PBZ: Vol. II Ch. 38

   After Riviére’s victory against Janine, Tatsu and Hanako respectively defeated her on their own. Afterward, they left Fuchsia City and headed back to Lavender Town. They reached Tatsu’s grandfather’s hometown towards the end of October and stayed for a few days, resting up before they depart back to Saffron City to win their sixth Gym Badge.

    On the final day of October, a Team Rocket grunt stared through the binoculars, observing the Fuji home from the mountains that watched over Lavender Town. He marked every detail that Mr. Fuji did within his home. This had been his assignment for a long time; the book within which he wrote these details were nearing the end.

    “Your hour is up,” said a female grunt as she tapped him on the shoulder as the sun began to set.

    “Finally,” said the man as he rubbed his sunken eyes and handed her the binoculars without a fight. He stood up and stretched his aching back before he walked back to camp. There were five Rocket grunts at the camp; including the young Natsumi. Unlike the other grunts, she didn’t wear the Rocket uniform. Instead, she wore a black and red dress with stripped socks.

    The sunken eyed grunt grabbed some grub from the cauldron of stew. The old grunt walked over and sat beside Natsumi as she played her video game, her Glameow sleeping on her lap. The grunt turned to her and asked, “Have you eatin’ any stew?”

    “That slop? No thanks,” said Natsumi without looking at him.

    “Tch. This is the third night you’ve skipped dinner. Eat up, girl.”

    “Get me better food, and maybe I’ll consider it.”

    The grunt laughed heartedly. “You remind me of your father in the war. He said the same thing to me once on the lines.”

    Natsumi looked up in surprise. “My father was on the front lines?”

    “Oh yes. He and his black Charizard. “The Black Dread”, the soldiers on the line called him. Towards the end of the war, the Charizard was slain by a Johto fighter plane.”

    “Why hasn’t my father ever told me about this?”

    The grunt shrugged his shoulders. “The Charizard was his first Pokémon. I imagine that it was a sore loss for him.”

    Natsumi looked down at her Glameow, who stretched her limbs. Suddenly, she turned off her game and pocketed it before she scooped her up. She stood up and started to walk away from the camp with her Glameow in her arms.

    “Girl, where are you going?”

    “Out,” she said stubbornly.

    Natsumi left the Rocket camp and traveled down the side of the mountain with Glameow. It was well into the night when Natsumi reached her grandfather’s house. Her stomach growled before she knocked on the door. “Quiet, tummy!” she whispered to herself. A moment later, the door opened and Mr. Fuji looked through the crack.

    “Oh, Natsumi! What a pleasant surprise!” said Mr. Fuji as he opened the door and invited her in. “What brings you to Lavender Town?”

    “Assignment. Dad made me do surveillance here, but it was boring,” said Natsumi nonchalantly as she walked in. “Do you have something to eat? I’m starved.”

    Mr. Fuji blinked then frowned. He didn’t comment on her mission to spy on him. Instead, he patted her on the head and smiled. “Of course, I’ll heat up some dinner for you.”

    Natsumi and Glameow sat in the dining room as Mr. Fuji heated up some food just prepared an hour or so ago. He brought in a stirfry for Natsumi and some Pokémon food for Glameow. “Dig in,” he said as he set down the food. They didn’t waste any time and started to devour the food immediately. Mr. Fuji took a seat beside his granddaughter and cupped his hands over a warm cup of green tea. “It’s a shame; if you came by earlier this morning, you would have caught Tatsu.”

    “How is he doing, by the way? I haven’t see him in what feels like, forever.”

    “He’s doing very well,” said Mr. Fuji happily. “He won his fifth badge about a week ago, and now goes to challenge Sabrina the Saffron City Gym Leader for his sixth badge. If he beats her, then he’ll be facing your Grandpa Blaine for his seventh badge.”

    “Do you think he’ll win?”

    “Of course,” Mr. Fuji replied. “His Pokémon are really strong,” Mr. Fuji took a drink from his cup. “I think that if he and his father were to have a battle, Tatsu would have a decent chance of defeating his father.”

    “Speaking of dad,” said Natsumi, “Can you tell me more? I feel like I don’t know much about him.”

    Mr. Fuji frowned. “Have you ever asked your mother or father?”

    Natsumi shook her head. “No, I never thought about it until now.”

