Chapter Three

Articuno's New Home

The next day went better than I thought it would. I woke up in my bed, which was more than felt I would get. I knew as soon as I called her a bitch that I would be out the door and sleeping in a cardboard box down the street, but some how me threatening to leave hit her hard. After that she let me go and hardly said anything else.

"Pi!" Pichu yawned, as he stretched in his new leather jacket. He had slept in it all night, and I must say, he did look pretty cool in it. "Pi, Pi, Pi." He chipped, rubbing his yes with his little paws, waking himself up. He opened his eyes wide and let out a big smile as he buried into my hair. "Pichu!"

"Ha, ha," I laughed. "Okay, okay! I'm up, I'm up!"

I turned away from Pichu to see a large black nose in my face. "Arff!" Arcanine yipped as he licked my face.

"Okay, already guys, I'm up." I laughed as I rolled out of bed. Today was Saturday, one of the two days out of the week that mom didn't work. This made me hate this place even more. I hated the fact that I had to come back home after beating the Elite Four, that I had to come back into this house, that I couldn't get away when I ran for it. But most of all, I hated how I did nothing as I watched my best friend sail away.

I heard footsteps come up the stairs and stop at my room. I was petting Arcanine and letting Pichu rustle my hair around when mom bust through the door.

"What are those things doing in my house?!" She screamed, pointing at Arcanine and Pichu.

"Well right now they are waking up," I said with a smile. "Maybe you should too, you're still asleep after all."

"I know that I am well awake, and I don't need a brat kid like you telling me what to do!" She screamed, pointing her finger at me. "Now get those filthy animals out of my house!"

"Why don't you get out of this house?" I said to her. "That would make everyone happy."

"Shut your mouth!" She said. "When you can straighten up your act you need to get downstairs. I just got a call from Professor Oak, and we need to talk." After that she slammed the door.

"Great," I said. "Well, I guess there is no need hiding it any more." I reached under my bed and pulled out a bag of pokemon food. I poured it out into two bowls before I walked out, leaving Pichu and Arcanine to their breakfast. I suppose I could have left them in their pokeballs, and then I would never have to feed them. But I couldn't do that, I love to let them get out and get some fresh air, even if it was just from my room.

I made my way downstairs. Stepping over the mess of toys, and even saw Alisa watching TV and holding that little Teddy I got her. It didn't have a jacket or the helmet piece that went with it, but she still loved it. I walked into the kitchen and saw mom setting at the table looking at some charts with her computer open. She took off her glasses and closed her eyes. "Get over here." She said harshly.

I walked over there, pulled out a chair, and sat down in the chair adjacent to her. "What is it?"

"Don't act like you don't know," She said, popping in a CD into her computer. Attached to her computer was a small hologram simulator and projected the replica of Articuno that Professor Oak had. I'm such an idiot, I can't believe I trusted that man. "Why didn't you tell me about this?" She asked.

"Why should I have?" I asked back. "It's not like you ever did anything for me. On top of that, Articuno has been hiding out with me ever since all those Team Rocket members came after it. I have been hiding it, never letting anyone know about it. If word got out that I had a rare pokemon like that, there is no telling what would happen."

My mother just sat there, motionless, staring a hole through me with her dark green eyes.

"So why did Oak give you this information?"

"I'm your mother," she said. "He needed my okay to be able to publish this in his Pokedex project, because you can't legally do it yourself."

"Well, did you?" I asked.

"I told him to wait." She said. "It really all depends on what you do with it. If you give it to me for research purposes then he can publish it, but only after we are done with it."

"And what if I don't?"

"I'll get it some time." She said with a smile. "Like I said, you have nothing that is legally yours until you turn 18. Everything you have, I own."

I know she wants that bad, heck she wants all my pokemon bad, but I have never seen her like this. It's true that she has been bugging me about letting them test on my pokemon, but I just can't stand to think about that. "What kind of test? And what will you do with it? Where will it go? Will it be harmed physically or emotionally?"

"We will be testing it for physical features, power levels, natural environment, interactions, and other basic stuff. Nothing is known about these pokemon, nothing! So it will be held in the utmost care." She insured me.

"I'll make a deal with you." I said, pulling out Articuno's pokeball. "I will let you study this rare creature, but you have to let me go."

She simply looked at me sternly.

"You have to let me go, do whatever I want when ever I want. No more babysitting, no more being cooped up in the house, and all my pokemon will run free."

"No." She said, slamming her hand on the table.

"Alright, now lets make this better then," as I waved the pokeball in front of her face. "Now, on top of all that, whenever you get done with your studies you have to release the Articuno back into the wild."

"What? No!" She screamed.

