This is my very first Pokemon Fan Fiction, so please forgive me if this story does not suit your tastes.

Here are a few things about this universe so you're not confused:

-The Story takes place about twenty years after Ash's adventures.

-Ash is now a pokemon professor. (What? There's Oak trees and Elm trees and Birch trees and Ash trees.)

-This story does include pokemon that I made up.

-The region this story takes place in is Chamo, another fan-made product of mine.

-Unlike the tv shows, Nurses and Police Officers are distinguishable individuals.

-Lance is the current champion. He was defeated by Cynthia but later defeated her and regained his title.

Thank you, and enjoy.

Chamo Adventures: the Burden of Freedom

Chapter 1: An Escape Route

It was pitch black everywhere else, but the abyss on the mountain I was standing in front had red light glowing from it. At first I just stood by, feeling the hot updrafts in front and the whipping breeze behind me, just staring out through the red light into the blackness on the other side. I was scared, I remember that distinctly, about what was in the crevice, but finally I summoned up all my courage and peered down.

Not a mountain, I told myself as the hot air stung my eyes, a volcano.

I was looking down for miles at the endless levels of hardened lava and flowing rivers of magma. I even thought I saw some Magbies and Slugmas down there. It was an incredible view.

But just then, I saw a creature rise up from the magma below, something dark, with flaming wings, a magnificent phoenix like beast, but I wasn't thinking about how it looked, just my well-being. I had to get out of here. Now.

But I couldn't. I was on the edge of a cliff. Backing away would be an even more certain death. When I turned around again, I felt the thud of claws gripping the stone beside me, followed by a screech louder than any I had ever heard. But at the same time, it sounded familiar. Very familiar.

It was the sound of screeching car tires. I should have known.

Groaning, I pushed myself up to a sitting position and sighed. It was the only time I had ever been happy to find myself at home. I usually hated it here. Not just in my "House," but everywhere in this Satoshi-damned city. My home was nothing more than a rundown little shack, probably built in the time of the fossil pokemon, in which there was hardly anything in it besides an old tv and torn up couch. My "dad" was asleep on it. Some dad! I was the one who made all of the money, and all he did was lay there, day in and day out, throwing it out on booze. Luckily, I was away for most of the day, working double shifts at Pizza-ria, or else I could just forget about eating. Everything happened to be very costly in that city.

Which was why I had developed a habit of pick-pocketing.

Sure, they say crime doesn't pay, but heck, I'm always managing to pay the rent every month. And besides that, it brought me some excitement, something this overpopulated, smelly old city rarely had. I could barely go outside the town because, "the wild pokemon are dangerous!" which really sucks in my opinion. I'd like to just get out of here, but without a pokemon, I have no hope of doing so. Dammit, I was almost jealous of those elementary school kids who get to choose a pokemon from the lab in town when they get of age.

But anyway, enough ranting, back to that night. I'd like to increase tension by saying it was deathly silent and stuff, but it wasn't. Between my "dad's" snores, the cement floor I was laying on with a sleeping bag, and the traffic screaming outside, you may wonder how I had gotten any sleep at all. (But if you had a huge workload like I did you might not.) I didn't notice any of that though; that strange nightmare always seemed to haunt me. I just sat there for a while obsessing over it like a wimp when I heard three loud raps on the creaky old door, and then a scampering of feet. A dark silhouette flew by the broken window and was gone.

Okay, I thought, that was weird. Who the hell was that? Was that guy trying to give me a signal or something? I didn't know, but I got up and opened the door slowly, finding a packaged video tape on the doorstep.

Luckily, we did have a VCR. I inserted it and sat down on the floor as the screen flashed to life.

On the screen, a man with a shadowed face spoke.

"Hello, Theo. Allow me to inroduce myself. I am Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, the world's greatest thieves."

What the--! Was this some sort of prank? Something told me it wasn't, since the dude knew my name, and I didn't think I was all that well known in town. But Team Rocket? World's greatest thieves? They disbanded years ago! And what did they want with me of all people?!

"We sent you this video because we want to know if you would like to join us. Why you? You probably wouldn't believe this, but everyone in our headquarters have been observing your skill in sleight of hand. We know that you thieve for sport, that you get a cheap thrill from watching people flounder in vain for their wallets. We have seen your potential. You feel like gyarados in a pond of pathetic, brainless magikarp, without the means to escape to the real world, where your skills can truly be tested."

True as this might be, this guy was creeping me out big time

"Therefore, we are giving you this opportunity to work with the world's greatest pokemon thieves. Tomorrow, you will see one of our agents in the restaurant you work in. You'll recognize her right away because she'll have a monkeon pokemon with her." A picture of a brown monkey-like pokemon appeared next to Giovanni. "Tell her that you like her pokemon, and she'll know it's you. This is a play once video, so don't worry about destroying it. The wrong people might find the remains. And now, back to pichu bros."

As the two chubby yellow rodents enter the screen, I crossed the room and switched the television off. But my bewilderment refused to let me sleep for the rest of the night. And though a tiny voice screamed in my head, "Suspicion! Foreshadowing! Mysterious criminal lord that was supposed to have been dead! You're doomed to jail time if you agree! Report to authorities!" a much bigger one was drowning it out with, "Escape route! Escape route! Now's you're chance! Take the job, for the love of Satoshi!" It was, needless to say, an easy decision at the time.

Of course, I later found out that it wasn't my decision after all. Giovanni had asked me to join him, and that I was going to have to do, on pain of death.