[attr="class","monty"]He slouched over the tiny coffee table, a storm raging outside his apartment. The dull, yellow light was the only thing that gave him the ability to see the papers in his hands aside from the occasional bolts of lightning outside. The sea beside the port town of Driftveil City threw threatening waves against the beach.

The CLAYDOL levitated beside him, whirring in warning.

"I fuckin' know. Just give me a minute, okay?" His voice was sharp and annoyed, though his annoyance wasn't directed at his Pokemon's concern for him. It was that feeling of anxiety, nervousness building like the waves outside in his stomach and threatening to overcome him.

He didn't have much time left. It was now or never.

With scissors in hand, he began to cut through the paper. His name was chopped out. It wasn't like he'd been going by it anyway. Next, his mother. Then father. All important, traceable information was erased one paper at a time. He held the names, the numbers, everything in his hands.

"■ ■ ■ ■ ■," "■ ■ ■ ■," and "■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■" stood out to him. He sighed, stacking them into a pile onto the table.

"They're dead, anyway. So am I, I s'pose," the man muttered, taking a canister of fuel and dumping it over the table. He stepped away from it, taking out a box of matches.

Swipe. Swipe. Swipe. Fire. "Let's see how long they'll take to find out we've left. Let's go, Claydol."

He flicked the match onto the fuel. The paper went into flames, as did the table. He didn't stay around long enough to see his apartment burn, escaping into the night with his Pokemon as his side. It was time to go.

Fixing a cowboy hat on his head, Montgomery boarded the boat waiting for him. "Time to go to Hoenn."

[attr="class","montytag"]Montgomery James

[attr="class","monty"]He’d never experienced dreams, not since he was a child. When Montgomery joined team Rocket in Unova, his nights were spent blank and dark. Not even the plague of nightmares haunted him. They would ask how he could sleep so soundly at night.

He just said he worked for it.

---

There was a field, stretching vastly from his gaze around him. Flowers dotted the grass, decorating it with a kaleidoscope of color. The air smelled faintly of warm bread in the distance, coming from the open window of the ranch-style house behind him.

It was so warm and calm, as Montgomery relaxed out in the field. His SKARMORY flew above head, seemingly training his newly gifted ILLUMINA SKARMORY in flight and the hunt. Behind her, a trail of blue followed, like the blue of Ascalon’s blade.

War eventually brought peace. And, with this peace, he’d set down his badge and retired to his home in the countryside. The voices which had haunted his mind were silent.

Redeemed.

Footsteps brushed through the grass, alerting Montgomery of someone’s presence. He opened his eyes, his head turned to the side, as he spotted ameena abadi approach.

She was ethereal, donned in a white dress with floral detailing that rivalled even the fields they rested in. As she leaned over him, the sun appeared as a halo behind her dark curls.

Even still, her smile was bright.

Montgomery found himself smiling, sitting up and extending his reach to her. She sat upon his lap, swaddled in his arms as her head rested upon his chest. In the distance, her MAGERNA appeared to be doing some chores by the barn.

He inhaled, breathing in the sweet smell of flowers and baked bread, as his hand reached to touch her chin. Turning her head toward him, he wondered: "How the hell did I get lucky? How do I deserve this?"

Ameena looked at him expectantly, her eyes lowering to his lips. They both leaned closer, the temptation of sharing a kiss all too tantalising. Before their lips met, her hands touched his face.

And grabbed his neck, holding it in a vice.

Air was knocked out of him, as she stared at him with contempt and rage. At her shoulder, blood oozed from a bullet wound that he’d put there. And her eyes bubbled with tears, staining red down her cheeks.

The world was burning.

"Montgomery…" she murmured, leaning by his ear.

"Wake up."

---

He jolted, hearing loud beeps from the monitor behind his bed. The room was white and sterile, with the smell of hospital and medicine around him. And to his right, he heard a voice again. But it was not hers.

"You’re awake! Good. Your wounds are looking much better. I think you should go and take a walk around the hall today," the nurse spoke cheerfully, her back to him as she typed away notes on her computer.

Reality finally hit him. Mossdeep. Sootopolis. SKARMORY...

Ameena.

Montgomery sighed, closing his eyes again, urging to be sucked back into that dream again. "Just get me the fuck outta here…"

[attr="class","montytag"]Montgomery James