Swarms of Starly and Ekans sped through the forest as Persian chased them towards the trap, a giant cage near Lake Verity. It was a place where the calm, clear waters were rarely disturbed. Tonight, however, was an exception. The green grass glimmered with evening dew that was soon thrown into the air by the fleeing creatures.
I couldn't wait for the whole operation to be over. I sighed at the fact that I was still serving my father, Giovanni. I didn't understand why he wouldn't give up the ghost. Team Rocket had failed in Kanto, Johto, and now he was putting them in the Sinnoh region? Worst of all, he made me help him! I should have been training to challenge the pokemon league and the grand festival, not be helping his grunts and an officer with a mass pokemon capture.
Persian brushed up against my leg, snapping me out of my thoughts while showing off it's limber, agile body, covered with a coat of tan fur. The red gem on its forehead glowed like a red star in the moonlight, providing for an eerie and mystic sight. had been my first pokemon. I couldn't imagine bearing any of this without her. Within seconds of Persian brushing against me, the sounds of the frightened pokemon returned to my ears, as did the yelling of grunts.
"Hey boss!" One of the grunts yelled to the officer while holding a struggling Togepi. "What do you want us to do with this?" Togepi was a small pokemon whose head formed a sort of crown. Its shell was quite egg-like, and red and blue triangles littered the white surface.
"Is it healthy?" Asked the officer.
"Uh... No. It has a crack in its shell." The Togepi squirmed as the Grunt examined it. It squealed in pain.
"Throw it in the lake then." He said, reminding me of my first pokemon, Persian, who they were also about to throw in the lake when they found her injured leg. My mind flashed back:
"What would you like to do with this Persian?" Asked a young Team Rocket officer while standing on the bank of a lake. It was four years ago. I had been accompanying my father on a pokemon capture, so I could learn the business. It was a night just like tonight, in an environment that was extremely similar.
My father glared at the young Rocket as if he was already supposed to know what the answer was. 'If it's healthy, take it. If it's not, throw it into the lake," he snarled.
"No!" I broke in, with my voice a few octaves higher than it is now. "Please, I'll take it. I'll do anything!" I really was willing to do anything to keep the Persian out of the cold, unforgiving waters of the lake. She couldn't swim, especially not with that bruised leg.
"Fine then! Take it! Maybe it'll prove useful when you're working for Team Rocket!" My father angrily agreed, just wanting to get me to stop nagging him. Ever since then, Persian and I were the ultimate team, though not always for the right reasons.
My flashback finally ended. The grunt was about to launch the Togepi when I broke into the conversation, "Don't throw it in." The grunt turned around, looking at me and the officer , confused about who to obey, the great leader's son, or his commanding officer.
The Officer glared at me with dark green eyes and a face that looked naturally angry, and said, "I'm the one in charge here! Not you!"
"Officer Marley, is that a challenge?" I replied, having every intention to battle him over this affair.
"You know what, Jonathan?! It is!" He screamed as he pulled out a pokeball. "Go, Seviper!"
"Seviper," hissed the pokemon as it raised its long, black, spotted body form the ground, opening its gaping jaws.
"Alright Persian, you're up for this one." Persian leaped in between us.
"Poison Fang!" Officer Marley demanded. The colorful pokemon lunged with immense speed and power.
"Persian, counter with Shadow Ball!" The powerful sphere of energy gathered in Persian's mouth before it hit seviper head on and collided with its long fangs drenched in poison, causing purple smoke to cover the battlefield. Seviper looked around frantically in an effort to guess where Persian was. "Persian, Shockwave!" Out the smoke, Persian hit Seviper with a blue wave of electricity, knocking it to the ground. The pokemon was out for the count.
"Return," Sighed Marley as he returned the fainted pokemon. A red beam of light shot from Marley's pokeball, enveloping the predatory creature and absorbing it. He backed out of my way and gestured to the grunt holding the Togepi.
"I'll take that, if you don't mind," I said as I moved toward the grunt. The Rocket handed the small pokemon over to me. "I'll be leaving now." I climbed into the chopper. Marley glared at me as I looked back.
"Where to?" Asked the pilot.
"Home," I replied as I pulled out the the first aid kit and began to bandage the Togepi's shell. Luckily, the crack wasn't too bad and looked like it should heal up in a few weeks. Looking down on the ground, I saw Marley yelling at the grunt.
Once I got home, I walked through the large double doors with various Kanto pokemon carved on them, such as Rapidash, Tauros, and Arbok. Inside, the golden yellow walls reflected light from the crystal chandeliers that had hung from the high ceiling for only a few years. I walked up the marble steps which were clothed by a scarlet red rug and sandwiched by two smooth, hand-carved railings in the form of giant Dragonairs. To me, this wasn't a home, it was a mansion.
I went straight to my room and set the Togepi on my bed. My room was fairly simple compared to the rest of the house. It consisted of a medium size with an average, wooden bed in one corner and a glass desk in the other. On the desk was a desktop computer, which I used to secretly stay in touch with certain people, one of them being my grandfather. The sound of footsteps down the hall passed through my ears. I immediately shut my door; I did not want to run into my father with another injured pokemon.
"I already said that I didn't care!" Screamed my father.
"But Giovanni!" Said the other voice. "That pokemon could destroy the whole Sinnoh region!"
I wanted to keep listening but they walked out of earshot. My thoughts swirled through my mind, what pokemon are they talking about?
"Togepi!" The small pokemon cried out in pain. The bandages were now red, dark red. I started to worry immensely.
