Kiwa City
Part One: Black Houhou
The gym door opened. Giovanni leaned forward in anticipation of another pathetic little trainer to beat.
A bony little middle-aged woman came in, dragging someone by the arm. The woman was small and wiry, with a large nose, sharp green eyes, and a mass of curly brown hair.
Giovanni sighed. "Hello, Carlotta."
"Hello yourself," snapped Carlotta. "Sixteen years, Giovanni. I've had to put up with her for sixteen years, and you've given me what? Twenty dollars when she turned thirteen, to get a present for her."
"Look, I'm a busy man," muttered Giovanni. "I have to run Team Rocket. That takes a lot of time, you know."
"Yeah, and I have plenty of time and plenty of money to raise a little wretch like this one. Look, you bum, if you're going to raise a kid, you need a lot of money. You got a lot of money. I don't." Carlotta gave the girl another shake. "Look! Look at her. Look at how thin she is. Look at these shmattes she calls clothes. I've been keeping her fed for sixteen years on nothing."
"I gave you money!" yelled Giovanni.
Carlotta snorted. "Yeah, two hundred when I had her, and twenty when she was thirteen. You think that's enough to raise a child on?"
"I told you, I can't take her," snarled Giovanni. "I've got too much to do."
"You've also got too much money," Carlotta told him. "Look, just take the kid, okay?" She shoved the girl out onto the gym floor.
The girl was tall and slender. She had a build that suggested she had just started puberty, and a look that said she had jumped out of a particularly cynical cyberpunk novel. She had pale skin, slanted green cat eyes, and a pointed face. Her hair was black, streaked with electric blue, and cut short in a rather spiky hairdo. She had a red headband around her forehead. (At least, it looked like a red headband. If you looked close, you would see that the fabric was woven with complicated and intricate electronic circuitry.) She had a on a snake earring, a spider earring, and a small silver nose ring. She was wearing a ripped black leather vest that was unzipped, and a blood red bra. She wore ripped black jeans, black leather kicker boots without socks, and ripped black fingerless gloves.
The girl glared at Giovanni, then stuck her hands in her pockets and glowered at nothing in particular while trying to look defiant.
"There," Carlotta said. "Don't make a lot of trouble for your dad, alright, kid? See ya." She turned and strutted out of the gym, slamming the door.
Giovanni sighed. "Fine. What's your name, kid?"
"Mndm," mumbled the girl.
Giovanni leaned forward until his face was an inch away from the girl's. "I asked you," he hissed in his most threatening tone, "what your name was."
"MY NAME IS RANDOM, OKAY?" yelled the girl.
Giovanni winced. "You don't need to shout," he told her.
Random glared. "Screw you." She looked around the gym. "What is this, a stadium?"
"It's the Viridian City gym," Giovanni told her proudly. "Team Rocket's gym. The most sophisticated gym in the world."
"Hungh," approved Random. "Alright, whatever."
"You like Pokèmon?" Giovanni asked her.
Random brightened up slightly. "Yeh. I guess."
"Team Rocket is the biggest Pokèmon gang in the world," Giovanni said. "And I'm the boss."
"Huh," Random said, unimpressed.
"And," continued Giovanni, "when I retire, you'll be the boss. But for now, you do what I tell you. Okay?"
"Whatever," Random said. She stuck her hands in her pockets.
The next few weeks were a living hell for Giovanni. Random was giving him a lot of trouble.
First, she had flatly refused to take any of the Pokèmon he had given her as a present. They were pretty good Pokèmon, too. There had been a level 51 Arbok, a level 47 Weezing, and a level 56 Persian.
When Giovanni had proudly presented them to her, Random had looked over each one critically. Then she had collected the Pokèballs they were in and given them back to Giovanni the next day.
Random already had enough Pokèmon. She only had five, but that was fine with her. She was planning on capturing a Pokegod.
She had a genetically engineered Gyrados that she had gotten in Chiba City. It was a little smaller than a normal Gyrados, but was all black (except for its tail, which was a sharp blue blade) and had poison spit and barbed teeth.
