A/N: HELLO, PEOPLE OF THE FANFICTION WORLD!

Okay, so I'm UltimateOtakuGirl100, and, as promised, here is my first Pokémon fic! Yay!

Anyway, previous to my current username, I was PokePowerGirl100. So, a little while ago, a friend of mine (you know who you are) wanted to know why I'd used that username, yet had never written a Pokémon FanFic.

Why, indeed?

Well, to make up for that little mishap, I decided to write this story. So, thank you!

And, you might also want to know that I based the main characters off of a Pokémon Supporter card called Copycat (the edition released with HeartGold and SoulSilver, not Black and White. Go to Bulbapedia and query the card title, or Google Images it, and it should be there). Although I changed her eye color, I based the girl, Shade, off of the Team Rocket grunt on the far right of the card for her Team Rocket uniform and her regular happy-go-lucky self on the top-left (although not necessarily in that outfit). I based the boy, Ryan, off of the Copycat mimicking Ethan in the center, and the scientist dude on the bottom-left won't be a main character, but he will appear in later chapters as a member of Team Rocket who has a major crush on Shade (yay conflict!). So, there you go. And now you have a mental image of what the characters look like.

Anyways, enjoy the first chapter!

My hand grazed tentatively over the head of my Oshawott, carefully stroking the ears. I smiled faintly when a soft purr-like sound came as a result.

"Shade."

I froze at the sound of my name. Slowly, I lifted my head and made eye contact with the speaker—a man wearing a white tuxedo with a beige shirt underneath, a red tie, and frightening navy eyes and neatly-kept black hair. "H-h-hi, D-Daddy," I stuttered uncomfortably.

My father's stern face looked down on me. "Shade," he repeated, voice gruff as usual, "why are you wasting your time playing in your room? Why aren't you spending your time planning?"

I winced, knowing that the almost unnoticeable lowering in his tone meant that he was extremely unhappy with me. Well, more so than he usually was, anyway. "B-but, Daddy," I whimpered weakly, "you told me that this was my own personal time to do what I wanted!"

His scowl deepened. "Yes," he replied, irritated, "but any mature person would know that you should be spending any and all free time either honing your skills or planning. You, as my daughter, should be responsible enough to know that."

I winced again, not liking the situation. "I'm sorry, Daddy," I whispered, curling into a ball with Oshawott cradled tightly in my arms. Oshawott whimpered lightly and hugged me tighter, tiny paws clutching my shirt desperately.

My father's face turned into a tight glower at my reaction. Eyes narrowing on the tiny Pokémon in my lap, he unceremoniously snatched Oshawott from my lap, triggering a yelp from the tiny body. I cried out, desperately reaching for the small Pokémon, but my father held the small body even higher, resulting in a pained cry.

"And this," he ridiculed, scoffing, "is a waste of time. Pokémon are tools for you to use, not… squander your time with!" He glared down on me again. "At the very least, you should be training it. If you had, it would've long since evolved so it would actually be useful!"

I whimpered lightly, then whispered, "She."

Annoyed, my father glared at me and asked, "What?"

I straightened slightly and repeated, "She. My Oshawott is a she. Not an it."

My father grunted uncaringly. "It makes no difference to me," he replied, rolling his eyes. Then he continued his ranting, gripping Oshawott even tighter. "And look at you." He reached over to me and grabbed the hem of my pajama pants, indicating the various colorful Pokémon decorating them. "Such… ridiculous clothes!" Letting go, he straightened and pointed to directly under his right shoulder blade, where a red pin in the shape of an R was fastened. "You are a member of Team Rocket, and you are my daughter. Sooner or later, you need to stop playing dress-up and start acting like it."

Done with his speech, he turned away and tossed Oshawott back to me. Gasping, I jumped forward, caught her in mid-air, and breathed a sigh of relief. My father slammed the door behind him, leaving Oshawott and me alone in my room, whispering reassurances.

Oh, I'm so sorry. I never properly introduced myself.

My name is Shade—although I'm sure you've figured that out by now. I am a brunette with shoulder-length hair that I usually wear in pigtails or a side-ponytail, bright, crystal-blue eyes (most of the time; don't worry, I'll explain that at some point), and what my nurses call a "nice figure". I'm supposedly a pre-teen. I live in the Orre region… at least, that's what I've been told. I've lived in Team Rocket Headquarters all my life, only moving between headquarters when we are close to being discovered, and even then I only get glimpses of the outside world.

