39 Jessie

A/N: This chapter brought to you all early by the fact that I'm celebrating my birthday with the other half of my family in an hour and dunno when I'll be home later!

Anyways, this is it. Hopefully people enjoy the pay-off!

-x-X-x-

As she descends the ladder, Jessie considers making a comment about Cam keeping his eyes downward, since he'd entered the secret basement beneath Oak's lab first. Heh, but what would be the point? He'd not only seen it all now, but he'd also partaken in it all as well. She and Jamie had both just given their virginities to the Rocket Executive, and frankly, Jessie couldn't bring herself to regret it.

Of course, it was still a little embarrassing to be dressed once more in her stained Rocket Uniform, with Cam's cum drying into the material. Very embarrassing indeed, but their only other option was to put on lab coats, and Jamie had shot that down. Not like Jessie could gainsay the other woman… not at this point. Their whole dynamic had changed and was currently evolving. Jessie didn't mind though, truly she didn't. It was all rather new and exciting.

Unlike this place. As she looks around the dark, dimly lit basement, Jessie's nose wrinkles in disgust at the musty smell. It's not necessarily rank or anything like that, it's just… old and stale. Perfect for a geriatric geezer like Oak, she supposed.

"What the hell was he even doing down here, huh?"

"No clue, but I suppose we're going to find out."

Jessie nods at Jamie's response, the two of them hoisting up flashlights and looking around curiously. Not that she's really expecting for them to find anything all that exciting or surprising. At this point, after everything she and Jamie have been through, nothing can surprise her. Not anymore.

Cam, meanwhile, walks forward without a flashlight into the dim space, looking strangely familiar with everything as he picks his way through beeping machines and past beakers bubbling with fluid. This place might smell old and musty, but it's clearly not abandoned. Part of Jessie wonders if they're going to find Oak himself down here, somewhere in this labyrinth.

"Fuck! By Arceus…"

Swinging around, Jessie blinks as Jamie points her flashlight at a strange statue with glowing red eyes. Some sort of alarm system?! But the more Jessie watches it… the more nothing whatsoever happens. Despite the glowing red eyes, the statue doesn't move a muscle. Cam, meanwhile, ignores it and moves instead to a nearby monitor, pressing a button and turning it on.

Immediately, a voice echoes through it, and as Jessie and Jamie walk over, they see Professor Oak staring at the screen.

"Video Diary, January 16th, 1985, 2:35 am."

Clearing his throat, the Pokemon Professor, decades younger, shakes his head, a dour expression on his face.

"The Mewtwo Project has already failed. My colleagues just refuse to see it. What we've taken to calling The Catastrophe was just the beginning of the end. A Pokemon Clone of Mew, no matter how well-made, will never be controllable."

Jessie blinks, only really understanding bits and pieces as Professor Oak retreats from the camera to a nearby work station.

"Unfortunately, with the others having pinned all their hopes on that failure of a project, they've proven unreliable. In the end, what I'm about to start… I shall have to do alone. If my newest project cannot save Kanto, then nothing can."

The Video Diary ends there, with Jessie and Jamie exchanging silent looks as Cam stares at the blank monitor for a moment before moving on. Professor Oak had a secret project of some sort? He was going to save Kanto, or whatever? Now, Jessie and Jamie were both barely into their twenties, so in all honesty, neither remembered much of Kanto before the war and Johto's victory.

But one thing was for shit-sure, as far as Jessie was concerned. Whatever Oak's plan had been, it clearly HAD failed, because Johto, or rather Lance and his goons, had been running Kanto for nearly two decades now. So… what was it then?

This terminal clearly has no further answers, and so they continue on, with Cam leading the way. Much to Jessie's surprise, there's another statue with glowing red eyes, but it doesn't attack them either as they head through a door to the south and continue on.

However, that does not mean they go fully unmolested. As they're walking up towards a table, Jessie feels something sticky land on her shoulder. She looks at it, blinking at the pink goo she sees there for a moment. Then, she yelps as something much heavier drops down on her, forcing her to push it off and skid to the side.

"D-D-Ditto. Ditto, Ditto."

