2024-05-08: My Point Of View
- Cutscene: My Point Of View
- Cast: Sable Aomori, Anne Aomori
- Where: Anne's apartment, Viridian City, Energy Nede
- Date: May 8, 2024 (506 PC Filgaian)
- Summary: A daughter visits her mother. Catching up turns to a conversation about philosophy and current events, and a line is drawn.
"Mom?"
Sable Aomori stands in the corner of a wide blue hallway, knocking at the door to her mother's apartment. She glances down at the door, then at her rune-inlaid sneakers, then back up to face forward as the door swings inward.
"Sable," Anne welcomes her daughter, coming out of the entryway to give Sable a hug. She's a little taller than Sable, and Anne's chunky earrings clink as she gives her a squeeze. "It's so good to see you!" Sable's mother pulls back and smiles at her. "You're already looking a bit older," she says. "More mature. And you stopped dyeing your hair... What's the story with that?"
"...Yes," Sable answers, glancing to the side, a little embarrassed by the attention though no one is here. The light catches Anne's glasses from Sable's angle of vision. "I thought I'd visit..." She pauses. "Traveling around wet places makes the dye inconvenient..."
"Oh, that would do it." Anne nods firmly and steps back, allowing Sable to walk into the apartment. The entryway is small, but it opens up quickly into a wide living area, in the corner of which is Laqui, Anne's Typhlosion. He's curled up, a blue-and-cream mammalian creature of some size, but he lifts his head to regard Sable. She waves at him, and Anne continues, "Let me get you something to drink. Are you hungry? Are you eating well? Are you cold? No, with that jacket you wouldn't be. Whatever you need, though."
Sable follows and her eyes catch the pictures on the walls; a number of them are of her and Anne, or her and Whit, or just her. "Cacti..." There are a lot of cacti, too. "..." Sable stops by Laqui to rub behind his ears. "Hi, Laqui." Then she looks at Anne. "I'm okay," she answers... one of the many questions. "Whatever you have is fine." The drink question. "I'm not hungry." Pause. "And I'm not cold... it's comfortable."
"Good," Anne answers, reaching the fridge and pulling two bottles of juice before she walks back out to the couch. "Take a seat," she suggests. "And bring out Ulpi! I haven't seen him in ages. I hear he evolved!"
"Yes," Sable replies. She takes a bottle when Anne sits across from her, and pulls one of the Pokeballs at her belt. "Ulpi," she directs, and in a moment there is a tuxedo-patterned blue penguin-like Prinplup standing there.
"Prin!" he declares, and waddles to Anne, who rubs his feathers.
"Very good," she says. "You're looking healthy. You're taking good care of Sable, aren't you?"
"Lup!" he confirms, puffing up proudly, and then moves to rest at the side of Sable's seat. Anne smiles at him, and looks back to Sable.
"I can see it in your eyes. You've gotten stronger with him." Anne nods, firmly.
"Thank you..." Sable glances away again, shy suddenly, but with a reassuring look from Anne she trains her gaze back on her mother. "We're working hard. We decided... to put the Gyms on hold. Because there's other things going on..."
Anne finally has an expression that isn't neutral or smiling. It's more complex than that; Sable can only read the schooled features of her mother because she knows her. "I don't like that," Anne admits. "I wish you could just continue on your journey, and leave the troubles to everyone else."
"I... don't want to," Sable answers, her eyes on Laqui. "I don't want to look away. I don't want to stand by while things happen, and just let them happen without doing anything." Sable tries to keep her voice strong, and after a moment's silence, lifts her gaze back to her mother's.
Anne's expression has softened. "That's how I raised you," she admits. "I wouldn't expect anything different. That's why I'm not mad... though I expect you to be very, very careful, young lady. I can't protect you from entire other worlds. I expect you to stick with friends when you go places you don't feel safe. And I expect you to use the things I taught you to get out of danger."
"I will, Mom." Sable pauses. "...I know. Maybe Dad would rather I just focus on my Journey, too..."
"True," Anne admits. "But he'll understand, too. You will stay safe, though. As much as you can."
"I have good friends now," Sable says. "Not just my Pokemon... But some of the Visitors, too. And Nina. But my Pokemon, too."
