The hardest thing that I had to deal with was during the time of the ceremony when Jack's prophecy had come true. Fate knew that I could not win this race and the energy that I had displayed when Gastly took over had affected me in what felt like a permanent blemish on my conscience.

The darkness within me during that competition had clouded my judgement and it felt like when the ghost Pokémon possessed my soul. My body was once again under Ensign's control.

It made the whole goal of trying to stop Ho-Oh from destroying the region a more sophisticated proposition than I had anticipated. It continued weighing on my mind for hours on end.

Luckily, Red was the one that had let Gastly free from my body after I had finished the race.

He was the one that helped me avoid having that ugly sin becoming more transparent to others.

I was already embarrassed for even Lorelei, Misty and Brock to witness this side of me.

Once the award ceremony had concluded.
I wore my second place, silver medallion like I was wearing the heavy shame of sin along my neck.

In that endless echo of heaviness placed upon me, I rested on the couch inside the lobby of the Pokémon Center. While Gastly remained aloof above my head. Showing more of a look of concern toward me, but I didn't want to even acknowledge him.

Why is he not going back to his trainer?

I often wondered why? He was not leaving my side and for what? Because he doesn't trust Jack?

Maybe he was mistreated? Though that thought didn't surprise me either. Knowing how Team Love operates.

Yellow noticed that I was in a gloomy state and he decided to take a seat right next to me. He looked toward my face. But all I could do was attempt to ignore him by staring toward the tiled floor. I was just not in the mood to say anything to him. Not after what I had been through.

"That Gastly is feeling remorse from taking over you. He wanted to tell you he's sorry."

"I don't want to talk to him.. Not after what he did to me." I assured to Yellow.

Gastly gasped from that response and swiftly phased his ghostly body through the wall in order to avoid my scowl.

"Look, Pokémon don't want to do these things to us people. When they have a trainer that teaches them certain moves, either for good or evil, they obey." He informed me with those eager brown eyes of his.

"Yellow, I understand your concern, but the influence to unveil certain aspects about my subconscious past is too powerful not to consider. Gastly could become a threat with his ghost-like capabilities and I don't want to risk it. He destroyed every hope that I had, whose to say he won't destroy our hope of ever defeating Ensign and saving Ho-Oh from destroying this land?"

"You believe that he will still try and destroy our world in the future?" He inquired while trying to hold firm to that reality with courageous zeal.

"Jack was right that I would lose when he predicted my downfall through Gastly's foresight ability. It's possible that Gastly knew our future of stopping Ho-Oh from burning this region too, will come to pass." I said with as straightforward of an answer I could muster.

"But what if we can change that?—

"We can't change anything, understand Yellow? The future knows the outcome. We'll try and stop it but it will be in vain." I furrowed for his attention to the matter of fact.

Team Love had brought back memories that I had repressed all throughout my youth. The only escape I had to accomplish avoiding those memories was through video games on the Super Nintendo and computer hacking during my spare time. I would use this time to try and numb away all of the pain of being that evil trainer that was programmed to take Pokémon away from people.

The problem with that MK device that was placed on all of us during our childhood was that it would bring out the worst in us. Actions that you wouldn't even dare have at such a young age, like stealing. Yet we would celebrate it. We found pure joy in doing the things we did for Joker.

One memory of my darkest past stood out among the rest. The night when I stole from a poor family and never returned the Pokémon since.

I sighed from being rather direct towards Yellow's question and decided to tell him about why I had felt so immortalized, no thanks to Gastly's Curse.

"There once was a family that lived North of Mahogany Town in the Johto Region. They lived isolated from the world in a small log cabin near the Lake of Rage. It was winter time and me and Hanz Kaiser were partnered together to try and steal a rare Pokémon."

"What was that Pokémon?" He asked with a curious tilt of his hat.

"It was a Victreebel, the evolved form of Bellsprout which I have on my team. This family had relied on this Pokémon to help them with their crops. Each time the seasons changed the Victreebel would be there to trap all the bugs that would eat during the spring and summer season. However, Hanz and I came up with a plan. We would wait until winter. After the Pokémon's watch was over. We'd attempt to corner and steal him while they weren't looking." I continued with a pause in between while pondering with deep thoughtful consideration of the events.

