Pokémon X
Cubone
Two trainers stood across from each other, each on the edge of a small grassy field. In one hand, each held a small red and white orb. They shouted at each other, throwing the orbs. From the orbs, a great energy poured forth. This is how those who watched described the event that started my journey, but I saw it differently. I saw the enemy, whose pokémon were probably going to defeat my one pokémon. My name is Shogu, and this how my journey began.
Well, to be honest, it started back in my hometown of Lavender Town, way over in Kanto. While I was a kid, I had no idea about pain, sex, or death. Sure, I knew that pain came whenever I scratched myself on the pavement, or when I fell down the stairs. But I had no idea the world was such a violent place, until Team Rocket came.
For years, the dead pokémon would be buried in the Lavender Tower. Within that tower, many Cubone and Marowak lived along with the ghosts. They were never disturbed, and they were quite peaceful. I wasn't allowed the tower, but I found the occasional Cubone or Gastly, and led them to Mr. Fuji. I helped him care for the pokémon for years, and was sixteen when Team Rocket attacked the tower. It was only a few grunts, but the damage they did was lasting.
Mr. Fuji couldn't let them bother the pokémon of the tower, but at the time, I was still innocent and naïve. I followed him, along with the Cubone I found earlier that week. He went to the top of the tower, to calm the spirits of the dead pokémon. The grunts tried to stop him (I still don't know why), but a lone Marowak got in the way. She fought them, using her bone to drive them back. I remembered that Marowak lived here as well, but they were very rare. I didn't know where they could have hidden, until I saw that the grunts were after Cubone. I later found out that Marowak skulls were a rare commodity, since they are normally worn by their children.
I watched as one of them sent out a Haunter. It was a ghost, and I thought he would turn against the others, or try to reason with them. Instead, he told the ghost to fly at Marowak. It entered her body and closed off her eyes. It left the body, and removed her soul. One of the grunts sent out a Graveler, and it punched the unconscious Marowak. It pummeled her until her bones broke from the force. Her skull began to splinter, and I turned away in disgust. One of the grunts, a girl, turned in my general direction, but I barely noticed. I was hidden from them, and had just had my first taste of death.
It would not be my last…
After that horrifying incident, Team Rocket had quickly been disbanded. Three years later, however, Mr. Fuji got wind of a new rising of Team Rocket. After the Tower Incident, he had been researching powerful pokémon, in an attempt to stop Team Rocket. The graves had been moved into a small building to prevent a repeat of the incident, but still he did his research. He found that a mysterious 'Pokémon X', so named by his fellow researchers, hid itself away beneath the sea hundreds of years ago, in an attempt to hide its own power. He asked me to go, to find Pokémon X, and to keep Team Rocket away from ultimate power.
He could not have known that one of his colleagues would sell their joint information to Neo Team Rocket. Yet one of them did, and Team Rocket has joined me in my search for Pokémon X. This man is one member of Team Rocket. And my Cubone is mad.
It was his mother who died that day, almost exactly three years ago. Killed by men just like the one before him. Though this man had not been there, the rage was the same. He saw the man, looked in his eyes; the man was more than capable of killing either human or pokémon. He had never killed, but he was willing to make an exception with this human.
Without an order, Cubone rushed forward. The grunt was surprised, but I was in shock. I figured out quickly enough that Cubone was in a frenzy. The Lonely Pokémon raced towards him, bone club held at the ready. Cubone began to glow, ignoring the other pokémon completely. It was just at that moment that I snapped back to my senses, and tried to recall Cubone. I had only one pokémon, but I could not let Cubone kill.
The other pokémon, a Houndour, braced itself for impact. Neither grunt nor pokémon had quite understood the intentions of my Cubone…
No. Not my Cubone. He was gone forever. He had just evolved into a Marowak. His rage towards Team Rocket, along with the grief he felt for the passing of his mother, had given him the strength to evolve. And he intended to kill the grunt that stood before him.
Houndour figured it out quickly enough. It grabbed the bone in its jaws, trying to stop the attack. Though it caught the bone in its teeth, most of the power had hurt it. Since the attack was of the Ground type, and Houndour was a Fire pokémon, the damage was incredible. It fainted right away, from an attack that would have killed a human.
Not wasting any time, the grunt recalled his pokémon and ran away. Marowak was not prepared for another attack right away, and so I managed to recall him. I would have to remind him not to kill, so that he would never lower himself to the level of those murdering Team Rocket assholes.
And so began my journey to find Pokémon X…