She had a Porygon that was actually a computer virus. It had been a Porygon until a virus had infected it, at which time Random had hacked it out of the computer system and put it into a Pokèball.
She had a Kabutops that was really only half a Kabutops. They had been resurrecting it on Cinnabar Island, when there was a power failure. As a result, it was only the skeleton of a Kabutops, but still a Pokèmon.
She had a Charmeleon that she had gotten in Chiba City. It had been genetically altered--not as much as her Gyrados, but it still looked fierce. (All Pokèmon from Chiba City are genetically altered. In fact, the word "Chiba" is cyberpunk slang for 'fake or altered.') It had an evil grin, and sharp, wicked teeth. It had long red claws, and a thoroughly nasty disposition.
She had a Dragonair she had also gotten in Chiba. It had about 20 little claws on its body, and instead of having little crests on its head, it had sharp scales and two horns.
All of her Pokèmon were dark and scary. Like her. And all of them obeyed only her, and no one else.
Random existed, for several weeks, in a sort of groove between her room and the gym. That, at least, was during the day. A casual observer would have noticed her lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, until she heard that someone challenged Giovanni in the gym. She would then tear down the stairs to the gym, where she hung over the railing of the observation deck, staring at the challenger until they either noticed her or lost. Often, these happened in the same moment. Then she would go back upstairs and do nothing.
Random was making good use of her time at Team Rocket HQ, however. At night, she would slip out of her bed and explore the hidden passageways that honeycombed the building.
That was how she found Mewtwo.
The door to the underground lab opened. Random poked her head in, the slowly shuffled into the room.
She stood in front of a cage, staring. There was a huge Pokèmon in there, glaring at her. Its hands were bound with a water lock.
"Hi," Random whispered softly.
{HELLO, HUMAN.}
"What kind of Pokèmon are you?" Random asked it.
{MY NAME IS MEWTWO. THIS...TEAM ROCKET CAPTURED ME. GIOVANNI PUT THIS FOUL LOCK ON ME.}
"If you hold your hands out, I might be able to get off the lock," Random told it. Mewtwo obediently held out its hands.
Random stared at the lock. "Alright...let's see." She fiddled with the lock.
{WELL?}
"Crap," said Random. "I can't get it off. It's a water lock."
{WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES THAT MAKE?}
"It's basically impossible to open a water lock unless you've trained a Pokegod," Random explained. "And I've never even seen a Pokegod, let alone trained one."
{YOU NEED A POKEGOD TO OPEN THIS LOCK, THEN.}
"Yeah," said Random. "At least, that's what I think you need."
{A POKEGOD...LIKE A BLACK HOUHOU?}
Random looked up sharply. "Where'd you hear of it?" she asked.
{YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW.}
Random sighed loudly. "Fine. Why a Black Houhou?"
{THERE'S ONE IN HERE.}
Random looked around. "Where?"
{ON TOP OF THAT TABLE.}
Random approached the table cautiously. "There's nothing on there," she reported.
{LOOK AGAIN.}
Random did.
There was a small black disk on the table. It hadn't been there before. As she watched, the smooth surface of the disk cracked, and began to unfold.
In a moment, there was a bird hovering a few inches above the table. Well, it wasn't exactly a bird--more like a bird-shaped hole in space. It looked like a Houhou made out of antimatter.
{Hello,} it suddenly said to Random. {I just have to calibrate myself.}
"Go ahead," Random told it, crossing her arms.
The bird made several laps around the room, seeming to disappear and appear again at random points. It took a few seconds before Random realized that it was flying in and out of real space.
