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The evening before Father’s Day that year, Satoshi and Kukui were in the midst of eating dinner. The teen had been oddly quieter than usual ever since Kukui had announced the Father’s Day essay assignment the day before.
Kukui knew that Satoshi had a...complicated relationship with his father (or maybe he didn’t even know who his father was) as neither he nor Delia spoke of Satoshi’s father. In all the time that the teen had been staying at his house, he had never explicitly brought up the concept of family.
When Satoshi started talking, it caught him a little off guard.
“You know Team Rocket-” Satoshi started saying.
“-The organisation in Kanto or the two and the talking Meowth that keep showing up?” Kukui asked, for the necessary clarification.
“The organisation,” he confirmed. “As a whole, they’re far worse than Team Skull or most of the evil organisations I’ve encountered. But then there are people like the trio that keeps following me,” Satoshi paused to eat more of his dinner. “But then I remember that I’ll inherit the leadership if someone managed to kill Giovanni - their leader - and that makes my opinion of Rocket complicated,” he told him.
Wait, what?
“What do you mean ‘you’ll inherit leadership if Rocket’s leader is killed’?” Kukui asked, completely confused.
“Right, you don’t know,” Satoshi said cryptically. “I’m Giovanni’s son and the way leadership in Kantoneses criminal organisations is passed down is through the eldest son of the former leader,” The teen just dropped another bombshell right on him.
How on earth could this boy, who was frankly the friendliest (albeit rather unusual) kid that he had seen in a long time, be the son of the leader of a criminal organisation? That just didn't work.
Kukui must have been sitting there looking like a surprised Pikachu because Satoshi laughed a little at his expression.
“Weird, isn’t it? I didn’t know until a few months ago, Mum told me not long after I got home from my Kalos journey,” Satoshi told him.
“I don’t think the trio knows - yet - thank Arceus-” Pikachu chirped something from his spot on the floor. “-You’re right, again,” he said to the electric type. “Pikachu just said that it wouldn’t make a difference, they would still follow me around regardless,” Satoshi translated for him.
That didn’t do anything to settle his concern at all.
“Why do they follow you around?” he asked.
Satoshi shrugged. “They’ve been following me and Pikachu ever since the first day. I kinda forget about them by now,” he said. “They don’t really do anything too bad anymore, all they do anymore is try to steal Pikachu every so often,” he added. “Even then, they don’t ever succeed at that,” Satoshi finished.
Silence fell between the two again as they continued with their meal.
“No one deserves to die and even criminals but I’m hoping that Giovanni doesn’t for a while yet, otherwise I’ll not only have the leadership of Rocket but also have the leadership of Viridian Gym,” the teen spoke up as they were finishing up. “And if that happens then I would have to give up on my Journey,” he added.
Kukui watched a noodle float around what little soup was left in his bowl as he processed all what Satoshi had told him over the course of the last twenty minutes.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have told you all that,” Satoshi apologised. That only confused Kukui more. "You probably didn't want to hear it,"
“Satoshi, thank you for telling me that. And I was surprised by what you’ve told me but I never didn’t not want to hear it,” Kukui told him. Now it was his turn to surprise Satoshi.