barton, gale

[attr="class","ROCKET3"]



he was born into the cold, and he's spent every day since trying to forget it. his world was white, stagnant, and for the longest time the blue of the sky was the only color he knew. even in summer, the ground was always dusted in white deep enough to leave footprints. gale's father was a member of galactic and would often disappear for long periods of time. his wife didn't agree with the missions, and it caused strife in the family, nights of shouting and arguments that were swept under the rug come sunrise.

[break][break]when gale was nine, he almost died of pneumonia, and the other boys in the village often mocked his sickly complexion. it made his stomach burn hot in contrast to the packed balls of snow that hit his cheeks. mortification, shame. he was always the weakest, and he hated the way avery stood up with him even if his brother thought he was protecting him. 'have you ever wanted to protect someone so much it hurts?'
 
[break][break]for three years, gale envied the time avery spent with their absent father, as the man devoted much of his attention to the oldest son. the strongest son. avery never let it go to his head, and even when he became one of the most renowned trainers in the village, he kept his head bowed with a humble smile. it only made gale hate him more. he shouldn't have hated his brother. he should have been grateful because avery was the kind of brother most boys would dream of having, but he was always avery's shadow. when he finally received his own pokemon, he had poor control over them. he didn't have the level head that his brother had, only twelve at the time. he had to work harder than anyone else, but bitterness drove him far. 'i don't need you anymore.'

[break][break]to prove this, he challenged one of the village's best pokemon trainers to a duel. he will never forget the satisfaction he felt as he watched the smirk melt clean off the other boy's face. nor will he forget the horror of fangs tearing into fur, the feeble wails of a lost life. he had too much power, too little control. worse was the way avery wouldn't look at him. the searing disappointment in his father's eyes as he took his son's hondour from him. what happened to his faithful canine, he never learned. 'it was an accident,' he begged, but he wasn't sure if he believed his own words.

[break][break]he didn't touch another pokemon for years after that, and even when the accident faded into the background, he didn't trust himself when his training began again. his father never game him a choice. avery followed in the man's footsteps, and soon after, so did gale. things had calmed down. he had calmed down. 'you messed up because you had no control. to tame a beast, you must first tame yourself.' his father taught him to control his emotions, how to extinguish the burning in his heart until all he could feel was how cold the earth was. he drilled them out of gale until the boy was a vessel, but there was always something there.

[break][break]it was during a raid that he lost his brother. he could have saved avery, but he hadn't fought hard enough. he hadn't been strong enough. no one blamed gale but himself, and after that, he grew to resent his father. 'to feel is to be weak.' he'd heard his father say it so many times that it had become truth, and even in the wake of his brother's vigil, the man solemnly repeated the words. but he was wrong. without passion, strength did not exist. the will to live did not exist. if he had not spent a lifetime trying to smother his heart in shame, he would have been strong enough to save avery. so he deserted, was branded a traitor as he fled. he was rogue, surviving on his own, going from town to town in search for the colors he could not see. sometimes he wrote his mother, but he never spoke to his father again.

[break][break]after months of wandering around as a vagabond, gale became a turncoat and surrendered himself to team rocket, fueled by his loathing of his father. he believed they were the alliance that would come out victorious when the world ended. team galactic would fall, and he would never be on the losing side again.