Shigeki was old. He was old eighteen years ago, when the war with Johto was in full swing and he and his colleagues were trying to figure out how to save Kanto. The oldest of that group, he was even older now, and only really hanging on through healthy living and sheer force of will.

He'd been in hiding for all this time. The moment he'd heard the news, that Oak had surrendered to Lance, Shigeki had known he had to go to ground. Not because he feared for his life, for he knew that Lance wouldn't actually want to kill them, not any of them. No, the Johto General would go out of his way to keep them alive, to be able to parade them around, Kanto's greatest scientists and heroes, reduced to his pawns.

But Shigeki had more to fear than the others. For Shigeki not only was the only one to know where The Catastrophe had gone… he was the only one still keeping it at bay. This was the secret that he would no doubt take to his grave, the secret that had kept him hanging on this long already. For… what would become of the Catastrophe once he was gone? How long would the containment hold? Ten more years? A hundred.

No matter when it eventually failed, people would suffer for it. And so, Shigeki tried to hold on, tried to be ready, just in case he was needed before the end.

In the meantime, he had settled down in Viridian City, right under Giovanni's nose. The Gym Leader with his fanciful Team Rocket had all these great plans and designs for taking back Kanto from Lance. If he knew Shigeki was in his own backyard, he would probably have tried to strong-arm the old man into helping. But Shigeki was too well hidden for that. Refuge in audacity, if you will.

Indeed, even when that one young Rocket Admin had come through a while back, Shigeki hadn't been worried. Though, it was a shame about what had happened with Policeman Ted. Shigeki had taken his Jynx over for a little 'playdate' with the Police Officer while the man was in the middle of a conversation with the Rocket.

Shigeki didn't know all the details, but from reports after the fact, it sounded like the young Rocket had taken some issue with Ted and Jynx's relationship. To meet such a young Pokephobe in this day and age… it was such a shame. Why, Shigeki remembered a time when human men and Jynx could live openly without fear of judgment! Poor Ted. He didn't deserve to be discriminated against for his love of Shigeki's Jynx. Really now.

Even now, when that very same young Rocket, now dressed in the uniform of an Executive of all things, comes down the road towards where Shigeki is standing, the old man isn't worried. There's no way that he would know who Shigeki truly was. No way for him to-

"Shigeki."

Hearing his name spoken for the first time in eighteen years, Shigeki freezes in place, eyes widening under bushy white brows.

"O-Oh? Must… must have the wrong man, sonny! Ehehe, don't know-!"

"No. You are Shigeki."

Frozen for a moment… Shigeki lets his shoulders droop.

"Come… come inside if you will. Never know who might be listening in."

Leading the Rocket Executive into his house, Shigeki sighs.

"What's all this about then? What does Giovanni want?"

"Not Giovanni. Bill."

The young Rocket is clearly a man of few words. Still, Shigeki nods stiffly as he accepts this new information. If it's Bill who sent this man, and not Giovanni… then there's no doubt what he's after.

"I see. Then I know what you want. I will give it to you, just please… promise to leave my whereabouts out of any report you might have, alright? Not for my sake, but for the sake of my daughter. I'm not long for this world, you see… she deserves to live out from under my shadow, once I'm gone."

Never has Shigeki more felt the weight of his years, in fact. Time almost seems to stretch on, as he waits for a response from the pink-haired young man. Until finally…

"Okay."

Letting out a sigh of relief, Shigeki smiles an honest smile.

"Thank you. You have no idea what this kindness means to me."

He gets nothing more than a silent stare in response. It's downright unnerving, but maybe that's just his nerves talking, heh. Either way…

"You want the Catastrophe. And I can give it to you, indeed I can. I know exactly where it is… because I've kept it locked away all by myself these past two decades."

The heavy revelation hangs in the air, receiving no verbal response from his young visitor. Shigeki peeks out from under one of his bushy brows, but no… the Rocket Executive IS listening, he just doesn't have any sort of reaction to give him. Hmph.

"I can free it from its cage at any time. Is that what you wish me to do, young man?"

