"You can practically feel the tension in the air. At the moment nobody really knows what's going on or what's going to happen, because no one is commenting on the situation, but you can be sure that as soon as we have new information, we're going to inform you. Thanks for watching." With that the blonde, middle-aged TV-correspondent ended her report. Since a few weeks, phrases like these were broadcast from Johto's most watched TV channel "Johto Today". Although the journalist did their best to find out more about this situation and prevent a panic, all their efforts failed. Rumors were spreading saying that the infamous criminal organization called "Team Rocket", which was disintegrated a few years previously, had formed again.
"Why are you still watching things like that? They talked about this for months and still couldn't figure something out. All they do is repeating the same things over and over again. If anything is going to happen at all, we're going to find out. You don't have to watch these reports every minute, Rodney." a soft voice called from the door ankle of the living room.
The owner of the voice, a pretty woman of about 45, had watched her son sitting on the couch in the living room during the report. She had tried to calm the 18 year-old down, even though she was just as nervous as everyone else in Johto. When her son turned off the TV but didn't answer, she slowly walked over to the couch and sat down next to her son. The brown haired mother carefully laid her hand on the arm of the teenager and waited for his reaction. The boy, Rodney Philips, gradually turned his head towards his mother and starred at her with a blank expression, but Theresa knew her son and could see the fear in his blue eyes.
Some years ago, the name Team Rocket had only been used to scare little children , but recently the fear started to rise among the population of Johto, no matter whether they were young kids or grown-up adults. It was said that these criminals weren't just harming Pokemons, but humans, who didn't fit into their system too.
"Do you never think about all this stuff going on?" Rodney almost whispered. A whole minute of awfully silence followed before Theresa answered.
"I try to avoid it." she explained truthfully. After his mother's response Rodney began to rub over his face and ran his fingers through his sandy blonde hair with his hands, while quietly muttering, "I wish I could do the same.". For a few seconds Theresa could have sworn she heard her son sob.
"Remember what your grandfather used to say? You can cry and be sad, but after that…"
"You need to stop and be a man." Rodney completed his grandfather's best known quote. He had heard it every time when he had been upset about something and although it seemed harsh at times, it helped to understand that you can't just cry and complain all the time, but stand up and do something about it. It was one of the last things his grandfather had said before he died. Rodney was named after him, although the timid teenager resembled him in no way.
For a few more minutes they sat on the couch. Theresa still had her hand on Rodney's shoulder when she began to speak up once more.
"Professor Elm asked for you today, Rodney," her voice sounded more confident this time, "he had a request for you."
Rodney was surprised at what his mother said. Even before the panic in Johto started, the professor had been acting strange. It was a known fact in town that when it seemed like he was about to make a breakthrough, Martin Elm shut himself in his lab. But in the last couple of months the young professor seemed to leave his lab less and less. Rodney tried his best to remember the last time he had seen the professor, but the only time he heard his name was when Elm's wife, who was befriended with Theresa, came over and shared her worries concerning her husband.
Of course it hadn't always been like that. A few years ago Rodney had been invited on a daily basis to the professors' home to help him with his research by doing little errands for him or keep an eye on his young son Seth, but it seemed like the professor was busy doing stuff on which he didn't need help and his son had grown old enough to take care of himself, when his parents weren't home. Nonetheless, Elm still acted like this weird but amiable uncle everybody had in his family.
"What did he wan-"
"I don't know." his mother interrupted before Rodney could end his question. "He just said, that you should come over. It sounded important."
"Then I better go see him, huh?" Rodney mumbled more to himself than to his mother, but didn't move from the couch. It took him some time before he stood up and went over to the front door.
The first thing Rodney noticed when he stepped out of the house, was the cold wind blowing into his face and whirling his already messy hair around. It wasn't unusual to be windy in New Bark Town, no, in fact everybody who lived there appreciated it, because most people used the wind to produce electricity, but there were often days the citizen cursed the wind blowing in their faces and messing with their neatly styled hair.
The second thing Rodney noticed, was that no matter where he looked he couldn't see one person in the streets or elsewhere. The only living creatures he could find were some Sentrets running into bushes or Pidgeys flying over his head. He couldn't even spot Lyra, a girl living in New Bark Town, with her hyperactive Marill, although they practically seemed to live on the streets waiting for someone to pass by to jump out of their hiding spots and beat their victim's ears.
