Bab 54: A World Painted in Black and White
"REN!?"
"REN!?"
The boy cried as he tried to find Ren. He was swimming in the cold seas, feeling the cold air and water flow through his skin. He was shivering as he continued to find Ren. He knows that he owes her an apology, he was just paranoid after seeing the similarity of her outlines to the man who shot him dead, and mistaking it as her is just something too harsh for him.
He held firm on one of the debris of the ship. He turned around and saw the ship being engulfed in flames as he heard the screams of the passengers desperately trying to find an escape.
"REN!? WHERE ARE YOU!?" He cried once more as he tried to find her in the deep dark night but to no avail. However, there was something blue floating nearby, the thing was very familiar and Yoake swammed towards it. It was the Azumarill plush that he gave to her earlier. There were few burns on its surface, its left arm was torn up and some of its fur coating was gone.
He regretted everything he said earlier as he hugged the plush. Weeping in tears as he thought that was his own doings. He embraced the plush as he embraced the words that he remembered before the ship exploded.
'I'm your sister.' were her last words before vanquishing in the deep seas. He cried as he wanted to believe that she's still alive, he couldn't tell where but all he knew was that she was still alive. With the freezing water counting the amount of time he has left, Claudine managed to find him.
"Yoake! There you are." Claudine sighed in relief. She was a few meters above sea level as she was busy trying to find her trainer. She couldn't find Gengar or Ren, as if they disappeared from thin air but that was in the least of her concern.
"Quick, we have to go." She said as she teleported beside him. She closes her mouth and begins to find Charizard's Pokeball.
"Ren? WHere is she?" The boy cried. Asking and Hoping to the 'Embrace Pokemon' that his sister is alright.
Claudine, who finally understood what Ren meant earlier, she wasn't confessing for affection but confessing for actions. From nearly killing them to kidnapping them to a failed assination attempt that nearly killed Leaf to this yet she feels pity as her trainer's hope and remorse to his sister over clouds her judgment. Instead of answering her trainer's question, she grabbed one of his Pokeball and threw in Charizard.
"Charizard. Fly us to shore." She instructed the Flame Pokemon. It quickly followed her orders as Claudine teleports Yoake to its back. Hoping that heat from Charizard's tail would give him enough heat to increase his temperature after being in the cold waters for nearly 9 minutes.
"What!? What about Ren!?" A confused Yoake asked his Pokemon. Charizard takes off and heads to the shore with the two on its back.
"Listen, I couldn't find both her and Gengar." Claudine told the trainer.
"I'm sure they're alright." She continued as she tried to assure Yoake that they are alright even if they don't know where they went.
As Charizard was about to land on the shore, they saw helicopters heading towards the wreckage, doing everything they can to save the passengers and while that was happening, Yoake felt something, something was wrong.
"Charizard. We have to go home." Yoake urged the Pokemon as he felt the sudden coldness in his heart. Claudine also felt it, she couldn't tell why but it was something important that they should go back to Yoake's penthouse as soon as possible.
The Flame Pokemon nodded and it followed Yoake's direction as they headed back home. They landed on the pavement nearby, the two hopped out of Charizard's back. Shivering as he was, Claudine gave Charizard's Pokeball back to Yoake.
"Thanks Charizard." The trainer thanked his Pokemon. There was still water dripping out from his body as his clothes were soaked from the cold sea. He noticed that there were burns on his beloved scarf but instead of giving it any huge significance, they immediately headed inside of their apartment building.
"Good evening Mister Katsuragi. Do you need some towels?" The guard greeted them as soon as they entered the building.
"No… No need." Yoake said as he declined the guard's kind gesture. Claudine felt that there was something strange about the guard, it felt like it was not a human nor even a Pokemon. She couldn't tell what it was but she tried to ignore it as they headed to the elevator.
However, as Yoake pressed the Up button, Clauinde saw blood in one of the lockers in the locker room. She raised her eyebrow, confused and curious she was, she headed towards it. As she entered the room, she heard a loud banging in the distance. She looked around, trying to find the source of the loud noise and she immediately saw a pool of blood on the floor. Shocked to see this, she covered her mouth as she couldn't believe what she just saw. She heard the banging continue once more and she managed to find where it came from, the door at the back of the room. She noticed that there was a trail of blood that was heading towards the door, it felt like something was bleeding and was being dragged to the door.
Then the banging stopped.
She headed to the door, opening it and saw a body. Its face was brutally beaten up to the point it won't be recognizable, its white uniform is drenched in bleeding red blood, and its fingers were being chopped off. She realized that this was the guard when they left for their adventure many days ago.