Jessie's eyes widen, as she stares down at the gooey blob of experimental Pokemon paste quivering before her. She opens her mouth, but before she can…

"Dragonite, Slam."

Dragonite comes out of its ball and slams a massive clawed foot down into the Ditto in an instant, completely pasting the already-paste like Pokemon. When Cam recalls his Dragonite, the pink blob has been completely pancaked and isn't moving. Jessie swallows nervously, but something about Cam's countenance keeps her quiet. She doesn't think he's in the mood for small talk right now, to say the least.

They quickly reach another terminal that Cam considers worth turning on.

"Video Diary, February 14th, 1985, 11:15 pm."

A younger Oak shows up again, with a small smile on his face.

"The fundamental flaw in the underlying philosophy behind the Mewtwo Project is so simple, it baffles me that my colleagues cannot see it. Genetic Engineering has great potential, but what use is a Pokemon bred for aggression and combat, when you have no way of actually controlling the monster you've created?"

Oak sighs.

"I blame myself; truth be told. It's the War. It forced us to focus on raw power above all else. Otherwise, how are we to ever defeat Lance's army? But that completely ignores the underlying problem. How do they expect to control Mewtwo, even if they do succeed? They can't control Mew; we can barely keep it contained. They certainly couldn't control the Catastrophe."

"No… the answer lies elsewhere. I can feel it."

This monitor goes dark as well, and Cam moves on. They don't encounter another Ditto at least, but they do quickly come upon the next terminal.

"Video Diary, February 29th, 1985, 9:42 pm."

"In the end, it's not about the Pokemon. It never has been. Left to their own devices, most Pokemon, even the ones with the most destructive potential, will cause no harm and do no true damage. After all, if they had that sort of ambition, that sort of drive, the world itself would be constantly changing, the face of it rearranged by the power that your average Pokemon can wield on a whim."

"No… it's not the Pokemon… it's the Trainer. The human element is what decides the true strength of a Pokemon. A pack of wild Pokemon can and routinely are easily taken down by a Trainer and just one trained Pokemon. Heh, does this mean Lance is a better Trainer than I am? I would argue not. Johto simply has numbers that Kanto cannot field."

"… But that doesn't mean things are hopeless."

Jessie can only blink at this latest diary. It sounds incredibly hopeful, as though Oak is convinced, he'll find a solution. But he obviously didn't. Things were hopeless, in the end. Still, it was weird to see him sound so optimistic, so youthful.

Following Cam into the next room alongside Jamie, Jessie almost doesn't catch it in time. There's another statue with glowing red eyes, but this one… this one moves. For once, Cam isn't on top of things. He looks lost in thought. But Jessie… Jessie sees the head tilt.

"Cam! Look out!"

As the security robot hops down from its pedestal, Cam whips around and throws out his Dragonite. Jessie is expecting him to just trash the guard robot with ease, but to her shock, the damn thing pulls out a Pokeball of its own and summons a Magneton of all things!

… Not that it helps. Cam and his Dragonite flatten the Magneton and the security robot's other two Pokemon with ease, leading to the security robot in question to shut down right then and there on the spot. It's just… weird. Why would you have security robots who relied on Pokemon battling? Jessie had never heard of a robot being able to Pokemon battle before!

Still, for the time being, she puts it out of her head. They've reached another terminal…

"Video Diary, March 11th, 1985, 1:16 am."

"Let's set aside all previous experiments. We've established the Mewtwo Project is doomed to failure. We've also established that Genetic Engineering is nevertheless the future. What if we could take those isolated traits, the aggression, the need for victory, the overwhelming focus… and manifested them in a clone? A human boy?"

Wait, what? For the first time, Jessie is truly taken aback by something Oak said. She looks at Jamie, to find her friend is just as bewildered. Cam, meanwhile, is staring at the screen, silent.

"Yes… a boy with the right characteristics and qualities, raised properly for one purpose and one purpose only. That of Pokemon Battling. He would not be limited as a normal human would be. He would be an unparalleled genius in one single way… training and fighting alongside Pokemon."

"And really, in this Pokemon obsessed world of ours, would that not make for the single most powerful entity anyone has ever known?"