The walk to Professor Elm's lab didn't last long, probably because he was living almost next door. But it took quite a while before someone opened the door of Johto's most famous researching facility. Rodney had always wondered how this small laboratory could earn that title. When the heavy wood door finally opened, the 24-year old assistant of Professor Elm, Glenn Anderson, stood in the door frame and eyed up the visitor.
"H-Hello Rodney. The Professor is already waiting for you in the back. You know the way, d-don't you?" Glenn stroked through his jet black hair as he offered to show the way. Glenn was a nice guy despite his occasionally strange behavior.
"Yeah, I know." Rodney once again muttered more to himself. He was buried way too deep in his thoughts to greet or even really acknowledge Glenn.
As Rodney strolled through the lab, he looked at the many posters displaying the anatomy of different Pokemons that hung on the wall and the stuffed shelves and realized that the lab looked even messier than usual. Unfortunately, he didn't notice the boxes blocking the entrance of the back of Professor Elm's lab.
"Ouch." Rodney managed to suppress a yell, but still uttered a sound of pain as he tripped over the boxes full of papers and books.
"Rodney? Is that you?" came the familiar sound of Professor Martin Elm's quirky voice. He stepped out of his little office and held out his hand to the teenager, when he saw him lying on the floor.
"Sorry, we didn't have so much time cleaning this place." the professor excused and tried to smile, but his fearful and nervous expression hindered him from doing so. His light brown hair looked like he hadn't combed it in quite a while and his thick glasses weren't resting in their designated position, not that that was anything unusual. Rodney also saw the professor's dark eye circles, making him wonder how long Elm had gone without sleep.
"Thanks, Professor," Rodney took Elm's hand thankfully and looked a bit embarrassed, "my mom said you wanted to see me?"
Suddenly Elm's face fell and it just felt wrong how old the young professor appeared, when he did this. He looked very concerned as if he wasn't sure if he should talk or not. Before anything was said, Elm led the way into his office and pointed to a chair in front of his desk.
"Your mother told me, that you're quite worried about the rumors of Team Rocket's rise lately." Elm admitted to Rodney. The 18-year old was a bit surprised at what Elm said, after all he didn't know his mother was so concerned about him watching the news channel. "Well it is a good thing that you're attentive to our current situation." the professor paused again for a moment before he almost whispered "Very well indeed. What do you know already?"
Rodney looked up once again to the man who had been like an uncle to him. "I k-know that… there are hints suggesting that Team Rocket is active again, but I'm not sure if they're trustworthy. No one really knows expect them, right? Johto Daily said it has something to do with the leader's son, but I think these are just speculations. Like the rumors that they want to kill the most powerful trainers and gym leaders to take over their Pokemons. Not very likely, or?"
"Maybe it isn't so unlikely after all. Listen, Rodney," Elm took a deep breath before he continued, "if I tell you something about this… this stuff going on, you are going to be involved in this whole mess, so I'll ask you before. It has something to do with these rumors you mentioned. Once I will have revealed the information, I would have to ask a favor of you. A very dangerous favor. You would have to travel. For a long time. Just to find one person. I can understand when you prefer not to be involved in this and I'm going to be honest with you, I don't know if even when you found this person, it could prevent the worst scenario, but still I'm asking you now. You have to now, I trust you a whole lot, otherwise I wouldn't even have considered you, so are you willing to be involved?" during his explanation Elm had his eyes firmly fixed on a picture of his family, avoiding looking Rodney in the eyes. He looked up at the moment he stopped talking to watch the teenager's reaction. When Rodney didn't say anything, Elm put his hands in the pockets of his lab coat and went on.
"I would give you a Pokémon for your journey to protect you. However, I'll say once more, you don't have to say yes. I'll give you time to think about it."
