Morai assumed the helicopter in front of her belonged to Team Rocket and she was right. She flew under it. It was simple. She didn't want to deal with them right now, so she wasn't going to. Archer and Petrel on the other hand, weren't just going to let her go. Petrel was angrier than Archer, who had once even suggested leaving her alone. But she had completely veered from her own plan and made their job a lot harder than it could've been and they wanted to know why. Proton was in the helicopter too, but he had no idea what had happened, so he didn't have any particular feelings either way. That was his usual position in most situations anyway.
Morai took her earpiece out and put it into one of her pouches. She considered dropping it into the sea below, but she wasn't a litterer. Not much longer and she reached the outskirts of Akala island. She could hear the sound of the helicopter behind her, but she didn't care. She didn't think they'd travel into the island where they were so noticeable, but they persisted. The problem was, she couldn't just waltz into town either. Not dressed like she was anyway. She landed on the tiny piece of land surrounded by rocks on Route 7. It was the best place she had to change as fast as she could into normal clothes. When she landed, however, the aircraft hovered low over the island, and out jumped Proton. She looked to the sky and sighed. Proton came running up to her and wrapped his arms tightly around her body before she could react.
"Half-and-Half! Where've you been all this time?! We were beginning to think you left for good, but then you came back just to save me!" the Executive exclaimed.
"Uh, aren't you mad at me or something?" Morai asked.
"Pfft. I'm not, I didn't see what happened! Archer cooled off and Petrel still isn't happy, but he'll get over it in no time."
Morai pushed Proton off of her.
"Then why did you follow me all this way?"
"To see you! You've been gone for a long time, as I said. We honestly thought you might've quit... or died."
I wouldn't call it quitting.
"I did qui—I mean, stop. But I saw your flare and thought I should help you out, and that's all I planned to do. I'm not putting this mask back on again," Morai explained.
"Wait, what? Why?"
The helicopter had flown off and left them there alone. It was dark now, and the sea around them was illuminated with the light of the stars and moon. The crashing of waves sent the occasional splash of water their way, and the wind blew salty air through their hair. Proton looked as if he had personally fought multiple police agents in his escape. Morai could see that his nose had been bleeding, and so had the scuffs on his face. He didn't have the cap he usually wore on his head, and his clothes had even been burned in a few places. To her surprise, she actually was beginning to feel sympathy for him. She had gone to rescue him, sure, but that was because he had treated her so nicely, and she was paying him back for the first time they met. After that, she could hang her mask up for good.
"...Because...I don't know if this is who I am," she said. "It's made me happy, but it's also torn me to shreds with guilt. Every time I do something as The Mask Maker, I doubt it later and wonder if I'm making the right decision by continuing to put this mask on. I've been trying to pull off this elaborate balancing act between my two lives, but it's become a burden that's getting too heavy to carry."
"Is that what you want...to stop forever?" Proton asked. They both sat down side by side on a piece of rock, facing the ocean.
"...I don't know. I don't seem to know what I want anymore. The world has honored me for being one thing, yet I deeply crave to be something it hates."
"That doesn't make the world just. Ever since I was a kid I've been a little...well, let's just say 'out there'. My parent's weren't sure what to do with me. I tried to suppress it, but that didn't stop it. My proclivity for violence only grew deeper and never went away. My parents eventually wanted nothing to do with me. The world labeled me a monster, so that's what I became. Most of the world shunned me, but then I found Team Rocket. I met people that I became good friends with. Giovanni, Petrel, Archer, Ariana...and you. We understand each other. I've actually learned to control what I was feared for in the first place. Ignoring its existence only made it worse...life is too short to spend pleasing other people."
Proton sat looking into the waves. He looked up at Morai, who didn't know how to respond. She put her hand on his shoulder. He quickly looked away, face starting to turn a light red. He cleared his throat.
Yikes! Did I just say all of that? Way to spill the beans, Proton.
"Welp! That's just my opinion anyway. Do what you want, Two Face...what do you want, exactly?" he asked.
"I want to live unapologetically. I'm tired of being nice just because that's what people expect...I'm tired of being mistaken for being harmless. I'm tired of...of wearing a mask."
"Well, boy do I have a solution for you," Proton said with a smile.
"What is it?"
Proton looked at her for a moment and slowly reached his hands up to Morai's mask. She started to pull away and he stopped, but she stopped too. He put a hand on the band on the back of her head and one on the side of her mask. She put her hands on his wrists, but didn't push them away from her. He pressed the silver buckle attaching the band to the mask and with its click she gave a little shove, but they both knew it was half-hearted. One side of the band fell down and Proton put his other hand on her mask and lingered there for a moment, holding the mask in the air. Morai's heart was racing and it seemed like it was about to pound out of her chest.
