Pokemon Legacy

Note: Bob Marco is a reference to Bob Marley and "Don't Worry, Be Peppy" is a reference to "Don't Worry, Be Happy"

"So, are you absolutely certain it was him?" Sabrina asked as the female trainer nodded and replied, "I wasn't so sure of it at first. I figured maybe the similarities were just coincidence, but it had to have been him."

The male nodded before grinning at the female, the girl rolling her eyes. She hated to admit it, but the male trainer had been right all along.

"What tipped him off, exactly?" Sabrina asked as the female said, "He had black hair that went down to his shoulders, a mellow expression in his eyes most of the time and wore an all black outfit with the sleeves ripped off of his shirt."

"He also had a Drilbur that he called Sammy," the male added as Sabrina smiled and said, "Well, that's excellent news. Where did you find him?"

"Applewood Forest," the female replied as Sabrina shrugged and replied, "Well, for all I know, he's already taken care of."

The agents stood there silent, rather shocked to have heard this as the female asked, "Um... aren't you going to send a bunch of people after him?" Sabrina shaking her head and replying, "No need. I've sent Jack there to get his first Pokemon, and if he's as good as I think he is, he'll be more than enough to take care of Nathan. Besides, I need most of my agents here to help me fulfil my main goal and to help me capture more powerful Pokemon. I can't have them wasting valuable time on one person, be him a wanted man or not."

"Well, he seems to be a very skilled trainer," the female interjected, "and he has a really good ally on his side, too. Are you sure a beginner like Jack who always had to rely on Pokemon from the company vault before can do this?"

At that moment, Sabrina slammed her palm against the desk and scowled before saying ominously, "Never question Jack! He is my best employee, got it!"

The two gulped and trembled, nodding in fear as Sabrina sighed, "Dennis, Adele, you're excused," the two trainers leaving Sabrina's office as the woman took a deep breath. She had no reason to stay mad. Today was a good day for her.

Morning soon rolled around as Nathan awoke, stretching and yawning before noticing Jason already up and preparing a breakfast with more of the fruit in the forest, this time not putting a ton of spices on the fruit. Nathan figured this must have simply been because it was breakfast and that didn't require as much preparation as dinner.

Dana soon awoke too as the three released their Pokemon except for Sammy who Nathan figured was too badly injured to eat. As he watched his Venipede examine his food, Nathan sighed and said, "Sammy would have just eaten it right away without a second thought," Dana looking at Nathan and patting him on the shoulder, replying, "It's okay. It's not like Sammy's dead or anything. She just needs to recover."

Nathan nodded in understanding, still having trouble getting over this. He'd never allowed her to take in this much damage anymore. Did this make him an irresponsible trainer?

After breakfast, the trio soon found themselves in a quaint town known as Oaktown. As the name implied, everyone had an oak tree on his/her property. This was certainly interesting as Dana noticed the Center, pointing to it.

A Pokemon Center like a hospital for Pokemon. These placed had the best technology for healing the sick and injured. They were capable of curing anything a Pokemon had no matter how severe it might have been.

As the group entered, a young woman looked up from behind a counter, a big smile on her face as she waved saying, "Hi there! Welcome to the Oaktown Pokemon Center! I'm Nurse Cheerfulness!" Nathan blinking as he stared at Dana, the girl explaining, "All nurses have surnames after their personalities. I don't really get it either."

With that, Nathan approached the desk and said, "Well, I guess all of our Pokemon need healing, but this one especially needs help," holding out Sammy's Pokeball before adding, "She took in a lot of damage earlier today..." trying not to show too much concern on his face.

The nurse simply took it and nodded saying, "Well, I should be able to heal your Pokemon in no time," before putting on a cheerful smile, adding, "As the great Bob Marco says, don't worry, be peppy," the woman stepping into the back where all the equipment was.

With that, Nathan faked mild disinterest as he sat down on a couch. Dana was amazed that he could be so patient after the way he went on about how bad this situation was earlier. However, she once again failed to realize that Nathan was only pretending to be patient. The truth was that he wanted to see positive results as soon as possible. His heart was beating at an alarming rate because of how scared he was.

All the while, Jason was looking around the Center saying, "Geez, it looks exactly the same as the last one I went to," Dana staring as he turned and replied, "Oh, I've been to the Pokemon Center in Groerberg countless times, what with Mighty losing frequently and all that."

