"This chapter contains stuff that shouldn't be read if you are under the age of... of who am I kidding? Even if I place a warning, you won't listen to it. Still, this chapter is dark and contains implied rape, assassination and suicide. Reader's discretion is advised."
~Berry
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"Thinking of having no sins truly is a sin by itself."
~Anthony Mathias Duquette
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Silence.
That was something that I didn’t hear that often. Normally, there would be the damn shrieks of Chatots and Fletchlings bothering me outside the window. And sometime we would hear the sound of shattering china from the Gardevoirs and Lucarios I’ve imported to be my maids.
Yet, this morning, there was nothing but the sound of wind. It was actually comfortable… maybe too comfortable. I opened my eyes and saw Liliane, my wife. She looked so peaceful, but she lacked her normal 5 pound of makeup she wears everyday.
I looked to my side and caught a glance at my clock. I gasped when I saw that it was 10 in the morning. Where was my dumb bitch that was supposed to bring me breakfast and waking me up!? I roughly pushed the covers away from both of us, startling the other sleeper.
“Michael? W-Why did you do that!” She shouted while trying to breathe normally. I stared at her and pointed the alarm clock, making her realise that we overslept. We quickly dressed ourselves and made our way out of our bedroom.
“Why in the damn world is the house empty!?” I shouted in the living room. Receiving no answer, I groaned and made my way to the kitchen. Seeing that, like everywhere else, there were no Pokemon cooking my food, I had to make myself a bowl of cereal.
“Honey, do you know where is everyone?” Liliane asked. I shook my head while booting up my computer. In between two bites, I managed to get on my email account and saw that my inbox was full of messages coming from my factories.
“Forty two messages for forty two factories. What the fuck is going on?” I asked to no one in particular. I opened each messages one by one and, as I was reading them, my face was slowly losing its color until reading the last message. At that point, I was as white as a ghost.
“If… you don’t mind me asking, what is going on?” Liliane asked, seeing my reaction regarding those messages. I slowly closed the screen of my computer and started to shake in fear.
“Gone… all of our workers, all of the Pokemons… gone. Investors, gone. Even the heads of those factories are gone. Poof, like a cloud of smoke.” In anger, I grabbed my PC and threw it on the wall, shattering it into pieces and scaring the living hell out of my wife.
I stood up and darted toward the exit. I grabbed my light coat and opened the door before being stopped. “Where do you think you’re going, Mister? What about this computer you just threw at the wall! Who is going to cl-” She started before she met the back of my hand, making her fly a few meters backward.
“Shut the fuck up, bitch. You will clean this up and if it’s still there when I come back, I’ll show you why those Gardevoirs were so afraid of me.” I warned her before leaving, the shocked woman sitting on the floor, rubbing her cheek.
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It only took 5 minutes of walking before getting to Lumiose city. That was one of the plus side of building my mansion that close. Still, for once, I was entering the city with a fixed idea and not some drunken stupor. With my head kept low to avoid recognition, I quickly entered what was considered the dark part of the place.
Every town and city had its darker place and Lumiose was no different. In this place, you could enter with a Pokedollar and come out with a multi-billion company. It only took the right investment and the right contacts… and maybe an assassin for hire could help too.
I was used to see those rotten walls for a long time. Ever since I’ve entered this place in my teenagehood, I’ve made lots of friend and a bunch of enemies. Still, it helped that I was buddy-buddy with the local assassin gang, Checkmate. Even a little word or two against me and somebody might be impossible to find the day after.
And today was no different. Enter the location, say hi to a group of buddies and maybe see a match or two of Pokemon fights. I always loved those fights, mostly when it’s a champion Pokemon like Houndoom fighting a group of Pachirisu. It always ended in a bloodshed.
As I made my way towards the deepest part of this undercity, I stopped in front of the most well-kept house in the location. While the other houses were all destroyed or overgrown with roots and vines, this one had a fresh-looking paint finish and fancy windows. That was the house of the most notorious band of assassin known in the city : Checkmate.
Well, could actually be called ‘assassins’ when they’re with you. Then you learn their true method of killing. When they want to, you might not see the light of day ever again. However, if they hate the one who hired them or find their reason for killing fucked up, they will fake the death of their target to get the money without spilling blood on their hands.
