The Adventures of Ro and Ko

(Part 1)

By C. S. Allan

[Author's note: The story has no Pokemon in the beginning, because I'm building up to it; setting the story and background and all that; yadda yadda yadda, et cetora, et cetora. So if you wanna just skip to the Pokemon, it starts at XVIII. Just letting you know in case you just wanted to get right to the Pokemon, but I will warn you that there isn't any fighting right now.]

I)Bertram Sewwal was not a well liked person by any means. He was your typical 'dork' type character – awkward around most people, enjoyed the more fantastic things over realistic, and did amazingly well in school with very little effort. However, this year was going to be different. He had worked tirelessly for the whole summer, trying to re-invent himself. He would finally be able to fit in with everyone else. What was even better, still, was that his birthday was only two days after the first day of school.

II)He had his plan worked out perfectly in his mind. He'd come to school, newly redone, and show everyone how much better he was now and then everyone would like him. After that first day, he'd go home and print out a bunch of cool-looking invites "because you can't give un-cool invites to cool people" he thought. The next day, he'd hand them all out to all his classmates and upperclassmen, making extra sure to tell them about the gigantic warehouse he'd be throwing his "totally awesome" party at. The next day, he'd have only to wait for night to come, at which point he'd wait until about half an hour after the party had started to ensure that his party would be full of guests, so that he could burst through the doors and yell "Your host has arrived!" and then party 'till he dropped.

III)"Yes...Yes, this'll do nicely" he thought to himself as he sat back in his revolving chair by his desk. "With my party only a week away, it seems nothing could ever possibly dampen my spirits." And then, his mom came home. Ordinarily, this wouldn't matter at all, but his dad had recently been fired from his job and evicted from his house. With nowhere else for him to stay, his mom had no choice but to let him stay with them until he got back on his feet. But with him there, he got to be a little too much for her to deal with, and so she started to settle back into her old alcoholic ways.

IV)She got violent when she was drunk, and often went for the first one who caught her attention. Usually, it was Mary-Anne, Bertram's 3 year old sister. But every time, his father would go to shield her and so the next one she'd go for would often be Bertram, trying to sneak away. But rather than be defended, he became her punching bag, unless he was fortunate enough to escape. His dad never did anything to save him. The only one he cared about was Mary-Anne. To him, his ex-wife was a bad chapter of his life, and his son was nothing more than a disappointment.

V)Bertram looked down through the window in relief, seeing that she wasn't drunk today. "That's good, but I better lock my door just in case" he thought. Before he could turn around to walk to his door, he saw in his mother's hand, a large piece of paper. Curiosity took him, so he snuck out of his room and peered downstairs. "I've done all the papers, gotten everything arranged. You have a house now, you have a job starting 8 sharp on Monday, it wasn't easy but I'm letting you have full custody of Mary-Anne, and now, Harold, with this restraining order, I'm not asking but telling you: get the hell out of my house and out of my life, where you belong. Have a nice day." she said, walking up to the couch and sprawling herself out, her face lit up in delight of never seeing him again.

VI)"And Bertram..." she called out, he froze immediately, "It's okay. I'm sorry for everything I've done to you, and I know I shouldn't make excuses but it was the alcohol. I would never hurt you in my right mind. You know that, right?" he remained still and silent. She had a point. She'd never attacked him or Mary-Anne before she started drinking.

VII)He felt a tiny tug in his heart. "Mary-Anne" he thought, "Well, I guess if it had to happen, it's better it happened now rather than when she's older and able to understand and be affected by all of this. I was never particularly close to you, but I guess I'll miss you, little sis. Take care." he thought as he looked at her sleeping, completely ignorant of all happenings, in a curled up ball on the recliner. He turned his attention back to his mom.

VIII)"Sweety, don't ignore me, I know your there. I can hear you breathing.", "You ain't gonna get an answer, Em. Not from him - a worthless fool with his head in the clouds. That's all he'll ever be. He'll hide in his room, day and night, in some fairy tail land and waste his life away. Just thought I'd letcha know." his dad said, looking up where Bertram was to make sure he heard every word.

