half brother at any rate. Anyway, after meeting with Giovanni, he tasked me with essentially taking down the entirety of Team Rocket."

"And did you?" Robert asked eagerly.

I shrugged. "Silver and I managed to shut down the bases we knew about and one that we accidently fell into, literally. That wasn't the hard part though. It's what Giovanni sent after me." Folding my hands, I stared at the sea, seeing something else entirely. "The Executioners."

"They're high ranked assassins," I went on. "The very best. Few actually know stories about them and even fewer know that they actually exist. Then there are those like my father who can contact and hire them." I let my expression darken. "I wouldn't say they're ruthless killers, but they'll see a job done to its end, no matter what stands in their way. They work for the money, but I know they enjoy it." I tightened my right fist against my thigh. "I know they enjoy it."

"Back when I was Giovanni's assassin, I encountered them a couple times, both of the Executioners. A guy in a butler suit wielding a double bladed axe alongside his Gliscor. And a maid with nunchucks with her Weavile. Spicy and Sage were the names they went by, but I doubt that was their real names. But when Silver and I met them again, there was a third." I turned to look straight at Robert. "A girl with white hair and red eyes. When I met her, she wore a white kimono and wielded a katana. Her codename was Spirit."

Robert stiffened. "She was... one of them?" He looked thoroughly disturbed by that fact. "Why didn't she, y'know, kill me then?" Robert asked the obvious question, as if hoping that what I had told him was a lie.

I shrugged. "I don't know. But she obviously didn't want us meddling into this region's affairs, so she tried warning you off. Maybe she doesn't want to kill unnecessarily like the other two."

"What if she's not even the same person as the one you met?" Robert asked again.

"She is," I shook my head. "Because she tried warning me off back in Johto as well, a day before Silver and I encountered the three of them. Plus, her albino Sceptile, her name is Ghost.

Robert sucked in a breath. "The Pokemon she was searching for... But why would she use her Pokémon's name like that if she's a secret assassin?"

"Probably so we knew the full effect of her warning," I told him. "Because if we mess with them... Silver and I only just managed to escape them back in Johto," I said. "And from then on we had to evade them while we took down the Team Rocket hideouts. It was only when I met Giovanni for the last time was when he told me he had called them off. I won't lie, they could have killed us if we weren't so lucky." I faced both Robert and Alex now. "These are people even I can't take on. If we get too involved, we might be their next targets. Don't you see why I would prefer we take a step back and let Unova deal with its own problems now?"