I faced Falkner with a cold stare. I wasn’t afraid of him anymore- just furious at what he’d become. I clenched my fist. “I don’t care anymore, Falkner. I’m not stupid enough to think you’ll actually ask mom and dad to forgive me. And I doubt you’ll reveal yourself to the world, either. But I’m going to fight you anyways.”

               “Oh, you are, are you?” Falkner chuckled. “Let me guess- you’re going to beat me and vanquish the evil? Listen, little brother. It doesn’t work that way in the real world. If you beat me in a Pokémon battle, the only thing that’ll be wounded is my pride. If you kill me, there are plenty of others to take my place.”

               I smirked. “What happened to being so self-important?”

               Falkner chuckled. “I’m not here just for the power. I’m here to be someone who is cared about, even temporarily.”

               I didn’t bother to decipher what that meant. “Well, I’m not here to ‘vanquish the evil.’ I can’t take on Team Rocket by myself. I’m just going to prove that it can be done. If a fifteen year old brat can beat you, who’s to say the rest of the world working together can’t get rid of Team Rocket?”

               “What if I silence you to prevent that from happening?”

               “You won’t.”

               Falkner smirked, almost as if he was pleased. “It’s a shame you aren’t on our side. As much I despise you, I praise your bravery.” He released his prized Pidgeot from the Pokéball.

               “I’ll take that as a compliment.” I studied the Pidgeot. “One on one battle. Gigi versus your Pidgeot. If I win, you leave me the hell alone for the rest of my life. If I lose, count me a part of Team Rocket.”

               “A heavy bet there, little brother.” Falkner tilted his head. “And what happened to not trusting me to keep my promises?”

               I stared at him evenly. “You won’t go back on this one. I know you.”

               “Fair deal.” Falkner nodded at the Pidgeot. “Use gust!”

               Gigi glanced at me and leapt into the air, hardly being buffeted by the attack, and hit the bird across the head with a pound attack. Squawking, Falkner’s Pidgeot did a nose dive to avoid being hit again as Gigi fell from the air, landing perfectly. When did my Pokémon become a ninja?

               “Wing attack,” Falkner said calmly. The Pidgeot changed course in the air, veering back up and slashing Gigi with its wings. I took a deep breath. There was no going back now.

               “Sing!”

  *

               The battle was a blur. Gigi swung, the Pidgeot flew at her, and they attacked. I hardly had to order moves; Gigi could practically read my mind. It wasn’t like before, when she would go at her opponent without command just to annoy me. This time she was in sync with me, and we were winning because of it. The little normal type shouldn’t have been able to beat Falkner’s well-trained Pidgeot of ten years, but she did. “Gigi, finish this up with copycat!”

               Narrowing her eyes, Gigi replicated Falkner’s last move- peck. It looked hilarious as usual, but I didn’t laugh. I simply watched while my Igglybuff used the attack on Pidgeot.

               With a final cry, the Pidgeot plummeted to the ground, unconscious. I expected to feel happy or glad, but I didn’t. If anything, the battle had only quelled my anger. I felt a bit of relief that I’d won the bet, but who was I kidding? They could control me if they tried hard enough anyways.

            When I spoke, my voice was surprisingly calm. “Looks like you’re the underdog now, Falkner.” I said, gazing at him.

            My brother smirked at me. “The underdog? That’s cute. I haven’t lost, Jared. You have.”

            “I’m pretty sure I’ve won.” I said, raising an eyebrow.

            “Don’t be so quick to assume that victory lies in defeating the other. There are plenty of ways you can lose even after you’ve won.” With a smirk, he pulled out a sinister-looking black Pokéball.

            “What happened to the one on one rule?” I snorted

            “Nothing. This isn’t for my Pokémon, it’s for yours. This is a Dark Ball.”

            I barely had time to register what Falkner what saying before the Pokéball was flying through the air towards Gigi. My eyes widened in horror; panic constricted my chest. “No!” I screamed, racing towards her. But it was too late. My Igglybuff, still tired from the battle, was hit by the evil object and sucked inside.

            My hands shook, and I heard vaguely heard Falkner laughing. “You’re a fool, Jared, to believe that I’d let you off that easy!” I ran toward the Pokéball that lay ominously still on the ground, and frantically tried to pry it open, but to no avail. Falkner stopped laughing and said, “All you have to do is press the button. But it won’t matter.”

            Tears pricking in my eyes, I did as he said. There was blinding flash, and Gigi appeared. I took a shuddering breath. It couldn’t be. No, Gigi would never turn evil. She just couldn’t.

            I stepped towards her, arm outstretched, and her eyes snapped open. They were no longer the cheerful red of an Igglybuff- they were a darker, blood red color. Terror washed over me. “Gigi, no. It’s me, Jared. Listen to me, you know me. I’m your trainer, your friend. You- you aren’t evil. You can’t be.”

            Falkner snickered. “We’ll see about that one. Gigi, as your master, I command you to kill that boy.”

            Panic overwhelmed me as Gigi nodded blankly, starting towards me. “G-Gigi! Listen to me! I know you’re in there, don’t do what Falkner says, please!” I didn’t want to fight her; she might be hurt if I used a Pokémon to knock her out.

