"Mmm…peaches" White sighed in delight. She grabbed a few from the basket and placed it in her tote bag.

"You're a little obsessed with peaches. You know that, right?" Black teased.

"I'm only curious how you aren't. Best fruit, easily." White responded while putting 3 more peaches in her bag for emphasis.

Black and White had taken many trips to the market in Accumula Town. While their parents were hard at work, often times they'd send them to the market to collect groceries. But their favorite part of the small trips was traveling Route 1 accompanied by Professor Juniper's Minccino. If they were ever attacked by a wild Pokémon, defending themselves with Minccino's help gave them a small taste of what being a Pokémon trainer would be like.

Mincinno sniffed the bag full of peaches and other groceries. With a face of disgust, she pulled one of the peaches out and replaced it with another peach from the basket.

"Mincinno's always the perfectionist" Black commented.

White patted Mincinno's head. "Hey, she gets me the best peaches so I'm not complaining"

"You think our future Pokémon will be this much of a perfectionist?" Black said.

"Only one more week until Chimchar comes in! I can't wait!" White squealed. She grabbed a gallon of milk from one of the drink aisles.

"This is gonna be great" Black agreed. "We've been waiting for this moment for so long! Do you know what region you want to go to?"

"I was thinking Alola. I love the tropics, and I'm sure Oshawott will love all the water." White answered. "You mind grabbing the eggs? My hands are a bit full."

"Sure thing" Black leaned down, doing his best to ignore the stack of cheese sticks. "Only the necessities" he said to himself as he grabbed a carton of eggs. He and White placed all the groceries on the counter. The shop owner greeted them as his Bellossom began scanning the items and placing them in bags.

"How are you kids doing today?" he said gleefully. He handed them both a candy bar. "On the house" he winked.

"Thanks Mr. Jenkins!" Black smiled. Suddenly a buzzing sound came from his jean's pocket. Black took out his phone. "Oh hey, it's my mom! White, you and Mincinno good with the groceries? I'm gonna take this outside."

White gave him a thumbs up. "Go ahead man. Minccino and I are the one-trip wonders. We'll take care of it"

Minccino hopped in agreement. "Chino!"

"Thanks guys!" Black said and then headed outside.

Mr. Jenkins chuckled. "Black's mom is always finding new and incredible stuff, huh?"

White began placing bags on the ground. Mincinno slipped her arms through holes and grunted. "Haha, I'll take the milk Minnie, don't worry about that" White commented. Mincinno sighed and let go of the milk. White addressed Mr. Jenkins once more. "It's crazy the kind of stuff she finds! It's awesome how passionate she is about archeology."

"I do admire that. I enjoy the simple life though. Running the store and taking care of my wife are plenty for me. Not to mention little Bell here! Quite the bundle of joy, not to mention helping me keep this place open" Mr. Jenkins commented.

White smiled. "You're quite the good help Bell"

Bellossom placed the eggs in the top of the bags. She smiled back at White. "Lossom! Bell, bell!"

"Okay, that'll be 200 Pokedollars" Mr. Jenkins said.

White removed her back pack and took out her coin purse. She grabbed the necessary amount and held it in front of Mr. Jenkins with an open palm. After a couple seconds passed, she noticed Mr. Jenkins had not taken the money. She glanced at him. His titanium white eyebrows were furrowed. His eyes were filled with a mixture of curiosity and fear. "Mr. Jenkins?"

The shop keeper ignored White's comment. "Excuse me sir, is there something in particular you're looking for?" White turned to see the figure of Mr. Jenkins extreme focus. Behind her stood a man wearing a grey hoodie. He had a scar on his cheek, red hair, and an agitated expression. The man had his hands in his jacket pocket and stood in line behind White. The rest of the store was empty.

"What I'm looking for?" he sounded like an older teenager, probably 17 or 18. "I'm looking for a bit of humanity. But you two clearly don't have any."

"Excuse me?" Mr. Jenkins sounded confused.