I sadly learned that last part as rumors. When my old friend turned rival turned huge asshole and CEO of my biggest enemy in Pokeball manufacturing decided that it was time to cut loose ends, he sent some silent killers after me. Their job was simple : kill me and find all my important documents to take control of my factories.
They actually tried to kill me, but they didn’t know the power I had in this world. I was the only person on this planet that could safely say that I had eyes and ears everywhere. If something happens in the Viridian Forest, near Pewter City in Kanto, I would be the first one in Kalos to know. Even before the newspaper articles arrives. It helps to have business contacts that kisses my feet everytime I come to their country,
Using that power, I learned that they were after me. Some would find scary that someone wants to kill me, but I actually found that gratifying. And I also found the fact that I would be the first one to outsmart them, like my daughter would say, ‘pretty awesome’.
So, when they silently broke in my house, they managed to backstab me. Well, more like my sandbag double. Let’s just say that I laughed when I saw their faces the day after. It knew that it was the first win in a long run for me.
After their failed attempt, they tried to poison me by giving the chefs some Koffingide, one of the most potent toxic substance on the market, to put in my lunch. Luckily for me, I was feeling paranoiac that day and made some Ralts eat some of my lunch. She naturally died in pain. It’s only later that I learned that she was the kid of the main chef who worked with the killers.
At that point, they were pissed after me. Not only because their last attempt lead to more casualties than planned, but also because I outsmarted them twice. Their next attempt had to be big or else they would be known as failures.
So, they did the next logical choice. They kidnapped my only daughter, Neige. Now, I know I could have left her there, but I felt like that would be a bit too much, even for me. She is my offspring and I mustn’t leave those guys do whatever they wanted.
Sadly, I knew that the job would be too much for me. What could a slightly chubby businessman could do against trained killers? So, I hired whom I knew would be the perfect team for the job. An underground group of mercenaries called Checkmate.
At first, they were a bit cautious about me. They learned from rumors that I raped Pokemon and used them as slaves. Naturally, I kept that truth under the lid in case that they would want to kill me instead. Half of their team are Pokemon, so the less they know, the less of a danger they are for me.
I explained the situation to their leader, a man named Weiss. He told me that it was rare that a man would hire them to kill someone with a proper reason why. They didn’t ask more questions. They took the money and disappeared into the shadows.
The day after learning that the local police found dead bodies inside a warehouse, I received a phone call telling me to go to an alleyway near the black market. When I recognized Weiss’ voice, I quickly made my way there.
It wasn’t a surprise to see Weiss and his Bisharp standing there with my poor daughter in his arms. I immediately grabbed her and placed the coat I brought over her. I repeated over and over again how I was so thankful that they succeeded in their job. Weiss, however, left with a cold stare and one last thing to say.
“I know who you are, Michael Chateaublanc. I know everything you did to your Pokemon and even your own family. If I ever hear that you attacked one more Pokemon or, even worst, you dared thinking about attacking this little one. I’ll make sure that you no longer see her ever again.”
As they left me with my girl, the Bishard accentuated her master’s will with a throat-cutting motion, making me feel uneasy. I had no time to wait, however. I quickly made my way back home and placed my little girl in her bed.
So, sometime when I pass by their house, I leave a little something for the team whom I owe my daughter’s life. Sometime it’s chocolate or a rose, but it’s always left without a name. I wouldn’t want them to remember their promise and assassinate me. Sure, I might not have cared so much about that brat if things went like they should have, but it was nice to see her safe. Even if she ran away.
With my head still in the clouds, reminiscing about the past, I made my way to the meeting point I had with my best informer. He knew everything to know about everything. I was normally supposed to meet him to know the daily news, but today was a different story.
I snapped out of my train of thought when I saw the location I was looking for. ‘La Jument Pavoisée’ was a low quality tavern where people could go either for information or for a good fight. Naturally, I went there for the first reason, but when the latter showed up, it was quite the entertainment.
I entered the bar and made my way to a small table located far in. That place was away from all the other tables and had a speaker spouting whatever sound that came out of the piano located on the other side. That particular place was perfect to have a conversation without people eavesdropping.
Without much hesitation, I sat in front of a man in his 30s. His face was partially covered in a hood, hiding his bleached white and coal black hair. On the left side of his nose was a scar that was principally used as some way to boast to newcomers. He says that it came from a Tyranitar that wanted his skin. I still thought that it was made up and that he shouldn’t have been playing with knives when he was younger.
