Fall of Goldenrod

CHAPTER ONE

The rapidly-beating heart of Beatrice Willows pounded against her chest like a boxing Hitmonchan as she stared down intently at the thick pocket-sized graphic novel she gripped in her hands. Trixie, as she preferred to be called, turned each page with the speed of a Rapidash, focusing on not the delicate crinkled paper she nearly tore in half with each hasty flip nor the black faded text she could barely read but the fictional world in which she was completely immersed in. Frantic shouting and the smoky scent of fiery explosions traveled on a light spring breeze through her open window from the Azalea Town gym next door, but she paid these distractions no attention. She was far more concerned with whether the superhero Gligar-man would be able to defeat Giggles the evil Mr Mime, until her Pokégear rang off and shattered her focus. She pondered whether or not to ignore the incoming call and continue reading, but neither the shrill ringing of the device nor her conscience would allow her to focus again until the call had been answered.

Picking it up, she cringed when she saw the words "Cameron: Photographer" above the unfamiliar Pokégear number. She sighed and reluctantly answered the crazy man's call.

"My Pokémon and I already bought a bazillion pics, we don't want anymore!" she snapped. "And we don't wanna be stalked everywhere we go by a bald Pokéfan either, no matter how 'photogenic' we just so happen to be!"

"Well, aren't you a shy one." Cameron replied. "But that's not why I called. You know all the damage from the Goldenrod tsunami?"

Trixie scowled at the question. "Well duh, we lived there. But lemme guess… you're taking more traumatizing photos of it all and trying to sell them to me."

"Maybe…" he said quietly, "okay, yes. I was in the middle of doing so when I saw a group of thieves barge into the Underground Path. I know you've been doing a lil' vigilante justice in your hometown, so I figured you might want to know about this."

Trixie arched an eyebrow. "Hey, how do you know what I've….Oh forget it, don't answer that! I'm on my way. Geez. Until I get there, do not go near the thieves and do not ask them for pictures! Got it?"

Cameron began to ramble on excitedly about how photogenic these people were, but fearing the thugs would raid the tunnel and be done by the time he had stopped talking, Trixie rolled her hazel eyes and hung up.

Knowing that the die-hard photographer would disregard everything she previously said, Trixie forced herself to close the book she had been reading mid-chapter and visit the ruins of what still was her favorite city on earth. After laying the book down gently on her unmade bed, Trixie tromped over video game cases, empty soda cans and other miscellaneous clutter that littered her bedroom floor until she finally made it to her dresser where countless glittery Pokéballs lined with silver studs sat perfectly arranged and grouped by their bright neon colors. She pondered which to take and once she had decided she attached the legal limit of six Pokéballs to her belt loops and concealed a few others away in the cozy pockets of her Pokéball-print varsity half-jacket.

Once she had finger-combed through the messy blonde waves in her long hair and pulled it all up in a high ponytail, the Johto-lover grabbed her favorite accessory and wore it with pride: a black and white ball cap with the silhouette of Ho-Oh sewn into the front. She glanced at her reflection one last time and hurried out of her upstairs bedroom but halted immediately when a sticky-note attached to her door caught her attention. Decorated cutely with pink Bloom Mail stationary, the tiny note read, "Left for another interview at the academy. If you go anywhere don't forget to lock the doors so random kids don't walk in and steal our items. Love, Mom."

Trixie simply shrugged. After losing their home in Goldenrod, her mother had also lost her job selling special ball capsules and seals in the Underground Path for Pokémon contests. Since then Trixie's mother had been trying hard to get a new job as a teacher at the academy in Violet City, but unfortunately that meant she was gone quite a lot. Trixie had been using this free time to dangerously "clean up" Goldenrod's now-crime-infested streets with her Pokémon however, and like usual she was certain she would make it back to Azalea before her mother even knew she were gone.

After zooming over Ilex Forest on the scaled back of Ollie the constantly over-excited Flygon, Trixie and her Pokémon friends had arrived in Goldenrod City within mere minutes of walking out the door of their tiny Azalea home.

