Chapter I: Life in Goldenrod City
I know that there are a lot of you who hate me; I can only ask that you do not judge me until you understand the reasons why I've done the things that I've done. That is why I am writing these confessions, so that maybe you will know that I am not all bad... it's just the way things happened… there were things that I could not control. Team Rocket was not responsible for my win in the Kanto League Championship; I DID NOT CHEAT! This is my story—this is the way a Champion became a criminal in less than a year.
When I was younger the last thing that I wanted to do was become a Pokemon Trainer, or Master, or anything. All I was trying to do was make some money for my family. I grew up in Goldenrod City, the largest city in Johto. I haven't been there in years, but at the time I lived there advertisements spoke of technological masterpieces like the great Radio Station, broadcasting through the entire region of Johto, and the newly constructed Magnet Train, faster than a speeding bullet. Yeah, Goldenrod looked like quite the tourist's spot in all the magazines, the height of civilization, but in reality the rich were getting richer and the poor poorer, of course I was unfortunate enough to be poor.
I was the oldest of five children and my mother worked two jobs to support us, my father… we'll talk about him later. Anyway, instead of embarking on some great Pokemon journey at the age of 10, I went right to work. For four years I worked in the mailroom of the great Radio Station in Goldenrod City, the pay was low, but it was certainly good enough. My younger brother, Joseph, was just about to turn 10 as well, so things would start getting easier soon, or so I thought.
One day, I was walking home from the Radio Station. My boss had asked me if I could stay a few hours later and I never say no to overtime so I gladly accepted. He was very fond of me and I knew that because of my age I couldn't get any sort of promotion for at least another two years, but I had a feeling that I wouldn't have to wait long after turning sixteen to get that promotion. Looking back, that style of thinking just seems so naïve, if only I had known where I'd actually be two years later… nonetheless, it was getting late and it was dark. I had missed the bus so I had to walk home, but I didn't care because I'd just been paid earlier that day. So, I walked through the dark streets with a check in a my hand.
Recently, there had been a spike in gang-related activity in Goldenrod, wonder why… anyway, it had led way to the creation of some pretty powerful gangs in Goldenrod. The strongest was one that moved in from over in Kanto, I believe it's mother city at the time was a little town called Viridian City, it was called Team Rocket. I was lucky enough to run into a member of Team Rocket that night. As I was turning a corner I noticed a man dressed in all black (shoes, shirt, pants, hat) with a deep red "R" facing me on his hat. On his face was a black mask, covering his eyes and his nose.
"Alright, son!" he yelled, "I'm gonna need you to give me all you've got."
"I don't have any money." I replied, honestly, if you don't could the check.
"Now, kid…" he began, talking down to me again, "the problem with that excuse is that I just don't believe you, now I'm going to ask you again, nicely, could you please give me any spare change you have on you? I'm not a crook, I'm just a rich beggar."
"I don't care whether or not you believe me, it doesn't change the face that I don't have any money! Now, just leave."
He started laughing. "Oh, kid, quit the cute act." He reached back into his belt and pulled out a Pokeball. "Ekans, go!" A purple snake appeared on the ground in front of me. It hissed as it slithered towards me and began to climb my leg. It felt cold, wet. "Now, let's see if Ekans can find anything on you." The snake began crawling through clothes, searching for any sort of money, anywhere. It emerged from my shirt, it's head next to mine, with my wallet in it's mouth. It slithered out of my clothes and back towards the criminal. I remained frozen with fear. The Team Rocket member began digging through my wallet. "Well, Ethan… Stone, is it? It looks like you were holding out on me." The snake was coiled around his legs. "You've got a pretty big check here, I can't use it now, but I'm sure my boss can." The snake hissed and rattled it's coil. "Now, I'm going to teach you a thing or two about Pokemon. Do you know what happens when an Ekans bites it's prey?" I shook my head in the negative. "Really? Well, first it sinks it's fangs in deep, so deep that only the Ekans itself can remove them, not without tearing the flesh, of course." The Ekans opened it's mouth wide, revealing four huge fangs. "Then it secretes a deadly poison, capable of taking down a Snorlax." I could see the poison dripping from it's fangs. "Now, do you know what I'm about to say?" I shook my head in the negative again. He calmly, inhumanely calmly said: "Ekans, bite" and the snake darted towards me.
I was running as fast as I could, trying to put as many objects between myself and the snake, but it was no use. No matter how hard I tried I could still hear it hissing and slithering behind me, above me, in the fire escapes. I reached a busy street, lots of lights, and ran across as quickly as I could, passing several cars on my way. When I reached the other side I put my back to the wall to catch my breath. I looked back at the bright lights of the road. It couldn't have made it across, it must've turned back. I heard the old familiar coil up above my head. I felt a cool, wet liquid drop onto my head. Poison! I ran again. Through all of the dark alleys it chased me until… THUD! I tripped! The snake began to coil around my legs. It was very tight, very painful. It kept going. By the time my entire body was entangled the Team Rocket member arrived. He knelt down and looked me in the eyes. "Look kid, he likes you!" said the criminal, "I have a propostion for you, kid!"
"What?" I asked, barely making out the words.
"How would you like to join us?" he asked, "Tonight, I have a special job to do and I think you could be of some help."
"No way!" I replied.
"Really?" he asked, the snake tightened, "I'll give you back all the money I stole from you, better yet, I can double it."
I really needed the money. It was going straight to bills, maybe if this had happened a few weeks later and Joseph had been working I would've said no, but now there was nothing else I could do. So I said "Okay."
"Great!" He laughed. He held up his Pokeball and summoned the Ekans back to it's chamber. I was free. He reached out his hand and said "Now, let's get you a Pokemon."