“Yo Micky. I have some news that you really wanna know.” He started. I nodded, motioning him to continue. However, he opened his hand, telling me to give him something. I sighed and pulled out a 1000 pokedollar bill, placing it in his palm. He placed it happily in his pocket.
“Four headlines for you today. First, as you may know, lots of Pokemon and humans has disappeared in the last few hours. What is surprising is that it happened throughout the entire world! From Kanto to Unova, school houses were emptied, ranger bases got cleaned and even entire cities became ghost towns.
Some people were left behind, like you and me. We don’t know yet what is the reason why, but we learned that most who is left are either criminals or… no offence, sinners. Like you and me.” I glared at him, but still nodded. “Anyway, that’s all I can tell you about that. Like I said, no idea what happened and I hope it’s temporary.
“Then, we have the Mount Coronet… it’s gone.” He simply said. I stared at him, confused. “It’s exactly that. It’s gone. I don’t know why, but the entire mountain is gone. Where the roads would lead to entrances, they’re leading to a flat stone floor.” I was surprised at this one. How can an entire mountain disappear like that?
“Next news would be about the state of the other major cities in Kalos. Three of them already fell in the hands of street gangs and Coumarine City actually suffered damage from a power plant explosion caused by a lack of surveillance. The next few days might lead to more disasters if you ask me.”
When he finished speaking, he started looking through his bag for something. “Weren’t there three headlines?” I asked, impatient to go back home and prepare myself for the coming future. He threw a quick glare at me and went back in his bag. After few seconds of digging, he slid a picture on the table toward me.
I looked at it and my mouth hung in disbelief. It was a picture taken from a security camera somewhere in a forest. The time stamp on it was telling me that it was taken a few hours ago. However, I simply couldn’t believe what was on it.
In the middle of the frame was my daughter Neige holding her stupid black furball Tenebre. That was a normal sight since she brought back that annoying pet a long time ago. This time, to my surprise, she was kissing with it.
I was shocked of seeing my offspring doing such an act. She was nonchalantly doing Pokephilia, something that could get her thrown in jail. Sure, I was doing it too, but it was to show my Pokemon who was the boss and to break their free will. What use is a slave who doesn’t listen?
“This was taken by a security camera installed near the Terminus Cave. It was meant to record the Pokemon’s behavior since the disappearance of Zygarde. Looks like it recorded weird behavior after all.” He laughed at his bad joke, getting a simple glare from me.
“Okay. It was a bad joke. However, that’s not the weirdest part. Right after that shot was taken, they both fell unconscious and… vanished. Poof, just like that.” He enhanced that last part with some hand motions. “I think that she fell under the same spell that affected everyone else. Which might explain why nobody’s body was found.”
I nodded and placed the picture in my pocket. I wouldn’t want that shot to come out in the public. My reputation would take a serious hit. Still, I don’t think that it would matter now that 1/10th of the population is left roaming around aimlessly.
I had nothing left to tell my informer. He did his job and I paid him. I stood up and replaced my slightly folded suit. I bid goodbye to my ‘employee’ and quickly left the bar. I had to prepare myself for the days to come and I knew, deep inside of me, that there would be problem down my future. Lots of problems.
I walked faster than before, making my way out of the undercity. There was nothing else that I could do there. There was no activity since there were no Pokemon left and it seemed that everyone disappeared. I guess that most of them weren’t that dishonorable like I thought.
While walking, I thought of what he told me. If the people left really were sinners, it would mean that this ‘teleportation’ thing was simply god, or Arceus for that matter, choosing the worthy people and leaving the rotten part of society here. In my opinion, I’m not that bad of a person to be left here with assassins.
As I was stressing over what might or might not happen in the near future, I heard a roar coming from high above. I looked up and saw a charizard flying, fire spilling out of its mouth like if he filled his jaw with raw magma.
I looked at it flying by and out of the city. When it passed where I was standing, I saw something that froze my blood. On his back leg was a broken fire-resistant chain and his tail was missing a piece, making it look like a creature bit a piece out. There was only one captured Charizard with such a distinct characteristic.
I started running after the giant lizard, leading me toward my house. However, it has been such a long time since I ran that quick and that long. It didn’t help that I took an additional few pounds. My legs still held me as I was imagining the worst case scenario.
When I arrived, I saw that my imagination wasn’t that far off. Naturally, the Charizard arrived before me and had time to start what it wanted to do. I had to watch, powerless, as this force of nature tore through my house like a hand through sand.
Through the fire and flames coming out of the dragon’s jaw, I saw a shadow writhing in pain. It took me a second to realise that, behind it all, was my wife that I’ve forced to stay home. I was assisting, on a first row seat, to the death of the women of my life.
I quickly hid behind some trees, hoping that the lizard wouldn’t try to find me. It took more than three hours before it became bored of burning everything and headed south. When I saw it leave, I stared at what was left of my life’s work.
I slowly walked through what used to be the living room. I was doing my best not to step on some fiery ashes. For the first time in forever, I started to tear up. My life’s worth was counted in material possessions. With all my belongings turned into dust, I was now worth nothing.
I continued wandering around my old living place, tears covering my sight like fog over a lake. I couldn’t believe that all of this happened in a day. I was now alone and owned nothing. However, I had to do something before my other enemies learned of how I had fallen from my high pedestal.
I looked around and finally located my bedroom. To my surprise, I could see that my bed, which contained both wood and fabric, was actually intact, minus some marks from falling debris. I ran, dodging the heated materials and hoping that whatever was under it was also okay.
I pushed the bed away, knowing that it was easier to push it than pull what was under. I looked at the black box left untouched by what attacked the place. The safe was… well, safe. I smiled as I started unlocking, not noticing the shadow looming over my head.
Suddenly, when I finally opened the box, a knife slid under my neck. My blood froze, slowly raising my head to see who was doing such a travesty. My eyes grew wide when I saw that my attacker was no other than my informer.
“Well, well. It’s not everyday that you have a knife to your neck, Michael. Now, give me all you’ve got in that safe and drop it in that bag.” He ordered, dropping a bag beside me. I wanted to refuse, but I felt his weapon go higher, making me choose the other choice. With tears in my eyes, I started putting all the green blocks of money that were laying in the safe.
After placing all the money that I had left in his bag, I started moving whatever was left from my safe. When he saw that I was dropping a piece of charcoal and a diary in his moneybag, he stopped me, saying that it was useless for him to get those things.
“Why are you doing this!?” I accidentally shouted while packing some more banknotes. This caused him to laugh and slowly rub the side of his knife on my chin.
“I was looking at you, Michael, and only saw victory. Well, victory and a lot of money. I worked for you for so long, yet never got anything from it except a very poor wage. It is time for me to get what is due and maybe, if you don’t behave, I’ll get rid of a scum. Don’t worry, the world will thank me.” I grabbed the bag and gave it back.
I looked inside the box and saw that, beside the writing tools, there was a box of rage candy bars and a revolver. “Well, I only have a box of candy bars left.” He brought his bag forward, motioning me to drop them in there.
After everything was given, he quickly stood up and prepared himself to run away. However, as quickly as him, I grabbed the revolver and tried to get up. Sadly, compared to him, I was on the floor and I was ‘slightly chubby’. When he saw me with a gun, he spun around and stabbed my triceps. The impact made me drop my revolver.
That single attack was enough for him to grab his bag and run away safely. My right arm was now useless and, being a right-handed person, I couldn’t aim easily and it would just waste bullets. I was now alone, standing in the remains of my mansion, armed only with a revolver, 6 bullets and a knife covered with my blood.
I looked around and spotted a half burned shirt. I removed the knife from my arm, cringing and crying as the adrenalin faded and the pain knocked at my door. Using the burned fabric, my left arm and my mouth, I managed to cut myself a bandage and slowly managed to attach it to my wound. I sighed and grabbed what was left of my belongings. I looked one last time at my house and left toward the forest.
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Day 1,
Dear diary,
Is this real life? Is it just fantasy? I don’t even know anymore. It’s like if I was living in a dream all the time. Sadly, I know all too well that all that happened was real. I am now alone, poor, worthless. My pokefucking daughter left me to go make out with her black cat and my wife died under a flamethrower. Still, even if everything looks bad, I don’t have the intention of killing myself to join them. I’m sure all the ones who disappeared will come back and I’ll be able to regain control of what I had before.
