Chapter 23:  Matters of Trust (Part B) by Michael Keens/ Exodus  

“Hey! Stop!” panted Emily, having finally caught up to Bryan.  
“’Capture’s girlfriend, right?”  
“As of recently, yes...  Yes I am.” she confirmed.  
“What do you see in him?” asked Bryan as if I was worth nothing.  
“I don’t have to explain myself, I want some straight answers.”  
“How could I resist?” smiled Bryan.  
She frowned, “Why do you have to pick on Tetsubo? What’s he ever done to 
you?!”  
“You really want to know? I don’t think you’ll like it.”  
“I want to know, and I want this to stop.” said Emily firmly.  
“Fine, I’ll explain, you probably heard that I got expelled from Pokémon Tech, 
well its all because of ‘Capture.”  
Emily stayed quiet and listened well.  
“Sure, he intervened while I picked on the younger students, and was easy to 
upset, I don’t deny that I was a bully, but no matter how much I tried, he 
always bettered me in knowledge.”  
“This is all because he knows more than you?” asked Emily surprised.  
“No, if you’ll just listen, I come from a very high family, they expect the 
best of their children, and every time an exam came up, guess who was there to 
upstage me.  Him.  If you could see the scores, I came second best in the 
college, but for my family, it wasn’t good enough, they insulted me, stole my 
dignity, because of ‘Capture, beating and beating me when he wasn’t even that 
good a trainer.”  
“Tetsubo Is a good trainer, I’ve been with him for a long time now.”  
“Really? What has he said about me?” asked Bryan inquisitively.  
“That you’re a bully, but he never says anything else.” explained Emily.  
“’Capture, I’m impressed, you kept your side of the bargain even after the 
fiasco at Pokémon Tech.” mused Bryan.  
Emily was confused, “Huh?”  
“Anyway, the final exams came, and I missed the top score by one point, how was 
I to know that a Charizard’s breath could melt boulders? The college didn’t 
have any!”  
Emily still kept a stern appearance through Bryan’s ranting.  
“And once again, ‘Capture upstaged me, I couldn’t show my score to my parents, 
so I went undercover, snuck into the office, and forged a perfect score, but as 
I was leaving, He was there, laughing with the teacher, totally ignorant of my 
suffering, he spotted me and the alarms were raised, I didn’t make it out and 
was caught, my exam score, erased, and I was expelled from the college.  My 
parents were disappointed in me and I lost all their respect.  Maybe now you 
understand why I hate him so much.”  
Emily was a little angry, “Tetsubo didn’t deserve to be picked on because he 
was a good student, nor because he cared for his college.  This is your problem 
and your fault and you should deal with the consequences!”  
“I did.  With my own folks hating me, I took off from home for a while, and met 
some people that wouldn’t look upon my criminal record and judge me.  ‘Capture 
should consider himself lucky I’ve been battling him rather than do my job.  I 
admit that I’ve got an obsession, that I must destroy his self esteem like he 
nearly did mine, but after hearing my story, don’t you think I’m justified?”  
Emily was ready to burst, “No! After hearing all that, you’re still a bully! 
You’ll get no sympathy from me, now that I know what you’re up to, Tetsubo 
won’t have to battle you and lose his self esteem, now I know why he was so 
eager to leave.”  
While she ranted at him, Bryan looked her over, for personal gains, and spotted 
that she had no Pokéballs.  
“No Dear, I don’t think you do...”  
With that he swung his hand at her so that she fell to the floor, then removed 
his jacket and shirt.  
“You’re...”  
“I told you you wouldn’t like it.”  
Emily quivered, expecting him to do the worst to her...  

I woke up later and went to pick up my Pokéballs, Emily’s were in the tray, I 
checked the time:  Two hours since we’d arrived, and the Pokéballs had been 
ready since an hour ago.  
“Where could she be?...  Oh no.” I thought.  
Before we had got here, she was asking about Bryan, and after telling her that 
he was ‘just a bully’, she must have gone to talk to him not knowing he was a 
Rocket.  
But Bryan and Emily could have ended up anywhere by now, how would I track them 
down?...  
“Tetsubo Capture...  You have a call.” said Nurse Joy a little nervous, I knew 
who it was.  

