Chapter One: Three Years Later
The lake is peaceful tonight. It's usually peaceful every night, but there isn't even a ripple on the surface. I can see small schools of red Magikarp fluttering like butterflies underneath the water, and every so often, underneath, I see a dark and foreboding shadow of what I can only assume is a Gyarados. A lone Pidgey flies overhead and towards the forest on the other side of the lake. To my left, I hear the distinctive hooting of a Noctowl. The night is falling fast at the Lake of Rage.
As the sun falls ever so slowly in the sky, I step off of the wooden dock and walk along the edge of the lake. Orange leaves are scattered along the ground, waiting for the ones still hanging to the trees to join them. Johto is a beautiful place once the Autumn winds float lazily in. A soft gust rushes past my face and through my dark brown hair. It's cold; a hint of the winter months to come. That gust immediately reminds me of why I came here.
It's the same gust that blew across my face three years ago, when I lost my Eevee companion.
I was only fourteen years old then, and had been training Eevee for about three years. She was a present to me from the Kimono Girls of Ecruteak City. We went up to the Lake of Rage, where I planned on camping with Eevee for a week, hopefully evolving it into an elegant Espeon.
The day we got up there, things were definitely not as it seemed. The lake was violent, and its inhabitants were even more so. Near the center of the lake, there was a strange boat that seemed to be the cause of all the commotion. Eevee and I got as close as we could to the water to still be safe, but we still couldn't see much. Gyarados were jumping in and out of the water, shooting water, energy beams, and whatever else they could muster at the strange boat, but the boat would not budge. A tiny figure on the deck of the boat had some very strong-looking Pokémon, each valiantly fighting the terrifying Gyarados. It looked to me like a Crobat and a three-headed dragon I had never seen before.
The Crobat was barely anything more than a purple blur. When it would actually slow down long enough to attack, or to receive orders from its trainer, its skin would glint in the light of the sun for a moment or two before it launched itself into another complicated maneuver. It valiantly sliced at each of the great blue dragons that attacked it.
The dragon's heads each seemed to be taking on a Gyarados each. Powerful waves I recognized as Dragonbreath, spasms of lightning, and even what looked like a Hyper Beam. I had never seen such a terrifying beast. Six dark gray wings thrusted up and down, keeping the behemoth in the air, and the eyes in each of its blue heads seemed to absorb the sunlight, creating an emptiness that chilled me even though it was the middle of summer and I was standing a good eighty meters away. The purple crest on the top of its middle head was wet with the spray of water all around it.
The battle raged for a few minutes, and a small group of people had gathered, watching in awe and, at least in the face of one elderly man, fear. He seemed to recognize the people on the boat, and then immediately ran inside a nearby building, mentioning my father's name.
I was about to follow him toward the building, but as I turned, the crowd of people suddenly erupted into cries of shock. I quickly pivoted and looked back out to the lake, where most of the fighting had subsided. Instead of the many furious Gyarados, there was only one; a red one.
Back home in Mahogany Town, we had all heard stories of the elusive Red Gyarados. Supposedly, they all lived at the very bottom of the lake, and only came to the surface when the lake itself was under a lot of stress. Up until about thirty years ago, barely anyone had seen one, when the legendary trainer known only as Gold managed to not only see, but catch one as well.
It was the first, and so far, only time I had ever seen it. Its red scales seemed to shine brighter than the sun itself. It unleashed a mighty roar that sent tremors through the water and a cold wind blowing across our faces.
The beast leaned back and its mouth began to glow, as if it was charging a Hyper Beam. But before anything could happen, the figure on the boat recalled both his Crobat and the mysterious dragon to their respective Pokéballs and threw what looked like a tiny rock. The Gyarados stopped charging the beam and knocked the rock away with its powerful tail.
Only the rock didn't fly away. It clung onto the Gyarados' tail like glue. With a sudden flash of blue, wires flew out of it and entangled themselves in the tail. Gyarados began thrashing about in the water. It thrashed for about a minute, then slipped under the water, either knocked out cold or worse.
The figure on deck pulled another Pokéball out of his belt and tossed it. Out came another Pokémon I had never seen before. This one resembled a Kingler, only much larger and angrier looking. Its bright red body glinted in the sunlight just like the scales of the felled Gyarados, and on its bulky head there was what looked like a yellow star. It had four arms, each of which had gigantic claws. This monster dived into the water, and after a couple seconds underneath, it reappeared, holding the unmoving red Gyarados in its two bigger front claws. It threw the beast on deck and was quickly returned to its Pokéball by its owner.
No one was talking at this point. About nine or ten people had gathered around the dock to watch the battle, and we were all speechless as the boat slowly chugged its way toward the wooden planks. Suddenly there was a rustling at my ankles. I looked down to see Eevee rushing towards the boat, which was just about to reach the dock.
