"Th-this can't be ha-happening…" I stammered.

"Ben, I… I don't know what to say." Jennie said between breaths.

I pulled the cellphone from my pocket and dialed my dad's number. Ring…Ring…Ring… no answer, I tried again and again, No Answer, No Answer. "No, no, no," I tossed my phone aside and began punching the ground, my tears falling with the punches. This time Jennie grabbed me trying to restrain me to ensure I wouldn't do anything stupid like run into a burning building, again. I fought the restraint as hard as I could, but between the crying and pounding the ground, I had nearly nothing to fight with. I had given up, falling limp into Jennie's restraining arms and blacking out.

The light burned as I opened my eyes. The powder blue walls materialized around me as I regained consciousness. I looked around the seemingly familiar surroundings, "Jennie?" I sat up.

"Nice to see you're awake now Ben," a soft voice greeted me. "Mrs. Gray," I said immediately recognizing her soft features, she looked almost exactly like Jennie, except she has brown hair, Jennie's blond hair came from her father, "how are you? Where's Jennie? Is there any news on my Dad?" I had so many questions but the only response I earned was "Jennie's downstairs, and I'm fine thank you." Clearly she had avoided my question about my father intentionally, not wanting to burden me with any new worries or confirmed fears. I always admired the natural instincts of mothers, knowing exactly what to say and when to say it. I only now noticed the bandaging around the knuckles on my right hand; evidently I had been punching the ground rather hard. "You're awake!" Jennie's voice rang from the doorway, she ran to the bed I had been laying in and threw her arms around me. "I was so worried about you when you passed out; luckily Officer Jim had to help me get you inside and upstairs."

"I just don't understand how something like this would happen… I have to find out who would do this." I sat up in the bed and scanned the room for my pokéballs and my shoes.

"What do you think you're doing, mister," Jennie firmly pressed her hand to my shoulder, preventing any movement on my part, "You have just suffered serious trauma resulting from the loss of a loved one. You are certainly in no condition to go out and scamper around the region looking for bad guys." Although she would never admit it Jennie sounded more like her mother with each passing day.

"Jennie, I'm going. Regardless of what you think, I'm leaving. I will find out who did this, and I will get my revenge. I don't ca…"

"Then I'm coming with you." She interrupted, seeming very proud of herself.

"Um, no, you're not."

"There's nothing you can do to stop me, Ben. I'm going and that's final."

You are just like your mom! I thought, "Fine, you can come. It doesn't seem like I have much of a choice anyway." I moved her hand from my shoulder and grabbed my three pokéballs from the wooden desk adjacent to the bed. "Let's be going then." I said impatiently.

"Ben, wait," Mrs. Grey began, "your father wanted you to have this." She extended her hand; a Pokéball with a rock symbol etched in the top was nestled in her palms. "Thank you," I took the Pokéball and clicked the button in the middle, the ball instantly enlarged. I flicked my wrist and from a white beam of light a small Pokémon materialized. It was gray in color and a large horn protruded from its head. "Larrr," the Pokémon began to waddle towards my feet. I reached down and scooped him in my arms. "So he left me a Larvitar," tears welled in my eyes.

(Flashback)

I sat in front of the wall mounted television holding plush dolls of my favorite trainer, Shane Hammer, and his most popular Pokémon. The bond he shared with his partners is what put me in awe, the way he could give vicious commands, but be so kind once his partner was hurt, or the battle had ended, made me aspire to be like him. His combination of Tyranitar and Steelix crushed his opposition and won him the double battle title of the indigo league. I aspired to have a bond with my Pokémon like his.

"Hey there champ," my dad greeted me, coming down the stairs, "how are you enjoying the battle?"

"It was great Poppa, Shane won again!" I exclaimed.

"That's great to hear, buddy, but it's getting pretty late why don't you let me go tuck you in?" he proposed. I simply lifted my arms as to hug him; he wrapped his arms around my torso and pulled me to his side, my feet dangling high above the ground. "Now, Ben, you're going to be eight years old soon, and you know how important the bond between a trainer and his Pokémon is. So, I've convinced your mother to let you have your very first Pokémon," he chuckled at the wide grin spreading across my face, "So, who do you want your partner to be?"

I knew exactly who I wanted, "Larvitar!" I proclaimed.

My dad frowned; he hated to disappoint anyone, especially his only child.

"Larvitar is an incredibly rare Pokémon Ben. Larvitar are only found on Mt. Silver, in the Johto region. I'm so sorry, is there anyone else you might want?"

"Riolu!" I smiled, not missing a beat.

"That can be arranged," he smiled, laying me down into my bed and covering me with my blanket, "but I promise you one thing, champ, you will have a Larvitar one day." He kissed my forehead, turned off the lights, and shut my door.

(End of Flashback)

Sure knows how to keep his word I thought.

"Ben, are you okay?" Jennie asked noticing the tears falling on Larvitar's head (he was clearly displeased at this, shaking slightly to try to rid his face of the occasional tear).

"You ready to leave?" I avoided answering her question.

She nodded to me, clutching her bag strings tight, as though she was a bit nervous. Jennie and I were surprisingly different trainers, despite our overall views on Pokémon as a whole.

My team was built out of solid physical attackers, who could decimate any defense, unfiltered brute strength, was my style. Beat anyone and anything into submission. On the other hand, Jennie preferred to see the beauty in battle, she used flying Pokémon to illustrate this, often having her Pokémon preforming air maneuvers to gracefully destroy her opponents. I was eager to see how her style had evolved beyond the years, and it seems a battle was just what I needed.