"I-I just wish that I had known better. I just wish that I had stood up during this moment but the job had to be done." I said with tears flowing down from my face.

"The plan had failed and we saw the owners come out of the log cabin and they engaged me and Hanz into battle. He used his Machoke to defeat the fathers Persian the evolved form of Meowth. While the mother engaged me with her Slowbro. All while a little four year old child they were raising in the woods watched in fright as we defeated his parents one by one. We took the Victreebel hostage and Hanz set fire to the family's cabin. Leaving the child alone, crying in fear for his family and his future home in ruins."

"I'm so sorry Leaf, I never thought Hanz would be so cruel, but that doesn't surprise me in the slightest that he would go to such great lengths." Said Yellow apologetic while in thought.

"We took the Victreebel to Mount Silver and had him fitted with the mind control device. Our mission was to tap into the Pokémon's mind so we could unlock their potential. We truly believed that if we did so, we would be able to use them more effectively and harmoniously grow along with them. Instead we used the Victreebel to plunder entire villages and towns. I witnessed the growth of this Pokémon becoming increasingly evil by the day even after the MK device was taken off. A good Pokémon turning evil after my efforts..."

"You can't blame the past on yourself. You never wanted any of this to happen in the first place Leaf." Assured Yellow with as much comfort as he could while providing support by placing his hand firmly on my shoulder.

It was after all those traumatizing moments that I realized how cruel of a person I had become. I was smiling over the success of stealing this rare Pokémon that I wanted more of that thrill and adventure. But I was a violent and careless person.

Using Pokémon for wearing that device also brought out the worst in them to the point that their power levels would accelerate and their anger toward humanity would be unveiled in a miraculous way.

"Yellow, Ho-Oh has been wearing that helmet for a long time. I'm afraid that the effects of that device may have scarred him."

"Well, I can't say I blame you for feeling this way towards a Pokémon you care about. But how long has the MK device left as much of an imprint on you to the point where you overcame it and decided to do good? Maybe there is a way to bring Ho-Oh back, we just don't know it yet."

"How do you think it doesn't effect them as much as humans?" I inquired to Yellow with a reflexive quirk.

"The Pokémon mind is a very powerful thing, it should not be underestimated. A good demonstration was when we had to rescue Mewtwo from Team Rocket from the multiverse. He had a similar device that was probably in conjunction to the technology ya'll are talking about."

No way! So Yellow remembers the events that happened on Earth one?.... Mewtwo..

This brought more realization from the fact that the other Pokémon Trainer, Red of the other Earth had freed the Pokémon from Proton's grasp. But what really got me thinking was the amount of restraint that Pokémon had.

He free'd Orchid, the other copy of himself but despite his anger he did not lay a hand on the humans. Despite the freak of nature he thought he became. Despite how abominable humans were to him. He let all of us go free after returning the S.S. Anne to shore.

"You still hear from Mewtwo after we had free'd him from that helmet?" I asked softly.

Yellow turned toward me and smiled with such warmth and complexion. He knew almost immediately that this Pokémon was still around and that he was still communicating to him to this day.

"He says that he doesn't like humans but he wanted to thank me personally for reaching out to him when he had no one."

Yellow had brought to my attention something that I didn't consider during the event when Solress left the gate of the StarWarp open.

So there is a way, they might be in distress after the release and maybe that's to be expected. But we shook Mewtwo free from the same tech being traded among the two organizations.

Mewtwo demonstrated that he was able to overcome the device since he was free.

Maybe we might have a shot with being able to release Ho-Oh but buy enough time to contain his rampage like Pokémon Trainer Red-two did back on the other Earth.

It was only a matter of being able to bide our time. If it could be done, we actually might have a chance in freeing him. The plan can't be carried out yet.

We needed to get stronger and in order to do that we needed to enter a dark cave that would provide a path to other elite trainers that guaranteed that skill of strength we needed in order to accomplish our goal. My Dad knew as much, we still had less than a year to accomplish this.