Swanna Song, Sung Throughout Sinnoh

Gary got to his feet.

The armed people held their guns threateningly at him.

“Don’t move!”

“WE WILL SHOOT!!”

“FREEZE!!”

“GET ON THE GROUND!!”

“We’ll shoot!!”

“LAY DOWN!!”

“EVERYONE RELAX!”

Everyone stood still.

Gary held his hands by his chest, trembling but glaring from Isaac, to his gang, and to Isaac yet again, continuously. His angry eyes settled for Isaac. He made two tight fists, desperate to hide his quivering.

Isaac and Prof. Oak wrestled for the gun so close to the opening of the helicopter before both men fell out, screaming.

“PROFESSOOOOORRRRRRRRR!!!” Gary erupted.

THUMP!

Gary’s lips started quivering, and he could feel tears building up in his eyes. You... Gary thought. I... His eyes widened as he remembered. I can... He flinched, his arms moving for the straps on his shoulders before he froze, remembering the people around him ready to shoot him up. His eyes swept around at them all. I can’t do a thing. My gun. I’ll be dead before I can get it out of my bag.

“I’d like to know how you arrived here, and unconsciously, and your reason for being here,” Isaac inquired. His evil smile went away now, leering seriously at the child.

“Wh-what?” Gary understood what had been asked, but he didn’t understand why he was being asked. Yeah, he was wondering the exact same thing, but how would he know anything?

“Gary, you will answer me now, or I’ll be happy to personally toss you out of this helicopter,” Isaac said seriously, and he stood up, the others making room for him as he left his chair and took a few steps forward before stopping. He was still a good distance off from Gary.

Gary’s heart was colliding with his chest harder and faster by the second. I don’t understand! he panicked in his head. What does he want from me? I... The last thing I recall is...

Gary was choking when the monster grabbed him by his throat and hoisted him high up, over the edge of the mountain.

The sickening eyes of the monster gazed back at him before she cocked her arm back. And the monster flung him off the edge!

Gary screamed as loud as he could from a weakened body.

Gary’s thoughts stopped and he realized he was gazing at the floor. “The monster...” he whispered.

“Pardon me?” Isaac walked a little closer. “I didn’t hear you. Could you speak up?” He smiled lightly, leaning an ear and raising a hand to it.

Gary swallowed, looking at him. “Uh, I-I don’t know how I’m here. The m-m-m-monster. She-she threw me off the mountain. I must have somehow survived the fall...?” He was too terrified to speak straight, and on top of that, he was so confused. I survived that? He could still recall how he felt as he was falling to his presumed death, low on energy, struggling to move a single muscle.

Isaac’s hand dropped and he straightened up, frowning. “The monster.”

Gary swallowed, nodding. “Y-y-you know, that weird... That - I dunno what it is. That... beast... creature??”

“Gary, let there be no doubt in your young mind, that that is without any doubt, a Pokemon. And I can prove it.” He raised his hand holding a little black object that was outlined in a light-blue glow. “We are in fact currently tracking her down as we speak.” He held out the object in his hand, a black device with a black antenna stuck out from the top, several white buttons on the body along with a red dial, and a glowing screen displaying something. “Gary, allow me to briefly explain exactly what this is you see. This is the prototype to a nearly completed work Team Solace has been perfecting since before we were known as an organization.”

Terrorists! Gary wanted to shout so badly, but he grit his teeth instead. He was also struggling to stop trembling in front of the group, not wanting to show the slightest hint of fear.

Isaac opened his mouth and breathed out. His mouth closed and he took in a deep breath through his nostrils. “I assume you are familiar with the Pokemon move, Detect?”

Detect... Dodges all moves, Gary knew and nodded slowly.

Isaac held up the little square box in his hand. “This device mimics Pokemon moves. At this time, it only is programmed for a handful of moves, but in the long run, the idea is to have all known moves of Pokemon accessible.”

Gary squinted in confusion. He heard him perfectly clear, but what was heard didn’t make any sense to him.

“It’s not hard to understand. In fact, it’s as simple as it sounds. It’s precisely as I described. I’m using it right now, in fact. See?” Calmly, Isaac got closer.

