Author's Note: Something I'd started a while back and finally finished this summer. Why is it that dark Pokémon fanfics are the most fun to write? O_o

Disclaimer: Never owned Pokémon, never will.

Gladiator

— April 23, 2005 —

- Viridian Forest -

"Yo! You can't jam out if you're a Pokemon trainer!"

Leaf stared at the young boy, utterly baffled by this statement. Can't jam out? she wondered to herself. What a weird expression… Shaking it off, she threw in her Charmander's pokeball, knocking out the boy's team of Weedle and Kakuna effortlessly. As the last vile bug fell, singed a fair bit and a tad bloodied from Charmander's attacks, Bug Catcher Doug fell to his knees beside his wounded pokemon, gazing blankly off into space. "I ran outta pokemon," he stated flatly, as if he was unable to cope with the flattening loss he'd suffered.

Leaf frowned at him in slight concern, her brown gaze swiveling to the whimpering pokemon at the boy's feet. Is he just in shock, or…does he not care? Leaf had never been that fond of bug-types, but the sight of the poor creature groveling to his indifferent master for comfort churned her stomach.

"This totally stinks!" The boy suddenly cried out, jolting Leaf back a step in surprise at the outburst. "I'm gonna go catch stronger ones!" With that, the boy sprung to his feet and took off, quickly disappearing down the forest path, his dying Weedle left in the grass to suffer alone.

Leaf stood silently for a moment or two, letting her thoughts boil. Seldom had she felt this angry before… But then again, how often was it that she was a witness to such a scene, one that was outrageously lacking in compassion? She was now beginning to see how sheltered her life had been back in Pallet Town, family issues or not. Back in Pallet, a pokemon would never be left like this, abandoned so terribly to its fate.

She slowly approached the creature, feeling as if she were moving through water. She fumbled through her bag for a first aid kit as she knelt by the injured Weedle, who shied away from her as she got closer. "Shh," she whispered to it, trying to be soothing, though she wasn't sure how much help she would actually be. After all, wasn't this her fault, anyway? Were those burns, those claw marks, not the result of her own orders? Her fingers rummaged faster, scrambling for the small box at the very bottom of her travel bag. She ripped it out of the bag and threw it open, inspecting the contents. A bottle of disinfectant, an almost empty can of antidote, two small potions, and a handful of bandages. Leaf grimaced. It wasn't much to work with, and she was no vet, but it'd have to do.

Working quickly but being as gentle as possible, she did her best to patch up the worst of the Weedle's injuries, applying disinfectant and potions to gashes and burns alike, wrapping each one with a sterile bandage to hold everything in place. The Weedle winced a few times, but remained still and silent as Leaf worked. When she had done all she could, she sat back on her heels, staring at the pokemon that was staring back at her.

Leaf had found bugs repulsive for as long as she could remember, but as she stared into those hopeful, beady eyes, something in her heart steeled her resolve to protect this helpless little Weedle at all costs.

Leaf glanced back the way the bug catcher had run off. He was still the owner of this Pokémon, and still had its Pokéball with him, but…

Leaf looked back at the Weedle. "C'mon. You're coming with me."

The Weedle chirped its gratitude as Leaf gingerly gathered it into her arms. Leaving Charmander out of his Pokéball to protect them from wild Pokémon, Leaf hurried on out of the forest, hoping she'd soon hit Pewter City and find the PokéCenter.

— December 19, 2007 —

- Pewter City -

Leaf adjusted her scarf as she left the PokéMart, making sure it covered enough of her face to shield her from the cold winter wind that swept through the gray city. Shouldering her purse, she decided to leave her Pokémon in their capsules—no need to make them travel out in the cold. She'd have to deal with the weather alone.

As she headed down Route 2, eyeing the dark forest as she approached, she tried to remember the last time she took this way. It must have been years ago; every other time she'd visited home, she'd flown or took a ship, meaning the last time she'd been in Viridian forest was also her first.

She could still remember how she had been then, fresh on her journey, raring (though not yet ready) to earn her first gym badge. Now, as a Champion, she had all 8 badges still stored away with her ID badge—though she still kept them with her just in case she needed access to somewhere, the case hadn't been cracked open in ages and the badges appeared unpolished, neglected, and rather unremarkable.

The gym badges weren't quite as special to her now that the only person she had yet to defeat was Red...not that that was happening any time soon. He was nowhere to be found.

She was interrupted from her thoughts as a young adolescent boy leaped out into the path, blocking her way.

"You must be strong, coming from Pewter. Battle me!"

Leaf frowned. There wasn't a single person in this forest she hadn't yet battled, she was sure. And as Champion, she shouldn't have to rebattle every single novice she passed by. So, even though she was normally good with children, her irritation snuck into her voice. "How about no? I'm not training; I'm on my way home."

The boy's brow furrowed. "What? Don't tell me you're jamming out!"

Leaf's eyes narrowed. Jamming? "Have I met you before?"

The boy regarded her in turn, then shrugged. "I dunno. You don't look familiar."