Jessie feels a little odd now. She can't quite explain it, but something twinges in the back of her mind. What Oak is saying… why does it sound familiar?

The terminal shuts off, and they continue on their way. But Jessie can't help being unsettled. She's starting to wonder if they ever should have come down here…

But before that fear can crystallize into any form of action, they reach the next terminal.

"Video Diary, June 3rd, 1985, 9:45 pm."

"All initial tests have proven promising. There's just one issue I keep running into. Creating a full-grown clone is impossible. The accelerated aging makes them too unstable too quickly. They last hours before being reduced to fresh Dittos."

Oak pauses, staring off to the side for a moment as Jessie's stomach turns at the description. Those pink blobs… were all human clones, once upon a time?

"There's only one way for this to work. If I want my clone to pass as human enough to fool the rest of the world, I need to create him as an embryo… and let nature take its course. Luckily, I have just what I need. I've located a sterile widow in the small hamlet of Pallet Town. She and I have known each other since we were children, and she's always wanted to be a mother."

"Of course, in the end he will need little in the way of nurture. His singular purpose will be Pokemon Battling. His childhood will be spent imparting one lesson and one lesson only… that I am the only father figure he needs, and someone he can trust implicitly."

That was… that was monstrous. Beside her, Jamie chokes on her own spit as the latest Video Diary entry ends. Jessie, meanwhile, can feel how pale she is. This all… just what was Oak doing? No, more than that… what was all this about Pallet Town? Sure, that was where they were, but didn't Jessie remember something else about Pallet Town? Wasn't it where that Red chick was from?

… There was no way, right?

Moving through the next door, another of the statues tries to attack them. This time, Cam is more prepared for it, and doesn't even let it pull out any Pokeballs before he has Dragonite put a clawed fist through its chest and tear off its head. The display of violence didn't surprise Jessie, truth be told. She was feeling pretty angry right now as well. What Oak was doing down here all those years ago… except, this place wasn't abandoned. So, if that was what Oak had done eighteen years ago, what had he been doing SINCE that time?!

"Video Diary, August 15th, 1985, 7:21 pm."

"The Pokemon League is a trap. Always has been. Ostensibly, it leaves a path to power and leadership open to any who want it. Millions of wide-eyed, naïve young trainers, all convinced that if they just fight hard enough, they might be able to become Pokemon Champion. Utter tripe, of course. The trainers who actually make it to the Elite Four are carefully curated… but if one were strong enough, it wouldn't matter. There would be no limitations."

"As soon as my clone is old enough to receive his License, he will rise through the ranks at an unprecedented pace. He'll take down Gyms so fast that those in power won't even have the time to pull the levers to stop him. His single-minded focus and dedication will take them all by surprise."

"… Unfortunately, this does mean I must step down as Pokemon Champion, and surrender to Lance and his lackeys. The Mewtwo Project completely failed, just as I knew it would. Mewtwo herself was an unmitigated success… and she gave me such ideas as well. Sneaking some alterations into her genetic makeup under the noses of my former colleagues was child's play, of course. Making her female and binding her to my future clone was simple enough."

"It gave me the idea of making more than one, as well. Not a back-up… but a mate. I will not live forever, unfortunately. My time on this planet is limited. When I'm gone, my clone will need to be able continue on without me, though by that point I hope to have adequately prepared him. Still, he will have need of more of his kind. That is where the female clone will come in. She will have the same potential as him… so that their children are all as great as they are."

"However, I only truly have time to train and prepare one clone for the path ahead. The girl will not be trained. It is unnecessary, as in the end, her sole purpose is that of a broodmare."

Jessie almost wants to throw up, as Oak holds two bundled infants up on the screen.

"I've let the widow name the children, something she was MOST grateful for. The boy will be Red, and the girl, Yellow. They are the future, not just of Kanto itself, but of the world beyond. Once they've grown up, nothing will be able to stop them. The world will hardly believe its eyes."

This had to be the longest diary entry yet, but finally, mercifully, the terminal goes blank. Jessie doesn't know what to think. The dates lined up… but not the names and genders. Red was the eighteen year old girl that had given Team Rocket so much trouble time and time again, right? But that was just it. Red was a woman, not a man. And Oak had clearly intended for his clone to go out and fight the good fight far earlier than the age of eighteen.