Gary gasped, not believing that this man was just easily approaching him. “Back up, yo!” Gary’s voice cracked, and he grabbed at his shoulders, not caring about the people with guns surrounding him, and slipped his bag off of his shoulders. Or he tried to. “Huh?” He could have thrown up from how nervous he felt, his heart rebounding off every part of his chest, as his hands gripped tight on nothing. He rubbed his fingers together in confusion and grabbed at his shoulders again, ending up staring at them as he realized his bag was gone! In fact, his coat was gone, too! “Hey!” He looked outward in shock.

Isaac stared at him calmly. “We’ve taken your property, Gary. Your Pokemon, your Pokedex, your coat and bag.”

“My Pokemon!!” Gary shouted angrily.

Isaac got closer, stopping before Gary. A smirk crossed his face. “Have you learned how to fire a gun yet, boy?”

Gary gasped.

Isaac held his remote object in one hand. His other hand raised and sat on something sitting at his waist.

A black holster. Sticking out of it was the black handle of a gun. “I’ve been looking for this. I assume you were going for it in your bag just now.”

Gary was breathing angrily now, forcing out each breath, sneering at the man.

“I can teach you, if you’re so interested, Gary,” Isaac offered. “I can train you to use the best weaponry out there.” He released the gun handle and held his other hand out to Gary. “Tell me, what do you say?”

“I’m not stupid, and neither are you,” Gary answered, wanting to spit into the man’s hand. “We both know I’d kill you the instant I learned how to use that thing.” He was giving it his all to keep his voice steady.

“Not under the right influence you wouldn’t.” His smile broadened. “Gary, we should talk.” He spoke sharply, “Bring us a chair.”

It took only seconds for two black folding chairs to be brought over, and Isaac sat.

Gary didn’t even look at the other chair, keeping his sights on Isaac.

“Whenever you’re ready, Gary. I’ll happily start.”

“I’ll never join with you creeps,” Gary spoke with great disgust in his voice. “Don’t waste your breath. If you’re gonna kill me, then kill me.”

Isaac kept his smile. “I would never kill you, Gary.”

“You almost had me and my friend killed in Lavender Town!” Gary burst out. “If I hadn’t-!” Right then, he went silent and swallowed. If I hadn’t...?

The smile on Isaac’s face slowly faded away as he watched Gary.

If I hadn’t... what? Gary recalled the day he jumped the man who was about to shoot Aly in the back. When?? he started wondering, his body quaking harder now, a strange discomfort falling on him like a weighted blanket. When did I make that jump?? I saw the man raise the gun, but I don’t remember... Gary blinked repeatedly, and something suddenly rang a bell. No, I was behind him. I must have been. I saw him raise the gun but I was behind him. It makes... sense... Somehow, I-

“Gary, what happened in Lavender Town?”

Isaac’s question startled Gary. He looked at the man.

Isaac was staring right back with a hard face. “Gary, at the Indigo League, you said something that has stuck with me all this time.”

Gary blinked, and his heart filled with dread. It didn’t take him long to know where this was going. What Isaac was going to say next.

“You told me I had killed your friend in Lavender Town.” Isaac’s voice was gravelly, dark, serious, and cold. “And I had agreed. For a moment, what you said made complete sense to me. But that never happened, did it? I could have sworn that I knew what you were talking about, and then I realized, what I was remembering never occurred. In fact, it wasn’t a memory at all. I don’t know what it was, but the moment felt right to respond how I did.”

Desperate to keep what he felt was fading sanity, desiring with all his heart to keep a sense of understanding, Gary glared hard at Isaac and clenched his teeth while making tight fists. He focused his mind to focus on the parts of his body that were tightening up, treating it like a kind of grounding for him. A mental place to cling to, because he was feeling like he might just slip off the planet, and he didn’t understand why.

“This should mean nothing to me. All the death I’ve seen, this simply should just be me remembering perhaps a similar situation. Simple déjà vu. But, no. You just confirmed it, didn’t you? It happened to you, too.”

Gary just stared at Isaac with wide open eyes.

“Didn’t it?”

Gary didn’t respond.

Everyone was quiet.

Isaac lowered his eyes and sighed. His eyes returning to Gary, he spoke, “Gary, how did you enter my helicopter? From out of thin air.”

Gary blinked and looked stunned, his mouth hanging open. “Huh?”