"Eevee, wait!" I yelled, chasing after her. But she didn't seem to hear me. She jumped onto the dock the same moment the mysterious figure emerged. I skidded to a stop.
"Eevee, come on, get back here!"
"Oh, is this little runt yours?" the figure said. "I'd suggest you recall it. It seems to have quite the temper."
"I don't know what's gotten into her, sir," I said sheepishly. "Usually she's very mild. Eevee, come on!"
Eevee just growled at the man. He took one step toward her. His black boot fell heavily onto the wood and as the rest of his body carried forward, he emerged from the shadow of his boat. He was wearing all black. His black pants looked thick and sturdy, strongly heavy despite the warm weather. He wore a long-sleeved black shirt with thick black gloves, which also looked heavy. On the right breast-pocket of his shirt, there was a small golden pin with an "R" written on it in the color of blood. I could sense why Eevee was so on edge—he looked exactly like a member of Team Rocket. But that couldn't be…Team Rocket was disbanded twenty-five years ago…
"I said you should probably recall your Eevee, young man!" he rasped. His scratchy voice had next to no patience in it. I fumbled in my pocket to pull out Eevee's Pokéball, but by the time I got it out, she was already charging at the figure.
"Eevee, NO!"
But it was too late. Eevee's teeth sunk into the man's arm. The man let out a scream and threw his arm out. Eevee lost her grip on the arm and flew into the water, landing with a harsh splash.
"It seems to me that you have some problems training your Pokémon. In fact, I would say this one is a hazard to all around it! And you know what I like to do to hazards?"
"What…?" I stuttered, but I already knew where he was going with this.
"I like to eliminate hazards. Go! Sneasel!" He threw a fourth Pokéball and out came the sneasel. Its short black fur rustled in the soft breeze. Its eyes shifted from me, to his master, to Eevee, who had resurfaced and was beginning to paddle towards the dock. Before his master could even say anything, the sneasel began to blow an icy wind. It was the coldest thing I ever felt in my life. It seemed to drop the temperature of the whole lake down to zero. The water all around us for about six or seven yards had frozen solid. To my left, Eevee was trapped in the ice so only her head and front legs were above the water. She began to squirm and whimper, but there was nothing she could do. I raised my Pokéball up to recall her, but the Sneasel quickly knocked it out of my hands with a swift swipe of its claw. The ball bounced for a few feet and fell into the water, where it slowly began to float to the center of the lake.
"No! I'm sorry! I promise I will teach her not to just attack—"
"It's too late for excuses, boy!"
"I swear to you, she's never like this!"
"Tell that to my bleeding wrist. Sneasel!"
Tears began to well up in my eyes. I told myself to move, to catch that Sneasel before it could do anything, but my legs were rooted on the spot. I couldn't move. I could only watch as the man made his command.
"Use Metal Claw."
I shiver, pull my jacket up to my neck, and continue to walk alongside the shore. It had been just over three years since the day the man took the Gyarados. He called out the giant dragon he had been using earlier, which grabbed the Gyarados and took off to the West, never to be heard from again. By the time my father and the police arrived, all that was left was a group of nine shocked spectators, me, and Eevee's body, floating amongst the last chunks of melting ice.
Many questions were asked, but the case went cold pretty quickly. I told them that the man had a Team Rocket pin on his shirt, but no one believed me. "Team Rocket has been disbanded for years," the captain of the force said, "everyone knows that."
But I doubt that. I doubted that since the day my best friend was taken from me. But what could I do? I was a seventeen year-old boy. The only Pokémon I had was buried right next to the shore of the Lake of Rage.
A soft rain begins to fall as I walk toward the place we buried her. She was buried right next to one of the biggest trees near the lake, one that we would sit under and sleep away long summer afternoons.
I see the grave marker and kneel down before it. There were flowers that bloomed here, but they had already died in the wake of the oncoming winter. I sit down next to the marker and look out into the sunset. The lake is calm. The waning light casts a strangely beautiful shadow on the lake. I sit there, next to Eevee's grave, and sigh.
"I thought I'd find you here, Jason."
I turn quickly. "Dad!"
He laughs. "Yep, it's just me. I came home to tell you something, but your mother said that you were out for a while."
"I guess I'm pretty predictable, huh?"
"You definitely are. You still miss Eevee?"
"Of course. I mean, it doesn't hurt as much anymore, but I like coming here to think."
"I know you do, Jason. Listen, I was going to go grab some grub and then I had a surprise for you. You want to come with me? Or could you use a little more thinking time?"
"Well, I really don't have all that much to think about now. I really just came up here for a walk."
"Well, what do you say we walk over to the local burger joint?"
I laugh. "Sounds good."