Proton slowly lowered his hands until her face was completely uncovered. Her eyes were closed and she had her shoulders raised and tensed beside her head, hands still on Proton's gloved wrists. He put his hand below her chin and gently raised her head. She opened her eyes and looked at him, slowly relaxing her shoulders. Morai's gray eyes were speckled with hints of blue and green. She blinked several times as she had gotten used to looking through her mask. She sat frozen, unsure of what to do now. Her secret had been revealed to one more person, but this time it was by choice. Proton looked at her silently.
Wow. That's what she looks like. It's really her, he thought.
"You, uh, have nice eyes."
He leaned back and took his hand away from her face.
"So, do I call you One Face now, or just Face?" the Executive asked. He smiled, changing the tone of a situation he was uncomfortable in with humor, like he often did. Morai looked a little confused, but chuckled.
"Do me a favor and don't tell anyone else, okay? I'm still figuring this whole thing out."
"Sure thing."
They sat in silence for a while, looking at the waves. They each had shared a piece of themselves with the other, Morai even more so, perhaps. It felt strange to be without a mask when she was dressed otherwise as The Mask Maker. She didn't mind letting the cool salty air blow freely across her face, however.
"Well, I guess I better get back to HQ."
"And I should get back home."
Proton handed her mask to her. He had been holding it since he took it off.
"Do me a favor and come back to Headquarters sometime, okay?" he asked.
"I...I don't know."
This could be the last time you see her, Proton.
"I'll continue to meditate on it."
"Well, hopefully that brings you back to us," he said. He went up and hugged her tightly once more. Almost too tightly.
"This could be the last one, you know? It has to count."
"R-right," She muttered with a struggle. He let her go and they parted ways, Morai flying in one direction on Corviknight with her mask back on, and Proton flying another way with Golbat.
Morai went home, gathered her things and headed to Unova, the place where she had first appeared as The Mask Maker. She was tired, but she had decided to go back to the place where it had all begun. She walked down the cold alleyway. The street had become wet with a recent rain shower, and the light from the dim street lamps reflected across the stones. It was dark and silent. Then, in the distance, she heard footsteps. That was unusual for this time of night. The trainer looked around but saw nothing.
"Hey, hey! You! I finally found you!" a voice called.
Morai turned and saw a shadowy figure running straight toward her at an alarming speed. It slipped a couple of times on the wet stones, but continued nonetheless. The Mask Maker braced herself. There was no use in trying to run from whatever was after her. Besides, she was curious. She believed she could fight it off, whoever or whatever it was. She reached into her coat and grabbed a mask.
"No! Wait! Listen to me first!" the voice pleaded. The figure was getting closer. It sounded desperate. She expected it to stop in front of her, but it kept running at her, reaching out with its long arms and grabbing her shoulders. She took her foot and pushed kicked, causing the person to let go and fall backwards with a grunt. Morai raised her mask in anger, preparing to push it down onto the assailant's face.
"No! Stop! Wait! Don't you remember me?!" the man asked. Morai looked down at the figure sitting before her. He was a tall young man with blonde hair and wide blue eyes.
It was Jason, one of the first people she had ever encountered while wearing a mask. The person whose Pokémon she took and who she sent to deliver a message to the police all those months ago. She recognized him before her mask finished scanning him. His unkept hair had been tidied up, and he had clearly been going to the gym. His sloven figure had changed into a slightly more muscled and almost intimidating one.
"My god...it is you."
"Yes! You do remember me! I started to remember what happened before you put that mask on me. What you said. I took your words and I used them. I got stronger. Both physically and in Pokémon battles, so that I could either defeat you or rip my Pokémon out of your hands if I had to. I've been waiting for you here every night. Battle me and see how much stronger I've gotten, Mask Maker!"
She nodded and called out her Mightyena. She was surprised, but this turn of events was not unwelcome at all. Jason sent out Mienshao. He had clearly chosen it for its type advantage over her Pokémon.
"Fire Fang."
Mightyena prepared to launch its attack.
"Low Kick!"
Morai's Mightyena struck first, but Jason's Pokémon delivered a hard blow afterward.
"Substitute."
"Low Kick again!"
The battle continued, until Mightyena delivered a finishing attack. Jason sent out one more Pokémon, a Sawk, but after switching to Hydreigon, Morai still won the match.
Jason looked down and gritted his teeth.
"I'm not leaving without what was taken from me. Try and put that mask on me again, but I'll fight until I can't anymore."
Morai walked toward him. She was smiling under her mask.