    “Well,” Mr. Fuji took a sip of his tea. “As you know, your father isn’t my son by blood. When he was born, his mother died during childbirth, leaving his father to raise him on his own. His father, your grandfather, was a kindhearted man. When your father turned fifteen, he gave Giovanni a very special Pokémon; a golden Charmander. Before your father could begin his journey though, his father was killed in a surprise attack on Lavender Town. With no one to care for your father, I adopted him. When your father turned eighteen, he was drafted into the Tojoh War and fought for five years on the front lines. By then, he had a Black Charizard known on the battlefield as the Black Dread. Shortly before the end of the war, however, his Charizard was shot down and killed by a Johto fighter jet. This was perhaps his greatest loss, and the source of his anger. He was never the same after that. After the war, he married Ariana, your mother.”

    “Did they know each other before the war broke out?”

    “Oh yes,” said Mr. Fuji. “He and my niece were very close; they knew each other since they were roughly five years old. Though, after the war, she noticed that he was a changed man. We all were, to tell the truth.”

    “So why did father create Team Rocket?” asked Natsumi.

    “Out of anger and resentment,” said Mr. Fuji sadly. “When Satoshi defeated both the Johto and Kanto armies, there was no decisive victor between the two warring regions. Your father blamed Satoshi for not coming sooner and he blamed the Presidents of both regions for not coming to terms much sooner. Millions of people and Pokémon died, for what your father felt, in vain. Shortly after their marriage, your father created Team Rocket. The organization, as you know, are mostly ex-soldiers or sympathizers that felt the governments are corrupt, the war was meaningless, or are just out for more blood, thinking that there is nothing left for them in the world other than blood.”

    “Shortly after the creation of Team Rocket, Ariana, your mother, gave birth to Tatsu,” continued Mr. Fuji. “Giovanni never had time for the boy, which is why he and Tatsu butted heads so much. As much as Tatsu would hate to admit it, both of them are a lot alike. After you were born, your mother tried to give you the attention that Tatsu was unfortunately neglected, in that regard.”

    Natsumi picked at her stirfry as she let it sink in. “Is that why Tatsu ran away and joined Silver Academy?”

    Mr. Fuji nodded. “Yes. Giovanni never wanted Tatsu to become a Pokémon Trainer. He wants Tatsu to head the organization when he is gone; to take the mantle and hopefully lead. At least, that is what Giovanni has told me,” he said before he took a sip of his tea. “Your father never had a chance to follow his dream and become a Pokémon Trainer like he wanted. I think he doesn’t want Tatsu to feel the same despair that he felt when his dream went up to smoke.”

    “I think Tatsu is being stupid,” said Natsumi. “Daddy wants to save the country and reunite Tojoh for the first time in fifty years. Why does he have to hate dad for that?”

    “It’s not why your father is fighting, but how,” he explained. “Tatsu started to hate your father for a childish reason in beginning; when Blaine gave Tatsu a Houndour for his sixth birthday, but Giovanni took the pup and gave it to a soldier to train for combat. When Tatsu found out that the Houndour would be fighting on the front lines against both Kanto and Johto in terrorism, he grew to resent his father even more. Morally, Tatsu felt like his father was wrong for fighting Kanto and Johto the way he was.”

    Natsumi cupped her hands and placed her chin on her knuckles, leaning into them as she thought. “Grandpa, what do you think? Do you think dad is doing the right thing?”

    With a long face, Mr. Fuji sighed and thought carefully. “I have no love for Johto for invading Lavender Town like they did. When they attacked, they attacked civilians, not soldiers. Because of their surprise attack, not only was your grandfather was killed, but my wife, your grandmother as well. It was wrong for Johto to attack the way they did. Kanto fought back using the same tactics; killing civilians and tearing families apart. Neither your father nor I have ever forgiven them for using such tactics during the war. I cannot be angry at your father for wanting revenge for his Charizard and father’s death by the hands of the military, and he never wanted to fight to begin with but was forced to anyway, which resulted in his Pokémon’s death, the last thing his father ever gave him. I disapprove of your father’s methods, but I can’t help but not think that your father is doing what he feels is right.”

    Natsumi reached forward and placed a hand on her grandfather’s. “Don’t worry grandpa,” said Natsumi with a smile. “Daddy is going to change everything and life will be a lot better. Tatsu may not like how dad is running things, but it’s the right thing to do,” her voice became more serious. “We’ll get revenge for our family’s losses and make the President’s pay for all the suffering we had. Not just our family, but for everyone.”
    
    Mr. Fuji placed his hand over Natsumi’s and smiled at her, though he was unsure if Giovanni’s dream would ever come to pass, or the damage and blood needed to be spilled for such an undertaking to unite the fractured country or Tojoh.