Disclaimer : Do I own Pokemon? No.



* Just An Innocent Mistake *


It began like any other day....no, that's a lie. It began nicer than most days. It had stopped raining for the first time in two weeks, our new perfume was a hit, and Gloom had evolved just last night. Everything was so perfect...
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I entered the gym about eight o'clock that morning. I wanted to leave Gloom - I mean, Vileplume - home, because I thought she might be tired after evolving lik that, but she insisted on coming with me. When I was in the bck of the gym gathering potions and ethers, she wandered off somewhere. I didn't think anything of it, because the Celadon Gym was such a safe place. Nothing could harm her here...

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"Do you smell something?" my opponent asked me, sniffing the air. I did...it smelled distinctly like smoke. I shrugged it off, because I figured the girls must have just burned some food. But the sound of perfume bottles crashing against the floor like little glass bombs told me otherwise. I ran to the back of the gym as fast as I could, only to find the people I never expected to see again. Team Rocket. I didn't understand...hadn't last time taught them anything?

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Everything that happened after that is a blur. Vileplume cornering Jessie and James. Jessie with a bagfull of perfume bottles slung over her shoulder. James taking something black and egg-shaped out of his pocket. Throwing the thing on the ground, a mere three inches or so away from Vileplume. The thing exploding in a blast of fire and glass. The horrible, sickening crunch of the breaking bones of a small Pokemon as it is thrown against the wall.

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My recollections after that are a bit clearer. I remember cradling Vileplume in my arms, the blood dripping from it's mouth seeping into my own wound. Jessie, James, and Meowth looked at us with such shock and horror that it was obvious they hadn't meant to do it. At that very moment, Vileplume took her final, shallow breath, and left me forever.

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