"You both use your Pokémon as tools; confined to their Pokeballs and stay obedient to their pathetic trainers and masters. Your Bellossom shouldn't help you run a shop. That Minccino shouldn't help you carry your groceries. You both disgust me"

"Now listen here son – "Mr. Jenkins began to raise his voice. White grew angry at the teenager's words. Both Bellossom and Minccino were equal partners to their trainers, exactly how she would treat Oshawott when he arrived in Nuvema Town. Her anger was interrupted by the barrel of a handgun aimed towards Mr. Jenkins.

"No, you listen here old man. Give me all your money, and release your Pokémon. Both of you do it, NOW!"

Mr. Jenkins raised his arms. "Hmph, so you're a common thief. I'll give you the money, but Bellossom is family"

White backed out of line and tugged Minccino with her. "Minnie, tackle him, I'll get his gun" she instructed.

But before Minccino could attack, she faced the fangs of a Raticate towering over her. "This is your last warning girl. Release your Minccino before my Raticate does it by force" the man scowled

White huffed. "So, you despise us for using Pokémon as tools yet you use one yourself"

"A small price to pay until all Pokémon are set free. Then I will release this Raticate" he explained. "Now, the register, open it"

Mr. Jenkins left one arm up as he used the other to open the drawer filled with his hard-earned money. He lifted his arm again. "I don't want any trouble son. So, I'm going to back away and you take as much as you want." Mr. Jenkins slowly walked to White's side. The man entered the cashier's booth, his gun fixated on Mr. Jenkins and White. Bellossom stood by Mr. Jenkins and quivered in fear. The man stuffed every last coin and bill into a sack and tossed it over his shoulder. He began to back out of the store. What he had not noticed was the comment Mr. Jenkins had said to Bellossom.

"Now Bell!" Mr. Jenkins shouted. Before the thief could react, Bellossom delivered a blinding fast razor leaf attack at the man. But instead of scratching the thief, every piece of foliage had aimed towards the barrel of the gun and jammed the sidearm. The thief attempted firing it, but the gun backfired. He tossed it to the ground.

"Minnie, tackle the Raticate!" White commanded as she dashed towards the thief. Within seconds, White had tackled the thief to the ground.

"Raticate, headbutt!" the thief ordered. Minccino had thrown herself at the Raticate, but the thief's Pokémon had a better reaction time than White had anticipated. The Raticate dove under Minccino and slammed its large head into Minccino's torso. The small chinchilla Pokémon flew into a glass door, knocked out cold.

"Mr. Jenkins! Call the police!" White shouted as she kept the thief pinned to the floor.

"Raticate! Fury swipes!" the thief called out. Before White had realized what attack the thief had said, hot fire spits scraped her back. She fell and the thief threw her off. Raticate continued to strike. Blow after blow to White's lower back caused her to crumple and instinctively cover her face. She wailed in pain as the Raticate scratched her to shreds. She felt a warm liquid ooze down her side. She barely heard it when Mr. Jenkins yelled "Bell! Sleep powder!" After a couple seconds, White felt the Raticate stop its attack and heard a faint THUD as it fell to the floor.

The thief wobbled in a drowsy state. "Ghetsis will rise. You cannot stop..him…" he muttered and then collapsed along with his Raticate.

White moaned. Her back felt as if barbed wire had been implanted into her spine. Mr. Jenkins knelt down beside her. "Bell, quick, use sweet scent. Hopefully some aromatherapy will ease the pain"

"Bellossom bell" Bellossom nodded and began to sway her petal skirt. Pink powder fluttered through the air. White gave a small whiff. She teared up at the delectable scent. "Peaches…" she grunted.

Black burst through the door. He scanned the scene. The thief and Raticate had passed out on the floor. White's lower back was scratched and bleeding profusely. "Oh my…White!" he knelt beside her and clasped her hand. He ignored their clamminess and White's quivering breathes. "You're gonna be okay. I promise. Everything is fine" he assured, though he didn't know if the comment was for White or for him.

"The authorities and an ambulance are on their way. We'll get her taken care of Black" Mr. Jenkins told him as he hung up the emergency phone call.

"B-Black?" White muttered.

"White, don't talk. It's ok, doctors will be here soon"

"Black, where were you" White teared up. She gulped in pain as she choked on her words.

"White, please, I'm so sorry, I should've been in here. I don't know how I missed him. I could've helped"

"Black…Black it hurts" she said softly. White's eyelids grew heavy. She felt on the verge of passing out.

