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Upon hearing what Luther had just said, Jessie, for once, didn't fire back with her usual sharp tongue. Instead, she glanced at Meowth and James, trying to read something from their expressions.
However, after speaking, James kept his eyes fixed on Luther, his face indifferent.
This was a contradiction that couldn't be avoided. Both sides had long been consciously dodging it, trying to shelve their differences.
The trio worked hard running their business, while Luther gave his all in battles. After matches, he would intentionally or unintentionally visit their stall, helping attract customers.
With their solid supply chain and uniquely crafted handmade abilities, the trio earned considerable profits and gradually gained recognition from customers.
Meanwhile, Luther quietly enjoyed the returns from his early investments and the trio's skills.
Their cooperation was seamless, almost like friends.
At least, that's how it appeared on the surface.
But Luther and Team Rocket were not the same kind of people.
Luther, currently a Top 8 contestant in the Lily of the Valley Conference, had the strength to climb even higher. It wasn't impossible for him to ultimately claim the championship. And if he did, he would undoubtedly become someone favored and specially treated by the Pokémon League.
As for the Team Rocket trio, if one had to define them, they were bad people, but not truly evil. A bit foolish, perhaps, but not irredeemably wicked.
Backed by Team Rocket, an evil organization, their successful crimes could be counted on one hand. Even in this world, by its standards, they were still more like comic relief.
Yet Luther couldn't ignore their true nature; they were members of Team Rocket, part of an evil organization.
You could say Giovanni had the charisma of a villain and the aura of a leader, but you couldn't say his actions were right. That was a matter of stance, morality, and the law of this world.
It had taken Luther a long time to separate the impressions of Team Rocket formed from watching the anime from reality.
He had always believed he could distinguish between fiction and reality, but when it came to Team Rocket, he still hesitated.
That line, "true protagonists", wasn't just a joke.
Like Ash Ketchum, Team Rocket had accompanied many people through their childhood.
But they were still villains.
"Why are you so fixated on Team Rocket? With your abilities, succeeding at something else wouldn't be difficult."
Jessie finally snapped. "What do you even understand? So what if we're Team Rocket? I only joined because I had no other choice. If I had a choice, why would I do this?"
Luther let out a cold laugh, stood up, and stared straight into Jessie's eyes.
"No other choice? Are you sure it's not just self-abandonment, self-pity, and fooling yourself?"
James, who had been unsure how to speak, stepped forward to stand beside Jessie. "That's going too far. You don't know anything about Jessie's past, "
"Your mother, Miyamoto, was one of the closest associates of Team Rocket's founder. She was ordered to search for a certain legendary Pokemon and has been missing ever since. As her daughter, did Team Rocket ever take care of you?"
Jessie's eyes widened instantly. She grabbed Luther by the collar, her face twisted with emotion.
"How do you know all this? Do you know where my mother is?!"
Seeing Jessie lose control, James hurried forward to try and separate her from Luther, while Candice and Mai also moved closer.
Seeing the almost out-of-control expression on Jessie's face, Luther reached out, grabbed her wrist, and pried her hand off his collar.
"Just assume I've seen all of this in full, inside some dream created by a certain legendary Pokemon. You care deeply about your mother, but Team Rocket doesn't seem to care about her, or about you."
"Your mother, Miyamoto, reached that position, yet no one cared whether you lived or died. You were forced to rely on others, starving to the point of eating snow drizzled with soy sauce. When you were hungry and struggling, did a single member of Team Rocket ever help you?"
"And about your so-called 'having no way out', failing to become a star was due to lack of ability. Breaking up with your first love was tragic, yes, but it was also the price of your own choices. Everyone has to take responsibility for their decisions, both you and I."
"As for your training as a Pokémon nurse, you did have some talent, but your failure wasn't just about your temper, it was also because you weren't serious enough. In the end, it's a matter of attitude."
"And the Pokémon research academy? That was simply because your academic ability wasn't good enough."
"Each of these things, tell me, which one truly counts as having no way out? You brought this on yourself. It's your lack of effort that led you here. No one forced you into a corner, if anyone did, it was Team Rocket."
"Team Rocket left you dependent on others from childhood, uncared for and starving. After you lost your mother, they offered you no help at all."
Luther looked at Jessie's pale face and still didn't stop.
"One more question, after your mother went missing, did Giovanni or his mother ever explain anything to you? Did they ever even come to see you?"
Jessie's body trembled. She wanted to argue, but not a single word would come out.
She didn't know why Luther knew so much, but having her deepest wounds exposed so directly made it almost impossible for her to breathe.
"Seems like they didn't. And even so, you're still willing to work for Giovanni, for Team Rocket? Don't you have any self-respect?"
Jessie collapsed back into her chair.
It was the first time James had ever seen Jessie so shaken. Even as her teammate, there were things she had never told him.
At the very least, this was the first time he had ever heard about her mother, Miyamoto.
Judging from Jessie's expression, every word Luther said was true.
Every sentence struck straight at the heart.
"What happened to my mother?"
Snapping out of her dazed state, Jessie's first question was about Miyamoto's whereabouts.
Her miserable childhood had forced her to accept early on that she had no parents. But now, hearing those long-buried truths from an outsider,
Jessie wanted answers.
Luther let out a sigh. "It depends on how you choose to interpret this. Miyamoto was tasked with finding a certain legendary Pokémon. She did find it according to the information she had, but all the other Team Rocket members heard was her scream. Then she disappeared, and her whereabouts have been unknown ever since."
The Pokémon Miyamoto had been searching for… was Mew.
No one knows what exactly happened to her in the end, or what she did after encountering Mew.
But the result is clear: Jessie was left alone, enduring an extremely harsh childhood. Because of those experiences, her personality developed certain flaws.
"I think you'd better not hold onto unnecessary hope, nor try to search for her. Just like you've accepted all these years that she's gone… accept this reality."
Jessie sat in her chair, staring at the ceiling, no one knowing what she was thinking at that moment.
Meowth and James let out a sigh, suddenly feeling a chill in their hearts.
Miyamoto's story left them with a deep sense of cold dread.
(End of Chapter)