My father… well, he doesn't really care for me that much. I guess he has good reason, though. I'm a failure and a huge disappointment to my father, who is the leader of Team Rocket. He expects me to one day inherit position as Leader someday, but I've never really had much interest in that. I try to impress him, though, by studying various things that the Leader needs to know and training my Pokémon the best I can. I've even helped occasionally when everyone's trying to fend off the police or Trainers trying to exploit them. But my father, he doesn't want small stuff like that. He wants to expand Team Rocket's stretch of power, and one day rule the world so that he can create a new one. I'm ashamed to say that I really haven't been much help with that.

The thing is… I don't really understand why. I haven't been exposed to the outside very often, like I said before. I've seen a few things, but I still don't understand. What little I've seen of the outside seems so much better than in here. Trainers playing with Pokémon, Pokémon Centers where Trainers will heal their Pokémon and occasionally stay the night, people smiling and having fun and being happy—what more could you possibly want? Why not just leave it like it is?

I'd ask my father, but he seems to think that "happiness" and "fun" are a waste of time. I'm sure that if I asked, he'd say something like, "You'll understand when you're older." But I don't think I'd be satisfied with that answer—and besides, I haven't seen much of the outside, so I'm sure there's lots of things I haven't seen. But robbing Pokémon from their Trainers and stealing money from banks… it almost makes me think that Team Rocket are the bad guys, not the people outside—but that couldn't possibly be true, right? My father is working towards creating a better world, so I guess some sacrifices have to be made, and that some people won't understand his intentions, but he is—we are—the good guys, right?… Right?…

…

…Well, regardless, there's not much that I can do. So I just stay in Team Rocket Headquarters, training my Pokémon, and praying that one day, when Team Rocket has created a new world, I'll be able to see it myself. And maybe, just maybe, I can make my father see that Pokémon aren't just tools; that they're more than just use as tools or convenience…

…I'm sorry; I got a little emotional there. And I've stretched my explanation for too long… I'm so sorry. I guess I should just stop my sappy sob story now, then…

As I was saying before, I was with Oshawott, alone in my room. Tears streaming down my face, I whispered in her tiny ear, "It's okay… It's okay… Don't worry, I'm here…"

"Oshaaa…" Oshawott whimpered in reply, hugging me as if to say, Don't worry about me.

Oshawott then did something that surprised me. She pulled away from me, hopped back, and pointed at my window. "Osha!" she pleaded.

Surprised, I blinked. I'd only been in the outside world a few times before, and even then, I'd been under strict supervision. I'd never been outside by myself before. A little unsure, I looked at the window nervously. "Oh, I don't know…" I murmured quietly.

Oshawott drooped, looking disappointed. "Oshaaa…"

I couldn't take the look on her face. "Oh, all right," I relented with a small smile, silently grateful that she'd given me incentive, "We'll do it."

Oshawott immediately perked up, looking thrilled. "Oshaaaa!" she cheered, looking overjoyed, and she leapt over into my arms and nuzzled my face happily.

"Hey! Stop! That tickles!" I cried out through my laughter. Giggling, I straightened and set Oshawott on my lap. "But we're going to have to be reaaaaaaal sneaky about this. That means you'll have to go into your Poké Ball until we're out of here."

Oshawott made a purring sound and nodded gleefully, obviously too excited to care.

"Alright, then…" I stood up, walked to my closet, and snatched out some hi-tech gear, a bag, and several changes of clothes. "I suppose that I should put my training to work, then."

After changing into a black bodysuit installed with a sneak function, I held up Oshawott's Poké Ball, pressed the button, and watched as the red light hit a smiling Oshawott and sent her into the Poké Ball. The Poké Ball shrunk, and I clipped it onto my navy-blue belt.

"Let's go," I muttered under my breath, and I silently slid out of my room. Without a sound, I put on some black gloves and sneakers with a climbing feature, inaudibly placing my hands and feet against the wall. I quickly scaled up the wall to the ceiling, being careful not to make a sound. A while down in the hall, I froze, my heart skipping a beat when I saw a pair of Team Rocket Grunts strolling down the hallway, but they didn't look up and they passed me without noticing. I breathed a small sigh of relief and continued climbing.

