Chapter Twenty-Three: Enemy Of My Enemy



Gladion's POV



I wake up feeling like a truck ran over me. My arms and legs are shackled to a chair, and I've got a headache worse than the time I drank that sour Shuckle juice without checking the expiration date.



It takes a moment for me to get my bearings. Oh, right, I jumped in front of a tentacle monster to save my friend. And then I tried to fight it, and it dropped me, and I think I must have hit my head in the fall, because that's all I can remember. I've got a lump the size of a Spearow egg on my noggin, and it hurts.



The green-haired woman is standing in front of me, holding a whip. Somehow I don't think she's about to LARP a scene from Fifty Shades of Gray. At least, I sure hope not. This will be painful enough as it is.



"Comfortable?" she asks sarcastically.



I glare at her. "Do I need to answer that question?"



"Not really. I'm a psychic. I know exactly what you're thinking."



Lovely. "Well, that saves me the trouble of giving you the finger."



"Considering your hands are bound behind you, that's a small mercy."



Cold silence.



"So," Sabrina says, "let's commence with the pleasantries. You're going to tell me just why that Mew friend of yours is walking around in human form. Oh, don't bother putting it into words; I know what you're thinking, after all."



Well, I'm not shy about saying it anyway. "Because humans are douchebags that would try to catch him if he showed his face as a Mew. That's not exactly classified information."



"Indeed." Sabrina examines her fingernails. "But that's not all, is it? No, judging from your memories, I'm guessing your little friend isn't much of a Mew at all."



I bristle. "He has Klinefelter Syndrome. His weak bones and muscles affect his battling, and he isn't able to reproduce. That doesn't make him any less of a person! And if you DARE try to hurt him, I'll--!"



My voice breaks off, as I realize I'm not exactly in any position to make threats.



Sabrina is unimpressed. "Lucky for him, then. Team Rocket has no interest in pursuing a genetically inferior Mew. But if he, or any others of your little club, dares set one foot or paw in Saffron City, you understand we'll have no choice but to destroy them."



"Funny you should mention destruction," I mutter, "given that this entire planet is in jeopardy."



"Oh?" Sabrina raises an eyebrow. "Ah, yes, that little situation. I'm not blind, you know. I saw the same prophecy that all the Xatu reacted to. If this planet continues on its current course, natural disasters will increase and the planet will be pulled out of its orbit and into the sun, leaving life impossible. It's already started, you know."



So she does know! "Do you know what causes it?"



"I'm not at liberty to discuss such things in the middle of an interrogation," she says, " even if I knew. But I can tell you who can stop it."



A flash of light swirls around me, and suddenly I see her. Terra. The girl that came from another world. It takes me a few moments to realize it's not actually Terra, but an illusion of her, pulled straight from my memories.



"You've already met, I see," Sabrina says. "The girl from another world, the only one who can save us. My psychic power is not perfect; no psychic power is. The brain is, after all, just another organ. So I cannot tell if this girl will succeed or not." She leans in closer. "Surely your continued existence is proof that she could fail."



I flinch. "So, what's it to you? Don't you want to see the world saved as much as any of us do?"



"I do indeed. Which is what puts me at an impasse. I am full aware that you and your friends intend to storm Saffron City and 'liberate' the test subjects we need for Project Burst. That, as an administrator of Team Rocket, I cannot allow. But I also cannot condone putting the would-be savior of our world at risk of her life. Do you understand?"



I consider this. "Yeah, well, we wouldn't be trying to free the prisoners if you hadn't been taking prisoners in the first place. I know Ilima, and I know Gary, and they aren't going to just stand by while you experiment on an entire town."



"Then go to them. Stop them. At least convince Terra not to go with you. Which shouldn't be that difficult; she's only a novice trainer, so she really shouldn't be getting involved anyway. You'll be doing her a favor."



"And what's in it for me?"