After a terrifying ride on the speedy and reckless Dragon, Trixie went to dizzily hop off of him, but, like usual it ended in failure. Within seconds of the clawed toes of his long saurian legs touching the ground, Ollie had spotted a fleeing Rattata among the debris and immediately the playful chase began. Ollie stomped off in a waddle after the mouse at an unmatchable speed, causing Trixie to perform an involuntary back-flip off of him in the process and land among a pile of broken bricks and other sharp rubble.

"Ollie, no! Not again!" she called after him, "come back!" She sighed as the Dragon completely ignored her and continued darting around the city with childlike happiness and a ridiculous grin. Trixie just shook her head as she watched and was reminded by all this why she had named him Ollie and not something more serious and threatening. While he was refusing to listen to the young teen, Trixie supervised him from a distance as she searched through the molding rubble of Goldenrod for the entrance to the Underground Path.

Shattered glass and splintered boards crumbled and snapped under every step of Trixie's black-and-white Sawsbuck Tayler sneakers as she tromped through the remains of her own and over eight-million other people's pasts. She knew she was out of place in the ruins where violence was at an all-time high in the entire Johto region, but her confidence remained unshaken with her Pokémon at her side.

As she became closer to her destination: a hole in the ground scarcely covered by a detached steel door and overrun with slimy worms and shiny black beetles, Trixie whistled sharply at a last attempt to get Ollie's attention. Surprisingly it worked, and she wasted no time in returning him to his fancily-decorated lime-green Pokéball as he charged over to her. "Aw… I'm sorry Ollie," she said as she clipped the Pokéball to one of the loops of her shorts next to the other five, "but this place is too risky for playing around now."

Reaching into the warmth of her jacket pocket, Trixie pulled out a hot-pink Pokéball she had stashed away and gently pressed the round center button to release her loyal Espeon from its confinement. A blinding white light shot out from the capsule as the tall velvety cat leapt out into full view with unrivaled grace. The Espeon stood proudly and gazed into the overcast charcoal sky, and crying out a loud meow with a voice like silk, she caused the clouds to fade to a cotton-white and make way as the glowing sun emerged out of the darkness and shone light upon the lilac Pokémon and her Trainer.

Greeting her Pokémon, Trixie bent down closer to the muddy, hazardous ground and stroked her precious Espeon's giant ears and head. "Hello, beautiful!" Her fur was soft with the texture of thick velvet, so sleek and luxurious that Trixie's fingers left imprints upon its smooth, glossy surface as the Pokémon was petted. "What do you say we go make some grown men cry, hmm?" With a small, determined yowl in reply, Karma the Espeon hastily approached the fallen door and began nudging at it before Trixie even caught up to her.

"Easy, killer!" Trixie warned as she rushed to her Pokémon's side. "This freaky place isn't what it used to be, okay?" She patted her eager feline on the head before gently pushing her out of the way. With a twist of the door's handle and a quick jerk, Trixie was able to open the door upwards like a cellar. Immediately the Trainer and her Pokémon were overwhelmed with the musty, repulsive scents of wet wildly-growing mildew and stale clouds of old cigarette smoke as they drifted up the broken and unstable stairs of the Underground Path.

Karma's sensitive ears twitched and her forked tail quivered cautiously in unbreakable focus as she elegantly walked with a slow pace in front of her Trainer and they traveled down the crumbling stairs that creaked and became weaker with each of the steps the two loudly took. Before they were even half-way to the bottom, Karma's ears shot straight up and within just seconds she had charged down to the bottom of the stairs and completely out of sight.

Trixie sighed, "Oh, good grief…." The overeager cat was beginning to need a leash. She ran down the fragile steps after her Pokémon before slowing her running pace and jumping off the stairs three steps shy of the end, splashing into murky ankle-high water. Instinctively she glanced up and all around her, prepared to fight if needed, but all she saw was a long and debris-filled tunnel damaged by the tsunami and hidden in shadows.

In the past before Goldenrod's destruction, Trixie would have had to shove her way through the crazed shopping district of scammers and shady salesmen, constantly being on the lookout for lurking thieves trying to pickpocket her Pokéballs. On the many occasions that security was doing a poor job of handling the hyped-up crowds of people, she would even battle with petty thugs looking for trouble and place bets on the fight using expensive merchandise like golden nuggets. But nowadays, it was nearly pitch-black in the Tunnel without electricity pumping through the bright wall-lamps, the cheap junk from various shops was soaked with water and laid scattered along her path in ruins, and the long tunnel that used to be filled with the sounds of bustling shoppers was silenced to nothing but the lonely echoes of dripping water.