"Yes. It is."

Nodding at the affirmation, Shigeki sighs, pulling out a remote he's kept in his pocket every day for the past two decades. He didn't dare let it out of his sight, always keeping it against his body, even while he slept. It's been his constant companion, with him making sure to change the batteries every six months, to keep it operational.

"… Are you sure you can handle it, young man? The Catastrophe… it's nothing like you've faced before, and nothing like you will face ever again. Are you absolutely certain you can defeat it?"

It's almost too good to be true, really. Shigeki was growing increasingly worried that his solemn duty would have to be kicked down the road and be unleashed onto some poor unsuspecting souls in the far flung future. But here this Rocket came along, to offer him salvation.

"Yes."

He sounds so confident. So sure of himself. And it's not the brash bluster that say, Giovanni always had going for him. That man, as charismatic as he was, was ever the over-confident, over-the-top sort, at least back when Shigeki had known him. In comparison, this young man's confidence is a quiet sort. Very… composed. Focused. Determined.

"… I believe you. The Catastrophe is trapped off the East Coast of Cinnabar Island. Leave now, begin making your way there… and ten minutes after you've gone, I will release it from its cage."

The young man doesn't ask questions. He just nods, turns, and leaves the house. For a moment, Shigeki stares after him. As far as saviors went, the Pokephobe who beat up Officer Ted for his clandestine relationship with Shigeki's Jynx would have been the old man's last guess. But… these things came in all shapes and sizes, he supposed.

Ten minutes on the dot after the Rocket's departure, Shigeki flips up the cover on his remote… and presses the release button. Then, he sets the remote down on the table in front of him, staring at the blinking red light that confirmed the action had gone through.

… It was out of his hands, now.

-x-X-x-

"JESSIE!"

"JAMIE!"

The whole world has stopped making sense, and as things get worse and worse by the second, Jessie loses track of Jamie in the whirlwind of horror and abstract fractures in reality itself. They'd just been hanging out on Cinnabar Island, waiting for Cam like he'd told them to. Jessie had been stewing in her own indignation and resentment, wondering what the fuck she was supposed to do next.

It started off small. She'd gone out and gotten herself a sandwich. When she came back to the Pokemon Laboratory and reached for the handle, her hand had closed on empty air. Blinking, Jessie had looked, only to find herself staring at a blank wall in place of the Pokemon Laboratory entrance she could swear she'd been looking at a moment before.

Then, a door had opened in the air above her head, and Jamie had come tumbling out. From there… things had only gotten worse. They'd tried to stay together. At one point, they'd even seen Bill and Fuji and Blaine all looking around themselves in horror, talking amongst themselves.

Apparently, this was the work of something called The Catastrophe. Apparently, it had been 'unleashed'. Only then had Jessie began to understand the true scope of what the scientists and Cam had apparently been aiming for. Only then had she begin to feel real, bone-deep fear.

She'd tried to keep Jamie's hand in her own. For all that Jessie had been upset when Jamie had signed them up for a life of servitude to Cam with no parole in sight, she still loved the other woman. Jamie was her best friend, and she always would be. Jessie couldn't imagine a world without her. But then, she couldn't imagine a world like the one she was currently seeing either, and yet, here they were.

Cinnabar was a mess within minutes. Reality itself was no longer making sense. Up was down, left was right. Buildings were outside, and the Outside was inside. You could take a step forward and end up three steps back or five steps to the left.

That might explain why, despite all of her best efforts, she lost Jamie. Jessie didn't let go. She swears she didn't. She would never, not in a million years, let go of her best friend's hand. But somehow, someway, their fingers slip. Maybe they even go right through each other, the two of them phasing just one step out of each other's realities for a second.

It doesn't matter what happens, but it needs to be said, it is NOT Jessie's fault. Not Jamie's either. One second, they're holding each other for dear life. The next, Jamie is gone, and while Jessie can still hear her voice, she cannot find her. She can't see anyone. All she can see everywhere she looks is pure madness.

