AUTHOR'S NOTE: Greetings, readers! This is my very first fanfiction story and I hope you enjoy it. I have some information to pass along. First of all, I DO NOT own Pokémon. Pokémon, Pikachu, and all other Pokémon character names are trademarks of Nintendo. The art I used in my cover photo of this story belongs to artist Joy Chiang Ling. I'm a longtime Pokémon fan and have watched almost all the episodes of the anime and played many of the main series games. This story is based on my experiences on playing said games. While watching some of those episodes, I got ideas on some of my own characters. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the review section, and I will gladly reply to them. Please feel free to leave feedback of any kind because I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing skills.

Enjoy!

TEASER: This is the beginning of Tristan's Pokémon adventures, but it starts in the past with trouble with a capital T for terrible tragedy of terror. And that T is for Team Rocket!

Chapter 1: THE DAY LIFE CHANGED

(Music Cue: A Creeping Threat)

A group of people were standing on a hilltop overlooking Pallet Town one gray morning. They had been sent from headquarters on a mission: Retrieve as many Pokémon from as many trainers as possible as a group and take good care of them. The people were wearing black uniforms with a big red letter R on them. They had gray gloves and boots as well as black caps.

It was time for the people to make their move. They got into their vehicles and sped down the hill towards the homes in the neighborhood. In one home, two young kids, Tristan and Hillary, who were ages six and three, respectively, were witnessing many vehicles closing in on many homes at the same time. Their parents, Sarah and Bill, were getting worried.

"I wonder what those guys are after," Sarah said, nervously.

"I don't like what they're doing," Bill said, suspiciously. He turned to Tristan. "Tristan, take Hillary to your room and don't come out until we know it's safe to do so. I'll call the police."

"But Daddy, what if you get in trouble?" Tristan asked.

"Just do it!" ordered Bill. "We'll be okay, but you've got to hide! There isn't much time!"

With that, Tristan grabbed Hillary and took her upstairs to his room. He was still worried about what would happen in the coming minutes. As he wondered, more of the uniformed men were closing in on the house. It just happened to be the last one on the list after every Pokémon inside was retrieved. Just as Bill put in a call to the police, two uniformed men barged into the home with a vengeance.

"Give us your Pokémon!" the first man ordered.

"We don't have ANY Pokémon!" countered Bill. "Now who are you and what do you want!?"

"I don't think you need to know," replied the second man.

"However, we think you and your family should come along with us," said the first man.

Sarah was horrified. "Please don't harm our kids!" she pleaded. "They've done nothing to you!"

"If you harm our children, even a little," waned Bill, "you will rue the day you barged in this house! Just what do you hope to accomplish, anyway?"

The first man chuckled then said, "We're from an evil organization called Team Rocket. Our mission is to steal Pokémon that are powerful and rare."

"Then, we'll use their power to take over the world," finished the second man.

"So make things easy and hand over your Pokémon," the first man demanded.

Sarah and Bill refused to hand their Pokémon over to the two men because they didn't have any Pokémon.

In retaliation, the men sent out one Beedrill each to threaten the parents with a battle.

(Music Cue: Raid!)

A white light emerged from the Pokéballs. When the Pokémon materialized from the light, they looked like bipedal yellow wasps with four legs.

"Beedrill, Twineedle attack!" both Grunts ordered.

The Beedrill lunged straight towards Sarah and Bill with their long conical stingers.

Sarah and Bill ducked in the nick of time, causing the Beedrill to strike a wall, getting them stuck in the process.

"If we can't steal any Pokémon here, we'll just take your kids along for the ride instead," the first man said.

"I'll get them," said the second man.

"Please don't do it! Leave them alone!" begged Sarah.

But it was no use. She and Bill were tied up by the men, who were upstairs in a flash, and kicked the door to the bedroom open where Tristan and Hillary were hiding. Hillary ducked under the bed, but Tristan wasn't so lucky. Instantly, he trembled and cried.

"Come on, kid," said the second man. "Let's go for a ride. We need to get you away for awhile." And he grabbed him ferociously.

"Let me go!" cried Tristan. "Let me go!"