When Rodney left the lab, telling the professor to consider his offer, he went back to his house and straight into his bedroom. For the rest of the day he didn't say a word to anyone, ignored the phone calls and text messages from his best and only friend Scott Leary and didn't turn on the news channel. Instead he just sat on his bed and thought about what Elm had said. At this moment Rodney wished to be anyone else. No matter who who just someone else. Then he wouldn't have to make a decision, he would have to answer to Elm and he wouldn't be the one to blame it the plan failed and Team Rocket gained power again. The way Professor Elm spoke about the trip, made it sound like only a superhero was able to find this mysterious person who could prevent Team Rocket's rise. But Rodney certainly was no superhero. No, he was just a timid 18-year old, who had been too shy to ask out Vanessa Humphrey, a neighboring girl whom Rodney had had a crush on since 5th grade, and who hadn't been brave enough to play a prank on Edward Webb, the strict janitor from his school, when his classmates dared him to do so. But sometimes you have to stop and be a man.
"Tell me." Rodney requested the next day in Professor Elm's lab. He stood before the young professor and had his arm crossed. His voice sounded more confident, than Rodney could even imagine it could, considering it was him after all, "I'll do it."
"Are you sure? Like I said, it could be very dangerous and I don't know if-" Elm tried again to explain, but was interrupted by Rodney.
"I'll do it, professor." Rodney insisted with the same kind of confident in his voice than before. He was even smiling, just thinking about how good it felt to be so sure of something, rather than living with his usually constant insecurity.
"Good. Now come. Let's sit down." Elm walked ahead to his office, sat down on a brown desk chair and waited for Rodney to do the same. They both settled down, but it took Professor Elm some time before he spoke up. He looked as if he wasn't sure whether he should say something at all and Rodney noticed his nervous attitude from the day before.
"Do you remember that I once told you Professor Samuel Oak was my mentor?" Elm didn't even waited for Rodney's answer. "Well, before those rumors you mentioned yesterday about Team Rocket came up, we worked together with another man, whom you'll meet soon enough, and tried to discover more details about them and their leader Giovanni Mazzini. And we found out that... that they really plan on a reunion." Elm paused this time and seemed to be lost for words for a moment before he continued. "We had luck that they were defeated and had dissolved the first time, but we can't be sure that someone will be able to do this again, if they really have success and form anew. But this time we have a advantage. We have the chance to prevent them, wait no, not to prevent them, but destroy them forever even before they manage to reunion!" the professor's voice changed from nervous and jittery to vigorous and stern during his little speech. Sadly, it turned a little defeated again when he began to explain further.
"Unfortunately this isn't going to be easy. Sam, I-I mean Professor Oak, Mr. Pokemon and me put a lot of thought into a solution and we actually came up with one, but it is important that we don't inaugurate too many people in our plan, so that it remains a secret and Team Rocket or Mazzini won't suspect something." Rodney raised his eyebrow at the mention of this man named 'Mr. Pokemon', but when Elm didn't say anything further about him, Rodney assumed it was a false name to remain anonymous.
"Anyway, back to our own plan. I'm pretty sure you've heard about Red Akai, right? After all he is one of the most powerful trainers these days and won quiet a lot league titles." Elm starred at Rodney, drummed his fingers impatient on his desk and waited for an answer.
"Of course. He's missing, isn't he?" Rodney looked interrogative at Professor Elm, but as the words left his mouth Rodney suddenly knew what Elm was trying to get at. Especially because Elm already told him the day before that Rodney would have to search for one person, who might be able to prevent Team Rocket. "You want me to go look for him?"
At first Elm looked surprised, but his expression changed back to an serious one, while he silently confirmed Rodney's suspicion with a nod. Red Akai had been a ten year old boy with wild, black hair and fire-red eyes from Pallet Town in Johto's neighboring region Kanto, when he started his Pokemon journey. During his travels he had won and lost many matches and he often participated in many different Pokemon leagues. Today, 13 years later to be exact, everybody knew about the infamous Red and his always present Pikachu. The two of them won more and more battles until he was almost unbeatable. However, the stronger Red and his Pokemons got, the less they battled anymore. In the end the now 23-year old trainer lived so reclusive that no one has heard about him lately; not even his mother.
"But when he's missing, how am I supposed to find him. I mean he could be anywhere." Rodney asked the older man.