Dana nodded, figuring that was the case. However, there was something else on her mind: this visit to the Center was boring. Dana desperately needed to strike up a conversation that didn't involve Sammy's state or Jason's lack of success. But what could she talk about with these two that wasn't personal or depressing?

Nathan soon interrupted the silence as he said, "I've never allowed Sammy to be hurt this badly before..." Dana looking at him as the boy added, "Maybe I'm not that good of a trainer."

Dana then proceeded to do something she never thought she'd ever do in her life. She rose her hand and struck the side of Nathan's face, both his and Jason's eyes wide with shock.

"Get over it!" Dana exclaimed, "It's one occasion! You still won, right! I'm sure Sammy wouldn't want you acting all mopey about this! You are the best trainer among the three of us! Don't let Sammy passing out ruin that for you!"

Nathan blinked, pretending not to care about her word, however, he couldn't deny that she was right. After all, he'd given Dana a similar speech after she'd failed to catch a Pokemon for the first time. It would have been hypocritical for him to get all mopey because of one screw-up.

After a few more minutes, Jason noticed a machine with a screen that had buttons in front of it, the boy walking over and pressing some of the numbered buttons, Dana and Nathan staring with curiosity. A ringing sound soon came from the machine as a few seconds later, a young woman's face appeared on screen.

"Hey, mom, what's up?" Jason asked as the woman groaned, "Oh god, you actually found a TV phone?"

"Yes, I did," Jason replied, blinking before asking, "Why do you sound disappointed?"

"Because when you left, I wasn't supposed to hear from you again!" the woman retorted, "You were supposed to have moved out of my life and left me and your father alone to do our own things! Why do you have to keep creeping back into our lives!"

"It's not like I'm coming back," Jason remarked before scowling and adding, "I also don't quite care for your lack of affection towards your own son."

The woman took a deep breath and nodded, pinching her forehead and replying, "You're right, Jason. I guess it's only in my best interest that I worry about you to some degree," then took another deep breath, adding, "Are you taking good care of yourself?"

"Sure am," Jason replied, "My cooking skills have come in handy when it comes to survival purposes and I recently made a couple of friends. I'm travelling with them right now."

"If only that second part were true," the woman said with a sigh as Jason retorted, "I have so made friends!" then signalled the others to come over, Nathan and Dana shrugging as they got up and peered over Jason's shoulders at the screen, the woman's eyes going wide with shock, a smile forming on her face as she squealed, "Oh my god, thank you so much for befriending my son! Now he won't need to rely on me for moral support anymore!"

With that, the woman went off to suggest a celebration party with Jason's father in the background, forgetting to turn off the phone as Jason sighed, turning it off himself. Dana patted the boy on the shoulder as he let out a sigh.

"No offence, man, but your mom's kind of a bitch," Nathan stated as Jason shook his head and replied, "No, no, I've learned to get over it over the years. She didn't even want to have me. And believe you me, she'd let me know it constantly after I turned fourteen and was deemed old enough to deal with it."

Dana and Nathan stood there silent for a few seconds. This conversation had just become awkward. Dana's eyes darted back and forth as the girl searched for a distraction, soon noticing a flier posted on the wall of the Pokemon Center, walking over to it as Nathan decided to follow her, also wanting to avoid talking about Jason's parent issues. Jason soon wanted in on what they were looking at too as he walked over.

"Wow, the Ultimate Pokemon Challenge," Dana said with her eyes sparkling as Nathan asked, "What's that?" Jason replying, "It's when trainers have to win ten badges from the local gyms in order to compete in a big tournament for Pokemon battles. Whoever wins is deemed the best in the region and wins a super awesome prize."

"You could probably win that," Dana said with a smile, turning to face Nathan, "You should totally enter."

"Thanks, but no thank," Nathan replied, and this time his disinterest wasn't fake. He really didn't feel the need to fight a bunch of over-competitive egomaniacs for some kind of trophy or whatever it was they were offering. Not to mention facing eight of the region's most powerful trainers for his own selfish benefit sounded like a colossal waste of time.

"Well, I'll certainly be trying out for it," Dana said with a smile as Jason added, "You might wanna get another Pokemon before trying, though," Dana nodding and replying, "I know. I'm gonna go and catch something after Pyro recovers and then take on the first gym leader."

Luckily for her, this would not require backtracking as this particular town didn't have a gym. Nathan saw no problem with this as at least he wasn't the one wasting his time fighting these guys.