"You're coming with us and that's final," said the second man. "From now on, Team Rocket is your new home."

"No! NO!" yelled Tristan as he struggled in the Grunt's arms. But no matter how much he squirmed and struggled, he couldn't get away. He was carried out of the house and put into the back of a fire-resistant truck where a sizeable number of PokéBalls from the Pallet Town heist was stored.

"Welcome home, kid! Ha ha ha ha!" laughed the man as he shut the door and locked it tight.

Meanwhile, lightning flashed, the thunder crashed, and the rain started to come down in sheets outside.

Inside the truck, the two grunts who kidnapped Tristan radioed their other teammates on their radio.

"Mission complete," said the first one.

"Head back to headquarters," said the second one.

"Yes!" the rest of them replied.

And they started their truck to their sinister destination.

Just then, police sirens were heard behind the truck. The sirens were coming from two police motorcycles occupied by an Officer Jenny.

(Music Cue: Rocket Powered Disaster)

The grunts knew what that meant. If they were caught by the police, they'd go to jail. So the grunts shifted into overdrive with speeds of over 100 miles an hour, causing other traffic to swerve off the road to avoid an accident. Just behind the truck, Officer Jenny from Viridian City and Office Jenny from Pallet Town were hot on their tail.

"Pull over at once!" the first Jenny ordered.

"You're under arrest!" shouted the second Jenny.

The two Rocket grunts, who were speeding away, were still in panic mode.

"Can't this truck go any faster?" shouted the first grunt.

"This is as fast as it can go! I can't lose them!" panicked the second.

"Why can't those officers just give it up already?!" fumed the first grunt. "It's too dangerous to speed in this rainstorm!"

"You should talk!" retorted the second grunt. "We need to hurry and get away from these stubborn pests with this loot!"

Just then, the grunts saw an abandoned gas station. They knew this would be the rendezvous point to meet the rest of the grunts from Team Rocket Headquarters, so they decided to slow down. However, the grunt that was driving the truck accidentally put his foot on the gas pedal instead, causing it to get stuck on the floor.

"Don't hit the gas! Hit the brakes!" yelled the first grunt to the second grunt.

"I can't!" shouted the second grunt. "The gas pedal is stuck! I've completely lost control!"

As they spoke, the truck's wheels lost their grip with the wet road and sideswiped the gas tanks. Fortunately for everybody concerned, there was a bale of hay. The truck hit the hay, causing the truck to come to a complete stop.

The grunts turned off the engine of their truck. However, sparks from the gas tanks coupled with the exhaust from the truck and the hay that it hit caused a fire to ignite. The grunts now knew that there was no way they could get what they wanted by taking Tristan and the stolen Pokémon and giving them to the Boss, so they decided to evacuate the premises immediately with Pokéballs in hand, and left Tristan to burn in their wake.

The two grunts went inside the gas station and told the other grunts to evacuate because one, there was a fire, which presented imminent danger to everyone in the vicinity. Two, there were two police officers hot on their tails.

"We've got to get out of here with this bag of Pokéballs!" exclaimed the first Grunt.

"Come on, hurry!" shouted the other.

The other grunts disagreed with their recklessness because they had no intention of being arrested. So they fled for their lives without waiting for the first two grunts. The storm had stopped, so they didn't get wet as the other grunts ran.

"You're all cowards and deserters!" screamed the two Grunts. "We'll be taking the Pokéballs to the boss and get the credit ourselves!"

However, the officers caught up with the two grunts and arrested them on the spot. Then they recovered the Pokéballs and ran back outside to the abandoned truck.

Just then, Officer Jenny and Officer Jenny heard a banging sound coming from inside the truck where Tristan was.

"Let me out of here!" he shouted.

(Music Cue: Danger! Pikachu! (as heard in "Mild 'n Woolly"))

"There's someone inside the truck!" exclaimed the first officer to the second. "Quick! Let's get him out of here!"

They both knew that the gas tanks would cause a massive explosion, and there wasn't much time, so they opened the door of the truck and quickly pulled Tristan out. He was still petrified by the ordeal and clung tight to the first Officer Jenny. The officers evacuated the gas station with Tristan, the arrested grunts, and the bag of Pokéballs on their motorcycles and sped away from the fire as fast as they could. Seconds later, there was a tremendous explosion followed by a cloud of black smoke.