“Hello ‘Capture, I must say you’re a good sport for keeping my secret after all 
this time.”  
He had chucked the suit and tie and was wearing a Rocket uniform.  
“Where’s Emily?!” I shouted, “You promised you wouldn’t do anything if I kept 
your secret!”  
“I didn’t say anything of the sort.” replied Bryan, “And besides, my folks know 
I’m a Rocket, I got caught on film by a pesky photographer and I’m not welcome 
in my own home.  Still, I’ve got a good life with Team Rocket, and its been 
real fun exploiting you.”  
I growled a little, “You’re scum, Bryan!”  
“No ‘Capture, you are, and a lousy trainer at that.  Anyway, I’m pretty 
satisfied that your life has been screwed up as was mine and I’m doing my job.  
Yes, I have got your girlfriend, and the only way you’ll get her back is if you 
hand over all your Pokémon to me, especially the Staryu.”  
I gasped, my Pokémon were very important to me, but so was Emily, how could 
things be any worse?  
“We’re in the warehouse on Butterfree Canyon, come alone or your girl will fall 
for you in a big way.”  
He turned the camera to Emily, tied up and hung over the edge of the canyon by 
a crane.  
“Come alone ‘Capture...”  
The monitor went off.  
What other choice was there but to hand over my Pokémon? Bryan made me so mad, 
more than anyone else ever could, and now he would win totally over me.  
I went over to the Pokéball trays and thought long and hard before I left.  

“’Capture will be here soon girl, and when he does, I’ll steal the Pokémon and 
present you two to my boss, you’ve been causing a lot of trouble it seems, its 
really hard to believe that little squirt ‘Capture could beat a lot of 
criminals, I guess that means I’m the best in the organisation.”  
Emily stayed silent and stared away from his position high up, she had a couple 
more bruises from when she tried to struggle free on the way here, and her 
trust had been broken.  
“You promised, Tetsubo...” she sobbed, “You promised you wouldn’t lie to 
me...”  

I opened the large steel doors slowly, the one I hated more than anyone stood 
there with an overpowering smile, he knew he had me beat, now he wore black 
clothing and a captain-like hat.  
The warehouse wasn’t that big and the huge back door shutter was up where Emily 
was, hanging over the chasm.  
“Bryan...” I muttered.  
“’Capture.  Let’s not waste time, just hand me the Pokéballs.” he ordered 
calmly.  
I handed the six of them over.  
Bryan felt them, “They’re heavy, there’s Pokémon inside, thank you for not 
trying to outsmart me, not that its within your power.”  
“Why Bryan?... “ I asked, “Why did you break our agreement?!”  
“Agreement now, was it?...  It was a threat ‘Capture, and you believed that I 
wouldn’t come for you after all you did!” he explained while shouting.  
“What?! What exactly have I done to deserve this?!” I demanded.  
“You were the one that got me kicked out of Pokémon Tech, you upstaged me in 
every subject.  I didn’t start picking on you because you defended Joe, I did 
it because you cost me my parent’s respect!” shouted Bryan accusingly.  
“I pity you Bryan...  You can’t own up to your own messes and you could have 
been better.  While I studied wherever I could, you wasted your time acting big 
towards weaker students, you could have beaten me, perhaps in a different 
scenario.” I muttered.  
“... Shut up ‘Capture! I don’t need your pity, nor to be a total brainiac, I’m 
much happier as a Rocket, I just had to see how you felt after losing your self 
esteem.” said Bryan loudly then quietly, I was pushing his temper.  
“Oh, you haven’t destroyed it.” I said confidently yet calmly, “I have friends 
who believe in me and a girlfriend that loves me, I bet you don’t have any 
friends in that criminal gang, what with you not being able to control your 
rage.”  
“Bah! Who needs friends, when I bring the Pokémon and you and her in, I’ll be 
the highest ranking Rocket!” explained Bryan confidently.  
“Trust me, it doesn’t look hard.” I said almost lifeless.  
“Grrrr! I have your Pokémon, you’ve failed!” boasted Bryan loudly.  
“No you don’t, and I’m not a failure...”  
I whistled and my Pokémon burst in through the windows.  
“Pokémon, but what’s in here?!” screamed Bryan.  
“Chansey!”  
Lucky ran towards Emily.  
“Urrrgh! These are Her Pokémon!” growled Bryan.  
“That’s right.  I left my Pokéballs back at the Centre and had my Pokémon wait 
outside.” I explained.  
“‘Capture! Watch as I take away your loved one, just think, she would have 
lived a little longer if you’d just been obedient.”  
He pulled a lever and the crane released the rope.  
“Whirlwind!” I shouted desperately.  
“Pidgeooooto!!!”  
He caught her and brought her back up.  
“Grrrr! Whirlpool! Trap! Burner! Stop those weaklings!”  
“Poli!”  
“Bell!”  
“Grrrowwlll!!!”  
Twinkill flew over and wedged Bryan between itself and the wall, forcing him to 
drop the Pokéballs.  
“You will die for this Starfish, Burner!”  
“Grroowwlll!”  
Twinkill flew away and Bryan had to charge forward before the flames from his 
Growlithe literally exploded the area.  
“Polliii!!!”  
“Sprout!!!”  
My Pokémon had hit them hard, they were at high health while Bryan’s were still 
weak from their last battle.  
“Burner! Get that bird!” shouted Bryan, he was losing his temper and his 
control of the situation.  
“Growwlll!!!”  
“Whirlwind! Up!” I shouted.  
He quickly flew that way and the flames hit the ceiling.  
“Go! Go!” I shouted to my Pokémon.  
We ran towards the opening before the debris fell and blocked off Bryan from 
us.  
“Whirlwind, hold Emily, Scramble, go with Spectre, Twinkill with Dusty, 
Flutter, I’m relying on you to carry me back.”  
“Freeeee!”  
Without the Pokéballs, I had planned that enough flying Pokémon came along to 
carry us out.  
I recalled Lucky and retrieved all six of Emily’s Pokéballs and rode Flutter 
back to Celadon City with the others.  
That was too close, I knew how powerful Bryan’s Pokémon could be, but since 
there was no gain from more fighting, escape from him was the best option.  