So… what was going on here, exactly?

Jessie and Jamie follow Cam to the next terminal in something of a daze. It's not until she hears the date that Jessie is jolted out of it, her eyes widening at the sudden jump forward in time. And not just that…

"Video Diary, September 2nd, 1992, 5:33 pm."

"Thank you for all of this, Professor Oak, sir. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out. I just want to make Daisy proud; you know? I want to show I'm worthy of her. I want… I want to show you that I'm worthy of your family's name."

The first voice is undeniably Professor Oak's, but the second voice… is someone new. And on the screen, there are indeed two men. Jessie blinks as she stares at the spiky brown-haired man rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as he looks around the basement with undisguised curiosity.

"Of course, Gary. You're trying to do right by my granddaughter. I'm happy to help you. Please, put your Pokemon in the machine here, will you?"

Completely lost, unsure why the diary had skipped forward ten years and who this Gary fella was, Jessie nevertheless watches as Gary takes a full regulation team's worth of six Pokeballs and slots them into what looks like some form of a more science-y Pokemon Center machine.

"You really think you can make my Pokemon stronger before Victory Road?"

Gary is looking down at the machine and his Pokeballs… and so doesn't see what Jessie, Jamie, and Cam all see on the monitor as Professor Oak pulls a handgun from his lab coat.

"Oh, without a doubt Gary. Unfortunately, you won't get the chance to see it."

"Wha-?"

BANG!

Jessie covers her hands with her mouth to contain the scream, as Oak coldly shoots the younger man in the back of the head, his body flying forward, slamming against the machine and then sliding down to the floor.

Quickly cleaning the handgun and tucking it away, Oak snaps his fingers and several of those security robots show up on-screen to drag the body off and begin cleaning the blood from the floor. In the midst of this, Professor Oak looks to the camera.

"It's a shame, Gary was a good man. Robbed the cradle a bit where my granddaughter was concerned, but the age difference wasn't that extreme. Under normal circumstances, I would have been happy for them. Happy, even, to let him take our name and be known as Gary Oak as he challenged the Elite Four. But these are not normal circumstances."

Stepping forward, Oak sits down at a table in front of the camera, running a hand down his weathered face. He's visibly older than the last diary, older half a decade in fact.

"It's been seven years, but I am still watched closely by Lance and his goons. The people of Kanto took my surrender and decided they hated me for it. Even my wife left me. The bitch now sits on Lance's Elite Four, helping to prop up Johto's tyranny, as though that somehow honors the memory of our son and his wife more than anything I've done."

"… Meanwhile, my granddaughter ran away from home earlier this year and apparently fell in with Gary. Not the worst boy she could have fallen in love with. He was a Pokemon Trainer, at least. A capable one at that. In fact, the young man just finished gathering the Eighth Gym Badge, and was on his way to Victory Road and the Elite Four."

Standing up from the desk, Oak walks over and runs his fingers over Gary's Pokemon, still tucked away, trapped really, in their Pokeballs.

"He had a shot; I won't deny it. But it wasn't much of one. Lance isn't fool enough that he didn't have his eyes on Gary's journey. There was no way he would have made it out of Victory Road without some sort of accident befalling him. And even if he did… the boy wanted to introduce himself as Gary Oak. He wanted to use MY name, to try and redeem it."

Oak's hand leaves the Pokeballs… and presses a button on the machine. Jessie chokes on her own spit, and Jamie gasps in horror right beside her as they watch the machine suddenly begin to shrink the Pokeballs further and further, until they start to implode in on themselves, crumpling inward.

"The only problem with that, Gary… is that there is NOTHING TO REDEEM!"

With a snarl, Professor Oak slams his hand down on the desk in a fist.

"Bah! They'll see! All of them will see one day. The boy is almost ready. I can't have anyone putting undue attention on me before the plan is ready to come to fruition. One more year, maybe less, and the boy will be able to go on his Pokemon Adventure. Red will sweep Kanto by storm, and NO ONE will see him coming. Not Lance, not Giovanni… NO ONE."