Finally, it stopped. {Well,} it said. {I can tell you that you move freely in three spatial dimensions, namely, length, height, and width. You can't move ana or kata. You move in a straight line in only one temporal dimension, in one direction and one speed at all times naturally. In the higher temporal dimensions, you stay rooted to one place. You can't influence the superstrings very well, but you move about them very adeptly.}
{VERY SMART,} Mewtwo said. {THIS HUMAN NEEDS YOU TO HELP HER OPEN THIS LOCK.}
Black Houhou blinked at it. {Don't you mean that you need her to open that lock?}
Mewtwo shifted uncomfortably. {IT DOESN'T MATTER. IF SHE IS TO OPEN THE LOCK, SHE NEEDS YOUR HELP. I CANNOT DO IT.}
"Look," Random interjected, "are you gonna help me or not, Houhou?"
{Black Houhou,} Black Houhou corrected. {I am not a Houhou. A Houhou is a benevolent Pokègod that gives really enormous gifts to people who don't deserve them. Then it makes the poor idiot's life miserable for requesting it. On top of all that, it comes back a few years later when you least expect it, and demands something like your first-born son. And when whatever fate has been handed out to the human that requested it, on top of the ludicrously excessive price, it appears in a flash of glittering light just before they die and tells the human that it's their fault because they asked for it. I think it's supposed to be a lesson on humility.}
"So you don't work like that, then?" asked Random.
{Right. That's a hypocritical way to do something. What I do is work in recursive loops.}
{WHAT?!?!} yelled Mewtwo.
{It's nothing dangerous,} Black Houhou assured them. {I just accomplish something for one person by...arranging things. And I use another person to do that while accomplishing what they want by getting someone else to do it while giving them what they want...}
Random nodded. "Ad infinitum."
{MORE LIKE AD NAUSEAM,} said Mewtwo. {DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT THAT DOES? THE LAST TIME ANYTHING TRIED TO WORK IN A RECURSIVE LOOP, THE SUPERSTRINGS GOT TANGLED UP BEYOND REPAIR.}
{That won't happen with me,} Black Houhou said. {And now...}
"Yeah?" said Random, crossing her arms.
{HOLD STILL.}
Black Houhou swooped toward Random. At first she thought it was going to hit her, but then it swerved out of the way and made a circuit around her head.
{There,} it said. {Now open the lock.}
Random blinked. "Just like that?"
{I AM WAITING, HUMAN.}
"Fine." Random went over to the cage and touched the lock on Mewtwo's hands. "Now, let's see..."
The lock sprung open.
"Oh," Random said.
Mewtwo's eyes glowed. {I WILL NOT FORGET THIS, HUMAN. THANK YOU.}
"My name," Random told it, "is Random. Not 'human.'"
{RANDOM,} Mewtwo said. {THANK YOU, RANDOM.} The air around it shimmered, and it disappeared.
Black Houhou watched with some satisfaction. {You'd better get to bed, Random,} it said. {I think tomorrow is going to be important for you.}
The door to Random's room opened. Giovanni stood there.
Random mumbled something and poked her head out from under the pillow. "Whaddya want?"
"There are some people I want you to meet," Giovanni informed her.
Random sighed. "Five minutes."
After Giovanni closed the door, Random shot up from the bed. "OhGodohGodohGodohGodohGod..."
{Relax,} Black Houhou suggested, unfolding in a corner. {He doesn't know about Mewtwo yet.}
Random fixed the bird with a steely gaze. "And you had better not tell him, Bird."
Black Houhou (or Bird, as Random had apparently decided his name was) did a complicated series of multidimensional exercises. {I won't.}
"Great," said Random. She started moving around the room, throwing things into a small black leather backpack. "'Cause even if he didn't, I'm getting out of here. Let's go."
Black Houhou shrugged and folded up. "Remember, I'm here when you need me."
Random opened the door. Giovanni looked impatient.
Random slipped out and closed the door softly. "Yeah?"
Giovanni didn't say a word, just walked down the stairs that led to the room where he met his subordinates. Random followed him.
There were two people in the room--a young man with a worried expression and blue hair, and a woman who looked like she was scared to death but was trying to act tough. Random decided she rather liked both of them. There was also a small, wiry-looking Meowth in between them.