Elm frowned slightly at Rodney's question. "Admittedly, we don't know for sure where Red is, but rumor has it that he has been living and training in a area around Mount Silver, but since we don't want to arouse attention you can't just go there. Mount Silver is a very dangerous place and you never even battled before, so you have to do a normal Pokemon journey. Go to the usual routes, maybe even win some badges. Just stay unobtrusive. We have reasons to believe, that the Rockets are way more violently then they used to and according to some of our contacts a small number of people have already, well let's say 'gone missing'."
Rodney let his blue eyes wander around in the small office of Professor Elm. He took a look at the poster, which showed the muscle structure of bigger Pokemon, and the scribbled calendar, which was nailed crooked on the white wall. After a few seconds Rodney watched his hands in his lap, which tensely trembled. When Elm finished his last sentences, a great nervousness took over Rodney. Suddenly he wasn't too sure anymore about their whole plan. When Rodney lifted his head again towards Professor Elm, he eyed him skeptically. "And when I find him, what should I tell him?"
"You have to bring him back here, so we can clear everything. Listen, Rodney, I know this is a very big task with a lot of responsibility. It is understandable if you're afraid and I'm sorry I put you into this state, but you've got to be aware that this is no game. We all could get into danger, if something goes wrong." Elm explained when he sensed Rodney's insecurity. "Come on. You've still have to chose your first Pokemon to accompany you on your mission." the professor tried to change the subject and gestured towards a big machine outside of his office in the middle of his lab.
The machine was almost as tall as Rodney himself and held three red-white colored Pokeballs which were neatly placed (a strange thing, considering in whose custody they were) next to each other. During the time Rodney had helped out Professor Elm, he often saw how he gave the new trainers their first Pokemon and thought about which one he would chose when he was old enough. Back then children where allowed to pick their first Pokemon and start their journey when they turned ten years old, until the government realized which tremendous dangers awaited for the young children and so they have forbidden Pokemon journeys under the age of 18.
Professor Elm walked ahead over to the white machine, pushed some buttons and waited until the glass, which surrendered the three Pokeballs, opened. ,,You still know the starters, right? There are Cyndaquil, the fire-type Pokemon, Totodile, the water-type, and Chikorita, the grass-type. So... you already know which one you'll chose?"
Rodney lowered his head down to have a better look on the Pokeballs in front of his face. Although he spend a lot of time thinking about which Pokemon he would take, he still didn't have a clue. Some years ago there lived a boy named Ethan Goldman in the little New Bark Town. He collected all eight badges that Johto offered and gained a lot of popularity together with his Typhlosion. Rodney remembered how much he had admired Ethan when he was younger after all he was from New Bark Town like himself. However, this younger sister Crystal didn't though so highly of her brother. She had used every opportunity to denigrate or insult Ethan. Although she would probably beat Rodney up for even think it, he had always suspected it was because she was tired of being in her big brother's big shadow. From the maybe jealous sister however, she had turned into a real troublemaker. Not only did she develop a somewhat harsh personality, but she also often turned violent when things didn't went the way she wanted. After getting into many (sometimes even physical) fights with people and a law suit was started against her, the governor of the local administrative district, that was responsible for New Bark Town, disallowed her to chose a starter and start a journey once she turned18. Rodney still remembered how she had told everyone how she would take Chikorita because of it's disadvantage against a fire-type like Cyndaquil, to show how she could defeat him even when the odds would be against her.
"I think I'll take Cyndaquil." Rodney pointed towards the Pokeball in the middle and looked up to Professor Elm. The professor stood next to the rather small teenager and had watched Rodney, while he aimed to the Pokeball, which held the fire-type starter. Instead of saying something Elm nodded in approval.
"Before you go, Rodney, I'd have to ask another favor of you. I know you're already doing a lot, but it's just a simple task and it actually is on your way. There are some papers in my office, that Mr. Pokemon has to see. You'd just have to give them to him and than you can continue your originally task. Mr. Pokemon lives a few miles outside of Cherrygrove." Elm's face showed signs of shame, as if he was ashamed to ask another favor of Rodney, even though he didn't seemed to mind. "Great! Wait, I'll go grab the papers."
