A/N: This is the first of two Pokémon stories I'm going to be posting here. This one is short, kind of bizarre, and really depressing, but it serves as a prequel for the other one I'm going to start posting eventually, so I decided I should actually post this somewhere sooner or later. Beware the following story does deal with death, blood, and mental instability, so if you're sensitive to those things, you might want to skip this story. Even if you don't like this story's ending, I can guarantee you the one I'm working on now has a better one, so hang in there!
Growing up, Alexis had seen movies in which the mafia was the opposing force antagonizing the hapless protagonist. At some point in the movie, the mafia would do something terrible and the emotional centerpoint of the movie would be the hero rebounding from the tragedy and coming back full force and stopping the crime syndicate before anyone else could be hurt. Alexis had always wanted to be the hero of a story involving stopping the mafia and saving the day. One can only imagine how she felt shortly after she started her journey and encountered Team Rocket, the self-proclaimed Pokémon gangsters who made a living by stealing Pokémon and hassling innocent bystanders. When no one made any real attempts at stopping the rockets, Alexis decided it was her turn to be the big damn hero and make a stand against Kanto's very own mafia.
She did not foresee—nor could she dream of—the consequences of personally offending a real life mafia boss.
In Celadon city, she found out that there was a Rocket hideout under the local casino, so she decided to storm into that hideout and kick the ass of every single grunt in the building. When she reached the very bottom of the hideout, she faced off with the leader of Team Rocket: Giovanni. Giovanni was a tall, dark haired, italian man with a pinstripe suit, ground-type Pokémon, and a disdain for losing; especially against a young girl who had just started training. After her Dugtrio managed to deliver a sound thrashing to his Kangaskhan, he sighed and calmly recalled his third and final Pokémon. "I must say I am surprised at you, child," he conceded. "I will step aside this time, but remember this: if you ever cross me again, there will be dire consequences."
Alexis smirked and crossed her arms. "And what would those be? You wouldn't hurt a little girl, now would you?" She flipped her hair over her shoulder and one of her Dugtrio's heads mimicked her head motion. "You didn't even step out from behind your big, menacing desk the entire battle. Face it, you're just a coward hiding behind a legion of idiots. Every mob boss is."
Giovanni's eyes narrowed and he wordlessly reached beneath his desk. Under it was a button linked to the electrical system of the casino. He clicked the button and suddenly, all the lights in the hideout went out.
"What the hell?" Alexis looked around frantically but could not find any light source whatsoever. After about a minute, the lights came back on to reveal an empty desk and Alexis was able to find a way out of the base. When she resurfaced in the Game Corner, she heard many confused mumblings about the strange power outage that seemed to only affect that one building. Triumphantly, Alexis continued exploring Celadon city and went on to her equally proud Pokémon about how Team Rocket was dead and how great she did at single-handedly dismantling an entire criminal organization. After defeating the gym leader Erika, Alexis decided to venture to Saffron city, the biggest city in Kanto.
The first thing she saw in Saffron was a group of black-clad gangsters run down the street hollering about how they had taken over the Silph Company building and were going to take over the entire corporation. "You mean these numbskulls still exist?" She asked herself. "Couldn't they take the hint the first time I whupped them?" She looked down at the six Pokéballs on her belt and nodded. "Let's go kick some more rocket ass, you guys."
It didn't take long to locate the Silph building, seeing as it was the largest building in the entire region. It was just as easy to get inside because the grunt guarding the entrance had fallen asleep on the job, so the hard part was scaling the building and locating whoever had planned this operation. After a good hour of sweeping opponents away with her trusty Blastoise and her newly befriended Growlithe, she ran into a familiar face from her hometown. "Gary," she spat playfully and crossed her arms.
"Alexis," Gary greeted.
"What are you doing here Gary?" Alexis asked. "I called dibs on stuffing my foot up Team Rocket's ass."
"That's why I'm here," Gary responded. "I knew you'd be all over this building, so I figured I'd track you down and test your skills."
Alexis smirked and grabbed a ball from her belt. "Bring it on."
Meanwhile, at the top of the Silph Company building, Giovanni paced in front of the old, scared president of the company who was sitting in his desk. "This is your last chance," he threatened. "Give me control over your company and that Master Ball and you won't get hurt."
Despite his fear, the man shook his head. "I won't give anything to you. What would you do with my company anyway? Run it into the ground?"
"I'd make your company more powerful than ever before!" Giovanni spat.
"With buy-outs and intimidation, right?" The president guessed. "My company aside, what would you do with the prototype Master Ball?"
"Catch a Pokémon with it, what else?" Giovanni smirked. "The most powerful Pokémon in the world, in fact. Now hand it over." He finished with a glare.
Before the president could respond, a rocket grunt burst into the room frantically. "Giovanni sir! That girl who drove us out of Celadon is coming up the building."
Giovanni clenched his fist. "Damn her. How close is she?"
"Only a floor below, but she's being held up right now."
"By a grunt?" Giovanni asked.
"No, by a neighbor, it seems," the subordinate reported.