Isaac frowned. “I won’t lie to you. I could threaten your life, but with this incident we both share, I find you a somewhat valuable asset, for now. That said, this could all mean nothing and be nothing. In other words, you may play innocent with me all you want, but your survival depends on me believing... this has meaning to it.”

“But I’m not lying! That monster thing had me and-!”

Isaac leaped out of the chair and to his feet, the chair falling over.

Gary screamed as the guy approached him.

His foot stomped right in front of Gary and he leaned over, getting closer, baring his teeth in fury. “It is a Pokemon! That creature is a Pokemon!! Do you understand that?!” He looked maniacal and ready to strike if it meant Gary never calling that monster anything but a Pokemon again.

Gary swallowed, his trembling arms keeping him up on the ground.

Isaac was frozen in his position, waiting.

Gary took a deep, shaky breath in. “It-it-it threw me off the mountain, and I woke up here,” Gary spoke, unable to hide how frightened he was. His hands wouldn’t stop shaking, digging as hard as they could into the floor. “I-I don’t know how I g-g-g-got here. I honestly don’t remember a thing. How-how-how c-c-could I just appear here out of n-n-nowhere??”

Isaac straightened up, groaning a little. He placed his hands on his hips and tightened his eyes on Gary.

“In fact, if I just magically appeared here, wouldn’t it make some sense that I wouldn’t be able to explain that?” Gary tried.

“In this world of ours where Pokemon exist, magic is one of the least complicated of things to explain and direct the blame onto,” Isaac answered.

Gary sighed on the inside, knowing Isaac had him.

“Psychic types who Teleport, control our very reality; Ghost types that transfer between the realms of life and death at will, literally Evil type Pokemon. Living, breathing, physical embodiments of pure evil entities!” Isaac went on. “Fires that burn houses ‘til nothing is left standing. Startling the wrong Electric type resulting in death by electrocution. Poison, Pokemon! Need I say more?!”

Gary’s eyes closed and he lowered his head, staying quiet. He knew there was no arguing with a person like this.

This was a man who had lost his daughter to a Poison type, which started his insane ideology.

But Gary also knew, he had nothing to say in the face of Isaac’s arguments.

Isaac started muttering to himself.

Gary looked up at him.

Isaac was staring at the ground as he mumbled incoherently.

Gary couldn’t understand a word he was saying, but he did pick up on the man repeating similar sounds, over and over again, little additions at times, but overall the same melody, the same beat, the same thing.

Isaac suddenly stopped and focused sternly on Gary. “How is it okay, to allow children to venture into this chaos? Surely, adults have the right to jump to their demise, but what right do we, as adults, as the parents, the caregivers, have to force the children into our madness. That, is what bothers me the most about all of this.” Isaac went silent as a pair of tears started running down his cheeks. “You kids don’t have a clue what you truly want in life yet. Not at ten years old.” He shook his head slowly. “You’re not even old enough to drink and drive and... And...” He shrugged wearily. “But you’re old enough to travel the planet on foot, going headfirst into the living embodiments of all parts of nature. Without even knowing what that means. A bunch of fifth graders. You barely understand what a girl is and you think you’re ready to grapple with the bull of life by the horns?”

A young Gary from just a couple of years ago was in his classroom at school. The teacher was giving a lesson, but he had his favorite children’s horror series book hidden under the desk, reading it quietly, his binder sitting up to cover him further. Getting lost on a thrilling twist, he jumped with fright as his book was snatched away by a sudden hand!

The teacher, Miss Ariel, had his Yungoosbumps book held high, a raised eyebrow on her face as she stared with dissatisfaction at the kid.

Gary smiled shyly, his face getting hot, and he looked around at his snickering classmates.

Robin was the loudest one, outright laughing hard.

Aly rolled her eyes and sneered at him, looking away and writing in her binder while shaking her head.

Kiwi kept her head in her binder, grinning as she also shook her head.

*

“I wan’ caaaaaaaake!!” little Aly screeched, slamming her fists on the table.

Everyone was in the backyard, the kids sitting at a long wooden table. They all had a slice of chocolate cake on a plate.