After another few minutes, the Pokemon were returned as Nurse Cheerfulness smiled sweetly saying, "Have a cheerful day," waving at the three who simply left, Jason saying, "Okay, that woman freaks me out," even Dana having to admit that much cheer was too much.

Jason suggested the group go to the local store to stock up on supplies for the journey ahead, stating that they'd also need travel bags, Jack just happened to walk into town, Oshawott now riding atop his head. The boy looked around, fear in his eyes as he whimpered, "Can you please go back to hugging my leg? At least then, you're slightly less noticeable."

At that moment, he spotted Nathan as he blinked, pulling out a wanted poster issued by Team Shadow as he grinned wickedly, forgetting about Oshawott being atop his head for the townsfolk to see. Just as Sabrina had explained, he had been sent to find and deal with Nathan. Part one had now been completed and now it was time for part two.

While the three headed toward the store, Jack ran over and skidded to a halt, stopping in front of the trio while shouting, "I FINALLY FOUND YOU, NATHAN!" silence filling the air as Nathan stared before asking, "Excuse me, do I know you?"

Jack's eyes went wide open, veins forming within them as he held a forced grin on his face, his body twitching all the while. Oshawott felt his master's anger as he leaped off of the boy's head, ducking as he knew his master was going to explode.

"HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW ME!" Jack retorted, fury in his expression, "WE USED TO BE PARTNERS!"

Dana and Jason stared at Nathan as he blinked and said, "Oh, Jack, it's you. Geez, did you get a haircut or something?" Jack pausing as he said, "Oh, right, it was longer back then..." before scowling and adding, "You still should have recognized me."

After a few seconds, Nathan sighed and asked, "Look, I know why you're here, but please. We worked well as a team, as much as it pains me to admit that. Can't you just look the other way and let me live life as I want?"

Dana and Jason were both confused by this as Jack retorted, "No! When you left, a hole opened up in my heart, a hole that can only be filled by making you pay for what you did! I don't know if Sabrina cleared this up with you or not, but once you join the organization, you are not allowed to leave!"

"What organization?" Jason asked, Dana adding, "Nathan, what's he talking about?"

Nathan let out a sigh and turned to them before stating, "Look, guys, I used to be a member of Team Shadow, alright? That means I do know who those agents from the other day are and I know why they seemed to know who I was."

Silence filled the area as Jason's jaw dropped, Dana holding her hand over her mouth. Did this mean Nathan helped steal Pokemon from innocent trainers? Jason wasn't too torn up over hearing this, though, as he could see how much Nathan regretted his former partnership with the organization and decided not to question this further. Dana, on the other hand, wasn't even sure if she could trust Nathan again, resisting the urge to punch him in the face for keeping this hidden from her.

"Oh yeah, he was one of our best," Jack replied, "He only had one Pokemon but that didn't stop him from being a valuable asset."

"Look, that life is behind me!" Nathan retorted, narrowing his eyelids, "I never even wanted to join your ranks! I only did because I had to!"

This explanation should have been enough for Dana to understand, but this only led to more confusion in her mind. She couldn't imagine any reason being good enough to convince someone to do such a horrible thing.

"Well, if you won't return willingly, I'll make you!" Jack spat, pulling out his Pokeball as Nathan asked, "What about that Oshawott?" Jack staring at the otter and replying nervously, "Oh, no, that's not my actual partner. He's just decoration. My actual partner is in this ball," Oshawott ignoring these lies as he clung to Jack's leg once again, the boy sighing and hurling the ball forward, his Axew taking form and taking on a battle pose.

Jack examined his opponent before pulling out his Pokedex, looking over Axew's profile. Seeing as this was a dragon type, he knew right off the bat that Zelda wouldn't be particularly useful, but his Venipede and Sammy were effective enough to stand up to him.

However, Jack dared not send in Sammy yet. He didn't want Sammy to end up knocked out again as he pulled out his Venipede's ball shouting, "GO HANZO!" the ball opening up as the Venipede took form, Jason saying, "Wow, good name."

Jack blinked and said, "I guess I should have expected you of all people to catch a new Pokemon during your travels, but it doesn't matter. I'll beat this one and your precious Sammy-Wammy," Jack remarking, "Don't make fun of Sammy," Jack snickering. Nathan was showing a lot more caring for the situation than usual, that's for sure.

However, while all this went on, Dana was barely paying any attention. She was still in absolute shock over what she'd heard. Was Nathan really a former criminal?