"This is just going to get harder and harder for you," I said, putting the pokeball back on my belt. "Now, on top of all that, Sean and Alisa will be able to have their own pokemon as soon as they get old enough."

Catching on, she sat back down. "And how can you back that up. Who's to say that I don't just take it from you when you deposit it into your PC, or whenever you go to heal it at the pokecenter?"

"I have never used it, not once." I said, smiling. "It has been laying dormant ever since it was knocked out by the cave collapsing on top of it. It is a 100% wild pokemon, which would make it even more desirable to you all." I propped my feet up on the table. "I know how much you hate it, but if you want this pokemon, you have to play by my rules."

She closed her eyes and exhaled heavily. "I will allow all of those." She said, with some regret in her voice. "But, I will allow one more thing, if you do something else."

"What?" I said with curiosity in her voice.

"I will allow you to travel out side of Kanto as much as you want, as long as you give me the right to study your pokemon."

I put my seat back down on the floor. "What kind of studying?"

"Nothing major, or harmful." She spoke, opening her eyes. "We just want to study their power and their abilities. Probably only once a week, if that."

I looked at her, not saying a word. The room was silent for a long time, whenever I stood up, and walked to the coat rack. "I'm going to think about this," I said, grabbing my new jacket. "Arcanine, Pichu!" I called out, as the massive dog ran down the stairs, Pichu riding on back, still wearing his jacket and goggles.

"Where are you going?" Mom called out.

"Where ever I want." I said, slamming the door behind me.

* * *

It felt great to be able to ride on Arcanine again. The wind blowing through my hair, gripping onto Arcanine as we leaped over fences, ran across yards, and stepped over bushes. I missed riding on him; it felt so much cooler than riding on my bike, though he wasn't as fast. Something that surprised me though was how strong he still was. Even though we were stuck in that house for so long, he was still just as powerful as he was the day we fought and beat all the Elite Four.

We ran by the Pokecenter in Viridian, the first place I saw Shonna. In the blink of an eye we ran past the spot where Growlithe fought the Houndoom that was picking on Shonna. Before long we were in the Viridian Forest, where I caught Beedrill. It was so amazing how fast we were going. Just to get to this spot was close to a several hour walk, and we passed over it in less than a few minutes.

I tugged on his hair on his neck, just a little, to let him know to stop. I hopped down, petting him, and removing Pichu from my head, who was pretending that there was a steering wheel on my head. His goggles were down over his eyes, and he was making sounds like a racecar shifting gears. "Piiiiiii, chuuuuuuuuuu!" I chuckled as I put him on the ground.

"Well," I said, looking at Arcanine. "I guess I should tell everyone." I looked over at a nearby pond, and released Gyaradose into it. I threw up Pidgeot's pokeball into the air, as she fluttered out. I looked down to the ground and tossed out Umbreon, and Dragonite's pokeballs as well. They all came out, stretched, yawned and ran around to get their legs out of cramps. When they all were done stretching, I spoke to them. "I'm sorry I haven't brought you all out very much." I said. "As you all know, Shonna and all of her pokemon have left." I squeezed my hand into a fist. "And mom wont let me have pokemon running around." They all looked around, very glum. "But, I have finally hit pay dirt. Turns out that she will let us go on another journey if I allow her to study you guys every now and then." They all looked at me concerned. "Don't worry," I said, "They'll take good care of you all, and you wont be there forever. It's only like, maybe a few hours out of the week." They all still looked really iffy on this. "And, if they don't treat you good, you all are strong enough to break out of that place. Heck, if you wanted to you all could make that place nothing more than a bunch of rubble." I smilled putting a hand on Umbreon, and motioned for Pidgeot to land beside me. "So what do you all say? A new adventure, new place, new friends? Are you guys up for it?"

"Gar!" Gyarados bellowed, shooting a hydro pump into the air.

"I guess that's a yes for you then," I said with a smile.

"Breon!" Umbreon smiled, as he brushed up on my leg.

"Pidge!" Pidgeot chirped pushing her head against mine.

"Nite!" Dragonite grinned as he gave me a monster hug.

"I guess that does it then," I smiled, looking over at Arcanine and Pichu, who were setting away from us. They both looked very sad, and not sure about this new change that was going to happen. I could tell they really didn't want to be studied, or be away from me. I smiled as I walked over to them. "It's okay you two," I said, patting both of them. "If you all don't like that idea then you don't have to be studied." They both grinned, as Pichu hugged my leg and Arcanine gave me a big lick.

"Ha, ha," I laughed, looking back at all of them. "You all are sure about this, there won't be any regrets?"

They all shook their heads as they all danced around and played. I think they were all as happy as I was to be going on this journey.