She begins to connect the puzzle and realizes that her suspicion to the guard is true. She immediately headed back to alert her trainer. The guard slowly walks toward the trainer with a knife on its back.
"Yoake! Move!" Claudine alerted her trainer as she hurriedly went towards him. Yoake was confused by this but he turned around and saw the guard with a knife in his hand. He flinched in fear.
Without even needing to turn into her Battle Bond form, she created a sword from her hand and decapitated the guard in a clean swoop. The guard's head dropped to the floor but instead of seeing blood dripping from nape, there were pink blobs dripping from it. It was a Ditto in disguise.
The Ditto tries to reform itself once more but Claudine immediately sliced its body off, killing it in the process. She took a deep relief as she managed to stop another assassination attempt. With the elevator door finally opened, Yoake realized that his parents were in great danger.
His thoughts were being shadowed with darkness and despair as he felt like the worst has yet to come. He hoped not for it to happen but it was inevitable. As soon as they reached their floor, they headed to their penthouse, and to their surprise, it was slightly open.
"No… No,.. NO!" Yoake repeated as he opened the door with a sudden rush.
It was dark, blindingly dark. His heart raced in fear as he tried to find the light switch. He managed to find one and flicked it open and when the light revealed the scenery, his heart stopped and everything he held dear was shattered to the ground.
The place was a mess, it's as if there was a fight that happened here earlier. There were stains on the walls, purple viscous liquids scattered all across the floor. There were several broken pokeballs in the room, Claudine's heart dropped as she knew what it meant, the Pokemon in it were dead.
The wall that was painted in black and white slowly painted his grimm reality. He walked forward thinking that the colors of hope are still there but there were darker shades of the black world that have yet to consume him. He saw a pool of blood that stained the white carpet, it led to a body that was facing above. It's Yugure. The first victim. Her once colorful songs that gave hope and passion to the bright world of Kanto were shattered in seconds. The fallen idol but her shine will still light the dark gloomy days of Kantonese people.
No words could describe how the trainer felt as soon as he saw the corpse of his younger sister. The only person in his family that he was close with.
He continued to walk further with his eyes describing his soul slowly leaving his body. It didn't take another minute for him to find another body and beside it was the body of a dead Chansey. It was his mother. The woman that gave birth and raised him. She was busy alongside his father but there was one thing that made her close to his dearest heart. Her embracing aroma and comfort to her food. Knowing that his least meal from her was the day when he was asked to give Yugure's lunch. That was the last time he felt the embrace from his mother. No one will ever top her food, not even the finest chef that the world has to offer, nobody will.
He cried as he desperately held onto his humanity as the monster within him slowly consumed him.
"yoake…" A whisper at a distance called out his name. It was his father's voice.
He walked toward the direction of the voice and saw his father, lying on the floor with a massive cut on his stomach and rocks piercing through his arms. It's as if the killer wants him to suffer long enough before dying.
"Dad?" Yoake cried as he saw his father.
"I'm sorry if I was a failure. I'm sorry." He cried as he hugged his father knowing that this was his fault.
"No no. You were never a failure to me. You never were." His father hushed him as he tried to comfort his son before dying.
"No. This is my fault. All of this happened because of me." Yoake continued to rant.
"This isn't your fault kid. It was mine. I failed to protect and to raise you."
"I deserve this." His father stated.
With his life clinging on to the last seconds, he decided to give one last inspiration to the boy before leaving the world.
"Yoake. You are the best Pokemon trainer in the world. I never doubt that. Take care of your Pokemon as if they are your family. Promise me that. Treat them as your friend, Don't abuse them."
"Your… grandfather… he'll help you… his… number….
is in my office."
With his last breath concealed his fate. He closed his eyes and peacefully died in the hands of his son. The same son that troubled him for many years ago but secretly wants to protect him. He assured himself that Leaf will be there to take care of him. He knows that the trauma he has to create for his son will never forgive him for it but all he hopes is for his son to have a bright future.
To the man who created many wonders, may you finally rest in peace.
It's as if the warm sun slowly sets and lets the dark coldness swallow the world.
Yoake sniffed and whipped his tears as he desperately headed to his father's office. The office that always piqued his curiosity. Inside of him, there was a growing hate and frustration that was brewing inside of him.
He failed to save Ren
He failed to save his family
He nearly failed to lose Leaf
All of the internal regrets were consuming him. He tries to fight back but all of the monsters in his closet slowly eat him away. And there was one thing that he blamed for all of this. Team Rocket. This anger was so strong that it fully affected Claudine to feel the same thing. This shared hate between the two made them weaponized Battle Bond. The thing that Leaf fears.