Only one child had a problem with this. Her arms were crossed at Gary’s eight birthday party, pouting. Gary’s mother tried offering sodas, ice cream, candies, and toys, but stubborn as ever, Aly rejected everything, eventually getting up and sitting in the grass, her back to everyone. She was successful in making everyone believe she was just angry and being difficult, but it was more than that. Sniffling as quietly as she could, tears were rolling down Aly’s cheeks.

Gary’s mother, after going over to Aly, realized this and kept it a secret, sitting with her and talking low.

Young Gary just rolled his eyes and sighed angrily, everyone, including a snickering Robin, staring at him. “This is the worst birthday party ever,” he grumbled.

Kiwi got up and walked over to Gary’s mother and Aly and sat at Aly’s other side.

Gary and Isaac stared at each other without speaking a word.

“I’m the crazy one, am I?” Isaac questioned Gary.

Gary stared to the floor. He’s not wrong... In fact, he’s right. Isaac... is right... Life was so simple back then... he remembered. Hanging out with my friends. School we hated so much, but was so much safer than all of this. Having a home and food. My mom. My sister... Did we really think it’d be wise to give all that security up? No. It’s not that, is it? It’s that... We... were allowed to do so! Allowed to make such a choice!

“Gary, did you lose someone on your journey?”

Gary blinked hard, paying attention to the man who had spoken.

His eyes were full of sorrow. He slowly got down on one knee, not removing his gaze from Gary’s. “Who is this... ‘loud girl’ that I spoke of? Who is it you believe I took from you?”

Gary’s eyes filled with tears, not understanding what was going on. But he was frightened, because he knew that both he, and Isaac, knew about whatever it was that neither of them understood. Why us? Why did this happen? Why this thing? What does it mean? Aly... His eyes slammed shut like a steel bear trap. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” Gary erupted like a volcano, grabbing at his face and leaning back until he fell to his back and started crying. What the fuck is going on here?! Gary wailed in his mind. He was heaving, letting out pained confusion and just trying to regain control of himself as his body seemed to be fighting against it. Something was wrong. Gary’s shoulders were grabbed, and he gripped at whatever was holding him. He glared at the face of Isaac.

“GARY! PLEASE! Take it easy! It’s okay! I’m here!”

Gary didn’t move, staring into Isaac’s determined eyes.

“It’s alright, son. I’m here. Just talk to me.”

Gary’s head tilted. Son... Gary swallowed. Son? He could see Prof. Oak so clearly in his head. His rage building, he shoved Isaac off of him.

As Isaac fell over, the surrounding group of people yelled out, readying their guns.

“STOP! It’s okay!” Isaac insisted, getting to his feet but staying kneeled down and raising one arm out to Gary. His stern eyes stayed on Gary’s. “He’s unarmed. He poses no threat. He is just in need of help.” Isaac slowly stood, keeping one hand extended to Gary. “It’s okay.”

“You’re not fooling me, bitch!” Gary shouted at Isaac. “You’re not gonna trick me into sympathizing with you, damn it!”

Isaac’s hand fell away and he breathed out.

“Yeah, I’m not stupid!”

“No, just brainwashed. Poor child.”

“I’m not brainwashed, either!” Gary belted out.

After some time of no one speaking, Isaac finally sneered. “I see this talk will get us nowhere. But, there is one thing I do wish to share with you.” He raised the device in his hand and looked at it. “Detect, as I was explaining to you.” He inhaled and now spoke in a louder voice. “Detect tracks the opponent’s actions to determine how to avoid them with perfect precision! With this device that can use any Pokemon move, we can manipulate that further, to track down any Pokemon. Team Solace’s grand prize. This Pokemon.”

He’s convinced this is truly a Pokemon, Gary kept to himself.

“Using Detect, and some DNA we obtained from her, we are finally able to locate this bitch and will destroy her as we were so close to doing last year.” Isaac kept his stare on Gary. “Before you stopped us.”

Gary held his breath, not believing what he had heard.

“We had her, and were going to end all of this madness, but you arrived and put a stop to our plans.”

Gary’s eyes widened. You mean...? he realized.

“We would have killed her, but it was made pretty clear to me that the same boy from Lavender Town was also in those woods where we had managed to track the Pokemon down, and the bitch got away. She was shot and hit, and thanks to you, she was able to flee. Recovering energy from... your sister?”