So, I am now writing using my bad hand. It looks like I am writing a new language, but I don’t really care. No one will ever read this. Beside me is the revolver, still with 6 bullets in it, and the damn knife that my informing cunt left me in my arm.
I still can’t believe that he did this to me. We’ve been coworkers for years and he dared stealing my money and stabbing my arm. Why did I ever trusted him in the first place? I don’t even know myself. Still, I have to go now. I am hungry and I’m sure there must be a Pokemon around here to eat.
~Michael Chateaublanc
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“Day 4,
Dear diary,
I can’t believe it is still going. I’ve been walking for days now and was only able to find a ghost town. Luckily for me, I’ve found some supplies, but it’s still not much. I was only able to kill one Pokemon and it took me two bullets, leaving me with only 4 left. And that Pokemon was almost unedible.
I seriously think that this situation will last forever. If it does, then I’m in deep trouble. No business can flourish in a world with only about a tenth of the population. Plus, that population can’t grow where only criminals exist. This world will all be our grave, it’s only a matter of time.
It’s during time like these that I think about something dark and sad. Maybe that, in this story, I am the bad guy. I’ve driven my business with fear, my family with anger and my life with sins. What is a man than a pile of secrets, but my secrets won’t fit in my closet.
I won’t kill myself. That is a fact. Even if I think about it, I am not ready to leave this world. At least, not like this.
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Day 10,
For the first time in forever, I can finally see my feet simply by looking down. I must say that this diet of ‘nothing but air’ works really well. Wow, even when I try dark humor, I simply can’t raise my hopes of surviving this ordeal.
I am now down to two bullets. I managed to kill a Fearow and it helped me for two or three days. My supplies from that other town ran out and I’m left with drinking muddy water and eating some berries found here and there.
It’s quite sad, really. Michael Chateaublanc, Kalos’ hot shot and best entrepreneur, brought down to his knees by life and a Charizard. They say karma is a bitch, but I say that she should be assassinated. My stomach hurts and my energy is running low. I am seriously thinking about my life and the mistakes I made that got me here.
In the end, I truly am the devil in a suit and tie.
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This is it. 15 days, quite the record, I must say. Being left alone in a forest, surrounded by the worst Pokemon that even roamed the planet, surviving more than a week must be a feat by itself.
However, everything must come to an end. I didn’t see it coming. It was a Pokemon. I think it was a Zangoose, but I’m still unsure. Still, it pounced on me and started tearing my back apart. I used one of my two bullets to scare him away, but the job was done.
The wound on my back is huge. I am still on the ground, writing over the soaked grass. Soaked by my blood. There are three possibilities right now. Either I bleed out until death, which might take a few days. Then we have thirst and hunger which are two creatures looming over my head every hours.
Well, there is also the fourth possibility. I’ve been trying to stay away from it, but it keeps jumping at my face like an overenthusiastic Joltik. It was the coward’s way out… but I still had a bullet left.
It’s weird how, when you’re on the brink of death, you think of your life like a critic over a Pokestar movie. It’s during that moment that you see all your mistakes and cry on how you could have been better.
I will say this, right now. I am a scum… no, I am worse than a scum. I am evil, forced to rule over the world with an iron fist. That role blinded me, preventing me to see what was happening around my global ascension to power.
My wife was always beside me, cheering from the sidelines. Even if she was the worst traitor in the entire world, she was still my wife. How did I treated her in return? Punches, kicks, slave work. This anger that ruled our relationship lead to her death. Forcing her to stay home lead to her becoming a human torch over a flamethrower.
Then, there is my daughter. Since she was born, I tried to forge her into my legacy. A girl that will rule over my business like I would. However, I forgot how wild those fragile things were. When I saw how unruly she was, I almost did the unthinkable. I almost sold her in the slave market. When she learned that, she ran away, scared.
My greed over money made me blind;
My lust over others made me tyranic;
My wrath over my family made me alone;
My gluttony over everything made me vulnerable;
My sloth over my life made me unbearable;
My envy of others made me demanding;
My pride over my daughter made me controlling,
I truly am the embodiment of sin. Now that I’m bathing in my own blood, I realise that the small bullet located in the gun I’m holding might be able to get rid of the worst person to ever inhabit this world. For the first time, I am finally able to see what I’ve become, and I must say sorry to both of you, Neige and Liliane.
Well, I’m gonna tell you both sorry in person, since I shall join you.
Forever.