He didn't hesitate and headed to the office. He opened the office door and saw it was just a regular office. Complete with bookshelves filled with books, chairs, plants and pictures for decors, it was just a regular office. However, on his father's desk, there was a phone on top of it. He walked towards it and made a clear inspection onto the phone, and beside it was a yellow notepad with the label…
'Call him!' in blank ink. Beside it was a pen, assuming that this was the same pen that was used to write the words in the yellow note.
He looked at the phone with utter curiosity. It was a keypad phone, it was one of those old phones with their physical keypad. He opened it and saw a number labeled 'Father's number'.
Later on, the police arrived as one of their clients noticed the blood in the lobby and called them as soon as possible. The two, alongside the other clients, were in the nearby police station to be asked for witnesses during the scene of the crime. Yoake's family was labeled dead and the news immediately covered it.
This was breaking news as the man who created the machine that saved millions of Pokemon lives is now dead. It spreaded through TV to TV as many screens covered it. This news immediately caught Leaf's attention.
"Tonight, we have lost the most important man in history. He has saved many lives but he wasn't. Takeshi Katsuragi, son of the founder of Emerald City, Mister Murigawa Katsuragi. His son, Yoake Katsuragi is with the police, investigating who is the ruthless monster that saved many Pokemon who can't say their thanks of gratitude." The newscaster reported.
Leaf, who was watching the live coverage on her bed, decided to stand up as she felt like a storm was coming. She couldn't tell what it was but she was being warned by it.
"We have to go." Leaf told Erika, who's been with her.
"What? No. You're not yet fully healed." Erka argued to Leaf as she could see Leaf was having a hard time while standing up.
"I know but we have to find Yoake and Ren." Leaf bickered to the Grass-type specialist.
With nothing else to argue, Erika sighed and decided to help the trainer to find the two. Meanwhile, Yoake looks at the keypad phone with utter curiosity. As he continued to look at the phone, the police entered and showed him important evidence prior to his family's death.
"Here, you might wanna take a look at it." One of the police said as they showed him a USB drive. They plugged the USB to a laptop and revealed it to the trainer, there were only two items in the USB, a video and a note.
They opened the video first and it was the video feed of the suspect when they killed the guard and headed to the elevator to finish off the Katsuragi family. The unknown killer was wearing full black with a mask and hat to cover its identity but there was one thing that made Yoake burst in anger, the white hair.
As soon as the video ended, Yoake told them to look at the note.
"What does the note say?" Yoake asked them.
"Uhh it says, Head to Viridian City."
Yoake realized who could've written it. His frustration and hate grew stronger than earlier as this confused and angered boy is spitting for revenge to the person that made him suffer, the Commander.
Ren, his family, and Leaf. All of them suffered because of him. With his urge wanting to kill the commander and put an end to Team Rocket. He told the police to end the case.
"Put an end to the case. I'll handle it for myself." He told the police.
"What? No. It's against our protocol if we allow children to investigate any cases." The polie argued.
"Just label it as a case of suicide." Yoake said as his frustration continues to grow, so much so that he's slowly taking Claudine's power through their connection.
Frustration turned into energy and energy turned into intensity. That hate made the lights above them stutter as it slowly swung through the empty air. The lights went off and it immediately turned back on again, everything went back to normal except for one thing, Yoake and Claudine had already left the station and headed to the Viridian City Gym.
-
The two looked at the gym, remembering the fond times when Claudine was still a little Ralts fighting against Gasly. That was when everything was fine, the time before Battle Bond. The two entered the gym with little to no hesitation and as the doors of the gym opened, they were greeted by a white haired person.
It was Ren.
"Ren?" Yoake cried as he slowly walked towards her but as he looked at her body, he noticed what she was wearing. She was wearing the black uniform that made a striking resemblance to the Team Rocket Commander's Uniform.
"Yoake?" Ren cried in tears.
Unknownst to her, instead of seeing an embrace and happy Yoake, there was only hate and frustration. It was a grave mistake to her for wearing the uniform that made the trainer suffer and shattered the world around him. Painting it into a World with nothing more than Black and White.
"I'm so sorry…" Ren apologized.
She knows that she owes her an apology for being able to escape the tragedy earlier and not saving them since she couldn't find them. But that apology was different from Yoake's interpretation.
For him, it was an apology for killing his family and making him suffer.
For him, Ren is Dead, and in front of him is the Commander.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone