Dear members of Team Flare,

With this letter, I want to announce my departure from Team Flare. I have decided that I no longer want to be involved in the criminal activities this organization holds. I can never walk in public without people pointing in my direction, or staring at me, wondering what evil things I will do next. Everyone tries to avoid me, because they are scared. I don't want to live like that for the rest of my life. I want to become someone people can look up to, someone who, after I die, will be remembered as a good person. Therefore, I will leave Team Flare, and start over from scratch. I want to thank you for the great years I could spend together with the other grunts. I have many great memories from the things we did together, and I will never forget them. But now is the time that I must choose for myself, and do what I think is right. Maybe I will see you guys again one day, but then I will be standing on the other side. Goodbye and farewell.

Grunt E. Zero

"I hope I never have to write anything like that again." The young grunt threw his pen in the corner of the room. He got up from his chair and looked at the beds behind him. The other grunts were still sleeping, even though one of them snored loud enough to wake up a deaf man. "At least I never have to deal with that again."

He walked to the sink, at looked at himself in the mirror. A young boy, seventeen years old looked back at him, without a trace of a smile on his face. He kept thinking about the last words he wrote in his letter. "As soon as I leave this building, I am no longer a grunt. How would the people call me? As long as they don't call me E-" He couldn't even get the word out of his mouth, so much did he hate his name. "As long as they don't call me by my real name."

He stood there for another minute, looking at his reflection, thinking about what he was about to do. He knew that there was no turning back now. His decision stands, and that's it. Every night again, he dreamt about himself as a successful man, standing at the center of attention. Everywhere he went, people recognized him. He had all the money he wanted, and every girl wanted to be with him. And he knew that one day, that dream would come true.

With that dream in his mind, he looked at the grunt a last time, before heading outside. He carefully closed the door behind him, ensuring that he wouldn't wake anyone up. A shiver went down his spine, as he walked through the halls of the Team Flare Headquarters. Usually, the rooms were lighted brightly with red lights, but now everything was shrouded in a dark shadow. He could hear his heart pounding in his chest, afraid that someone would notice him. He put one foot on the stairs, and looked back once more. "Farewell Team Flare. I hope we'll never meet again."

It was cold outside, but it didn't bother the ex-grunt. He looked across the streets of Lumiose City, and saw a few people walking around. No matter what time it is, there are always people on the streets of the Kalos capital. He decided to go left, straight to the Prism Tower. From there, he would decide what he would do, and where he would go.

As always, everyone immediately looked at him when he passed by. People abruptly paused their conversations, afraid that he might hear something. 'It's going to take some time to gain their trust', he thought to himself. An older woman hastily crossed the street, avoiding a confrontation with him. At first, these things really brought him down, but he got used to it. 'I'm just lucky that the Kalos Protection Law still exists, otherwise I would have to disguise myself.'

The Kalos Protection Law says that you cannot arrest someone, as long as they are not actively taking part in a criminal event. Before this law, members of Team Flare were arrested every day, for no other reason as simply existing. Luckily for them, Professor Sycamore had a lot more sympathy for the Team Flare grunts, and created a law to make them able to at least walk safely in public. However, it did not change people's perspective at all, and they still want to lock up a grunt when they see one.

That reminded him of something. 'Professor Sycamore has a Pokémon Lab here in Lumiose City. There must be a lot of Pokémon in there. If I can just get in there, and take a Pokémon, I can start my journey!' But the thought of stealing a Pokémon right at the start of his new life didn't appeal to him. 'I need to have a Pokémon if I want to do anything here, but I don't have one. I can't catch one either, and I'm pretty sure nobody is going to give my one for free either. Stealing a Pokémon seems to be the only thing I can do.'

He took a deep breath and started walking. He ignored the other pedestrians, who suspiciously looked at him as he passed by. After living in Lumiose City for seventeen years, he knew all the streets blindly, and he found Sycamore's Lab within a few minutes. This wasn't the first time he would break into the Pokémon Lab; he had been on a couple of mission with Team Flare to steal some valuable technology, so he knew exactly where to go. At the back of the building, behind the bushes, there was one window that was always slightly opened, which leads directly to the main hall. From there, you could go anywhere in the Pokémon Lab.

He walked up to the fence, and looked around. Luckily, there was nobody to see. He swiftly jumped over the fence and ran to the back. 'At least nobody can see me here.' As always, the window was ajar, and soon he was inside the Lab. Unlike the other times, he was here all alone, which made him feel very vulnerable. He walked across the hall, trying to figure out where he kept the Pokémon. He noticed a faint light coming from a large window, and he could vaguely see the shapes of three Pokéballs. He cautiously walked to the glass, and saw the light coming from the various machines in the room.

He looked around and decided to go for it. He ran into the room, as fast and quiet as he could, and looked at the three Pokéballs. 'There's no time to waste now. I'll just have to choose one at random and hope for the best.' He picked up one of the Pokéballs, and turned around, about to make his escape, when he saw that he was not alone. Right in front of him stood the Kalos Pokémon Professor himself, blocking the doorway. "What in the world do you think you are doing?"