Trixie called out Karma's name in search of her hasty Pokémon, splashing through the scummy olive-colored water that created a mini-swamp in her shoes, before a blinding flash of gold light shot through the entire tunnel and nearly knocked her off her feet as she violently turned away to shield her eyes. The light then grew dimmer and dimmer with each second that passed until it provided just enough light to see.

Trixie leaned against the wall to steady herself and blink out the momentarily-blinding effects of the Flash, then looked ahead to see what she already expected she would: Karma sitting up as still and elegantly as an ancient cat statue, with her head pointed upward and a golden light beaming from her ruby-red gem to illuminate the surrounding area like a lamp without a shade. But laying pitifully next to the graceful cat was the middle-aged and rather balding photographer Cameron, bruised and beaten up without a single camera or Pokéball appearing to be on him.

"Oh, for the love of Pichu!" Trixie shouted as she ran down the tunnel to help him up, "I thought I told you not to talk! What happened to you?"

"Oh, thank goodness you're here!" Cameron shakily got to his feet and threw his arms around Trixie in an awkward hug. She cringed; she hated hugs unless they were from her Pokémon friends, and not to mention he was covered in blood and sweat. "I'm sorry I didn't listen," he said, "But the thugs I told you about… why, they were just so… photogenic! It was risky, but I had to ask for a picture. Oh Beatrice, they just had the finest suits and shoes, and such fearsome-looking Houndour and oh, goodness, did I mention-"

"Cameron!"Trixie interrupted and took a few steps back to silently prevent any more hugs, "Learn how to focus! Are you okay? What all did they take?"

He just shook his head. "I'm fine. But they took my camera, my bag, all my Pokémon… and everything else here that wasn't already damaged."

Trixie rubbed her chin in thought. "Sounds like these goons hit the jackpot. Did you hear where they were headed?"

"No, I can't allow you to chase after them, not after seeing how strong they are! You're just too photogenic, you can't afford to be harmed! Oh, dear, what if they broke your perfect nose!? Trixie, what if-!"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, enough of the 'photogenic' crap! Your Pokémon could be in danger and you're telling me not to go rescue them?"

"I'll report them to the police, they'll-"

Trixie cut him off mid-sentence with a scoff, "Get real! The police are useless nowadays. They're too concerned with collapsed buildings and dead people to do zip when it comes to protecting the rest of us. If you don't tell me what you know about these pathetic jerks, your Pokémon and everything else stolen will be gone for good, and you know I'm right."

Cameron sighed and hung his head. "Yes, you are. If anyone is going to save my sweet, photogenic Pidgey, I guess it ought to be you. They said something about going back to 'the shop', maybe they meant Miracle Cycle."

"Could be the flower shop, too. I mean, it's a fitting hideout for a creepy bunch of wimps." Trixie shrugged. "I'll check out both, but first you need some help. Ecruteak's not far, you can borrow Ollie and fly there."

Cameron chuckled nervously. "Ollie?"

"What's wrong with Ollie?" She asked with an innocent smile.

"He's just so… hyper. And huge! Very photogenic, but-"

"Oh, he's not that bad." she lied. "And he's a Flygon, of course he's big! Do you expect him to be Diglett sized?"

"It'd be nice, yeah."

Trixie just rolled her eyes and tossed Cameron Ollie's Pokéball, "It'll be peachy, trust me. Just keep your hands open and in sight or he'll think you're hiding berries and… well, no need to go into details!"

Cameron gulped and looked down at his fingers, wiggling them and staring with speechless worry at the small capsule he held that contained such a gigantic beast with the mind of a crazed toddler. Trixie was slightly uneasy about leaving her only flying "get-away" Pokémon with Cameron while she ventured off in search of violent thieves and their likely-vicious Houndour, but she had faith in her own Pokémon's abilities and was confident that they could take on anything. Besides, running away just wasn't their style.