Huh? Gary didn’t know how to respond to this outwardly.

“That’s what my subordinates told me, anyway,” Isaac said quickly.

Is he still trying to play mind games with me? Gary wondered.

No, he answered immediately. Because that’s exactly what happened! Isn’t it?! This isn’t taking my past experiences to use them against me! He’s telling me what I actually went through!

And yet... Gary rebutted. He is using that against me, isn’t he?? He is trying to manipulate me! The question is... Is what he’s saying, wrong?? His hands made tight fists, unsure of what decision he was supposed to be making. Sneering, he cleared his throat. “Why were your men even with my sister to begin with? What were you guys doing with her that day? Why?!” He leered so hard at Isaac, he was sure heat would burn the man to ashes any second now.

“That was nothing but a coincidence. It could have been anyone,” Isaac answered. “My people were trying to save your sister when you arrived. They were specifically hunting the Pokemon down. The goal was to kill her, and they had her shot. Unfortunately your appearance slowed things down and allowed for the monster to use your sister’s life as energy to recover and escape.” Isaac swallowed, keeping his eyes on Gary. “This isn’t your fault.”

Gary swallowed hard, keeping eye contact, before speaking some more. “So...” He thought for a moment. “You mean, she took energy from my sister? When she killed her?”

“Blue electricity surrounded her hair, and it was as if the hair came alive and attacked her, yes?”

Gary nodded, not being able to forget that moment. A moment he thought of nearly every single day.

“It’s some kind of an Electric move. Something that drains life out of one source and gives it to her, instead,” Isaac explained. “Similar to the Grass move Giga Drain, which you likely are familiar with.”

She has moves... Gary took in, but didn’t move or speak.

“This isn’t her only course of healing herself, however. You see, we nearly had her until you and your sister ran into her. This time, she utilized her Electric attack to heal herself and kill your sister, but she is fully capable of recovering from gunshot wounds on her own. She uses small but concentrated sparks to heal wounds. She can use-”

A BANG! from a bullet fired by one of many armed officers caused red liquid to burst out of the monster’s shoulder as she was attacking Gary.

The monster’s body flashed white, blinding and sending a painful burst through Gary and the armed officers.

Robin was shaking Gary now, trying to help him focus and see, Aly also next to him.

Gary could see the monster, her skin white, facing Aly’s Ivysaur. There was a trail of dried blood leading from her shoulder, down her arm and stopping at where her knees would be, if she had them. She was no longer bleeding.

“Gary. Are you still with me?” Isaac asked. “Gary. Can you hear me?”

Gary blinked twice and shook his head slowly, softly. “Huh?”

“Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“She can heal herself,” Gary muttered absentmindedly. “She has attacks. I get it. She can recover. I’ve seen her heal herself before.”

“But do you understand my point, Gary? The fact that, your sister didn’t have to die for that monster to regain her strength.”

Gary blinked again, soaking in Isaac’s words.

“Your sister was murdered for no reason by that Pokemon.”

Gary’s brain froze. His body gave a shudder. Something came over him. It was like he was running. No.

Flying through the air!

Gary blinked, staring at the floor of the helicopter. Flying...? he told himself, continuing to blink a few more times. I’m inside. What was-? He felt strange in his head. Dizzy. Sick. I’m dying, he knew. I’m losing it! I’m gonna-

“I know this is painful for you to process, but at least, it’s been about a year since the tragedy, dear boy. You don’t need to wait much longer for retribution, either. As I’ve been explaining, we are currently tracking down the Pokemon using this device.”

Gary could hear Isaac, but he felt like he had come back from another place. He swallowed down the urge to vomit. I can’t think straight, he panicked, wavering on the floor.

“We are not far away from her, Gary. With this device that uses Pokemon moves, we can use Detect to track down Pokemon, and so, we have located her. As I explained, we had obtained a sample of her and have used that to find her and we already have her location.”

“Where?” Gary wasn’t even looking at Isaac, lost in his own mind.

“Not far ahead, now. We should be able to spot her pretty soon. It all depends on-”

“No. Where... are we?” Gary interrupted. “Are we by Alamos Town still?”

Isaac paused, inhaling, and then shook his head. “No. We are far from there by now. We passed by there.” Isaac watched Gary. “Is that where you were? Alamos Town?”