"I should think that would be obvious. You get to go free. Otherwise, well, Project Burst could always use more test subjects."



"What the hell is this Project Burst, anyway?"



"That's none of your concern." Sabrina snaps her fingers. "I'm aware that due to your condition as a time traveler, threatening you with death would be meaningless. But this much is certain: your pathetic attempts to 'liberate' the people of Pallet Town by interrupting the experiment would, at this time, only end in their deaths."



"What's that supposed to mean?"



"It means that if you have any care at all for the people of Pallet Town, you won't be rushing into things far too advanced for you to understand."



"Like genetic experimentation?" I snort. "My best Pokemon is a genetic experiment. Don't try to tell me what I don't understand."



"Indeed." Sabrina pauses. "Under normal circumstances, said Pokemon -- which are quite intriguing, I must add -- would be confiscated and sent to the labs for study. But it appears to me that leaving them with you could help us both."



"Say what now?"



"The red-haired man you encountered in Pallet Town. The one who dominated Giratina. His name is Lance Blackthorn, and he's a member of the Elite Four, the strongest trainers in the region and the enforcers of order in the region." Sabrina leans in closer. "And if my precognitions are correct, he and the rest of the Elite Four will play a part in our planet's destruction."



I consider this. Briefly. But I do consider it. "How do I know you're not trying to set us up against your enemies?"



"A tempting arrangement, but you've seen what Lance is capable of. Controlling one of the legendary Dimensional Dragons, one of the very Scales of Balance that protects this world..."



One phrase strikes at my memory. "The Scales of Balance... Lance mentioned that. If that actually was Lance. What are the Scales of Balance?"



"Legendary Dragon-type Pokemon that keep the world in balance. Rayquaza. Giratina. Kyurem was one once, but became three. And Zygarde, the hivemind. Each one rules over a critical aspect of our world. Rayquaza rules the skies, Zygarde rules the ground, Giratina watches over dimensions, and Kyurem, in its Complete form, once watched over spirit. But ever since Kyurem's split over twenty-five hundred years ago, the Scales of Balance have been off-kilter. And their protection has waned."



"Protection?" I ask. "What was Kyurem protecting?"



"Like I said -- spirit. Morality. Ethics. When Kyurem split into three, it became a vast white Pokemon of truth, a deep black Pokemon of ideals, and an empty shell of neither. Without the original Kyurem's wisdom to guide them, the two factions of Unova tore their land apart."



"Nice to hear you rattle on about 'ethics' when you've got me bound to a chair," I say sarcastically.



"I didn't join Team Rocket because I enjoyed it," she answers. "I never liked battling. But the Elite Four's plans have put the entire planet in jeopardy. I joined Team Rocket to protect the world from the devastation in my visions. Our organization possesses power to at least hold back the Elite Four for a time, to grant our world's savior the time to grow in power and defeat the Elite Four once and for all."



"And you step all over everyone weaker than you in the process. How altruistic."



"If Lance has the Jade Orb, odds are good he'll be after Team Rocket to 'liberate' Rayquaza into his own brand of tyranny." Sabrina starts to pace in thought. "Which means you should leave now, before he realizes you're here. Bound like this, you'd make a tempting target."



"How did you even get Rayquaza, anyway?"



"Classified information. Let's just say Attila is a real hun. But you should get going." She snaps her fingers. "Kadabra? Teleport him somewhere off the outskirts of Holiwood City. He can walk the rest of the way."



"Now, hold on here!" I say. "What about--?"



My words are fruitless. Before I know what's happening, I'm no longer there. I'm on the outskirts of Holiwood, free as a bird, and my Pokemon are with me. Confused as frek. Twan whimpers and sticks close to Silvally, while Sasha looks around curiously at our changed surroundings. Bartok, the Zubat, flaps close to my head.



I sigh. Maybe someday before my death, I will find a part of the universe where everything makes sense. "Let's get going, then," I say, stepping forward. "The world won't save itself."