Bryan could just about see us through the small gap in the twisted metal and 
roofing.  
He swung his arm at the Poliwag and Bellsprout.  
“You idiots! You let them beat you!”  
They hit the floor hard and looked like they would cry.  
“This isn’t over ‘Capture, I’m not through with you yet!...”  

Back in Celadon, we all landed, the wreckage from earlier had been cleared away 
and the path to Saffron was now available.  
The Pokémon went into the Centre for a rest while I untied Emily and gave her 
back her Pokéballs.  
“Emily, I was so worried about-”  
I was interrupted by a heavy slap.  
“What was that for?! I just saved you!”  
“...”  
She turned away from me.  
“You lied to me Tetsubo...  You promised you wouldn’t lie to me, you promised 
to be honest, you told me Bryan was just a bully...  Three strikes...  You are 
So out of here.” she said sadly.  
“Emily...  I’m sorry, he threatened to hurt my loved ones if I told! I lied to 
you in order to protect you.” I desperately explained.  
“You weren’t protecting me, by not knowing the truth about him, I put myself in 
danger to defend you! He hurt me physically and mentally, and yet, I feel more 
anger for you than I do for him.”  
“Emily, I’m sorry, I won’t ever do it again! I don’t have to now that Bryan’s 
exposed himself.” I said, trying to reassure her but failing totally.  
“Tetsubo, before today I thought you were the most dependable guy in the world 
and that’s why I got involved with you.  Now... I don’t think I know you at 
all.  
Didn’t you think I could be trusted with a secret this important? You had 
plenty of opportunities to tell me!”  
“Emily...” I muttered, I couldn’t think of anything to say that could make this 
right.  
“You knew how much I was hurt by lies in the past, I told you everything you 
needed to know about my life.  You didn’t have to tell me about your past with 
Bryan, but you could have warned me about him.”  
“Emily, I had to protect you, I didn’t want you to be in danger.” I said, 
practically repeating myself.  
“Open your eyes Tetsubo, I was in danger Because you didn’t tell me the truth, 
you think I wouldn’t have understood?! We get into danger everyday and we 
always pulled through, and I didn’t care because I knew I’d be safe with you, 
but not now.” Emily said through tears.  
“Emily, please!” I pleaded.  
“Tetsubo, I’m not sure if you’re the guy I fell in love with, I can’t have a 
relationship with you nor can I travel with you any longer.” said Emily 
firmly.  
“Emily, I love you!”  I shouted, trying to wrap my arms around her.  
My other cheek received the next slap.  
“No Tetsubo, when you love someone, you share everything with them, including 
the bad stuff.  Goodbye...”  
She took off and ran as fast as she could go.  
I reached out my hand but made no effort to chase her, it would do me no good.  
It seemed that Bryan would have the last laugh after all, losing battles wasn’t 
enough to bring me down but losing Emily was.  
After this sad encounter, Bryan probably wouldn’t hold back now, and so help 
me, neither would I.  

End of Chapter 23B  

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