Gary nodded. “Yeah.”

Isaac didn’t look away for a while. Finally, he stood. He turned his back on Gary and walked away, looking at his remote. “We had only passed over the place. We didn’t stop there. But you say you were on the mountain by there, and were thrown off of it, and ended up in my helicopter?” He turned back around to look at Gary.

Gary found bravery inside of himself suddenly, staring at the device in Isaac’s hands, and he groaned, shoving both hands to the floor. Standing, he saw into Isaac’s eyes. He understood in that moment what was going on. Where this was headed. What he had to do. Even if he wished with every bone in his body that he didn’t have to. “Isaac. That device tracks down Pokemon?”

Isaac’s face relaxed a little. “That’s correct, son. This can track down any Pokemon if given the right information.”

“Please, my father died. No son talk,” Gary requested.

Isaac reacted slightly to this, his face changing to minor surprise. “I am-”

“Isaac, can that device track down things other than Pokemon? Human beings? Animals? Cats and dogs? Squirrels?”

Isaac’s eyebrows narrowed, and he bared his teeth, like a dog warning something to stay back. “This device is for Pokemon, and it tracks down Pokemon! That is why it has found this monster. It is the proof that she is in fact a Pokemon!”

“I understand,” Gary tried calmly. “I’m just asking if that device could track down things other than Pokemon. Since we don’t know what she is, but you can track her down, it could point to her being something-”

“SHE IS A POKEMON!!!” Isaac roared at Gary, his hands open at his face and shaking as if he were struggling to keep himself from ripping his own skin off. “THERE IS NO QUESTIONING THIS!! IT IS PROVEN!! SHE HAS ATTACKS, SUPERNATURAL ABILITIES, THERE IS NOTHING, NOOOOTHIIIING ELSE SHE COULD BEEEE!!!”

There were a couple of uncomfortable flinches and movements from the gunmen in Isaac’s organization, but everyone kept their position.

Gary looked to the movements without moving his head and then kept his attention to Isaac. Right, he told himself.

Isaac was breathing hard despite having done little but make noise. His lips rubbed together, fire on his face. He licked his lips and sniffled, sneering, and then he inhaled. “I’ve lost everything,” he whispered. “All to save you all on this planet. And still, despite all the evidence I have shown,” his voice went to a normal level, the whispering done, “I am still questioned?” He sniffled harder this time, the sound of snot in his nostrils.

Gary’s mouth opened and he tried to reason with the man. “I just wanted to be sure we were on the same page, Isaac. Okay?”

Isaac’s shaky hands lowered and slowly became fists, his face full of so much fury.

Gary took this as a threat. “I’ve lost things, too, Isaac,” Gary added quickly. “People. Family.”

Isaac’s face softened and he ended up nodding. He then walked up to Gary.

Gary’s throat tightened and he forced down a swallow.

Isaac got closer, a stern look on his face, the look of a torn, beaten, broken man. He stopped.

Gary stood his ground, but he was terrified, his body quivering nonstop. He feared he’d soil his pants in two separate ways if this went on any longer.

Isaac made a move, grasping his gun’s handle and taking it out swiftly.

Gary took a step back, unsure of what to do, or what he could do.

Isaac held the golden gun out to Gary, but he wasn’t pointing the barrel at him.

Gary stared at it, and then looked at Isaac before looking down sharply to the weapon again. He looked back to Isaac’s face. “What...? What is this?”

“It’s a gun,” Isaac replied seriously.

“But, why? Isaac, I-”

“I trust you, Gary. At this point, I trust you. I’m not afraid of you. And even more so, I’m not afraid to die. But this isn’t about that. Take this gun. It has seven rounds in it. Using it is easy. The chamber is in. You just pull back the slide to cock the weapon, then fire. Keep this up until you’re ready to actually use it. Then just push this down.” Isaac tapped at a little switch on the side of the gun. Then, he looked to Gary. “Now take it.”

Gary wished he weren’t shaking, but there was no stopping it. He reached out with both hands and grabbed the dangerous object, retrieving the same gun he had taken only some months ago. I have it back, Gary told himself, keeping his eyes on it. This is it. You can kill Isaac. You can avenge Prof. Oak. You’ll be dead right after, but, well, actually, you probably won’t be able to do a thing. You’ll be shot to death first. You’re not killing Isaac. You’re just a kid. A dead kid. This is it.

