Reflections of the Past
Chapter 5: The Arrival
by: KentaMarina

Feb. 2008

Dot dot dot.

Reminder: This series is retconned. I didn't need to write that twice? Oh.

* * *

Chapter 5: The Arrival

        My first few weeks in the base was a very frustrating one, mostly because of Richter, the Executive. Lately, he has been always keeping an eye on me, probably trying to give Giovanni an excuse to get me out. But the most frustrating thing that happened is being sent on my first mission as a Rocket, and man, it was hard to not complete it without facing punishment for failure. I always seem to find myself blaming him everytime I screw up, but that was what I felt at that time, before I knew who Richter really was.

        The only thing that I really looked forward at that time is meeting my partner while up there. Lance already informed me that that person will be coming in a few days, and I'm was really excited about that, although it all changed when that person came. I felt a mix of anger and other things that I couldn't describe at that time. I continued to read the rest of the document.

    Under Lance's permission, I was called to the base to assist Kenta while on his mission. I was to create this document and send it back to HQ with all the necessary details and information on the three leaders' plan.

 * * *

        "Where am I? This place looks like a wreck!"
        I was standing in a small place that was in ruins. I walked around and checked inside the houses, but there was nothing left. I went into a familiar-looking house with a green roof. The door was already broken, so I went in.
        "Hello? Is anybody there?" I called out.

        No answer. I continued to look around the destroyed house and noticed stairs leading up. I decided to go up and check the rooms to see if anybody else was there. I came across a door that looked a lot like my own bedroom door, only this one wasn't made of the same material that mine was made of. I went inside and took a look around. It was then that I fell to my knees and realized that this was my room, and this was my house. I ran over to Matt's room to see if anybody else was there, but it was empty. I decided to go out into the open and realized that this was New Bark Town, only it was destroyed as if it had been in a war or something. Something then lit up in my mind and before I knew it, I was at Marina's house. My mind was racing and I felt really scared thinking about what had happened when I was gone. I ran inside the house and up to her room. I kicked the door open and took a look around, when finally, I walked over to a dead body, knelt down, and rolled the body over to see who it was. When I saw the person's face, I immediately recognized it as Marina. I sat there in total shock, and I felt tears rolling down my cheeks... She was dead, and I couldn't do anything about it. I turned around, only to find Giovanni with a gun in his hand. He pulled the trigger...

        I woke up in a fright. It was just a dream, and I was glad that it was just a dream.
        "Damn," I cursed, breathing heavily, "I'm not gonna let that happen, no matter what," I said to myself as I stepped in the shower.

* * *

        After I got out, I put on my Grunt uniform and went for the Control Room, where I saw Richter standing there in the doorway.
        "What do you want?" I asked with a stern face.
        "Me?" Richter replied. "I just want you out of here," he replied firmly as he walked away. I didn't look back as the lock scanned my hand and opened automatically. I went inside and decided to sit down on a nearby computer when...
        "Kenta!"
        It was Giovanni. He learned my name when the guys at Reconnaissance scanned my background info. Fortunately, the info about my ranking as a Trainer was filtered by G-Men HQ. I faced him and kept a straight face. The other idiots around me looked at what was happening and listened to the conversation.
        "As an Executive, you have to be able to complete at least one assignment, and I've found the perfect one for you," he said quietly. "Follow me."
        And I did follow him, hoping that this assignment he was about to send me off to did not have to involve doing something like finishing the machine in the Radio Tower...
        Unfortunately, it turned out to be exactly like that. A downside to my "background" was that somebody in HQ put "Excels at repairing devices" or something like that, so that's why I was sent on there. And now, here I am inside the Radio Tower, completing the machine. The crew up on the floor where the machine was being built pleaded that it shouldn't be completed.
        I walked over to one of them and whispered in his ear, "Don't worry, I have no intention of fixing this machine," I said. "I'll just make a few 'modifications' on it," I whispered again.
        "Just who are you?" he asked.
        I smiled. "That's the last thing anyone will ever know," I replied smoothly as I got back to the machine just in time as Richter got up the stairs. He glared at me like I was some threat to him. I ignored him and continued to "fix" the machine, which is, change the whole thing so that it will only affect wild Pokémon, but I would take care of that later...
        After I was done, I was sent back to Base. It was dark when I came back, but I managed to report to Lance and tell him about the assignment I was just sent to do. I heard him make a sigh of relief when I told him that I was successfully able to disable control over Pokémon caught by Trainers, but he warned me that if I don't disable the control for Wild Pokémon, the Pokémon might start attacking Trainers they see.

* * *

        The rest of the week was kind of easy, if you wouldn't count my first time fighting off controlled Pokémon. I was to continue doing this for quite a few times in the following days. The easy part was when I was assigned to simply go inside Control Room and work out stuff on their computers, including repairs (which once again, making them invulnerable to the Base's tracking devices inside them). When suddenly, on Thursday afternoon, something happened. I received signals of an incoming Trainer on a Pokémon. I reported this to Giovanni and he asked Richter to go out and intercept the Trainer. After Giovanni left, I dashed to my room, turned on my laptop, and activated the surveillance camera G-Men was able to attach outside the gates. The Trainer was a girl in a Rocket Grunt uniform, who kept her cool while talking to Richter. I then saw Richter lower his weapon and lead her in. I immediately turned off my laptop and contacted Lance.
        "Lance, did you send somebody to help me out here?" I asked.
        "Yes I did. She should be there about now," he said. At this, my eyes widened in surprise. "End transmission," he finally said, and my PokéGear shut off by itself.
        "I don't believe this, he should have told me this morning!" I said to myself as I ran towards the door, anxious to meet my partner when the door suddenly opened when I reached it. It was Richter and my partner behind him.
        "Assignment orders," he said. "She'll be staying with you," he said again as he stepped aside to introduce...
        "Marina?" I said without thinking.
        Richter was surprised at this. "You know her?" he asked.
        I quickly shook my head, sweatdropping. "No, not really, she just looked like somebody I thought I knew," I lied. At that, I saw Marina's expression change from calm to furious in a split-second. Richter looked at me suspiciously for a few seconds and left.
        The door closed automatically. I couldn't believe it. Lance had to pick her, out of all the people I wanted to protect.
        "I cannot believe you, Lance! Why did you have to pick her!" I thought furiously.
        After we heard Richter's fading footsteps, the room was very quiet, and I knew I had a lot of explaining to do...

* * *

        I opened my eyes again, and the dark room once again came into focus. I couldn't believe that she was supposed to be my partner there, but it all changed eventually as we continued to stay there together for that time...