As for the rest of the Team Rocket grunts, they got away from the brunt of the explosion, but suffered first-degree burns from the heat because of it. They were relieved that the officers didn't catch them, but they were also angry at the thought that they had a defective truck to work with. Now they had to face the thought of reporting their failed mission to their Boss.


"You fools!" shouted a man, banging a fist on his desk. The man was the boss of Team Rocket: Giovanni.

Three Team Rocket agents, Jessie, James, and a talking Meowth, had shown him a Togepi that they thought was a rare and valuable Pokémon because it had been newly discovered not too long before. They thought it would make a very nice paperweight because they couldn't figure out exactly what attacks and abilities it had.

"You search for months and bring me this thing?! You're total incompetence!" Giovanni fumed. The three agents apologized and told him that they would be competent.

Just then, the phone rang. Giovanni was annoyed at the phone ringing because he was in the middle of reprimanding his agents for failing him yet again.

"What is it?" asked Giovanni when he picked up.

"Sir!" said a Rocket grunt. "There's been a huge explosion at the abandoned gas station, which was our rendezvous point!"

Giovanni was so shocked that his eyes were wide open. "What?! When?"

"Just minutes ago! Please hurry and get there!" panicked the grunt.

Giovanni put down the phone. "There's been an accident. I have to go. I'm leaving the three of you in charge of the Gym," he told the agents. That was a move, which would henceforth be known as mistake number one. His Persian opened the door of the office and ran out. Togepi walked out of the room behind Persian.

"Huh? The three of us?" asked Jessie.

"In charge?" put in James.

"Of da gym?" finished Meowth.

"Use these to protect the Gym if necessary," he said, tossing the trio three Pokéballs. The trio was surprised that they received new Pokémon to use. Giovanni sat in his chair and slowly backed it into a secret switch, which turned the wall behind him to the other side, causing him to disappear into a secret room.

"That means that…" began Jessie.

"…we just became…" continued James.

"…Gym Leaders!" finished Meowth.

Then, they tossed the three new Pokéballs into the air and shouted, "YAY!"

Meanwhile, on the other side of his office, Giovanni was walking with two armed guards who normally guarded the entrance to the Viridian City Gym down a dark dungeon. Two of Giovanni's Pokémon, a Golem and a Kingler, were seen in cages. A Cloyster was in a special water tank. At last, he and the soldiers stopped in front of a mysterious Pokémon in armor with cables attached to it.

"We have an emergency assignment for you," informed Giovanni to the Pokémon. He then pushed a lever, causing the cables to disconnect. Afterwards, the Pokémon's eyes glowed in a blue light, signaling that it was ready for the assignment.


The fire was still raging out of control at Team Rocket's rendezvous point thanks to the explosion. Giovanni and the mysterious Pokémon arrived there in one of Team Rocket's helicopters as fast as they could. As soon as they landed, Giovanni noticed a fire hydrant and had an idea.

"Use your Psychic attack to lift the fire hydrant," he instructed.

The Pokémon's eyes glowed in a blue color. As if it were like magic, the fire hydrant glowed in the same blue color and was lifted up into the sky, causing a geyser of water to shoot up from underground.

"Now aim the stream of water towards the fire," instructed Giovanni.

The Pokémon's hands glowed with the same blue color. Under its power, the stream of water was redirected towards the fire, putting it out instantly. Using its psychic abilities, the Pokémon then put the fire hydrant back into its original position. However, the abandoned gas station was no more. It had been reduced to nothing thanks to the explosion. Giovanni radioed the other grunts.

"This is the Boss," he said. "Are you all okay?"

"Yes, we are," one Grunt's voice said. "What should we do?"

"Head back to Team Rocket Headquarters at once," ordered Giovanni. "We'll come up with another plan another time."

"Yes, sir," said the grunt.

Giovanni put down the radio, and then he decided to pay a visit to the home belonging to a young boy because he knew how to charm children.