Anne sighs, but nods after a moment. "All right. I just want my little girl to be all right. But I won't stop you doing what's in your heart. Check in now and then, though. Like this."
"I will," Sable answers. She sort of means all of it, but she just has to hope that comes across. "...How have things been with you?" she asks. "I want to check on you, too, Mom..."
"That's sweet," Anne answers, and her easy smile comes back. "I've been well. A lot of work to do. ...More relevantly to you, I've been spending a lot of time with your father lately."
"Really?" Sable asks. "That's nice..."
"It is," Anne agrees. "Maybe we can all get together soon."
Sable nods. "Yes. But..." Sable considers for a moment and then continues, "I'm glad things have been OK. My journey's been really interesting. I showed you my Boulder badge last time, but I've been to a lot more places now. I got to see Filgaia... And I met a number of new Pokemon. And Eno listens to me now."
"Really?" Anne asks. Sable can't tell exactly what she thinks, but she's pretty sure it's a positive reaction. Anne continues, "I've seen a bit of Filgaia myself. It's very interesting. And I'm still proud of your badge! I suppose it'll be a while before I see the Cascade badge..." A pause. "Eno, really? That little Cubone that Nina traded you?"
"Yes," Sable answers. "Eno's really strong... He was too strong for me, until lately."
"Good!" Anne says. "That means you're growing! And that's exactly what I want to see. I saw Nina the other week... She's certainly as full of energy as ever."
"She thinks you don't know about her art," Sable says.
Anne laughs a little.
But Sable continues, "...I met one of the kids working with you, too. She goes by Mia now."
"Mia's a good girl," Anne says of her. "She does her best."
"...She does," Sable says. "We had a battle. I won, but... She looks like she's going to take battling more seriously from now on. I hope I chose a good rival..."
"I'm sure you did," Anne says. "She's primarily someone who wants to raise Pokemon, but you learn a lot about yourself and your partners on the Journey. I'm looking forward to seeing her develop, too."
"Mmm," Sable says. "Her Pokemon are really well cared-for. And I've met a lot of other people on the Journey, too. But... one of them was Jessie."
"How's Jessie?" Anne asks. Sable doesn't notice anything strange.
"She seems okay," Sable says. "But... She's in Team Rocket. They're a big group that's going around stealing Pokemon..."
"...I see," Anne answers. "Whit mentioned that about her, too."
"Really?" Sable asks. "...Well," she says. "It's not just her. It's Mia, too."
"...Is that so?"
"Mm-hm. And..." Sable looks at her juice bottle, and opens the top. "I met a Filgaian Golem working for them, too. His name is Asgard. He's really big. And he talks kind of like you, Mom. About strength, and will."
Anne does not open her drink. Sable doesn't see her smile waver, but she does notice her mother is quieter about this subject.
So Sable continues, "He said I didn't understand Team Rocket. And that I should learn and grow. So... I wonder... why would someone support them...?" Sable looks up to her mother's eyes, the same as hers. "Do you understand Team Rocket, Mom?"
"..." Anne is quiet at that, and Sable feels the weight of her scrutiny. It feels to Sable like a long time before she speaks up. But she notices that Laqui is looking at her, too.
"Mom?" Sable wonders.
"I do," Anne says. "I understand a lot about them. They want to change Energy Nede. They don't believe that the Pokemon League or the government is prepared to face the threats before us. And they see an opportunity to profit from the changes to come."
"...I see. They mostly seemed like ordinary criminals," Sable admits. "But Asgard seems to believe in 'strength'. And Mia said she had ideals, too..."
Anne nods. "That's right. It would look that way, to an observer; they operate outside the law, and they want to make money doing it."
"Money..." Sable trails off. "I never thought that much about money. But it's not just 'outside the law', is it? ...Since it affects people..."
"...It does," Anne says. "Not that we have a lot of criminals on Energy Nede in the first place," she continues. "But they are that."
"They stole a boy's Pokemon," Sable says. "Asgard, Jessie, and James... He had just caught it. But they took it. Asgard said... that Pokemon desire battle. That's a little different from what you say. But not totally different."
"Pokemon respond to the Trainer's 'will'," Anne says, as she's said many times before. "...However they come into the Trainer's hands, that's how it is."