Before long, I had reached the exit. Without making a sound, I dropped to the ground and leapt out the door.

Dashing in the opposite direction, I eventually stopped at a spot far away from Headquarters and hurriedly changed out of my previously said clothes and into a baby blue tank top and knee-length jean shorts, sliding my belt over it.

"Go, Oshawott!" I shouted, pressing the button and tossing her Poké Ball in one, swift movement. Oshawott materialized in a red light, and the Poké Ball automatically returned to my hand. Re-clipping the Poké Ball on my belt, I finally took the time to look around. "So… where exactly are we…?" I mused to no one in particular (knowing very well that Oshawott wouldn't reply), shielding my eyes and squinting as I looked up and saw overly-bright sunlight peeking through leaves on the trees.

"You're a mile away from Phenac City."

"GAH!" I shrieked, spinning around, staggering back and raising my arms defensively.

"Whoa, hey! Calm down!" cried the boy who'd apparently been speaking, raising his arms in the classic 'I'm innocent!' pose. "Don't freak out, I'm not going to hurt you or something!"

I breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed slightly, although I was still a little on edge about this stranger. "Ohhh… okay. I'm sorry, I just wasn't expecting a reply, and the fact that you snuck up on me really didn't help my reaction."

The boy gave a sheepish grin and scratched the back of his head. "Heh… Sorry 'bout that," he replied, looking a little embarrassed and slightly apologetic.

I smiled, beginning to like this kid.

When both of us went silent for a moment, I took the opportunity to study him.

He had mildly untidy brown hair, around the same shade (cough—no pun intended) as mine, but it was partially covered by a black and yellow-striped cap* worn backwards, confusing me a little (why wear it backwards?). He wore a red jacket with a strange-looking collar, long zipper, and wore what appeared to be a white shirt underneath. He wore light gray shorts that were just barely past knee-length, and his tennis shoes were white with black stripes. His eyes were a shocking hazel-brown color, and he looked young; couldn't be more than a year older than me.

After the stretch of silence became too awkward, I hesitantly broke it, asking, "So… you said I was a mile away from this 'Phenac City' place… where is it? And where am I now?"

He looked relieved that I'd broken the silence, and answered, "Well, Phenac City is a mile that way," he said, pointing behind him in the direction it appeared he'd come from, "and this is the farthest reaches of Agate Forest. I was actually coming through here so I could capture some Pokémon, but…" He paused, but then hesitantly asked, looking a little shy, "I can take you there if you like?"

I could practically see my own spirits lifting. "Oh, yes, please!" I cried happily in reply, feeling giddy with excitement. "Do I ever!"

The boy's face brightened, and he reached forward, grabbed my hand, and began to run in the direction he'd been pointing, dragging me behind him.

Barely keeping up, what with being dragged by the arm, I had to strain to look up at the boy's face. He looked so carefree… and he was… smiling. I'd never seen anyone look that happy before in my life.

And I found that his happy face made me happy, too.

I felt a smile bloom on my face, and beaming, I straightened and skipped next to him the rest of the way.

A/N: Okay, the ending for this chapter wasn't the best, but I had to stop it there because if I'd gone on any farther, it would've been even worse. (Trust me, I tried it several times. Not even close to good.) But hopefully, I will update again in the near future to make up for the short (and bad) first chapter.

While, yes, I'm aware that the "boy" in this chapter really hasn't given a proper introduction, his name is Ryan and he will introduce himself in a later chapter (hopefully the next one, but we shall see). And I will give him a POV either in the next chapter or the one after that, depending on how next chapter plays out.

And Shade seems more defenseless, weak, apologetic, and sad than most girl protagonists I've written about so far. I did that on purpose, as to make her seem… well, sad. I'm trying to make a point by doing that in order to tell you that this is how Shade has lived all her life: tortured, abused, reprimanded, constantly unable to appease her father, and despite her best efforts, she can't seem to get her father to accept her. Thus, she thinks poorly of herself, and is constantly apologizing for everything she does; always miserable and confused, and unsure of herself.

Okay, so, now for the index reference:

*Like I said in the first A/N, I based Ryan off of the Copycat mimicking Ethan, the boy playable character in the HeartGold/SoulSilver versions. So, visualize Ethan's cap.

Alright, done. Now, R&R please! Reviews encourage me to update faster! ^.^