IX)Under his breath, Bertram whispered "Asshole...", his dad chuckled. "Think what you want about me. I know what you are though. It may not be too late to change, though." He scoffed, "Just thought I'd let you know."

X)He gave one last, mocking laugh and left with a sleeping Mary-Anne in his arms, saying over his shoulder that he'll be back tomorrow for his stuff. Bertram glared at him as he left."Hah! 'Change' he says. Lemme tell you something, o father," he thought angrily, "I am changing, but not for you! By this time next week, I'll be partying with all the cool people and you'll still be nothing. Suck it!"

XI)He decided he trusted his mom, and so he came out. They talked and reconciled. All was good. He went to sleep and enjoyed his last few days of summer. On the morning of the last day, he went shopping. New attitude and new personal style must be presented with a new look to go with. The next three days, he carried out his plan exactly as he had designed it in the summer.

XII)Everyone he gave invitations to said they'd come. This was going better than he thought it would. Things were finally looking up for him. He felt on top of the world. "I can't wait for tonight" he said with a smile as he walked home after school.

XIII)That night, he put on 'coolest' clothes and went downstairs. "A'ight mom...s'go." he said to her, heading toward the door. "Oh. Yeah, I forgot Berty. Umm...I kinda have a date tonight. I can drive you there, but I can't come. Sorry. ...But you'll have all your new little friends you've been telling me about, right?" she said, trying to keep the mood optimistic. "Yeah, that's true." he said.

XIV)He got in the car and they drove down to the warehouse. "Have a good time berty. Happy 16th!" she yelled out the window as she drove off. "Okay..." he said quietly to himself, "It's showtime." He made his way up to the door, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, swung back both doors and exclaimed "Ready yourselves, party people, for your host has arrived!"

XV)Silence. "huh?" he peeped open one eye. Nobody was there. He looked all around at the giant, empty warehouse. Not only were there no people there, all the stuff had been trashed. It seemed almost everything had been either tossed all over or smashed to pieces. The speaker system was nothing but circuits, the tables were smashed up into nothing more than pieces of wood and one was on fire, even the big disco ball now laid, smashed and nearly unrecognizable in the middle of the floor. After some searching, he found a single, wooden chair that had been either missed or spared. Then he saw taped to the back of it, a note. He opened it up, "Dear Bertram, we are writing this letter to inform you that...YOU'RE A TOTAL LOSER AND YOU SUCK! Ha! You didn't actually think some new clothes and bad acting would make you cool did you? Just goes to show how lame some people can be. But hey, at least we showed up to your wittle pahty. You like what we've done with the place? Looks better, hahaha! We'll never like you so stop trying. Sincerely, the whole school"

XVI)His hands went numb, letting go of the note. He dropped his head, now on the verge of tears. He leaned back in his chair, hands hanging at his sides, looking up at the dark ceiling. "Hap-py birth...day to...me" he started singing, miserably.

XVII)Just then, he heard a loud noise a few feet away from him. It sounded like something falling down. "Hello?" he called out. "Did somebody actually show up? Or are you one of the vandals, left behind?" No answer. "Hellooo?" he called out again. Silence.

XVIII) "Okay then...this is getting a little weird. I'm just gonna-" "Pi-ka" sounded a small voice from the hole in the wall. "Uhhh...hello?" he said a third time, taken aback. "Pika-chu!" said the little pikachu as it crawled out of the hole. "Woa..."

XIX)He looked at the pikachu and then the hole in the wall, just barely big enough for it to fit through and then back at the pikachu, staring at it in disbelief. "Are you...real? I'm not dreaming this or hallucinating, right?" "Pika" it said, nodding. "Hmm...and you're sure that I haven't finally gone insane?" "Pika" it said again, looking bemused.

XX)"Well, in any case, you can stay if you want, but this isn't much of a party. To tell the truth, I don't even know if they left anything intact." he looked left and right, over his shoulders, and in an instant, he was laying on his back. "...Ow." he rubbed his throbbing head, dazed. "What the hell just happened?"