Isaac straightened up, causing Gary to look at him. “Drop your weapons.” His eyes were stuck on Gary.

It took a moment, but slowly, everyone started putting the weapons away or if they were too big, set them on the floor. They still kept angry eyes on Gary, but they listened to their leader.

“Relax,” Isaac told Gary. “I trust you now. And like I said before, I’m not afraid to die. Do as you wish, Gary.”

“As if I’d get out of here alive if I did that,” Gary replied.

“Getting out alive may not be your priority. But killing me might.”

The two males stared at each other, Isaac calmly, Gary nervously.

Is he trying to read me? Is he trying to psyche me out? More importantly... is he right?? Is that what I want to do? Am I willing to kill Isaac, knowing I’ll be killed soon after? Is that worth it?

It might be... Gary considered, his body shaking even harder now, and he looked down at the gun. “But, I can’t kill you.” He looked up to Isaac. “Not anymore. Can I? Not after everything you’ve told me. I understand now.”

“Do you, Gary? Are you sure you understand?”

Gary didn’t answer, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

Isaac reached into one pocket and he pulled out a blue object.

Gary’s new Pokedex!

He held it out to the child.

Gary looked from the Pokedex to Isaac, and he felt himself starting to crack emotionally. He could break into tears at any moment. “Isaac...”

Isaac opened his mouth.

“I don’t want that thing anymore!” Gary burst out before the man could speak. Tears rolled down his cheeks. “At least, not yet. I need to kill that monster first. The Pokemon. I need to know what plan you guys have in stopping her once and for all.” He looked around at the people in the room around them and then returned to Isaac. “After we kill this thing, we can talk more about what she is, and how to save the world.” He stared at the gun again, and then stared back to Isaac.

Isaac suddenly snatched the gun from Gary!

The boy jumped in response. Oh, no, Gary thought the worst. I’m dead!

Isaac flipped the switch on the gun down, and then cocked the gun back. He then pointed the gun at Gary’s forehead.

Gary gasped, frozen in terror. Realizing his mistake. Seeing his failed opportunity. Understanding his stupidity in trusting Isaac. “Isaac,” was all Gary could utter.

“What is it?” Isaac asked.

Nothing else happened.

“Let’s make sure you’re prepared to use the gun. Just in case,” Isaac stated. He lowered the gun, keeping it pointed at Gary’s chest. “Get ready to use this thing in the coming minutes or so. Just beware. It has a nasty recoil.”

Gary looked like he’d pass out right then and there, ready to breathe out in a huge sigh of relief and then drop dead.

Isaac put away Gary’s Pokedex and then motioned with the gun. “Gary, this is yours.”

Gary tried to breathe, but it was hard right now. He was still gathering his thoughts and putting away his fear in poor fashion. Finally, he inhaled and carefully pulled the gun from Isaac. Every passing second getting the weapon freed from Isaac felt like minutes. And with each second within those minutes, Gary anticipated the explosive BANG!! of the gun going off to kill him. Seconds later, Gary now having the gun in his control, he was taken by surprise when Isaac held out a hand.

Isaac was looking at Gary forcefully, angrily, seriously.

Gary stared at the man’s right hand.

“Gary, will you join Team Solace, and put an end to all of this madness?” Isaac suddenly asked.

Gary’s eyes bulged out at Isaac.

Isaac kept his hand out. “Join forces with me, Gary, and we can save the world. It all begins with you. This Pokemon is killed, and the world starts to heal. It’s only the first of many steps for us both, together, Gary.”

Gary sneered at the man, literally growling at him now!

But to Isaac’s surprise.

To the surprise of the Team Solace members in the helicopter.

Everyone but Gary gasping.

Gary grabbed Isaac’s hand!

“They say the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Gary’s eyes tightened, the grip of his right hand also getting tighter. “Consider us on the same team, Isaac.”

Isaac slowly smiled and then nodded, his eyes tightening back.

That was when Gary lowered his gaze to the two hands shaking.

And he gasped as he realized that he wasn’t in any pain using his right hand to grip Isaac’s!!