The Island is coming apart at the seams. The buildings are stretching up into the sky, and then stretching across the sea. They're turning into a mesh of spaghetti one moment and snapping back into place a second later. Out in the ocean surrounding Cinnabar Island, it's not much better. Jessie can see water going every which direction, and land cutting through this or that wave.

Too afraid to take another step, Jessie falls to her knees, her hands landing palm down in soft ground beneath her. All she can do is hang on for dear life to nothing and everything. All she can do is hope that this small piece of land she's currently kneeling on will remain real, will stay constant. Because if it doesn't, she's afraid she might just be scattered into atoms. She's afraid she might just straight up die.

Looking around, tears streaming down her face, Jessie tries to find Jamie. But she can't. Instead… instead, she hears a Pokemon's cry, and looks up just in time to see a familiar orange blob blotting out the sun.

Swooping down on his Dragonite, Cam arrives with his jaw set and a look of determination on his face. He lands on what should have been the Eastern side of the Island, and Jessie watches him from what might have been a few dozen feet away, or a few miles. She can see clearly though, both him and his Dragonite as Cam stands there, facing away from her.

She almost calls out to him, only to choke on her words, because in the next moment… things get worse. Jessie would never have thought it possible; it was already enough to make her head spin, her stomach flip, and Jessie herself sick. But it happens all the same.

Some… THING comes out of the choppy water on the Eastern side of the island. With appendages that aren't appendages, with a body that isn't a body, it pulls itself out of the depths and onto land. Jessie gasps, as just looking at the thing makes her weep. Her head hurts, feels like it's splitting in two really, and she feels water trickling not just from her eyes, but from her nose.

Reaching up, she brushes the back of her hand across her face, only for it to come away red. She's bleeding. Bleeding from both the eyes and nose. Just staring at this thing is killing her, but once she starts to, she can't seem to look away. Choking, Jessie spasms, her eyes taking in the scene against her will.

Cam stands tall. His Dragonite at his side… and some sort of strange-looking purple Pokeball in his hand. There's no way, right? That thing… it can't be a Pokemon, can it? But then, what else would it be? There are all sorts of Pokemon the world over. Plenty that defy the commonly established laws of reality as they pertain to humans, too. But this thing… this thing is an abomination.

And yet, Jessie watches as Cam faces it down fearlessly and seemingly effortlessly. She watches as he throws the purple Pokeball at the creature, and it opens up on contact. A flash of energy flows from the Pokeball, covering every last inch of the impossible abomination and sucking it in. As the purple Pokeball closes and lands on the ground at the water's edge, Jessie stares with bated breath as it shakes once… twice… thrice!

The chime goes off, and in an instant, the world is set to right. Reality reasserts itself, and everything that was altered or changed by the creature is back to the way it was before. Even Jessie, when she reaches up, finds no trace of blood. The pain in her head is gone as well, the damage done to her reverted.

She's alive. She's… she's alive!

"Jessie!"

A moment later, Jamie impacts with her, skidding to her knees as she hugs Jessie tightly and refuses to let go. And Jessie… Jessie hugs her back, of course. But even if she clings to Jamie just as hard, Jessie's eyes aren't on her friend. Touch alone is enough to let Jessie know that Jamie is really there, that they're back together.

Jessie's eyes, on the other hand… are fixed solely on Cam, who has picked up the purple Pokeball and is looking at it wordlessly. From the opposite direction, Bill and Fuji begin to approach, but Jessie barely notices them in the moment. She's too focused on the young man that they're walking up to.

Cam… for the first time, Jessie begins to truly get what Jamie sees in him. The fearlessness, the overwhelming personal strength. He… he'd shown that 'Catastrophe' who was boss!

… as she stares at him, Jessie wonders what this strange feeling in her chest is. What does it mean, to have been saved by the man who all but owned her and Jamie? What did it mean to her, to be so thoroughly in his debt? Licking her lips, Jessie tastes the idea for a moment, rolling it over in her head. All in all… not too bad.

-x-X-x-

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