Meanwhile, at Tristan's house, his parents, Sarah and Bill, had been rescued by Officer Jenny and Officer Jenny after bringing him back safe and sound. Hillary was napping in Tristan's bedroom after hiding under the bed.

"Bill and I are most grateful to you for rescuing our boy," Sarah said to the officers. "How can we thank you?"

"It's part of our job," replied the first Officer Jenny.

"You may want to go out on your own journey soon," cautioned the second Officer Jenny. "You never know when Team Rocket will be back."

"However, it might be fun to travel with your very own Pokémon!" said the first Jenny excitedly.

"What about the two people who kidnapped our Tristan?" asked Sarah, worriedly.

"The two Team Rocket Grunts that took your kid away have been arrested for attempted kidnapping and multiple counts of theft," informed the second Officer Jenny.

"That's good," replied Bill. "Let's just hope that nobody tries to steal anything from anybody ever again."

"Things like that will happen from time to time, I'm afraid," the first Officer Jenny said sadly.

"But we can take the two Rocket Grunts to jail for you," said the second Officer Jenny happily. "We must be going. Take care now."

The two Officers ran out the door and continued with their business.

As for Tristan, he immediately rushed to the bedroom, much to the shock of Bill and Sarah.

"Poor thing," said Sarah sadly. "He must have been really scared."

"With the experience of being kidnapped followed closely by a life-threatening explosion, who wouldn't be?" replied Bill. "Those jerks will be sorry they ever kidnapped him! Mark my words!"

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

Bill opened it cautiously and saw a smartly dressed gentleman. It was really Giovanni in disguise. "Who are you," Bill asked the gentleman.

"I am someone who can help your son completely forget about this awful experience with Team Rocket," Giovanni said. "I'm sorry he had to go through all that."

"Thanks to Team Rocket, Tristan's been hiding in his room ever since he got back," said Sarah. "I really don't know what to do."

"Don't worry," said Giovanni. "I can make those bad memories go away."

Giovanni and the mysterious Pokémon went upstairs to the kids' bedroom. It came forward to Tristan, who was still shaking with fear from the recent ordeal, and now he was more afraid of what this mysterious Pokémon would do to him.

"Who are you and what's happening?" whimpered Tristan.

"Relax, little one," said Giovanni, calmly. "This Pokémon won't hurt you. All it's going to do is help you forget your terrible experiences with Team Rocket. I promise you won't feel a thing."

The Pokémon's eyes glowed blue, as did Tristan. A stream of blue light transferred from Tristan to the Pokémon, freeing him of his painful memories of Team Rocket.

"That should do it," said Giovanni. He and the Pokémon came back downstairs to Sarah and Bill.

"Thank you very much, sir," said Sarah, who was greatly relieved.

"There must be something we can do to repay you," added Bill.

Giovanni wanted Sarah and Bill's Pokémon, but he knew that they didn't have any, and he knew that he was going to get Pokémon sooner or later. So instead he gave them instructions.

"I suggest you start a journey of your own," he said. "Find Professor Oak and ask if you can have a Pokémon to start your journey with. Then, call any relative that can help take care of the kids."

"We can take the kids with us, can't we?" asked Sarah.

"No, you mustn't take them with you," ordered Giovanni. "It's too dangerous at this point in time. You'll have to help them move someplace else because it will help Tristan forget about Team Rocket even more."

"If that's what you want, then we'll do it," said Bill.

"Now, I must be going, so please excuse me," said Giovanni. And with that, he and the Pokémon exited the house. After the door closed behind him, Giovanni smiled evilly. His plan to gain the trust of Tristan's parents had succeeded.

"What should we do?" asked Sarah to Bill.

Bill gave that question a lot of thought, and said, "We'll have to call Veronica and Eric."

"My parents Veronica and Eric?" asked Sarah with shock. "But they can't take care of Tristan and Hillary like this!"

"I'm positive that they can," reassured Bill. "Remember, they used to be Pokémon trainers, too. You and I never liked Pokémon, but now we have no other choice to start a journey of our own so we can learn to protect ourselves. Veronica and Eric will do a better job of taking care of the kids than we can right now. Plus, Veronica and Eric took care of you when you were just a kid. And when Tristan gets old enough, he can venture out and journey himself."