As I my breathing rapidly sped up, I heard "Beep! Beep!" My phone had received a text message. The name, "Prof. Rowan," flashed across the screen. That's it, I thought shortly before dashing out of the room,without even reading the message. Professor Rowan could help me with Togepi, I just knew it.
Running down the stairs with Togepi in my arms and Persian by my side was invigorating. If my father had seen me, he probably would have given me a very expressive lecture, but since he wasn't around, I didn't was the last thing on my mind at that point. I jumped into one of the sleek, black Team Rocket cars and sped off, Togepi and Persian in the front passenger side.
My panic caused me to drive well over the speed limit. Nothing could be seen on either side of the road besides trees. Once there, the town seemed eerily empty; probably due to the fact that it was night time. I pulled up to the lab. Thankfully the lights inside were on.
"Knock knock!" The door felt firm, judging by the way it gave slight pain to my knuckles.
The door opened and the familiar figure of professor Rowan was revealed behind it. He was an elderly man with thick white hair and a beard to match. He had the marks of time across his face, with the deep lines resembling the crevices in a mountain. "What are you doing out this late. I didn't expect you til tomorrow. Didn't you read the messa-".
I cut him off then and there. "I need help, this Togepi is injured and I don't know what to do."
Professor Rowan's face suddenly turned serious as he grabbed the small pokemon and took it inside. He motioned for Persian and I to follow. He quickly grabbed medicine out of the corner cabinet and set to work. Sitting on the couch in the spacious laboratory helped to calm my nerves. Persian crawled up with me and pushed her head under my arm. My phone beeped, saying that it had a message. "Dad," read the screen. The full message said, "Be home by 11. There is something I need to talk to you about." "Something to look forward to..." I sighed sarcastically, looking around the room and admiring the high tech equipment, such as glass incubators containing starter pokemon, a few pokedexes strewn about a large desk, and so on...
"She's all done!" said Professor Rowan holding a tightly bandaged but relieved Togepi. "Turns out, there really was no reason to worry. It wasn't seriously infected. So, How has everything been with your father?"
"Okay. We've managed to avoid each other for a few days so we haven't fought at all in that time. I'm really tired of doing this. I'm sick of the heists and the raids. I don't want to do it anymore. Lately I've been training a lot for the league and the grand festival, but he thinks that I'm just being lazy, so he has been giving me all of these jobs for the gang." At that time, my father and I had been fairly evasive of each other. He gave me my missions, and I did them with disgust. I asked his permission for things, and he said yes usually just to get me out of his hair. We hadn't had a full conversation since the anniversary of my mother's death. What few words we did exchange usually resulted in my father indirectly insulting me and me having to lie down and take it.
"Look, if you need to get away from your father awhile, while still getting to brush up on your pokemon skills for the pokemon league and the grand festival, there is something I have for you: a journey." Prof. Rowan jolted me back into reality.
My eyes grew wide with excitement as I processed what he had said."Really? That sounds awesome. When?"
"Tomorrow. I know someone who is just starting their first pokemon journey. His parents made him wait so he is sixteen like you. However they still would like someone to go with him. You could be that person."
"That sounds great!" I said, somewhat reigning in my excitement, for the idea of traveling with someone I had never met made me slightly uneasy.
"Glad you like the idea. Be here at 11 tomorrow." He completely ignored my sudden drop in enthusiasm.
"All right! I'm sorry, I have to go. My dad wants to talk to me about something. By the way, could you hold on to Togepi for tonight? My dad will freak out if I bring home another injured pokemon like the first time."
"Don't worry about it. Have a safe drive home!"
"Thanks!" I left for my dad's mansion. On my way home, I cursed numerous times about the upcoming conversation. Persian seemed to sense this, as she purred reassuringly. Once at the house, I walked into my dad's office, Persian at my heels.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked, looking at his smug face, his dark eyes full of horrible intentions.
"Marley told me about what happened," he replied. He turned his back on me so he could stare through the giant window behind his large, wooden desk, like a portal to the midnight sky. I waited for the ball to drop. I was in trouble. His Persian sat on his desk, eyeing mine suspiciously. My Persian just stared back as if challenging it. "I just wanted to say, that I am not angry with you."
"What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"He had it coming. I distinctly told him that if you had any oppositions about something, that he was not to protest. Marley will not be punished for attempting to kill the pokemon, but for his disobedience. I do not agree with your decision about the pokemon, but I accept the fact that you are sensitive to these matters." Those last words were said with twinge of disappointment, making my insides burn. Mom always had a heart for this sort of thing... and now you're going to tell me how I shouldn't have done it!
"Professor Rowan has offered me an opportunity to travel with someone to help them on their pokemon journey, may I go?" I was rather blank in expression since I was trying to keep from blowing up at him.
"Very well. Do as you please. Perhaps that side of the population will accept your useless compassion with a bit more... welcome." He made a slight grin.
That just made my anger boil even more, and he knew it."Thank you," I said, giving a slight bow. My Father didn't like to outright punish me like most parents, he liked to play mind games which really got to me. One day I swear...
I ran to my room to pack my things: toothbrush, pokeballs, medicine, clothes, cell phone, sleeping bag, notebook, pens, and rope, telling off my father within the depths of my imagination. Lastly I needed to make sure I had all my pokemon. I checked them one by one: Persian, Jolteon, Dewgong, Sawsbuck, Ninetales, and Kingdra.
End of chapter one