While Professor Elm walked back into his office, Rodney pressed the black button in the middle of the Pokeball in his hand and released his recently acquired Cyndaquil. A bright red light flashed from the opening of the capsule and formed a small creature in front of the 18-year old. When the flash vanished, a small, hedgehog like Pokemon appeared. It's bottom side was sandy, while his top was moss-green with red spots across his back. The fire Pokemon stood on his legs and his tiny arms hung loosely next to his body, while he lifted his beak-like face and looked up to Rodney. "Cyn?"
Cyndaquil didn't even reached the height of Rodney's knee and looked around confused until he finally settled on Rodney again and watched his new trainer questioningly. Smiling Rodney knelt down next to Cyndaquil, but still kept a certain distant between them, in case the small Pokemon would start demonstrating the flames on his back.
"Hey there. I'm Rodney" the teenager introduced himself and seemed to relax a little bit when the Cyndaquil put on a peaceful expression and starting shrieking his name in syllables.",Ahh, I've found them!" Professor Elm's satisfied yell turned Rodney's attention from Cyndaquil back to the professor as he come out of his office and offered Rodney a thick file with papers and five empty Pokeballs, which Rodney assumed were actually for him. "There's still another thing to clarify before you go. Have you told your mother what you're going to do?"
Rodney lost his cheerful mood at Elm's question and looked down to the ground. "I said that I'm going on a Pokemon journey, but I haven't told her what else I am going to do."
"Good, good. I don't want you to lie, but when you do something like this, there is always a risk in telling someone the truth, even when it's someone we can actually trust. Now, Rodney, you know what you got to do? I really don't want to impend you, but...," Elm had walked up to the teenager and put his hands on top of the boy's shoulders. "I want you to know that I have a lot of trust in you. Take care of you and your new partner. Good luck, my boy."
A sad smile crept onto Rodney's face. Although he felt honored by the faith Elm had in him, he couldn't suppress the fear of failing in his mind, "Thanks, professor."
By the time Rodney left the lab, he had recalled Cyndaquil, because Professor Elm suggested that he might be safer inside his Pokeballs. On the first route in Johto Rodney gathered some experience with battles, even though he mostly encountered some Pidgeys and Rattatas, which he could defeat quite easily with Cyndaquil. He also once tried to catch a Pidgey, but sadly it freed itself and flew away very quickly. Nevertheless Rodney couldn't cheer his victories like he might have if he was really just on a Pokemon journey. After they finished another fight, Rodney tried to recall his Cyndaquil, but it quickly dodged the Pokeball's ray. Rodney was left shocked, when he tried it again and again Cyndaquil got away.
"What is it, Cyndaquil?" Rodney asked a little annoyed.
"Do I really have to go into the ball already?" the small hedgehog frowned. Although it was common knowledge that some Pokemon possessed the ability to actually talk to humans, Rodney raised his eyebrows.
"Well, usually I wouldn't mind, but we're kind busy so..." Rodney tried to explain and once again pressed the button in the middle of the Pokeball, but this time Cyndaquil shot a blast of flames against it ball's rays and almost burned Rodney in the way.
Out of shock Rodney dropped the Pokeball and jumped to the left to get out of the way, "What the. Did you just- I-I... you..."
Slightly satisfied with the reaction he had caused from his trainer, Cyndaquil proudly crossed it's small arms, "You could at least give me a name."
"A-A name? Well, what do you wanna be called?" Rodney stuttered slightly as he stood up again and swatted some dirt from his jeans.
"You want me to name myself? No, no this isn't how things work," Cyndaquil demanded, "and just to warn you this time, when you now say something originally like 'Pyro' I'm gonna try and to aim a little better."
Although Rodney could understand Cyndaquil to some extant, he started to grow a little impatient. Sure Cyndaquil probably didn't even knew what they were up to, but that didn't really help. It just reminded Rodney that he really should let Cyndaquil in on their mission, once they delivered the files at Mr. Pokemon's house.
Annoyed, Rodney almost snapped, "Okay, you want a name? How about uhm... Blaze! That alright? Sorry, but we have to hurry a little bit."
Instead of a reply Cyndaquil again shot flames in Rodney's direction. He quickly bent down to avoid the flames and immediately realized that he would have to try his best not to anger his Pokemon if he wanted to make it to Mr. Pokemon's house in one piece.