Reluctantly, Sarah agreed with the logic. "I'll call my mother and see what she says."


(Music Cue: Bill's Lighthouse)

Meanwhile, later that evening, in a little place called New Bark Town in the Johto region, Tristan's grandparents, Veronica and Eric, were watching a special report live on TV. They had known about the explosion that had taken place near Pallet Town.

"Oh, Eric, this is just terrible!" exclaimed Veronica. "That's near Sarah and Bill's place! I hope they're all right, let alone the children."

"Who would do such a thing?" asked Eric.

"Someone with an evil plot, no doubt," Veronica said.

A little Eevee agreed with them. "Vee," it said. It leapt on Veronica's lap.

"You just like being petted, don't you?" said Veronica to Eevee. She gently stroked the Pokémon on the head.

Eevee seemed to like the attention it got. It could tell that its Trainer could use some cheering up, especially seeing a stressful event like that.

"It looks like that Eevee could be a living stress reliever," smiled Eric.

"Well, that's one way of taking the tension away," replied Veronica.

Suddenly, the telephone rang.

"Would you mind getting that for me, dear?" asked Veronica to Eric. "I've got an Eevee on my lap."

"I've got it," said Eric. He answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Dad, this is Sarah," she said on the other end.

"How wonderful to hear from you, dear!" Eric said excitedly. "We heard about the explosion. Are you doing okay?"

"Yes, Dad," Sarah replied. "We're all doing just fine. We need your help, though."

"What can we help you with, dear?" asked Eric.

(Music Cue: The Enigma)

Sarah explained to Eric that Tristan had recently been kidnapped by Team Rocket, but thanks to the assistance of Officer Jenny, he was safe and sound. He's been scared to get out ever since.

"That's terrible!" exclaimed Eric. "Are the kids all right?"

"They're fine," replied Sarah. "Hillary napped the whole time, but Tristan's still very shaken up from the ordeal. Then, he was able to forget about it instantly, and then he gave us some advice."

"Who is 'he?'" asked Eric.

"A smartly dressed gentleman," answered Sarah.

"What advice did this gentleman give you, sweetheart?" asked Eric.

"You see," sighed Sarah, "we were approached by a gentleman who told us that we needed to go out on a journey after we received our starter Pokémon from Professor Oak."

"That's great news, Sarah," said Eric. "Your mom and I are very proud of you for wanting to go out on a Pokémon journey."

"I'm afraid that's just the good news," said Sarah sadly. "The bad news is that the kids have to move somewhere else while we go on our journey. Can you help with that?"

"We've got plenty of room at our place, dear," said Eric. "The kids can stay until they're ready to start a journey of their own. We'll be sure to take good care of them."

"Thanks so much," said Sarah. "I need you to also do Bill and me a big favor."

"What's that, dear?" asked Eric.

"Please don't ever mention anything about Team Rocket under any circumstances," said Sarah. "That would disturb Tristan greatly."

"Understood," said Eric. "You prepare the kids for their move and we'll get things ready here."

"Thanks, Dad," said Sarah. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye, dear," said Eric. "We love you." He hung up the phone.

Veronica came over to Eric. "What did Sarah need from us, Eric?" she asked.

Eric paused for a minute and began to speak. "She needs us to prepare bedrooms for Tristan and Hillary."

"But why is that?" asked Veronica. "Is it because of Team Rocket?"

Eric took Veronica aside and told her, "We must never mention Team Rocket. I promised Sarah we wouldn't."

Veronica was getting more and more nervous by the minute. "I don't know," she said. "I always loved taking care of children just as much as you did when we were raising Sarah, but I don't know how I will fare this time."

"We can do this together, dear," Eric said, feeling confident. "Remember that we got Eevee from a Pokémaniac named Bill who lives at the Sea Cottage just north of Cerulean City. It's not only strong, but very cute, too. It can help protect the children with confidence, just like we can."

Veronica thought about it for a moment, thinking about what Eric mentioned. Finally, she said, "Okay. Let's get things ready."

