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It was a somewhat cool day as Kiya and her Absol followed the path through the woods toward Fallow Town. As the sun filtered in through the canopy of trees above them, Kiya admired the way her Pokemon's muscles moved under her glistening fur. Absol was getting stronger. The two had been together for some time now, but they had only recently begun a rigorous training schedule. Kiya's mind wandered as they continued their peaceful trek. She found it hard to believe that she was finally on her way to defeating the League and becoming champion. For some time, she hadn't been sure it would ever happen at all. Dark memories began to quell her happiness. It hadn't been easy getting to this point, and she wasn't at all proud of what she had done. In fact, the memory of that night haunted her, giving her nightmares and always lurking in the back of her mind. She shook her head.
"There's no going back. What's done is done. I will become champion, despite what happened." Absol looked at her master curiously, obviously wondering what she was saying. Kiya smiled, patting Absol on the head, careful not to jab herself with the Pokemon's scythe. "Don't worry about it, girl. I'm just thinking out loud." Absol purred and pushed back against Kiya's hand. She still had no idea what her master was saying, but she could tell by the change in tone that everything was okay.
The pair continued their way down the path, Kiya keeping her mind focused on more important things, such as how soon they might reach the next Pokemon Center. She estimated that it would take them at least another day's walking before they would be able to sleep in a real bed again. She began planning their evening training session, when suddenly, an earsplitting shriek filled the air. Kiya looked around, Absol standing tensely beside her, ready to protect her. For a moment, there was silence. The young trainer started to relax, but was almost thrown to the ground when a deafening bang shook the trees around her. As she regained her balance, she heard someone yell, seemingly coming from quite a distance.
"Growlithe! Give it back, Team Rocket!" Kiya had no idea who or what Team Rocket was, but the voice she heard was clearly in trouble. Without a second's hesitation, she and her Absol began running toward the noises.
Benjamin panted as he tried to think of a way out of this situation. His side stung from the shock of running into the electric bars of his cage, but that wasn't enough to make him stop. Gathering all of his energy, he again rammed his shoulder into the bars, putting everything he had into trying to break free. Unfortunately, everything he had wasn't enough to even make a dent in the bars. He cried out in pain as his body was once again shocked, this time even more strongly. He fell to his knees, sweat pouring into his eyes. Several feet across the clearing, his Growlithe was in a similar, but smaller cage. The fire type Pokemon wasn't fighting its captivity. It lay on its side with swirls in its eyes. Team Rocket had given no warning before attacking, and had taken Growlithe by surprise with a super effective water attack. Growlithe had no chance.
Ben grunted as he forced himself to stand. He would not let his only Pokemon be stolen by these terrible people. He once again ran against the side of his cage, but by this time his strength was nearly gone. He slumped to the ground, breathing hard and fighting tears of frustration and pain. His anger only mounted as he heard a chuckle from outside his confines.
The male member of the duo that had locked him in this cage sauntered up to the bars, a smirk on his scarred face and a look of malice in his green eyes.
"What's the matter, boy? Is that little cage too much for you?" He laughed again at the look of rage on Benjamin's face.
"Let me out of here! You can't have my Growlithe!" Ben muttered through clenched teeth, standing as well as he could without touching the bars.
"Aww does the poor wittle boy want his wittle growlie back? Isn't that just so sad?" The criminal smiled again and pushed a button on the remote control he was holding. Ben screamed as an even stronger shock than before ran through him. He dropped to the ground, this time not even trying to stand.
"Alex, leave the boy alone and get a move on. We need to catch more than just one Pokemon today." The female member of the group walked over toward her team mate, a frown on her pretty face. She stood in a way that stated she was not interested in games, and Alex seemed to know better than to fight with her.
"Alright, Lav." He gave one last smirk toward Benjamin, and turned to the girl he called Lav, tossing her the remote control he was holding. "I'll just go out to that cave where the reports say there's a shiny Steelix. I'll be back before dinner." He laughed quietly as he headed out of the clearing. The woman with the remote control rolled her eyes, walking back over to the table that was set up beside Growlithe's cage. Ben stared hopelessly toward his still-unconscious friend. Tears blurred his vision as he realized he had absolutely no way out of this. Suddenly, a flash of movement caught his eye.
In the shrubs on the side of the clearing, a girl crouched, barely visible. Now that she had caught his eye, she was trying to signal something to him. She pointed to Lav, then to him, and then to herself and Growlithe. She did this twice before he realized that she wanted him to make a scene and lure the Team Rocket member away from Growlithe. He stood up slowly, wincing as his muscles complained. It took a few seconds before his head cleared, and by that time, the girl was gone. Panic ran through his stomach as he wondered if perhaps he had just imagined the girl. He looked around the clearing, despair clinging to him. But no! He caught sight of her again, this time right behind the table where Lav sat. She motioned for him to hurry up, impatient to begin the plan.
Steeling himself for the shock he knew he would receive, Ben once again rammed the side of the cage. He did it without much effort, knowing he could not escape, but hoping it would catch the attention of his captor. Sure enough, the woman called Lav stood, staring him down with angry green eyes.
"What the Hell do you think you're doing, kid? You can't break through those bars. You're lucky we didn't just throw you off a cliff somewhere instead of keeping you safe inside that cage." She shook her head, turning back to whatever she was looking at on her table.
"I want my Growlithe back." Ben said softly. The girl in the bushes rolled her eyes, obviously wishing he would do something more rash that would draw Lav away from the table.
"Keep bothering me, and I might just throw you off a cliff after all, cage included." Lav muttered, not even bothering to look up from the table.