"You're all useless!" Giovanni yelled in response. He grabbed the edge of the president's desk, flipped it over, and lifted the president off his chair by his collar. "This isn't finished, old man," Giovanni promised. "I'll be back shortly." He kicked the chair out from under the president and let the old man fall to the floor. "You, give the Alexis a message when she gets here."
The grunt looked confused. "Alexis?"
"The girl, you idiot!"
After Gary's Alakazam finally fell under Gengar's relentless attacks, he finally decided Alexis was strong enough to take on the rest of Team Rocket. He bid her farewell with his usual "smell ya later!" as he left the Silph Co. building.
Alexis took a moment to heal her team before heading to the top floor to confront Giovanni again. She entered the president's office to see a toppled over desk, an old man sitting on the floor, and a man wearing the familiar grunt garb. "Where's your boss?" Alexis demanded.
"About that," the grunt smirked. "He left just before you got here. He's terribly sorry he had to miss you, but he told me to deliver a message to you."
"What, that he finally surrenders?" Alexis guessed, folding her arms.
"Just the opposite in fact," the grunt assured her. "He said that if you don't surrender here and now, he won't be held responsible for anything that happens to your mother."
Alexis' heart skipped a beat and her confidence disappeared. "Wh-what?" She quickly regained her composure and shook her head. "That's crazy. He doesn't know who my mother is."
The grunt smirked. "Oh yeah? Alexis from Pallet Town? The boss has access to enough public records to figure out which one of those hicks is your kin. And he has a way to...get rid of her."
"No!" Alexis yelled. "You lie!"
The grunt brandished a Pokégear. "Take this and tell the boss that you surrender or else he'll have no choice but to prove how right we are. And hey, if we're lying, then no harm done to anybody involved. If we're not...well do you really want to take that chance?"
Alexis balled her hand into a fist and growled. "I'll show you. What if I kick your ass before you can make that call?"
"I'll take that as a no." The grunt shook his head. "It's a shame, because the call is already made. He's heard this whole thing." Without a word, Alexis wheeled around and bolted for the door. The grunt ran after her, quickly caught up with her, and grabbed her arm. "You're not going anywhere without a battle."
Never had Alexis battled so hard in her life. She decimated the grunt's team, but on her way back down Silph Co, she was accosted by too many other people to count. Battle after hasty battle, she slowly made her way down the building and out into the streets of Saffron. She called on her already exhausted Fearow and promised that it could finally rest if it took her to Pallet Town. Fearow was fast, but it couldn't help that Pallet town was halfway across the country, so the trip took about an hour. This put Alexis in a peaceful, twilit Pallet Town nearly two hours after the initial threat was made clear. At this point, she could only hope that Giovanni was bluffing. Her heart raced and her hand froze over the doorknob. She broke out in a cold sweat when she realized that if what he said what true, she had quite a sight waiting for her inside.
When she finally willed herself to turn the knob and open the front door, she learned she was absolutely correct.
The first thing that hit her was the smell. It was a vaguely metallic smell hidden under a strong stench of rot. The inside of her house was dark, but the waning sunlight pouring through the windows and the doorway informed her that several items throughout the ground floor of her home were misplaced. Clean clothes were strewn about and cushions were nowhere near their intended position. This all surrounded the main attraction of the floor: a huge red R painted on the floor with red paint.
At least, she hoped it was paint.
When Alexis finally stepped inside her home, she learned that this letter was not in fact paint but the source of the terrible smell assaulting her at the moment. This R was definitely...no, she didn't want to think it. "Mom?" She choked out. Every muscle in her body, every blood cell, told her to run away as fast as she could and never come back. This house was not the home she grew up in and it was definitely not in the proper shape to house her tidy, picky mother. She carefully stepped around the giant R and made her way to the staircase. "Mom? It's me, Alexis. I'm home," She called again, her voice just as weak as before. She looked up the stairs and suddenly felt a surge of fear. She fumbled for a ball on her pocket and called upon her reliable and faithful Clefable to help her go up the stairs without fear. The fairy Pokémon reacted at first with disgust at the stench, but after Alexis made it clear that she was terrified, Clefable agreed to help his trainer up the stairs.
It was darker on the second floor, so Alexis had to feel around for the switch that would illuminate her bedroom. When she found it and turned on the lights, she screamed.
Months passed and finally the reporters stopped coming. The newspapers finally decided to move on from the treasure trove of stories that was the disappearance of the poor rookie trainer who was taken from blasting her way through the ranks to a mental hospital by the tragic and mysterious murder of her mother. Months passed and still Team Rocket remained at large. Months passed and Giovanni was still leading the covert operations that somehow managed to slip under the police force's nose. Months later, Alexis would only move for food. Even when the nice men said it was okay to let her Pokémon out to cheer her up, all she did was stare at the wall of her padded cell and replay the discovery of her mother's mangled body over and over again. The blood smears, the eyes left partially open, the signs of struggle, the giant R in the living room...
Her mental breakdowns came nightly.
The police had determined that the murderer had chased Alexis' mother all around the house before she finally made the fatal error of trying to escape via the upstairs window. That was when the felon cornered her and stabbed her multiple times. They then used the blood smeared on the knife to scrawl a big R downstairs. There were no signs of a break-in. They merely walked in the front door because nobody in Pallet Town was paranoid enough to lock their doors.