A brief pause, and then Oak sighs.

"Sorry, Gary. But I couldn't have you getting in my way."

The terminal shuts off, while Jessie and Jamie exchange another look. What had they just seen? And what did Oak mean, the boy was almost ready? Clearly not. And Red was a girl in the modern time! It didn't make sense!

… But there's one terminal left. One that Cam moves towards with purpose and turns on.

"Video… Video Diary, August 13th, 1993, 9:41 am."

Despite it only being a year more since the last time they saw Oak, the man that appears on the monitor before them looks downright beaten and downtrodden, and like he's aged fifty more years in that time span.

"… It has been almost a year since I was forced to kill Gary. When Daisy returned home pregnant with the man's child, I had some cause to regret my actions. I have never loathed myself more. However, had I known he was a father to be… I still would have done the deed. Until today, I took solace in that knowledge. Gary's death was regrettable, but unavoidable. Red was the future of Kanto, not him."

There's a lengthy pause, before Oak chokes, showing more emotion than Jessie has seen in any of these video diaries thus far.

"… E-Except, the boy is gone. Red is dead. He ran away, and after spending the last week searching for him in the surrounding woods, I am forced to believe he is deceased. The tracking chip I implanted in his shoulder has been found, and from the look of things, he ran afoul of wild Pokemon who tore him to pieces."

Jessie's eyes widen at that. Whoa. So, was that was happened to the original Red? But then… why did that ring false to her, just a little bit? Why did it feel like there was more to the story?

"Is this it? Is this all I have to show for my sacrifices, for my years of work? I was so close. The boy was always headstrong, more unruly than his sister by far, but it was fine. He was coming along just fine. Then… he changed, when he saw Blue for the first time. It was like a light switch in his head. Why? He was my clone. He should have understood…"

On the one hand, watching an old man break down isn't exactly Jessie's idea of a good time. On the other, after all they'd seen so far, watching Oak eat a slice of humble pie was a very good time indeed. Except…

"No… no, this is not the end. This is… only a setback. Red was coming along nicely, but he was not my only clone. Yellow… Yellow will have to take his place. She will be the new Red from now on. She's still young enough… it will likely take longer than I anticipated. But I won't let this be the end. Even if it takes another decade to prepare Yellow for the plan, I won't falter."

Looking up into the camera, Samuel Oak's visage is ghastly, the old man's eyes sunken into his wrinkled, craggily face. No trace of a grandfather or a cheery Pokemon Professor can be found… but in his eyes, Jessie sees a familiar sort of focus, raw determination, and resolve.

"I will not falter."

With that, the final video diary comes to an end. Jessie stands still, frozen like a statue. The basement is otherwise completely silent. She recognized that focus. She recognized that intensity in those eyes, even if the face around said eyes was incredibly old and decrepit. She…

"J-Jessie…"

Jamie's hand reaches out to find hers and their fingers intertwine. For a moment, Jessie thinks her friend is just incredibly shook by what they just saw. Which is fair, Jessie is too. But then she actually looks over at Jamie… and in that moment, she knows Jamie has come to the same conclusion she has. They both look to Cam, the pink-haired Rocket Executive staring at the blank, darkened monitor in silence.

… All this time, Cam was-

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Suddenly, Cam's pager goes off, Jessie and Jamie damn near jumping out of their collective skin as the young Rocket Executive's attention snaps down to it. After a moment, he looks up, his expression no-nonsense and as stoic as ever. The look in his eyes though… it mirrors what they just saw on the monitor, in Professor Oak's face.

"… We're needed in Viridian City. Let's go."

There are no words, and so Jessie and Jamie follow Cam back up out of the basement. They'd thought nothing down here would be capable of surprising them. They were dead wrong.

-x-X-x-

A/N: So yeah, there it is. The biggest chapter of the fic, more than likely. Both in terms of story impact and in sheer size. I hope that it feels as rewarding as I wanted to make it. Of course, we still have 16 chapters of Main Story left to go, so we're far from done. Still, this is the big mystery of this fic, finally answered.

As always, feedback is greatly appreciated! Comments and Likes sustain me!

Also this story is still TEN chapters ahead over on my P atreon for early access!