Past Transgressions

Author's Note: This is an interquel oneshot between "Breaking the Chains" and the planned sequel "Conquering the Dark", set a few days after "Breaking the Chains". This will elaborate on Tyranitar, and what has happened to him after the events of "Breaking the Chains". This will also set him up to becoming Riley's Pokémon in "Conquering the Dark". And warning to those of you who didn't read Breaking the Chains: this IS religious, so if you're not a fan, click the back button. You got your warning.

"Can I ever forgive myself?"

Those were the words that haunted Tyranitar's head. He laid there, barely conscious. As soon as he had come to, he discovered he was free from Anderson's control. He couldn't help but wonder where he was. Looking around weakly, he discovered that he was in a bed. The sheets were very soft and warm, something he couldn't help but noting.

"Can I ever forgive myself?"

Those words repeated themselves in Tyranitar's head. How many people had he killed? How many Pokémon died at his hands? He had killed so many under Anderson's control that he had completely lost count. Part of himself told him that it wasn't his fault. After all, he had no control over himself. He had no free will, and no say in what Anderson forced him to do.

The other half of himself told him that he was completely to blame. That half told him that being under Anderson's control was no excuse. He did those crimes. Mind controlled or not, he still believed that there was no reason that he should be spared for the crime of murder. He knew that he deserved to be imprisoned. Executed, even.

"You're awake."

Tyranitar looked to the sound of the voice that had spoken. On a chair next to him was a Lucario. He looked at him. It was clear that this Lucario had many scars on him. Scars that were both physical and mental. It quickly became clear to him that this was the Lucario that his former master had frequently experimented on. The one who had suffered much torture and agony before he was finally free.

And the Lucario that Tyranitar was forced to beat up whenever he disobeyed Anderson.

"Riley and I were worried about you."

"Riley?" Tyranitar thought. "Who was Riley?"

"I'm going to go get him, OK?" the Lucario said. "You just rest here and take it easy for right now." With those words, he hopped out of the chair and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Tyranitar was left alone again, with only his thoughts to keep him company. Naturally, the haunting thoughts also came back.

"Can I ever forgive myself of my past transgressions?"

The images of graphically murdering people and Pokémon alike returned to his head. He shuddered at remembering the deeds. He couldn't do it. He knew that he couldn't forgive himself for what he did. He believed that, deep inside, that nobody could forgive him. Certainly not the families of the ones he had murdered, who are surely still mourning over the lost of their loved one. Sighing to himself, he turned away from the door on the other side, looking out the window instead.

"So, he's awake?" came a second voice from the hallway, one Tyranitar didn't recognize. The sound grew louder as it approached the door.

"Yeah… Alpha must have knocked him out pretty well. He's been unconscious for days, but he's finally starting to stir." said the other voice, which Tyranitar made out to be the Lucario. He turned around to face the door, waiting for them to come in.

The Lucario came back in, along with a black-haired human with a blue-colored trench coat. It occurred to the Tyranitar that this human was the one he was forced to battle against earlier. He didn't know how long had passed since that time, nor even why the human decide to help him and take him in.

"…So." Riley said, as he eyed the Tyranitar not with suspicion, but with interest. "You are that doctor's Pokémon… correct?"

Tyranitar wasn't going to deny anything at this point, especially after the human more than likely saved his life. "…Yes."

Riley nodded. "Glad to meet you, Tyranitar. I'm Riley, and this is…"

"Aaron." the Tyranitar finished before Riley could.

"…How do you…?"

"We… kinda know each other from… past events with the doctor." Aaron said, preferring not to bring up the whole debacle again. Riley understood.

"…I see. Well… you're free to stay here as long as you need to, Tyranitar." Riley said.

"…I really shouldn't be bothering you guys. I already caused you a whole lot of trouble earlier. I mean… I almost killed you guys."

"But that's not your fault." Riley assured him, his tone gentle and kind. "You couldn't stop yourself. Anderson forced you to do his bidding."

"Part of me wants to admit that… but the other part of me says I deserve to die."

The room went eerily silent for a while. Not much sound was made apart from very soft breathing. Aaron spoke up to break the silence.

"I'll… let you two be." he said, feeling that Tyranitar needed to talk, but not in front of the Lucario. "If you need me at all, I'll be downstairs." he told them. Leaving the room, a soft walking could be heard from his feet, still being the only sound to pierce the uncomfortable silence.

Riley sighed. Walking fully into the room, he went over to the Tyranitar and sat down in the chair that Aaron was in just moments earlier.

"I get the feeling you need to talk." Riley told him.

"What makes you say that?"

"…You could call it a gut feeling, I suppose. Or chalk it up to aura powers." he chuckled.

"Yeah… I actually do have a lot of things I need to get off my chest. I mean, about everything that's happened."

"Go ahead." Riley said. "I'm all ears."

"…I'm a horrible Pokémon."

Riley looked at the Tyranitar sympathetically. "No, you're…"

"Do you know how many lives I've taken?" the Tyranitar interrupted, looking at the ground in shame. "Do you know how many times I've drastically damaged a family beyond repair by a murder? Do you know what it's like? To kill, murder, and assassinate so many lives, both human and Pokémon? And to do it all against your will?"

Riley had a hard time forming anything to say after that. Instead, he remained silent for a while.

"Truthfully, I don't." Riley confessed. "I don't know what it's like. I don't know how it would feel. I don't even know how I would psychologically cope with that. But I'll say it again if I need to. It wasn't your fault. Obviously, what you did was wrong. But there's nothing you could have done to prevent it. You don't deserve to die for what you unwillingly did."

