The world, it turns out, is not a friendly place.
Not for the lovers, the haters, the strangers, or even the rulers.
I had this minor revelation May 11th, 2015, as I looked down an alley to see two Fearow picking at the remains of a mugging turned violent. Crime was normal in Saffron City nowadays, ever since the downfall of Team Rocket. Strange, I thought, that the downfall of a criminal empire would result in more crime than we imagined.
You're probably wondering why I'm wandering around on my own, if there's so much crime. You should stop wondering, then. I'm 18 and I can take care of myself.
I continued along the sidewalk, looking for any signs of trouble. I'd recently taken up the mantle of town vigilante, trying to right whatever tiny wrongs I could. My Charmeleon and I were more than up to most tasks. You see, not many people actually had pokemon anymore in the city. Therefore, the sight of a 4-foot tall lizard with fire coming out of its tail is quite the effective crime deterrent.
Smog raised every few feet from vents in the street; pollution accompanies crime, after all. Despite the scene I left in the alley, and the less than pleasant atmosphere, I couldn't see that there was anything I could prevent. Nights like this made me wish I'd stayed in Cinnabar Island with my family. Maybe went after gym badges like so many other trainers did. At least then I wouldn't have to settle for wandering around nights like this where there's nothing I can do but look at the ruined city around me.
Shit.
Here's the funny thing about crime in Saffron- most people think that since Team Rocket went down the tubes, more unorganized crime rose up because there was no one monopolizing the field. Sounds legit and reasonable, yes?
Fuck no, dude.
Walking around at night so much led me to a much different conclusion long ago: someone, or some group, or something is organizing now. Different, much different, than what we knew. You see, Team Rocket, though slightly successful, was stupid. Operating so visibly attracted more attention than they could deal with. This… thing, whatever it was, was smarter. Stealthier. They kept their names and faces hidden. To what end, I can't tell you.
Hold on a second, I don't mean all crime is like that. I mean, Charmeleon and I have toasted a few bad guys who were simply muggers or petty thieves. But the guys like that, well, they never acted more than one or two times. Either I got them, or something much more sinister acted as an intercept. Protecting its role as top dog, maybe?
Probably talking out my ass, I mean I'm an 18 year old kid with 7 badges that I haven't even glanced at in 5 years.
I was a prodigy, you know. I had plenty of Pokemon, and I was burning through the gyms at a breakneck pace. I just couldn't continue. I saw the world for what it was and set around trying to help people. I couldn't, in most cases. Lost causes, the lot of them. People so demoralized that their hopes and dreams involved living through the day without being stabbed or accosted.
The rest of my Pokemon I gave away to new trainers and varied professors. The only one I kept was, duh, Charmeleon. Professor Oak had given him to me the year I turned 10, like so many others. He's 8 now, still a teenager in… poke-years, I guess. Heh. We'd been through too much to ever part. The Charmander he evolved from was a bit of a wild-card, like me. He was powerful and unpredictable, which suited me just fine.
I hadn't gone after a wild Pokemon capture in 5 years. Pokemon deserved better than being captured by an 18-year old washout that tries, and fails, to keep a doomed city safe. Charmeleon was different, we were partners and friends. Not like that gushy-like Ash Ketchum shit, no man, I knew I was using him for battling and safety, but he wasn't like a throwaway item if one stronger came along. There's something about our relationship that makes us each stronger.
As I turned another corner headed towards my ratty apartment, I let Charmeleon break into a Mexican food stand that was simply boarded up. Don't give me that "illegal" crap, I know it, but we've gotta eat, and no one was around. I assembled the tacos, and he cooked them (he's fire-type, after all) and that was our meal for the night. We left the place the same as we'd found it, just lighter.
"Austyn!" I heard behind me. Oh- I probably should've introduced myself to you. Hi, I'm Austyn Connors. I don't know why there's a "y" instead of an "i" in my name… just deal with it, I do.