            “How adorable. This isn’t a movie where you can regain her memories by saying, ‘don’t you remember that time when we battled that one guy?’ or whatever. A Dark Ball doesn’t fail. You’ll just have to finish her off yourself.”

            “No, you sick bastard!” I screeched. “I won’t hurt her! I’m not giving in to you!”

            Falkner rolled his eyes. “Would rather die? You have to, or- oh, wait…it seems like she’s rejecting it.”

            I tore my gaze away from my brother and stared at Gigi, uttering a cry. She was twitching and crying as she tried to keep control of her body and mind. My eyes widened as she fell over, flinching again.

            I raced over to my Igglybuff, shaking her. “Gigi! Gigi, what’s wrong? Why are you doing this? What’s happening to you?!”

            “She’s trying to stop herself from being taken over by the darkness,” Falkner said quietly. “But if she does that, it will destroy her mind and kill her.”

            I looked back at Gigi, panicking. “No!” I shouted, tears pricking in my eyes. “No, please! Falkner, why? Why would you do this?” Gigi was screaming in pain and thrashing around in my arms.

            Falkner didn’t respond. He stared blankly and emotionlessly at me. He wasn’t laughing anymore. He looked almost regretful. Suddenly, as Gigi gasped for air, he stepped forward and said, “I’m sorry.”

            Rage filled me as I set Gigi’s hardly moving body. I stood up, fury overwhelming and blinding me. “You’re sorry?” I hissed. “You’re sorry?! I’ll rip your throat open, you lying monster!” I ran at him screaming, swinging my fists as he ducked and dodged my hits.

            “I hate you! I hate you! You’ve taken everything away from me! You’ve hurt the girl I love, you killed one of my friends and now Gigi is dying because of you! You’re not sorry! You’re not sorry!” My fist connected with his chest and I screamed angrily, tears running down my face. I hit him over and over again, but despite my new strength Falkner didn’t flinch. Instead, he embraced me.

            “I am sorry,” he whispered, hugging me as I beat on him with my fists. “I know exactly you feel, Jared.”

            “No you don’t!” I sobbed, struggling to get out of his grasp. “You don’t know anything! Because of you, I don’t even have a home to go back to. I don’t want to do this anymore, none of it! I don’t care about beating you or anyone, I just want to go home! And I can’t, I have no one. It’s too much. I’m not going to keep going on like this. I can’t take it. I thought I was strong, but I’m not strong enough for this.” I cried, tears blinding my vision of Gigi’s still body. No, not this. Anything but this. Please, not Gigi. Not Gigi and Seth, not on the same day. It’s not fair. Please, please no!

            Falkner looked at me. “I know, and I’m sorry. I never liked you as a brother, Jared. You know that. But the truth was, I was jealous of you.”

            I stopped hitting him slowly. I looked him unbelievingly, but waited to hear his explanation. Falkner went on. “I hated being the gym leader. Everyone always expected me to do the best. Train harder, win faster, be better. No room for anything else. I wanted to be like you, without a care in the world. But because I was the first child, I got stuck with this curse of being the next gym leader in Violet City, after dad.” He smiled down at me, and I was shocked to see tears in his eyes, too. “That’s why I joined Team Rocket. I could do what I wanted. People looked up to me, and not just as a person to beat so they could brag to their friends. They treat me like family here, not like mom and dad do. I’m only of use to them to uphold the family reputation.”

            “Team Rocket isn’t family,” I said, my voice cracking. I buried my face in his shirt. “You’re a horrible brother.”

            “I know. And Team Rocket is better than you think. Different than you’d expect. Giovanni is an ass sometimes, but we don’t hate each other. We’re a like; we were all screwed over by this cruel world. We understand each other. I thought you’d like it here.”

            “You don’t need to hurt innocent people just because you had a bad life,” I said, my whole body shaking as I took in the past few months at once.

            “No, and times are changing. We aren’t going to bother people anymore, or at least we won’t act out like we used to.” He let go of me.

            I broke down crying. I didn’t care about anything of that, I just couldn’t take it anymore. After all Falkner had put me through, he was just like me. Just like I could have been if I’d turned hateful from what I dealt with in my life.

            It was a good ten minutes before Falkner patted my head and helped me off the ground. “You should go,” he advised quietly. “I’ll- I’ll make sure Gigi is buried properly. Giovanni may have had a change of heart, but he still hates you. I don’t want to see you hurt.”

            “I think that’s the only time you’ve ever said that to me,” I whimpered, shaking all over. No more tears fell from my eyes; I’d cried them all already.

            “Probably. Go on, quickly. Your friends are waiting, and probably worried about you.”

            “Not Seth.”

            Falkner sighed. “No, not Seth. I didn’t want anyone to be killed. That was Ashy. She’s corrupted, worse than me. I can’t promise that she won’t try to hurt Gold, but I’ll try and dissuade her.”

            I took a few shaky steps, careful not to look at Gigi lest I start crying again. I was almost to the end of the hallway when my brother spoke again. “Hey, Jared?”

            Falkner smiled at me, showing his Pokégear, which read midnight. It was now November 23rd. I was sixteen. “Happy Birthday.”