XXI)He felt something on his chest and looked up to find pikachu hugging him. He looked at this sight, perplexed. "Hey little buddy, watcha doin'?", it stood up and looked at him. "Can ya get off please?" "Pika Pi!" it said as it jumped off Bertram. "Thanks", "Pi!"

XXII)"So-" he began, but was interrupted by Pikachu,

"Pi Pi-ka pika pika chu pika?" it asked him, looking up at him. "Uhh...WHAT?", the pikachu sighed,

XXIII)"Piii Piii-kaaa piiikaaa piiikaaa chuuu piiikaaa? Pi chu?" Bertram had absolutely no idea what the pikachu had said, even when it slowed down for him, but he guessed by the look on its face and its tone, that last bit was probably something like "got it?" or "understand?", so he pretended like he did, and besides – he knew what happened to everyone on the anime who displeased the pikachu. He could practically smell smoking flesh and shuddered.

XXIV)"Hey, I know! Hey, Pikachu!", "Pika?" it answered, apparently forgetting all about its question. "Would you like some cake?" He knew there was no way they could have defiled his cake because it was in the fridge of the room that had been remodeled into the kitchen, which was locked, and he had the only key.

XXV)"Pi" it said, walking towards him. "Okay, let's go" Bertram said, getting out his key. He walked towards the kitchen but pikachu stayed where it was. It was looking at the hole from which it came. "Uh, I'll go ahead and just bring it to you." "Pi" it said absentmindedly.

XXVI)"Hmm...I wonder what's up with the pikachu" he thought to himself, unlocking the door. "Yep, just as I left it last night". He cut a fair sized piece, put it on a plate and walked out. "Here ya go!" Pikachu wasn't there. He looked around, thinking that maybe it left or worse, really was just a figment of his imagination. But it was just back over by the hole.

XXVII)He set the cake down on one of the empty boxes the movers were too lazy to move and the vandals apparently too lazy to destroy. He went over to it. "You okay? What's wrong?" "He looked at pikachu's sad, worried eyes "Really, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" it looked at him and gave him a single 'one, two' head shake. "Pika pi pi chu pika pi pi chu..." it said, motioning at the hole. He had always had horrible intuition, but he could plainly see what pikachu was trying to tell him.

XXVIII)"You weren't alone, were you?" "Pi...ka..." it said quietly, shaking it's head again. Bertram could only imagine what this poor little pikachu was going through. It probably hadn't the slightest clue what was happening to its companion or maybe even a whole group of them. Maybe they were being tortured or forced into captivity, or maybe...maybe they were already dead. He didn't like the thought of that in the least bit. He took a deep breath and sighed. "Then it's settled." "Pika?" "I don't know what your dilemma is, but I swear that I will help you, no matter what!" he said, striking a cliché heroic pose, to which pikachu gave a weary sigh.

XXIX)"So...d'ya got a name?" "ahhh...Pik-" "Right, right. I know. Stupid question. My bad...So I'll give you a name. Hmm...how 'bout Sheldon?" "Pika. Pi?" "Yeah, you don't really look like a Sheldon now that I think about it. ...How 'bout roger?" "Pi..." it said with a wave of it's paw. "Yeah, too generic. Let's try something different, something Asian, maybe. Japanese. How 'bout...Koinma? Ko, for short."

XXX)The pikachu paused and pondered this name. After some thought, it looked up at Bertram and nodded "Pika pika!". "Awesome! Now, we just met and I'll be leaving my life behind – hopefully forever – so that means I can form a new identity for myself. And since we're going Japanese with your name, I'll do the same for mine. Hmm..." he thought for a few minutes and then it hit him. "Alright, Ko. I'm now dropping my old life and identity. Goodbye hateful peers, goodbye mediocrity, and goodbye Bertram Sewwal. From this moment on, he is no more. You have just witnessed the birth of Roshinei. Sadaharu Roshinei. Watcha think, Ko?" "Pikachu!" It said enthusiastically. "I'm glad you like it. Alrighty then. Onward!"

[And so that concludes part one. What will happen to our 2 brave new heroes next? Find out in the next installment of the Adventures of Ro and Ko!]