"I hardly expect anyone I meet to defeat me in a Pokémon battle. That's not what I judge. I can see you and your new Pokémon have put in a considerable amount of work. You came back to me with a fire in your eyes. A determination to take back what's rightfully yours. Best of all, even after defeated in battle you weren't just going to give up. It's hard to defeat someone who always gets back up after they're knocked down. You are now a worthy trainer. I have your Pokémon, but not with me. You will have to trust that I'll return with them, and I'll have to trust you not to call the police. It seems there's no other way. Do we have a deal?" she asked.
She held her hand out. Jason looked down at her gloved hand, imprinted with half of an eye inside.
"Don't worry, you can touch it. It's harmless."
He hesitated, but ultimately shook her hand.
"Might I take your phone with me? I guess I should leave something of mine behind. Hm...oh! Take my pocket watch. It has my Key Stone inside. I'll also leave my Mightyena, since you don't have any Pokémon left to defend you. Now each of us must uphold the deal. You have my word that no matter how long it takes, I'll be back tonight."
Morai flew off on Corviknight once again but switched to Lunala midair due to its higher speed . She had kept his Pokémon since the encounter, unsure of exactly what to do with them. She had two living areas in Unova, Kalos, and Alola. One for her ordinary self, and the other for her masked self, just to be extra cautious. Her secret bases, if you want to call them that, were small and hidden in secluded areas that almost no one visited. That's where Jason's Pokémon were.
The trainer yawned as she landed in front of the small hut. This one was located in the wooded area past Anville town. She had found an abandoned shack and used the little construction knowledge she had to fix it up. She could often hear the train horns from the rail yard in the distance, and chose to sleep there many times just for that reason, as the sound perfectly accompanied the rain amidst the falling autumn leaves. This was her favorite secret location and she'd sometimes come here just to cozy up in her small bed with Espurr and read, most of the time drifting off to sleep in the process. She looked at her bed longingly, but focused back on the task at hand. She found the wooden chest that Jason's Pokéballs were in, put them in her pouch, and headed back to him.
I can't believe he actually got stronger. I mean, that was the point of our encounter in the first place, but for some reason it caught me by surprise tonight. Maybe I really can spur change for the better in people this way.
She flew back to Castelia, which was across the region, on Lunala, with her pink Espurr riding outside of its ball in her other pouch. She was very tired, but counted on Espurr to wake her up should she fall asleep. When she finally saw the vast expanse of lights in the distance, she patted her partner on the head.
"Alright, its time for you to go back in now. Corviknight!" Morai called. She threw her other flying Pokémon out, carefully mounted it, and called Lunala back into its ball. Reaching the outskirts of the city, she landed on a rooftop looking down on her street to make sure Jason really had upheld his part of the deal. From what she could see, there was only one silhouette sitting in the long alley. Corviknight landed right next to him, deeply startling him from his sleep. He had dozed off while waiting for her return. He jumped up and waited expectantly and hopefully.
"Here. You should be proud of yourself. You've worked hard to get stronger so that you could accomplish something you believed in, and you did."
Morai held her hand out, and in it were three balls and a phone. Jason tenderly took them out of her hand and exhaled in relief. He gave her things back to her. The young man called his old partners out, smiling widely.
"It really is them! Liepard, Lampent, and Herdier!"
The Pokémon, upon hearing his voice, excitedly greeted their master. Herdier barking and licking its trainer's face, lampent spinning around in the air, and Liepard rubbing its face lovingly on Jason's shoulder. It was a sight that warmed the chilly atmosphere of the cold, wet alleyway.
You're the one that separated them in the first place.
That pang of guilt again.
She started to mount her Corviknight to leave.
"Wait!"
"Hm?"
"I'm not going to lie and say I'm not mad at you. Furious, even. But I put it aside to get my partners back. Battling you again made me realize that I could be a lot stronger than I am. Whether I agree with you or not, you have much more strength than I do, and I know I could learn something important from you. With that in mind, could you help me get even stronger?"
"Perhaps," Morai responded. "I have to be careful with who I trust, but helping people become strong is part of why I began this journey. Once I figure out a way to safely do that, I'll find you. You have to prove that I can trust you, however. I walk a very fine line, and I won't slip up easily."
Jason nodded.
"By the way, you trained your Pokémon at the Battle Subway, didn't you?" the trainer asked.
"I tried, but I didn't get very far at all. The people I met there gave me some tips and strategies. How did you know?"
The Mask Maker smiled.
"I don't have an answer for that. I just wanted to see if my guess was correct."
Morai flew off and headed back to her secret little home. She reached her hut, eyelids heavy, and changed into the pair of pajamas she kept there. She sunk into bed with Espurr by her side, the warm lights she had hung up barely twinkling. She was too tired to think about the day's many events, and before long, she was deep into sleep.