POKEMON: DARK CHRONICLES
Ch.1: Day of the Professor
Malik awoke in the early morning of Pallet Town's warm, spring air. Despite his restlessness of the night before, he felt wide awake, mostly due to the sound of his alarm squawking 'pidgey, pidgey' at maximum volume. Sliding out of his bed, he glanced, as usual, at the poster of Ash, Pallet Town's proudest champion. He glared for a moment, then continued to get ready for his long day. His thoughts trailed to the poverty they were facing, and while Ash had become a great Pokémon master, it seemed he had all but abandoned his home town.
He made a half-baked attempt to brush back his long, white hair, but the effort was a useless gesture. He strapped on his black jeans, and a black and white t-shirt, then packed his bag. Today, the professor had promised him a Pokémon. For the past three years he had studied and trained for this moment, and had vowed to restore Pallet Town to its former glory.
Not long after Team Rocket had been thwarted for the last time by the great trainer, they had withdrawn from all of their funding, which included the professor's lab experiments and studies. Giovanni was gone forever, and now bandits and thugs rummaged through the town when they pleased. As Malik put on his black coat, a slight cringe flowed through him as the scar on his right eye tingled briefly.
The mild flashback of the day his father had died, at the hands of Giovanni, seared through his mind once more. Jerking his head away, he looked up in time to see his older brother, Fakir, looking at him the way he always did. From time to time, he would talk about the pain, and the way he felt when the gun was fired. All because his father refused to give up his children to a mad man, who seemed to think they had special powers yet to be awakened. Today, however, there was no time for dark memories, and he rushed outside in a mad dash.
In no time at all, he had arrived at Professor Oak's lab. Like her grandfather, Professor Oak had an enormous excitement for learning all kinds of things about Pokémon, but Malik had made it clear that he wasn't out to be an errand boy. His mission was to become the strongest, and in his fame and glory, restore Pallet Town to its former glory.
He stepped inside, hearing the familiar hum of high-tech computers, and seeing the machines he fondly recalled performing maintenance on. The young professor was awaiting him, with that sassy yet serene look, almost demotivating in a way. It was as if he could never quite meet her expectations, and yet she adored him completely. She was only two years older than him, but they rarely had time for chit-chat, as he was always fixing some broken machine or another, sometimes the same one in a day.
The few assistants that had remained had paid no attention to him as he ran past them in a panting rush. He stopped just short of a table with three poke balls on it. One blue, one red, and one green. He knew they were Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur.
Squirtle, the water Pokémon, whose blue scaly skin and hard shell made it both fast in the water, and tough on the land. Charmander, the fire Pokémon, with a white-hot flame on the end of its tail and body power to match, this was a Pokémon to be cautioned with. Finally, there was Bulbasaur, the grass Pokémon, whose massive bulb made its grass-type moves lethal, and made it hard to knock out as it absorbed the sun's rays.
All three were good Pokémon, and it was hard for him to decide, but he had finally chosen to go with Bulbasaur. He reached down for the ball, but when it opened, only air came out. Aggravated at being both late, and deprived of a Bulbasaur, he reached down for the Squirtle next. Again there was nothing, and a heated mixture of aggravation and panic swept over him.
This was it, he knew, and if Charmander wasn't inside this ball, he would have to wait yet another year before he could set out on his mission. He grabbed the ball, mustered all his energy, and thrust it at the ground hard. A moment later the ball popped open, but again, there was nothing inside.
Feeling his heart sink deeply, he glanced at the professor who was just chuckling at him. He snarled, but held his tongue. Ever since his father had died, he had taken a vow of silence, speaking only to Fakir on rare occasions. He stormed over with an expectant look on his face, and he knew she was hiding something from him.
"Calm down silly, I told you I had the perfect Pokémon for you," she said in her feathery, light voice.
Her voice, though Malik would never admit it to himself, soothed him. All the pain and rage and anguish, all seemingly vanished as her mouth opened to him, caressing his soul. She reached out and handed him a Moon Ball. It felt heavier than the others, and he felt the energy inside it, almost familiar in a way.
How he had known what Pokémon was inside was still a mystery to him, but he threw the ball nonetheless, and sure enough, out popped an Eevee. At first, he was slightly annoyed, but then he remembered what he had read about Eevees. They had yet to discover all its evolutions, though the known evolutions were very strong. He smirked and walked towards it, but it began growling. Then he heard her voice again:
"I think you two were made for each other. We found him in a burned down daycare, covered in soot and ashes. Were it not for my team of specialists, it is unlikely that Eevee would have survived."
Malik's expression grew sad, slightly, and he reached down to pet the Eevee. He noticed its furry coat and bushy tail, all a very fine, light-grey color. This seemed unusual, as all the images of Eevee he had seen were brown and white. Its big, blue eyes were shimmering up at him, but just as his hand was within reach, the Eevee's teeth latched onto his hand.
He jumped up angrily, letting out a pained groan, and thrust his hand violently through the air. The Eevee, however, had a powerful bite, and refused to let go. It's teeth sank in hard, drawing blood, and breaking two of his fingers. Finally, he slammed it as hard as he could onto the side table, knocking off the remaining empty poke balls, and the Eevee let go.
As he sat down, the Eevee ran to its Moon Ball, and went inside it hastily. Angrily, he picked it up and threw it in his bag, then went to wash his hands off.
"I'm sorry about that," Oak said unapologetically, "I think it's just going to take a while for him to warm up to you. After all it's been through, I'm surprised it didn't just run away."
Run away, like Malik had thought of doing so many times. He couldn't though, even if he wanted to. Not only did he have nowhere to go, but he had something to protect, and to save. He turned around and almost spoke, but then he walked out quietly. Watching him with a mixture of concern, and hope, Professor Oak just let out a sigh, and continued her studies.
This was Malik's first challenge, and even though he knew so much, he knew he still had a lot to learn about Pokémon, and a lot to learn about Eevee.