"Don't move, we're going to take care of you" Black tucked her hair away from her face.

"Black?"

"What is it?"

"Black, I can't feel my legs"


"Wow, you tackled a that guy?" Reggie questioned.

White chuckled. "He was totally nuts, right? Turns out the guy was part of Team Plasma. That guy, Ghetis, he gives me a bad vibe. Luckily one of my friends has been dealing with them in Unova"

Black hated reliving that moment. White never remembered her comment, asking where he had been during the robbery. But it plagued his memory. He felt he had failed as a friend that day. He knew that it was the thief's fault, but had he been there to help stop him, White would still have her legs; she would've gone on the adventure with T.V. that she always wanted.

"If I ever see that guy again, this time I'll run him over. I'm practically a cyborg on wheels" White boasted. "So where did you get your Dragonair and Teddiursa?"

Reggie smiled in reminiscence. "Greg was my first Pokémon. I got him when he was still a Dratini. He was a gift from my dad. I named him after my Uncle Gregory who's the strongest trainer I know. Teddiursa on the other hand, I just met"

"Here's my question, where did you even come from?" Black questioned. "One second we're struggling against a fire and the next you come exploding out of the ground like a Drilbur and save everyone"

Reggie sighed. "Okay, so that team Plasma gang you were talking about in Unova. Well there are other gangs all over the different regions"

Black nodded. "Yeah, I actually encountered some thugs while in Hoenn. Team Aqua, I think, or Team Magma. It might have been both"

"Right, well Kanto is no exception" Reggie explained.

White interjected. "Wait, I saw on the news that Team Rocket had disbanded"

"They have. But there's another gang. And honestly their much worse" Reggie explained. "I don't know much about their plans, but it's nothing short of global domination and total control over Pokémon"

"Well how come no one has heard of them?" Black asked.

"They're all underground right now. That's actually where I had come from. I managed to find their base and tried to discover more, but I got caught and had to run. That's why I wanted to get out of Vermillion City so fast. Some of the grunts were right behind me" Reggie decided to leave out the part where he had worked for them. These two were total strangers to him. They seemed nice, but he wasn't sure how they'd react to him being a grunt of said evil organization.

"While I was down there I managed to save Teddiursa. But there are a lot more Pokemon trapped down there. I have no idea what they're doing to them"

Teddiursa looked up from Reggie's shoulder. He had been munching on another Poketreat. He shivered at the thought of still being in a cage. The small bear cowered close to Reggie.

"Well it looks like he trusts you. And if you're a friend of Pokémon, you're a friend to me!" White cheered.

Oshawott posed like a cheerleader in White's lap. "WOTT WOTTA WOTT" he agreed.

Reggie chuckled "Thanks White. And you too, Tidal Wave was it?"

Black shrugged. "You seem alright"

Reggie smiled. Black and White reminded him of Jess. Sure, she continued to be a grunt of Malachi, but they often stood guard together. They talked about life back home, their favorite Pokémon, and their favorite foods. Reggie wondered if Jess would also realize how messed up Malachi's gang was. How could she not? They watched over hundreds of imprisoned Pokémon! Nevertheless, he still considered her a friend.

Teddiursa gave Reggie a small nuzzle in gratitude. "I guess that leaves one more thing" Reggie said as he pulled out a Pokeball. "What do you say Teddiursa. Do you wanna be partners?"

The tiny bear hopped off his shoulder in front of him. He stared at Reggie. The memories of his cage concerned him. A Pokeball seemed similar. But he looked into Reggie's eyes. Partners he had said. He was no longer a prisoner, Teddiursa had a friend.

"Ursa!" he smiled and nodded. Reggie smiled and tossed his Pokeball at Teddiursa. The ball opened and a beam of rainbow sucked the bear inside. The ball fell to the ground and after a few moments clicked signifying a successful Pokémon capture.

Reggie picked up the Pokeball and let Teddiursa back out. Teddiursa leapt back to his now trainer's shoulder. "Awesome, you and Greg will be best friends. From now on, you will be known as Grizzy the Great and Powerful!" Teddiursa shook his head. Reggie chuckled. "You're right, that's to long. Just Grizz will do"