It didn't take Veronica and Eric long to make beds for Tristan and Hillary because they had extra space for them to sleep. They were excited and nervous at the same time because there would be two kids living with them again.


(Music Cue: Route 1: The Road to Viridian City M18A)

The next morning, Sarah and Bill drove Tristan and Hillary out of Pallet Town in Kanto and made their way west to New Bark Town in Johto. A moving van was moving every toy that the kids owned. After they got to New Bark Town, Veronica and Eric greeted them warmly.

"Grandma!" shouted Tristan and Hillary excitedly.

"Hello, kids. Please come in," Veronica said.

"You wouldn't forget about me, would you?" Eric asked excitedly.

"No, Grandpa, we're glad to see you, too!" said Tristan and Hillary.

"We've prepared breakfast to celebrate everyone's arrival," announced Veronica.

"Yeah, let's eat!" said Tristan excitedly. He always loved food, and he thought that as long as he ate plenty of it, it would help keep his strength and spirit up. He had completely forgotten about the ordeal with Team Rocket from the day before thanks to Giovanni and his Pokémon, and seemed to be very happy. The others joined him at the table.

"I hope leaving the kids here with you won't bother you," said Sarah to Veronica.

"It won't bother us at all," said Veronica. "We'll take care of them just like we did for you. You and Bill just go out and enjoy your journey. Maybe when Tristan receives his first Pokémon in a few years, he can have a battle with you."

"We'd love that," Bill said.

After breakfast was over, Sarah and Bill left the house as Tristan, Hillary, and their grandparents waved bye-bye and went back to Pallet Town to see Professor Oak. Sarah chose Bulbasaur while Bill chose Charmander.

As for Tristan and Hillary, they met the Eevee that Veronica and Eric recently obtained from Bill at the Sea Cottage.

It quickly warmed up to the kids because it loved children.

They played all day each and every day.


A few days later, Tristan asked Veronica, "Is it true that you and Grandpa used to be Pokémon Trainers, Grandma?"

"Yes it is," she replied. "Being trainers was one of the greatest experiences of our lives. Of course, we have collected many Pokémon over the years. We may not have them with us here, but they are mostly collected by Pokémon Professors in reserve."

Tristan wanted to know more about the experiences. "How did you catch them?"

"Trainers use little tools called Pokéballs, like this one," explained Veronica. She pulled out a Pokéball from her pocket. It was red on top and white on the bottom with a button in the middle. It looked like a ping pong ball.

"But I thought Pokéballs were bigger than that," said Tristan, who was confused.

"They can be bigger," Veronica said, "but only if you push the button."

"May I push it?" asked Tristan. He wanted to get as much experience as he could before he started training Pokémon someday.

"Be my guest," Veronica said, handing the Pokéball to Tristan.

He went ahead and pushed the button on the Pokéball. Instantly, the ball grew into the size of a baseball. He was excited about it. He pushed the button again. Immediately, the ball shrank back to the size of a ping pong ball.

"Why do trainers push the button on the Pokéball all the time?" asked Tristan.

"Pokéballs are used to transport Pokémon inside, even if they're too big to carry when they're outside physically," Veronica explained. "Shrinking the Pokéball makes it easier to carry on your belt or in your pocket. Growing the Pokéball will make it easier to throw, just like when pitching a baseball."

(Music Cue: End of an Adventure)

Tristan was intrigued by this new information he was receiving. He wanted to be a trainer as soon as he possibly could. He was even more intrigued when he discovered the Indigo Pokémon League on TV one day. It was broadcast live all over the world from the Indigo Plateau. Instantly, he fell in love with it. Pokémon of all shapes and sizes were flying, swimming and digging, while using electricity, fire, water, leaves, and acid. He also saw two trainers battle it out in the fifth round of the Pokémon League, but he wasn't expecting a certain Charizard to nap in the middle of a battle. That part made him want to fall asleep. The referee declared Charizard unwilling to battle a puny Pikachu named Sparky. But now that Tristan had seen these battles, including that one, there was only one thing that he wanted to be. He wanted to challenge as many trainers as he could in order to be a Pokémon Master.

►TO BE CONTINUED