"I don't like it," Sable continues uncomfortably. "I told him... that i'd get it back."
"Did you?" Anne asks.
"Yes." Sable pauses. "...I think... It's a way to use my skills. The skills you taught me. To get places, and get out of places. But..."
"But?"
"...But I guess I'm not surprised that you'd understand Team Rocket, Mom. You understand everything."
"Not everything," Anne replies with a shake of her head. "No, not everything. But I do understand behavior... and I understand them."
"...Because you're with them, right?" Sable asks.
"..."
"...Jessie's with them, and so is James. You haven't dragged them out. Mia's with them, and still works with you. I told her that you think people should follow their own paths. But I think it's because..."
"...That's right," Anne answers. "I do. I'm part of Team Rocket." While Sable looks at her Anne continues, "Do you remember the stories I told you, about our ancestors? How our clans each followed strong leaders, and chose to enact the will of their lords and ladies?"
"..." Sable nods.
"I've chosen the Boss of Team Rocket. He's an old friend of mine... and I believe that he has the ambition and the vision to bring change to Energy Nede. A change that has been long coming. I'm gambling that his way is worth it. And if I can have some fun along the way, that's all the better."
"But..." Sable says, "Is it really fun...?"
"Sure," Anne says. "It's a chance to test the skills I learned and passed down against other people. It's a chance to live on the edge. And it means I'm doing something, instead of just contributing to the same old cycle. No, I'm quite committed to that work."
"But..." Sable looks down, again. "That boy was so sad..."
Anne's lips press together, as Sable notices out of the edge of her vision. And then Sable's mother says, "...A lot of people will be sad. Things changing is hard. The peaceful world we know won't be the same, after the Ten Wise Men. And I intend for our family to be well-positioned in what's to come."
"Change brings people sadness, then." Sable frowns.
"Usually, yes." Anne nods.
"...Then why didn't you invite me to join?" she wonders. "If you don't trust the Pokemon League... why are you letting me try to take their challenges?"
Anne says nothing for a long moment.
"Mom... I think you think it's wrong," she says. "Because otherwise you would've told me and Whit..."
Anne shakes her head. "No. I just don't want you involved. I want you to go about your Journey and be happy. Leave changing the world to the adults. I'll make sure you come through all right."
Sable quiets. Ulpi, her Prinplup, turns to look up at her, and she looks down at him, too--before nodding. "Ulpi... You feel the same way, don't you...?" She looks down again. "Mom... I know you want to keep me out of it, but..." Sable looks up into her mother's eyes--the eyes just like hers. "But I won't accept that. I won't stand by and do nothing. And I won't do it that way just because it's how it's been done in the past."
"Sable," Anne starts, but Sable doesn't wait.
"I'll find a better way," Sable says. "A way that doesn't make people sad. I'll use my skills, and train my Pokemon, and save our world. ...And I'll find better ways to do all of it."
"It might not be that simple," Anne warns. "There's a lot of things to change, and a lot of people wanting to make it happen in their own ways. You're sure you want to put that on your shoulders?"
"Yes," Sable answers resolutely. "I do. I'm... willing to try. And maybe I'll fail. But I'll try."
"...I don't like it," Anne admits. "I'd rather you stay out of all this and let me handle it. Enjoy your life. But..." She sighs. "I see I can't convince you so easily. Fine. Do as you like." Anne shakes her head. "...Will you at least stay for dinner?"
"...No," Sable says. "I... I need to think. Ulpi... Let's go."
Laqui looks at Sable again, and then yawns. He starts to rise, and pads over to Sable, who gives him another few pats. "...Ulpi will look after you," Anne says. "Go talk to your father, when you get a chance." She sounds unhappy, Sable thinks... But she would, wouldn't she?
"Okay," Sable says. "...I'll come back sometime. Maybe when I have more to show you..."
"You're welcome anytime," Anne makes clear. "But... they won't go easy on you. Not Filgaia, not Lunar... and not Team Rocket."
"..." Sable nods.
"I love you," Anne says. "But when you see what the world's like, you might just come around to my point of view."
"...I love you," Sable says, instead of answering the other thing, and stands up. "...I gotta go." With Ulpi at her side, Sable pats Laqui and turns to walk for the door.
It takes some effort, not to look back.