Ben cursed himself, trying to think of a distraction worthy of Lav's attention. His body couldn't handle running into the bars again, but obviously words didn't matter to the woman. He looked helplessly to the girl in the bushes, hoping she could signal him an idea. The girl rolled her eyes again, and then slipped back into the bushes and out of sight. Ben panicked again.
"Please, don't go! I need you! Wait!" He yelled in desperation. This got Lav's attention.
"Who are you talking to, boy?" She looked around the clearing, scanning every bush to see if he had an accomplice hidden away. She found nobody, and turned back to Ben. "I don't like games, little boy. Bother me one more time, and you'll regret it. This little button of mine can hurt others too, you know." She smirked as she pointed the remote toward Growlithe's cage.
"NO! He's already knocked out! You'll kill him!" Ben sunk to his knees again, this time not fighting the tears that fell.
"Sniveling little baby. I won't kill him. He's not worth anything to me dead, although I'm beginning to wonder if he's worth anything to me alive. He was so easy to catch and has been knocked out for quite some time now. You must be a very weak trainer."
Ben didn't reply. He sobbed quietly on the floor of his cage, unable to think of anything that could save his Growlithe now that the girl had given up on him.
Some time passed with Ben lying on the ground and Lav studying her papers on the table. Eventually, Growlithe did come to, but was obviously still weak. He didn't try to fight his way out of his cage, but instead trusted Ben to get him out. This only added to Ben's misery, starting his tears falling all over again. Suddenly, without warning, the same girl from the bushes ran into the clearing, breathing heavily with a worried look on her face.
"Hurry! Your friend is in trouble! He's being attacked by Onix and Steelix in the cave up the hill! I tried to help him, but I couldn't do anything! They were just so strong." She dropped to her knees, looking as if she might pass out at any moment.
"Alex? He's in trouble?" Lav ran over to the girl, more emotion showing on her face than Ben had seen the entire day. "How far into the cave? You have to show me!"
The girl tried to stand, but fell back down to the ground. "I-I can't. He's right on the main trail through the cave, all the way at the back. You won't have any trouble finding him. Please, you have to hurry! They're going to kill him!" Lav didn't hesitate. Without even a glance toward Ben or the remote she left on the table, she ran in the direction Alex had gone hours before.
As soon as Lav was out of sight and her hurried footsteps had faded, the girl stood. She was no longer breathing hard and looked perfectly fine. The look of worry and concern on her face vanished. She quickly pulled the loose strands of her long black hair back into her ponytail, before walking over and picking up Team Rocket's remote. Without pausing, she unlocked both cages, allowing Growlithe and Ben to finally escape. The two ran to each other, Ben bending down to hug his only Pokemon while Growlithe happily licked his master, wagging his furry tail the whole time. Ben had never been so relieved in his life, and temporarily forgot all about Team Rocket and the girl who had saved him. She, however, was not distracted.
"You need to run. Recall your Pokemon and get out of here. It won't be long before that woman finds out that I lied." The girl's voice was cold and flat. Ben looked up at her, surprised by her lack of emotion.
"Right. T-Thank you. I never would've gotten out of there on my own." He stuttered, thrown off by her coldness.
"Obviously. Now go-" The girl was interrupted by angry, hurried footsteps. Lav and Alex rushed into the clearing, their faces red and their breathing fast.
"Stop right there, you rotten brat. You're not as clever as you think! Alex was already halfway back when I ran into him! Now give us that little Pokemon, or else!" Lav was clearly angry at having been fooled, while Alex seemed more afraid of his partner than concerned with the situation.
Ben was terrified. He knew Growlithe was not up for a battle, and he also knew they were in no shape to outrun Team Rocket. He looked to his rescuer, and was once again surprised by her lack of emotion. She stared down Lav and Alex, no fear or anger in her expression. Her grey eyes were cold and her jaw was set. She glanced at him for a second, signaling with her eyes for him to run.
"Come on, Growlithe." Ben recalled his Growlithe and ran toward the edge of the clearing. Once in the safety of the bushes, he turned back to watch his rescuer. He wasn't sure that he would be able to help if she needed him to, but he wasn't willing to just leave her.
Kiya stared at the two members of Team Rocket across the clearing. She still wasn't sure who they were or where they came from, but she did know that stealing Pokemon from a trainer was unacceptable, no matter how useless the boy was.
"Lavenia, there's no need to be too ruthless here." Alex said softly, obviously afraid of what his partner might do in this situation.
"Brother, you have no idea how worried I was about you. This girl made a fool of me, and she is going to pay for it." Lavenia's eyes were narrowed to slits and her hands were balled into fists.
Kiya pulled out her Absol's Pokeball, knowing this was going to end in a battle.
"Alright, little girl. One Pokemon per trainer, no time limit. When I win, you leave me alone to catch that sniveling kid and his Growlithe." Lav pulled out a Pokeball as well.
"When I win, you leave." Kiya said, tensing for battle.
"In your dreams. Hypothetically, however, I agree. If you win, we will leave. Go Seviper!" Lavenia threw her Pokeball high into the air, releasing her giant snake Pokemon.
"Go." Kiya said calmly, also throwing her ball into the air and watching proudly as her beautiful Absol was released into the clearing.
Both Lavenia and her brother gasped in surprise at seeing such a rare Pokemon. Lav smirked, pointing a painted finger toward Absol.
"New agreement. When I win, I get your Pokemon, too."
"Deal." Kiya heard the Growlithe's trainer gasp behind her, unable to fathom risking the loss of her Pokemon. She smiled. There was no way her Absol would lose to this thief.
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