"Sorry, sorry!", Rodney yelled after Cyndaquil stopped his attack and put his hands in front of him in a defensive way. "Since you don't want to name yourself, how do you like... R-Rick?"
This time Cyndaquil seemed to think about Rodney's suggest. The small Pokemon nodded in approval, but wasn't about to drop the subject, "Just out of curiosity, how did you come up with that one?"
Rodney thought before answering Rick's question, but came to the conclusion that he shouldn't reveal the whole truth. He didn't even wanted to imagine Cyndaquil's fire attacks if he told him, that he came up with the name 'Rick', because of a pesky classmate named Rick back when he was younger, although he thought his Pokemon kinda lived up to his namesake.
"I thought it fitted you."
Still the thoughts of fear and skepticism crossed his mind, even when he tried to talk himself into believing everything would turn out just fine. Rick didn't really seemed to sense his trainer's troubles as he was busy asking him question about himself. The dirty blonde haired teenager was still lost in his thoughts, but he was interrupted by a loud, quirky cry of a wild Pokemon. The brown weasel like Pokemon was a little bit taller than Rick, which it probably achieved though it's long tail on which it sustained itself. It had a striped black and brown tail and the Pokemon had a striking white circle on it's stomach. Since Sentrets were quiet common on route 29, Rodney immediately recognized the Pokemon as one, which made it's high-pitched yells of it's own name weren't really necessary to identify it. Just as Rick jumped off of Rodney's shoulder, he remembered the professor's words, "maybe even win some badges". If he really should fight against one of the eight gym leader's, he definitely needed more Pokemon.
"Alright, Rick. This time we'll catch it." Rodney uttered, but his Cyndaquil didn't got into a fighting position. Instead he turned his head back to Rodney. "Really? That guy?"
The wild Sentret used Rick's inattention and hit him with a hard tackle attack that threw Rick into a nearby tree. However, Rick immediately got up again and sprinted back to his previous place. He growled loudly, as the flames on his back started erupting.
"Okay, Rick, use-"
Completely ignoring Rodney, Rick ran towards the Sentret to tackle it, but the quick weasel had no trouble dodging the attack. While the Sentret might be faster, Rick reacted quicker this time as he fired a ember attack at the wild Pokemon. The Sentret yelped loudly as the fire burned it's soft fur.
Rodney was a bit surprised at what unfolded in front of him, but he tried to regain control, "Rick, try to use a-"
Rick didn't even though about listening to his trainer and again raced towards the injured Sentret. The Sentret's sneaky attack back when Rick had been oblivious, had really unleashed Cyndaquil's anger. Rodney had already realized himself that Rick tended to be a bit aggressive, but that he'd completely ignore any kind of command from him, worried him a little bit. This was the first time he was responsible for raising a Pokemon, but how was he supposed to train him if his own Pokemon had little to no respect for him. Raging with pure fury Rick ran towards Sentret, with the flames on his back glowing brighter and bigger than Rodney had ever seen. He was just about to hit the Sentret, when Rodney decided to intervene. To protect the deeply injured Sentret, Rodney threw one of his Pokeballs towards the Pokemon. It bounced off it and unleashed a red ray that sought the Sentret inside. Rick, who hadn't even noticed Rodney's action, kept on running and threw himself forward for a tackle attack, but missed it's target completely. The Pokeball swirled around, but it didn't last very long, as the Sentret was way to exhausted to really fight back. Rodney smiled proudly, but the same couldn't be said about Rick, though.
"What the-?" Rick looked up at Rodney, not believing what his trainer had just done.
"What's wrong?" Rodney asked timidly. From the tone of Rick's voice he could clearly hear that he wasn't very pleased.
"What's wrong? You just ruined my fight there! Didn't you see how that damn weasel attacked me? Viciously from behind! And then you even caught him. I demand you release that Sentret right now!" Rick ranted fiercely. Scared of Rick's aggressive nature, Rodney quickly returned him to his Pokeball. He knew very well that he was in quite some trouble the next time he'd release Rick. Rodney almost laughed at the irony that a shy and timid guy like him apparently picked a pyromaniac of a Pokemon with some serious anger issues.