"Well, fine." Leaf was impatient. "Nice meeting you then." She made a move to walk on past, but the boy released a Kakuna from a Pokéball, blocking her path.

Leaf was beyond irritated now. She was irked. "What's your deal? What, you wanna see my badges? Here!" She snatched them out of her bag and thrust them in his face. "See? There. Come back with these, we can battle. Until then, let me by. It's as cold as Arcticuno's beak out here and I just want to get home."

The boy shoved her badge case away, his lip protruding a bit in a stubborn expression. "That's not the rules," he spat. "You're a trainer! Can't jam out, whoever cares how important you are."

"Kid—"

"BATTLE ME."

"Fine!" Leaf hissed, fingers closing around a Pokéball in her bag. It was a highly unusual capsule, messily handmade out of wood. There was no button.

"Wake up, Beedrill," Leaf whispered to it softly. "Come out to battle."

Instead of popping open in a flash of light, the wooden Pokéball creaked open, and the Pokémon inside expanded to full size as it jumped out.

This was the "old-fashioned" way of keeping Pokémon, a way that had been almost completely forgotten once the newer, high-tech Pokéballs had been invented. It had been entirely replaced by the Pokéball, popular not only for its sleek appearance and showy release sequence, but also its capturing-made-easy and anti-theft features. Few alive now remembered or had heard of the wooden capsules, for they required patience to make, and a strong friendship with the Pokémon in question, as the Pokémon had to be willing to enter. In fact, the Pokémon professors were among the only ones still knowledgeable and skilled in this concept.

The boy had been staring at the wooden capsule, utterly baffled, but when he saw the Beedrill his forehead creased. "That…Pokémon looks familiar…"

He was still wearing that look of confused concentration even after the Beedrill had effortlessly defeated all his Kakuna and Weedles.

When prompted, he introduced himself to Leaf as Bug Catcher Doug, and that's when the ball finally dropped.

"Oh!" Leaf exclaimed. "We have met before!" Everything rushed back: jamming, running off, injured Weedle and all.

An injured Weedle that had become a stolen Weedle.

"Um…" Leaf chewed her lip. "About that Beedrill… It was actually yours."

Doug looked confused. "No, I've never traded or given away any Pokémon."

"Maybe not, but I stole it." Leaf briefly explained, describing what she had done.

As Doug listened, he sat down on the grass and treated one of his fallen Kakuna, coaxing it to eat an Oran berry. He remained silent for a few long moments after Leaf had finished.

After a few tense seconds, he finally looked up at her. "I know I didn't used to treat Pokémon right. I did some terrible things." He glanced at the Beedrill. "...Does he have a name?"

"I named him Gladiator." She had named him that to remind herself that it was all too easy for Pokémon to become victims of battle. She didn't tell Doug this, but she could see in his eyes that he guessed anyway.

Doug looked down, not meeting her eyes. "Well, I'm glad you took him in."

"Someone had to."

"No, but I'm glad it was you." He locked his gaze with hers. "He's really grown. You use him against the Elite Four at all?"

Leaf smiled. "Yeah, he took out a Psychic type or two. Especially the Champion's."

"Well, whaddya know!" Doug hesitantly held out his hand to Gladiator, and the Beedrill hesitantly let himself be pet. Doug gently stroked his nose. "My old little Weedle, giving the Champion something to worry about. How 'bout that."

"Yeah, well, knowing Green, he probably wasn't as worried as he should have been."

Doug withdrew his hand and sighed. Looking up at Leaf, he said, "You probably want this." Rummaging in his bag, he found a Pokéball and handed it to her. "Consider it a gift. It's Gladiator's."

Leaf took it and looked at Gladiator curiously. "What do you think?" she asked the bug Pokémon.

The Beedrill came over and sniffed at the glossy, red-and-white surface. It narrowed its eyes and promptly found its old wooden capsule and stubbornly crawled back inside. Doug appeared fascinated by the old-fashioned process, as he was staring in awe as Gladiator shrunk down to size just in time to allow the wooden capsule to snap shut behind him. No button, no phasing, no fancy lights or glossy surfaces. To a kid who had never known any different, the process was alien or barbarically archaic or both.

"I guess he prefers the other," Doug sighed. "Are you sure he's comfortable in there?"

Leaf smirked. "I'm sure he's fine. I'll keep this, though, in case he changes his mind." She stowed the Pokéball away in her bag. Securing the bag strap securely around her shoulder, she turned to the younger trainer. "Well, nice seeing you again. Glad to see your improvement."

A ghost of a smile crept on Doug's face. "Yeah. Next I'll be at the League."

"You bet."

"Guess you better be getting home."

"Yeah." She stared at him for another long moment. "Take care of yourself, Doug."

"You too." He watched her figure disappear among the frozen, lifeless woods.

End

Author's Note: Sorry if the wooden Pokéball thing was confusing. It's just a headcanon I came up with on the spot. Idk, it made sense in my head...until my brother told me it made no sense.