Now they were.
Finally, after four months of doing nothing but eating and watching her Pokémon worry about her, Alexis got a visitor. It was someone she recognized. He had come in several times during her stay to inform her about how well he was doing on his journey. More importantly, he was her childhood friend, Gary Oak. "Hey," he said in his usual mocking tone. "You won't believe what I went and did." Alexis didn't even attempt to look in his direction, but she showed she was listening by tilting her head to the side questioningly. Gary brandished a gold medal and waved it around. "I became the League Champion!"
Alexis' eyes suddenly filled with life again. She looked at Gary straight and lifted a shaky hand. She pointed at him. "You?" She croaked. This was the first time she'd spoken in a month. The last time being when she told a reporter to "please go fuck yourself."
"That's right, Alexis, me. I kicked Lance's ass and became the champion of the entire Pokémon League!" Gary boasted. He knew this was going to bring Alexis back to life, and he was glad to see it was working. Alexis shifted and he decided to continue. "Remember the day we got our first Pokémon? My Bulbasaur and your Squirtle. We decided we would race to see who could beat the Pokémon League's ass first. And now I can proudly say I beat you again."
Alexis held out her hand. "Help me up," she said weakly. Gary did as he was told and Alexis nearly fell right back down. Her Clefable was fast enough to catch her and support her continued efforts to stand up. "You may have won the battle, but you haven't won the war," she insisted.
"I'm pretty sure this race was the war, friendo," Gary shook his head.
"No. I'm going to catch up." Alexis had to pause to catch her breath. This was the most worked up she'd been in a long time. "And when I do, I'll show you who really wins the war." During this proclamation, her Growlithe got worked up and punctuated her declaration with an eager bark. Her other Pokémon made an encouraging sound and Gary smirked.
"I knew you still had the fighting spirit in you. Great work!" He held out his hand and Alexis took it without hesitation. They shook on her new challenge and Gary left her with one last "smell ya later!"
One month later, Alexis found herself on the shores of Cinnabar Island. Her Blastoise loitered in the water as she inspected this new town. The last month had been dedicated to recovering and getting her life back on track. It only took half a month to be battling again, and the second half was spent defeating Sabrina and Koga. Now Blaine was in her sights and then she would be one badge away from being able to challenge Gary one last time. She fished into her pocket and grabbed a stress toy. It was in the shape of a Poliwag and it was the toy her doctor assigned her to squeeze firmly whenever she started slipping back into that day. She squeezed the blue toy and concentrated on the battle she was about to have.
She demolished Blaine's team without much of a second thought. After admiring her shiny new badge, she had her Fearow fly her straight to Viridian City. There was no way she was ever stepping foot in Pallet again. She made her way to the gym that was closed the first time she came this way and hoped the mysterious final gym leader had finally returned. Another trainer was walking away from the gym when they crossed paths. "Hey, is this gym open?" Alexis asked him.
"Yeah, it finally opened again four months ago," the kid responded. "Be ready though, that leader is strong as hell."
"Well, so am I." Alexis responded. She marched right up to that gym, looked it up and down, nodded, and made her way through the sliding doors into the dark interior of the Viridian Gym. "My name is Alexis and I'm here to get my final badge!" She declared when the doors slid shut behind her.
A strange laugh echoed through the large chamber. Though she had never heard this laugh before, the voice it belonged too seemed chillingly familiar. Alexis' hand shot to her Poliwag stress toy and she squeezed it firmly. "Please turn on some lights...you're triggering me."
"Oh, really?" The gym leader's voice echoed. She heard it and froze. Her eyes widened before the lights flickered to life. On the other side of the stadium sat the very man responsible for everything bad that had ever happened to Alexis. At the sight of Giovanni, Alexis dropped her Poliwag and backed up in horror. "Better?" The man asked.
Alexis collapsed to the floor. The sound of his voice, the look on his face, the previous darkness of the gym, and the way she was paralyzed with fear were all taking Alexis back into the very place she worked so hard to get out of. "No. No it can't be...I'm seeing things. I—I gotta be."
"My name is Giovanni and I'm the Viridian City gym leader," the man said again. The previous time he had said it to her, his sentence instead ended in "I'm the leader of Team Rocket."
"No..."
"So, are you challenging me to a battle?" He asked patiently.
In response, Alexis wailed and screamed and cried and kicked until Giovanni was forced to have two Rocket grunts escort her out of the building. The fact that this man and his atrocities had infiltrated every aspect of her life was bad enough. She had used battling to escape because that was the one thing that never changed upon meeting the boss of the Rockets. Now that he had wormed his way into even that part of her life had meant she could not do anything without relating it back to the man who had her mother killed.
The police wouldn't believe the hysterical girl who claimed the Viridian gym was inhabited by a mob boss and a murderer. Even though she was ashamed to face him again, Alexis told Gary, but not even the champion's influence could sway the police force into investigating.
Giovanni never achieved his ambitions fully, but he never did see the inside of a cell.
And Alexis never saw the outside of her foam room again.