"I really wish I could agree with you, Riley." he sighed. "I really and truly do want to. But it's not that easy."

"It probably isn't." Riley had to agree. "But…"

Tyranitar looked up at Riley when he said this. "But what?" he asked a bit in confusion.

"…But you can start with the first step. Forgiving yourself."

Tyranitar was disbelieving of this. "How could I ever forgive myself of what I've done?"

Riley sat there for a moment, thinking. After a while, he spoke. "Have you ever heard of a little man called Jesus?"

"Rings a bell." he muttered. "All I really know is that he founded a religion. And that he died. That's… pretty much it."

Riley couldn't help but chuckle from how Tyranitar phrased an entire religion. "Let me talk to you for a second. Pardon me if I end up sounding a little preachy, but I feel it's important to get this out."

"I'm listening."

"That same man died on a cross. For everybody's past mistakes. For everybody's past sins. And for everybody's past transgressions."

Tyranitar couldn't help but be slightly skeptical. "But… didn't he die like… thousands of years ago or something like that?"

Riley chuckled. "It was thousands of years ago. But his death meant that he died for EVERYONE. Past, present, and future."

Tyranitar was somewhat interested now, but still a bit understandably skeptical.

"…And you have proof of this."

"You know, that's actually the beauty of it." he told the Tyranitar. "I don't have any proof."

"Then how can you be so sure of yourself?" Tyranitar questioned him.

Riley grinned. "I just am. Chalk up to faith, or aura, or whatever you want. But I'm pretty confident. And even on the off chance that I'm wrong… well, no harm and no foul if we do all just turn to dust. I don't exactly have anything to lose. Well… except for the occasional discrimination…" he muttered offhandedly.

"Discrimination?"

"Christianity is something of a minority in Sinnoh. An extremely small one, like around 5% of the region. Even the Sinnoh Champion belongs to the Buddhist majority. But mind you, she is still a WONDERFUL lady. Though, as a result of my religion being a minority, I can suffer from discrimination at times. Sometimes, it's just petty insults. Other times, it costs me a job. But it's nothing that I can't handle."

Tyranitar was quiet for a bit. "And yet, you still choose to follow your religion despite all of that?"

Riley nodded.

"This is kind of interesting… but still confusing… So, a dead guy died for the mistakes and sins and transgressions of everybody in the whole wide world, past present, and future?"

Riley chuckled. "It sounds a little silly when you put it like that. But yes. And so that brings us to full circle. Forgiving yourself of your past transgressions."

"…With a dead guy's help?"

Riley laughed again. "He's technically still alive, but yes."

"Technically?"

"It's a long and complex story."

"Oh." he said. "Well… maybe he'll help me find peace with what I've done."

"I think he might. This reminds me of the story of Paul."

"…You mean that guy who got arrested and put in jail for abusing his Chimchar recently?"

"No, not that criminal!" Riley laughed again, putting his hand to his face. "I'm talking about a previous one. A guy from 'thousands of years ago' once named Saul, but then took the name Paul after Jesus forgave him."

"What did he do?"

"Before he was Paul, he was Saul. As Saul, he persecuted and imprisoned a whole lot of Christians. He hated them with quite the burning ambition. He might have even tortured and killed them, but there's no recorded evidence of that. It was 'thousands of years ago', after all. No such things as DNA scanning, or fingerprint analysis or stuff like that existed yet." he chuckled.

"So what happened?"

"What do you think happened?" Riley asked.

"…Beats me."

"Hmm. Pardon me for a second. I think I should quote a passage to help you out. 'The Lord is compassionate and gracious; slow to anger, abounding in love... He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgression from us.' Psalm 103:8-12. So there. Now what do you think happened?"

Tyranitar realized just how much this passage, and the story of Saul, related to him. He processed it, thinking very deeply. As he thought about it more, the puzzle pieces seemed to fit together in his head.

"…God forgave him, right?"

Riley nodded. "Indeed."

Tyranitar threw the covers off of his bed, attempting to get up. "Ugh…"

Riley's eyes widened, chuckling nervously this time. If Tyranitar tripped, the Pokémon would likely go through the entire second floor. "Uhh, don't kill yourself there, Tyranitar."

"I'm fine." Tyranitar assured the human, getting up just fine.

"Glad to see you're steady on your feet."

"Yeah." Tyranitar agreed. "Hey… I… want to study more about this. I think… that you might be right. I know you said it's not my fault… but I still think that I need some sort of consolation."

Riley smiled. "I can help you with that."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Why don't we head downstairs and do some talking with Aaron?"

"That sounds good."

"Oh, and Tyranitar?" Riley asked.

"Yeah?"

"…You want to stay with me?"

"I'd love to." he smiled softly. "You seem really nice. And someone who I can trust after everything that's happened."

Riley couldn't help but get a tear in his eye. "Aaron said the same thing." he said, still smiling.

"Do you want to nickname me?" Tyranitar asked.

"Good point… I think I will."

"Any ideas?"

Riley looked over the Tyranitar, thinking for a bit. "How do you feel about Nick?"

"…"

"…Well?"

"…Sounds good to me, Riley!"

"Then let's get going. There's a whole bunch I want to teach you."

Pokémon © Nintendo / Game Freak

As stated before, this is a set up for Conquering the Dark. Tyranitar also gets a nickname, and will referred to as 'Nick' in Conquering the Dark, the same way 'Aaron' was referred to in Breaking the Chains. I really hoped you enjoyed this oneshot, and will hopefully enjoy Conquering the Dark in the future!