Giovanni nodded, acknowledging them. "Jessie. James. This is my daughter, Random. You are to look after her. If anything happens to her, you are both dead. Good luck." He left the room.
Random smiled slightly. "Hey."
"So," said Random, once they had gotten a good distance away from Team Rocket HQ, "how'd you get into a maladroit outfit like Team Rocket?"
Jessie and James exchanged worried looks. They seemed to be scared of her and annoyed with her at the same time.
Jessie shrugged. "It seemed like the right thing to do at the time."
Random laughed. "And you had to join this one?"
"There weren't really any other options," James explained.
"Yeah there are," Random told them.
"Name one," interjected Meowth. Meowth was the only one that wasn't outwardly intimidated by her.
"Well..." Random started counting on her fingers. "There's the Yakuzi of Chiba City, the Machav of Be'er Lailot, and the Double White Star Holos in Kiwa City."
"I've never heard of them," Jessie said.
Random shrugged. "That's because you work for Team Rocket. Dealing with competition is not exactly their strong suit."
"Then how come you know about them? You're Giovanni's daughter, after all," James said.
Random rolled her eyes. "Look, up until a month ago, I was basically convinced that my mom had just gone to a clinic in Chiba and got herself cloned, then got me genetic surgery after she decided I looked too much like her. For sixteen years, I knew nothing about my dad. Then, the jerk my mom's dating cons her into giving all her money to him and takes off. My mom is on the phone, yelling at this guy, when I walk in and tell her that I need twenty bucks for pizza. My mom slams down the phone, drags me into the car, speeds off, not telling me what the heck's going on here, and gives me to this guy who turns out to be my dad. Before that, if you actually want to know, I was a trainer in the gym in Kiwa. Tokiwa Gym, under Gibson. So that's the story of my life. How about you?"
"Well," James began, "my parents were going to make me marry someone I had never actually seen. So I ran off, met Jessie, and joined Team Rocket."
"My parents sent me to Pokèmon Tech to get me out of the way," Jessie said. "I flunked out and joined Team Rocket."
"What about you?" Random asked Meowth.
Meowth shrugged. "I used to be the boss's cat."
"Sir," an underling gasped, hurrying up to Giovanni.
"What?" snapped Giovanni.
The underling paused for breath. "Black Houhou escaped. Or something."
"What," Giovanni hissed, "do you mean by 'or something?'"
The underling spread his hands. "We think someone let it go."
Giovanni gasped. "Random!" He turned to face the underling. "That Black Houhou is one of the most dangerous things in the universe. It only stops when its mission is fulfilled or when its main focus dies."
"Mewtwo escaped, too," the underling added helpfully.
Giovanni sighed. "Random probably did that, too. What else is missing?"
"Three thousand dollars," said the underling.
"I don't mean money. What else is missing?" growled Giovanni.
"Nothing, sir," said the underling.
"Good," said Giovanni. "Send out an assassin's call on Random. The reward is $42,000."
They spent several weeks just wandering. They got to know each other very well, and soon Jessie and James felt almost like Random was their little sister. Random, actually, felt the same way about them.
One day, about a month afterwards, they were camping out in the woods near Saffron. Jessie had gone into Saffron to get a new map, since theirs had been torn up a while ago. She came back looking scared and out of breath.
"What happened to you?" asked Random.
Jessie stopped and sank to her knees. "I ran all the way here...Random, Giovanni's put out an assassin's call on you."
"WHAT?" yelled James and Meowth. Only Random didn't look surprised.
"But what did you do?" asked James.
Random sighed. "I freed Mewtwo, for one thing."
Jessie shrugged. "Well, if that's all..."
"Then you've got to get out of here," said James.
"Yeah," added Meowth.
"Probably," Random said. "Unless you two can go tell Giovanni that I'm dead, and then I won't have to hide out."
"We'll do that," Jessie told her.
"But until then, you'll have to keep a low profile," James said.
Random nodded and shouldered her backpack. "See ya."
"Good luck!" called James.
To be continued...