I turned to see a random girl in a dark purple shirt and jeans pointing, melodramatically in my opinion, at me. She was attractive, with brown hair and brown eyes (I think, its dark). Something about her nonchalant appearance was appealing to me. Maybe I wouldn't be going home alone tonight…
"My name is Megan and I challenge you to a duel!"
Ah, well. Maybe I would be going home alone.
"It's 3 in the fucking morning. No. Go home." I turned and continued. She looked bewildered.
"But… but I challenged you. You can't just-"
"Walk away? Yes. Yes I can. It's safer. Do you really think having an early-morning battle in the middle of a street would escape attention? This isn't a movie where the action can happen anywhere, honey."
"… then at least don't leave me alone." Ah. So that was it. She didn't want to battle at all; she just wanted someone to… to accompany her. Hm. So the not going home alone plan was back in action. Oh, stop with your sneers, I'm a guy, she's an attractive girl- and let's just say I'm not exactly abstinent. Yes. I did it. I put sex into a pokemon tale, its 2015, get used to it.
"Well come on, then. How old are you, Megan?"
"19," she responded. Bingo. What? You were wondering, too.
"How did you know who I was?" It was a dumb question, most people knew me. I can't be a vigilante and escape unnoticed. Fortunately, the city seemed to think of me as a cute, valiant pet. 'Doomed to fail, but let him try' they seemed to think.
"Everyone knows who you are… I mean… you're Austyn Connors." She blushed, and I quickly realized that my plan could work easier than I thought.
Much easier, as I had this revelation as soon as she turned into an apartment complex that must have been hers, and she beckoned me to follow. Cha-ching, anyone?
Inside, she led me up three flights of stairs to room 424, and opened the door.
"I want to thank you for walking me home…" Yes. Yes. Yes. Good.
She pushed me into the counter and her lips were at my neck, her hands in my hair and moving everywhere. It was fantastic, until she pulled away and smiled. I smiled too, until I realized that she was holding a knife to my throat.
Aw, shit.
"Touché," I said, trying to keep my cool. Figures that a pretty girl would be my first big fuckup.
Knife to my throat, she tied me to a chair. Even under more charitable circumstances, not my style. She seemed stealthier to me now. Deadly. She took my pokeball and laid it on a counter out of reach, my Charmeleon rendered useless at the moment.
"What do you want?" I asked. She smiled and ignored me, pulling out a pokeball of her own. Out of it erupted a Pikachu.
"You gave me this," she said simply. I was confused; I'd owned a Raichu previously, but not a Pikachu. "Indirectly, I should say." Glad she was making so much sense. "Let me explain," oh good! "You gave my little brother a Raichu, which bred, and I got Pika here." Pika? Really? She nicknamed it Pika? "This Pikachu has saved me on multiple occasions, and so I've decided that I owe you." Oh. She owes me. That's it. Great, glad she used the knife.
"So I'm tied up… why?"
"So you'll listen to me."
"… I think the story without the knife would've done that, honestly."
"Precaution, then. You need out. Now. You have to leave the region. Go to Johto, Hoenn, anywhere. Something horrible is going to happen to Saffron, and you can't be caught up in it. Too many people could benefit from your help elsewhere."
"I'm not leaving. I came here to help, if something's going to happen, I'm going to stop it."
"Brave. It won't help you. This is what you have to do- get your 8th badge and leave. No one questions trainers with all 8. You are the target. I don't know why, don't ask me. Turning yourself in won't help. Get yourself as big of a name as possible, get as strong as possible. It's really the only way." With that she untied me and kissed my cheek.
"You were my brother's hero, you know." She turned and put her hands on the grimy counter. She looked about to say something when a bullet shattered the only window and blasted through the back of her skull.
When a-?! Oh fuck.
The escape was actually fairly easy, it seemed like the sniper had been far away and only had one line of sight. I was trying not to focus on what had just happened.
It's tough, you know. When you realize that the first person to die to help you probably won't be the last.