* * *

When we got back home it was past dark. I was gone all day, but I didn't care. Me and my pokemon had a great time, something we hadn't done in months. I mounted off Arcanine, still letting Pichu play in my hair, who was once again pretending it was a racecar.

We walked into the house, which was dead silent. I guess the kids were already asleep.

"Have fun?" My mother said as she turned on the lights.

I closed my eyes, the light was bright, especially since I just came in from the dark. "I guess so, why?"

"Oh, no reason." She said, walking into the kitchen. "There's spaghetti and meatballs on the stove if you want them."

"Um… thanks." I said. What is up with her? She never gave me dinner, I always had to make it myself.

"There's also pumpkin pie for desert."

I stopped in the hall, with Arcanine behind me. Why was she doing this? Dinner was strange enough, but making me my favorite pie too? Is she trying to butter me up so I will give her Articuno, or my pokemon? I crept into the room, sliding a chair out, as Arcanine came in a laid down beside me. Pichu was still in my hair, but now I think he was asleep. "Buttering me up wont help." I said as she handed me a plate of spaghetti.

"I know." She said. "You're a lot like me in that regard." She sat down infront of me at the other end of the table. "Kyle," She paused. "I am proud of you."

I choked on my food, coughing it up on my plate, "What?!"

"I truly am, Kyle. You have some how managed to follow your heart, find your dream, and go for it." She took a deep breath. "It is almost too hard to believe that my son became the champion in the Indigo League, and its even harder to believe that he caught the rare Articuno."

I didn't say anything, just glared into her eyes, trying to find out what she was up to.

"Regardless of my preaching and keeping you away from everything that has to do with being a pokemon trainer, you somehow got out and became the best in the entire region." She stood up and pointed a finger at me. "Don't get me wrong, I will never like those creatures! But if that's what you want to do…" She stepped away from the table, now in a quite voice. "You can go. I don't even want you to let us study on those pokemon if you don't want. They are yours, they are your friends."

I couldn't believe it, she was dead serious! What made her change her mind in this way?

"You're 16 now Kyle. You are still a minor, but you are also well over the legal age to be a pokemon trainer." She turned back to me and rolled an old worn out pokeball on the table. "Go and be something that I couldn't."

I gazed at the old decrepit ball that was on the table. It was covered in dirt and grime, and looked to be well over 20 or so years old. I looked back up at her, amazed and full of anger, all at the same time.

I slammed my hand down on the table, scaring Pichu awake. "What? Why didn't you tell me you were a trainer?"

"Because I wasn't!" She screamed, teary eyed. "I wanted to be so bad. Bad enough to steal one of my fathers."

"Grandfather was a trainer?" I asked

"No," She said. "He was a gym leader."

I sat back down, not really knowing what to say.

"He was the leader of the fire gym on Cinnabar Island, but he loved pokemon so much that he never cared about anything else. Battling was like a drug to him, he was hooked, and always wanted more and more. It even got to a point where I went hungry for days."

I said nothing, just set back and listened.

"One day I got jealous, mad and hateful. I wanted to be a trainer so my father would like me, and maybe spend time with me. But I didn't have any pokemon. So I borrowed my dad's. When he found out he beat me, repeatedly. Shortly after that day, he died. Leaving me and mom alone."

"So you hate pokemon because you father loved them more than you?" I asked.

"I don't know…" She said. "When he died his pokemon was all I had left to remind me of him, but they too were old. I wanted to be a trainer, to take up where my father left off, but it wasn't too long after that they died too."

I walked up to mom, walking in front of her, and put a bright red pokeball in her hand. "I wont let our dreams die. Please take care of my friend."

She looked into her hand and saw Articunos pokeball. She looked back up at me surprised. "I said I didn't want it though."

"I know," I said. "That's why I gave it to you." I turned around and walked over to the doorway where Arcanine was standing. "You can study some of my pokemon too. The ones that are okay with it will be in the PC when they aren't in use." I walked a little father. "Oh yeah," I said. "I also told them that if you all treat them bad in anyway for them to destroy the entire building. And trust me, they will."

I walked upstairs, grabbing my book bag and stuffing it with a sleeping bag, pillow, change of clothes and some other things I might need. Mom ran upstairs and saw me doing all this. "Are you leaving now?"

"No," I said, swinging the book bag over my shoulder. "I'm going to travel around Kanto for a bit, then I'll decide what to do." I waked downstairs, opening the splintery door with Arcanine behind me.

"Will you be coming back before you leave?" She asked.

"Tell Alisa and Sean I'll let them play with the pokemon before we leave." I hopped on the back of Arcanine, and rode off into the night.