Chapter 01 / Beginning of the End
**This story contains adult themes, mature language and is meant for a mature audience.**
"Ash! Get up!", Delia called from the bottom of the stairs. "You're going to be late for your appointment!". With a reluctant groan Ash lifted her head from the pillow. Through the haze of her sleep addled eyes, she peered at the cracked display of her alarm clock. The clock was damaged and blinking zeros, signaling that its memory had been reset.
"Shit.", she cursed, recalling that she had bashed the alarm clock in her sleep.
The day she'd been dreading for years, had finally come. Today was the day she would be forced out of her home and drafted into the service of PRO, a Pokémon research organization, to travel the Kanto region, risking her life to collect data on the wild beasts known as Pokémon. Ash was not alone in this fate, it was the future of any child unfortunate enough to be born into a poor family. This was the arrangement, the deal that had been struck between PRO and its dependents. In exchange for housing, employment and protection, each family must produce one child who, in the summer of their tenth year, would begin their contract with PRO.
Ash kicked off the blanket and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Pushing herself up, she took a deep breath and released a consolatory sigh. The stale air of the apartment smelled of cigarette smoke and dish detergent. It was the smell of stress and poverty but it was a smell she'd miss. Figuring that she didn't have the time required to make a trip to the public bathhouse for a wash, Ash threw on her dirty clothes and covered her greasy hair with the tattered cap that had once belonged to her father.
After a last look at her room and the meager belongings she'd accumulated over the years, Ash pushed the idea of home from her mind and descended the staircase. Delia, Ash's mother, sat at the kitchen table with a smoldering cigarette between her fingers and a small brown bag carefully folded closed in front of her.
"I've prepared some food for you." she said, nodding at the brown bag, her eyes puffy and red from crying. "It's what's left of our rations for the month." she choked, holding back more tears. Ash walked to the table and took the bag in her hands as tears began to well in her eyes. Delia took a final drag from her cigarette and put it out as she got up from the table. She pushed the hair from her daughter's eyes and took Ash's face in her hands.
"Mom." Ash pleaded, looking up into her mother's worry worn face. Delia took Ash into her arms and pulled her close as tears began to roll down Ash's cheeks.
After a moment the entrance console rang and the two jumped at the sound. Delia released Ash and walked over to the console by the front door. With the push of a button, she connected to the video feed from the external camera. Standing outside were two identical women in white PRO uniforms, one with her arms folded over her chest and the other staring at Delia through the monitor.
"Yes?", Ash's mother asked, placing a hand over her heart.
The woman peering through the monitor reviewed some information on a digital tablet held firmly in her hands. "Ashley Ketchum failed to report for assignment." she stated in a tone that said more than her words. "We're here to collect her."
Dalia nodded, looking back at Ash. "She'll be down in just a moment."
Cutting the video feed, Delia pressed another button on the console and with a hiss the door to the apartment slid into the wall. Ash wiped her tears on the sleeve of her jacket and walked to the open doorway. Across the hall, an elderly woman stood in the doorway of the adjacent apartment, a handkerchief clutched tightly in her hands.
"Take care child." she said between sniffles. "Gary has already left us. Look out for him won't you?" In the shadows of the neighboring apartment Ash could see Gary's mother crying into her hands on the sofa. She nodded to the old woman and forced a smile for her mother, giving Delia one last hug before walking down to meet the PRO agents.
"Oversleep?" the woman with the tablet prodded as Ash emerged from the complex. Ash nodded and lowered her head before falling in line between the two agents, the bag of food held in her arms as they walked down the avenue.
Ash knew that both women had the same face, the same stern amber colored eyes and the same shade of cerulean hair. She also knew that pinned to the front of their finely pressed uniforms would be polished badges, each with a different ID number but both identifying the officers as 'JENNY'. These cloned agents, the manufactured PRO authority, were billed as 'peacekeepers' but everyone knew they were there to protect the elite and keep the common people in line.
Much like the officers, the buildings that lined the empty street were identical to Ash's own. The trio was hemmed in on either side by squat square housing units, standard issue domiciles for the less 'well-off' PRO employees. Emerging into the town center, Ash could see the far off compound walls crowned with barbed wire fencing. As they turned onto the main street, she could hear the electric hum of transformers and the multitude of wires that kept the town running. High overhead, a brown bird, slightly larger than an Oran berry, perched on a bundle of wires. As the group passed underneath, Ash could hear the tiny bird Pokémon coo.
"Peegeeo, peegeoooo."
Despite the industrial haze that hung over Pallet Town, the midmorning sun beat down on them as they made their way toward PRO headquarters. The building itself was monstrous and white, the top floors veiled in reflective glass. It was only when they neared the facility that Ash noticed the tasers and batons secured to the officer's belts. She had heard of children who attempted to avoid the draft and escape the compound but had never heard of any who succeeded. As sure as death, the only way in or out of Pallet Town was through PRO.
Once inside the headquarters, one of the agents took the brown bag from Ash and searched it while the other padded her down for weapons. Satisfied that she wasn't smuggling any contraband, her belongings were returned to her and she was handed a large PRO backpack full of survival gear. One of the agents then secured a thin silver band around Ash's left wrist. JENNY then tapped the band with small scanning device she'd fished from her pocket, the band flashing in response.
A young woman in a lab coat with straight black hair and a straight white smile approached the three of them. Clipped to the front pocket of her white coat was a laminated ID card featuring a photo of her smiling the same unflappable grin. Next to the photo it read 'Mimi Stone, Lab-Tech Alpha Div'. Mimi nodded to the agents who handed off the tablet and scanning device before saluting her and departing.
"You're very late." Mimi chided, tapping her watch with an immaculately painted finger. Turning on her heels, she gestured for Ash to follow and headed down a corridor to the right. Stuffing the bag of rations into the backpack, Ash hurried after her, adjusting the wristband as they walked. "Try not to fiddle with the tracking band." the technician insisted as they waited for an elevator to reach the ground floor.
The environment inside the headquarters seemed completely sterile. From the faint buzz of the cool-white fluorescent lighting to the crispness of the cleaner-than-clean air, there was something extremely unnatural and unnerving about it all. Even the young lab-tech, with her immaculate white coat, manicured fingernails and perfectly straight bangs seemed hyperreal, just another fixture of PRO's manufactured reality. With a digital chime, the metal doors of the elevator slid open and the two stepped inside.
"Eleventh floor, please." Mimi requested, addressing the elevator console. In response, the elevator doors healed shut and the pair were lifted. As each floor passed, the elevator chimed. The young woman reviewed the information on the tablet the JENNY officer had given her. She stood in a way that ensured Ash would not be able to see what it was she was paging through but, whatever it was, it didn't matter much to Ash. Her mind was on her father.
She wondered if her dad had ever been a PRO 'trainer' and wished that her mother had spoken more of him. Though her mother claimed that discussing her father brought up to many painful memories, Ash had always wondered if it wasn't something else that was keeping her mother from telling the truth. Who was her father? Where was he? And what was the reason for her mother's silence? These questions and more echoed in her mind as the elevator slowed to a stop.
As the doors slid open, the digital voice of the elevator console chirped, "Eleventh floor. Oak Laboratories."
