-Blessed by Divinity: Eternity-

The Puppet Master

"...?"

The orange scaled dragon to my side only nodded, but that was all I needed to hear from my partner. The elevator doors parted, opening up to the building's lowest floor. Considering the lengthy journey, I wasn't surprised to see the doors open up to a lofty room, which looked more like a warehouse than anything else.

Dozens of tall shelves lined the room, filled with crates, boxes and anything else you could imagine would belong in a warehouse like this. Footsteps echoed throughout the spacious room picking up my attention.

Charizard and I decided against trying to stay undercover because whoever was still here would already know that we were coming. Besides, doing things the stealthy way didn't suit us. We were used to barging through the front door, mowing down anyone who stood in our way and sure enough, we were sticking true to our roots.

"There he is! Surround him!"

A loud voice was quickly followed by a marching of footsteps, countless Team Rocket grunts emerging from the shadows, surrounding the elevator entrance. Without hesitating, they all released their pokemon, ranging from various poison types to some dark types.

"...!"

I reached into my back pocket, pulling out a pokeball. In the space between us and them, a round navy blue skinned pokemon emerged, its tan face and stomach facing away from where I was stood.

Charizard joined his partner on the frontlines, the two pokemon nodding to each other before turning to the horde of pokemon before them.

"...!"

Without hesitating, Snorlax leapt into the air with his uncharacteristic speed, his body glinting a metallic silver. There was no time to avoid his attack, dozens of pokemon crushed under the sleeping pokemon's insane weight.

Charizard followed his partner, hovering above the cold metal floor. With one flap of his huge wings, the remaining pokemon were swept away by a gale wind. The trainers behind their pokemon were caught up in the hurricane attack, the path now clear for us to continue.

Both pokemon turned to me, wide smiles on their faces as they were able to battle alongside each other for the first time in a long time. With that, we pushed on, moving quickly through the warehouse, dealing with anyone else that tried to stand in our way.

No more than ten minutes later, we found ourselves at the other end of the warehouse, stood face to face with none other than the man who attacked Aaron and I at Vista Lighthouse.

"...!"

"Hmph, you shouldn't be surprised to see me Red. It seems like wherever I go, you're not far behind." The tall man sighed before turning to face me. "Here we are, stuck in this eternal game of cat and mouse, where you can never catch me and I can never escape."

The machine behind Giovanni continued whirring, operating while the suited man kept talking. From where I was stood, I couldn't clearly see what the machine was doing but even then I didn't think I would really understand much about it anyway. I only knew I had to put a stop to whatever it was doing and there was someone in my way.

Charizard and Snorlax were stood at the ready, waiting for Giovanni to make a sudden move. I was careful too, seeing that he was just trying to buy time.

"You chased me through all of Kanto. That boy, Ethan, somehow found me in Johto. And years later, some kid tracked me down to Alola." He paused, his face becoming serious. "I think I've had it with you pesky kids. The boss will make sure you've been dealt with."

"...?"

"Huh. You didn't think I was the real leader of Team Rocket did you?"

I didn't respond, unsure what to think. This was the first time I had heard anything about Giovanni not being the leader of Team Rocket. But now that I thought about it, things started to make more sense. Even after his defeat in Kanto, Team Rocket still hadn't been disbanded. Everything pointed to there being one more person pulling the strings from the shadows, even if Giovanni acted as the leader.

"Well, I'm not surprised. Even I haven't seen his face, even after working with him for more years than I care to remember." Giovanni paused, half turning away from me, his eyes looking into the distance, "But you will definitely meet him. He's finally decided that you're worth his time so you ought to be ready, because he will be."

"...?"

"Yes, you could say that. He's the reason we're still somewhat functional. Even after you dealt with the few admins we had, he kept us alive when I fled to Alola."

After a moment of deep thought, Giovanni turned away, stepping to the side. Now the machine behind him was in clear view but as I looked closer, it didn't look like much. There was only a large screen that was turned off, a variety of buttons acting as a keyboard of sorts beneath it.

"Even with Mewtwo by my side, you were still too much for us to handle." There was a heavy silence in the air as Giovanni paused before continuing, "Red, let it be known that you are the reason the boss has come out of hiding because once he's here, you'll know he's here."

At that, Giovanni seemed about done with his parting speech, turning away as he walked past where I was stood. Both Charizard and Snorlax looked back to me uncertain, but truthfully, I was as confused as them. I wanted to turn and stop Giovanni from leaving but something at the back of my mind told me not to.

As much as I wanted to apprehend Giovanni on the spot, there was nothing I could do to move my body. My eyes were fixed in front of me, an uncertain look as I turned to the two pokemon. They seemed to pick up what I was trying to say, turning to the direction I was facing.

Once the echoing footsteps became too faint to hear, the black screen before us stirred to life. A cold black background was filled only by someone wearing an ice blue mask. There were three darker holes in the mask for the eyes and mouth but I couldn't see anything through them.

Whoever was behind the mask kept their steeled gaze fixed on me any my pokemon, not turning away for a moment. His cloudy white hair was long, flowing past the mask, falling below his neck. There was a moment of silence before he finally spoke up. The voice was distorted heavily, further disguising whoever was hiding behind the mysterious mask.

"So it is you after all."

There was an audible gulp as I felt the masked man's iron grip around my throat.

"I suppose I should give you some credit for getting this far. Giovanni should have taken you more seriously because now, I have to take over."

Charizard and Snorlax both kept their eyes fixed on the screen. One look at them restored my confidence. I quickly shook my head, turning to the mysterious masked man.

"..."

"Huh. You're going to have to speak up boy, I can't hear you."

I didn't respond, my eyes fixed on the masked man on the screen.

"You should say your prayers Red because when we meet, it will be the last time you see me. I'll see to it that you are defeated once and for all."

With that, the screen turned off, only the reflections of the three of us on screen. There was a moment of silence before Charizard and Snorlax turned to me, their eyes filled with uncertainty.

I took a moment to clear my mind, turning to the two pokemon before me. Slowly, my lips curled into a half smile, my eyes burning to life as I came face to face with my first real threat.