^_^; Sorry that took so long. . .I've been in a computer-free zone for. .
.too long! Well anyway, I still don't own Pokémon, I doubt I ever will. . .
The Pokémon Masters
Chapter 2
Mark set his alarm clock for four in the morning, telling his parents that he had to get up especially early for his paper round to deliver extra newspapers. He woke up Eevee, who had been sleeping at the bottom of his bed, acting as a hot water bottle and took the ticket from beneath Eevee's basket in the corner of the room. He put on a tee shirt and jeans, both of which were black and his trench coat - the one his father didn't approve of. He tucked Eevee into his bag with some warm blankets, partially doing the zip up. It was very cold outside and there was rain - he didn't want Eevee to catch a cold.
He tiptoed down the stairs, his bag on one shoulder. He was sure he looked very much like a burglar from one of the programmes his sister watched on the television, but he couldn't remember what it was called. As he approached the front door with the keys he turned them as quietly as possible and slipped out, putting the keys back though the letterbox. They barely made a sound when they fell onto the doormat, though Mark would probably not have heard it for all the noise the rain was making. He walked along the street a little, turned left and towards Professor Oak's laboratory. The lights were on in the laboratory - they always were nowadays. Professor Oak was always conducting experiments and couldn't sleep. It had been like that ever since Gary had disappeared.
Mark let himself in - the door was not locked and walked to the room in which he and Eevee had first been introduced. Eevee jumped out of the bag and ran to the far end. That had been where he had first set eyes on his human companion. Mark looked to the other side of the room and saw Professor Oak, old and frail, typing on the computer.
"Professor?"
"Mark? What are you doing here? And so early?"
"I'm going to Saffron City. I wanted to tell you so that someone knows I'm okay. I would have told Mom but she'd have worried."
"What? You can't go to a place like Saffron alone! You know about Team Rocket, don't you?" Mark nodded. Team Rocket was an organisation run by Giovanni. They had once stolen Pokemon but now their interest was world domination and their main targets were Pokemon Masters.
"Gary told me this would happen." Oak said, "He told me a lot of things.but I ignored them all." He seemed to be saying this to himself but then he turned back to Mark. "Mark, promise me you won't go outside of Pallet Town."
"No. You don't know what it's like living with my family. Mom's the only one who loves me. Dad and Isabelle hate me."
"Your father has a lot of enemies, Mark," said Oak, "Enemies that would kill him and his family if they could. It's not safe outside of Pallet Town."
"I'll find Gary for you." Professor Oak bit his lip.
"Gary's dead." Mark shook his head.
"Then how come no one found his body?"
"He's dead, Mark," Oak told him, "Look for him if you want - I doubt I can stop you."
"Will you tell?" he asked, knowing how good a friend the professor was to his father.
"No," he said after a long silence, "But you must promise to stay out of trouble and out of sight. People will be looking for you, friends and foes. Trust no one."
"No one?" he asked. Professor Oak sighed.
"You will be going to Viridian first?" Mark nodded. "Then trust only Nurse Joy. I know not if Officer Jenny is to be trusted, and do not give your name to anyone." Mark was sure the professor was overreacting. Perhaps his father did have enemies, but even so, he was not defenceless against them, and many people had nothing to do with Team Rocket.
"Promise me that?"
"I promise," said Mark, his fingers crossed behind his back, just in case, "Could you give me a lift in May's car, Professor?"
"Just as far as halfway," he said, "After that you're on your own."
Professor Oak stayed true to his word - he took Mark halfway to Viridian and dropped him off by the trees on the side of the road.
"Be careful," was the last thing he said before turning the car around and going back. Mark and Eevee started towards Viridian and saw its light shining on the hillside. He thought of his family and then of himself and Eevee, and quickened his pace away from his home.
The path was smooth and worn because so many trainers left Pallet Town each year for Viridian along this path. There were a few eyes in the darkness amongst the trees watching him, but to them he was just another Pokemon trainer. He saw a sign on the roadside - 'Welcome to Viridian City'. Perhaps he would have felt more welcome if the sign was actually nearer to the city, rather than about half a mile out, but it didn't take him long to reach his destination.
It was much bigger than Pallet Town, which was so small it was almost village-like and warm, welcoming light shone from every house. He saw the Pokemon Gym from which his father had won his eighth and final Kanto League Badge. The Gym Leader had then been Giovanni, head of Team Rocket but now it was empty, the windows boarded up and the door's paint was peeled off.
"You won't find anything worth your while in there," said a voice behind him, "That place has been deserted for over twenty years.and it's haunted." The speaker was a Rocket, Mark saw as he looked at her. She had blonde hair, purple-blue eyes and very pale skin, and looked about his father's age, or possibly a little older.
"Oh really?" he said, pretending that her Team Rocket uniform didn't surprise him in the least.
"You in Team Rocket?" she asked.
"I'm flattered that you think I'm skilled enough," he said, smiling a little.
"I may be skilled as an agent," she said, also smiling, "But you must have heard of the infamous blunderers of Team Rocket - Jessica and James."
"Jessie and James? Yeah, my friend said they used to chase these three kids around all the time," he quickly made up, "Pretty pointless if you ask me. Why chase amateur kids when there's all those Pokemon Masters out there?"
"Exactly," said the Rocket, "And why chase Ash Ketchum, when you can catch his son with half the hassle?" She took out a pistol and pointed it at his head, "You may have made a good Team Rocket agent," she said, "But you'd make a good corpse too.goodbye." As she began to move her finger towards the trigger a gunshot was heard and she fell to the ground, screaming in agony, and for good reason. Blood poured from her head, staining her perfect hair and forming a moat around her. Her face was twisted in horror and she was paler than before, her eyes red with the blood that filled them. The red substance exited from her mouth as well, making her look rather like a vampire if such a creature really did exist. Mark looked around for the killer, and then to the Pokemon Gym. A cloaked male figure stood in the now-open doorway with a rifle.
"You ought to be more careful," he told Mark, "It's obvious you're a Ketchum, even in this light. Hide your eyes."
"What? How will that help?"
"They're your father's eyes."
"They're not," said Mark, though he knew they were identical, "These are mine."
"Hide them."
"Why should I trust you?" The man stepped out of the shadows. He had long black hair and sharp eyes and looked as though he could be about twenty years old. He didn't look at all familiar, but Mark felt strangely comfortable in his company.
"Where's the Pokemon Center?"
"I'll take you there," the man answered, "My wife is the nurse." Mark remembered Professor Oak's words - he could trust Nurse Joy. It took about five minutes to reach the Pokemon Centre and when they got there Nurse Joy greeted them warmly.
"You must be exhausted," she said, looking to Mark, "It's so early in the morning to be up and about. Especially when you have come all the way from Pallet Town. Your Eevee looks in better condition than you do!" That was certainly true as Mark was still in shock. Having a gun pointed at your head and then being presented with a dead body was not his idea of fun, though Isabelle would probably have found it so.
"You too, Nick," she said to her husband, "It's not good for you to get so little sleep."
"It's a good job I was about," he said, "Or there would be no Mark Ketchum any more, at least not a live one." Mark expected Joy to get overexcited and start mothering him but instead she just nodded.
"There's so many Rockets about nowadays," she said after hearing the full story, "They can't all be evil can they?"
"Most of them are cowards," said Nick, "Afraid Giovanni will take a disliking for them if they don't join him."
"I had no idea there were so many of them," choked Mark, "I thought there were just a few, you know."
"There are approximately fifty Rockets per hundred people," Nick told him, "Call me cynical, but I don't trust anyone."
"You'd better get some rest," said Nurse Joy, "It's only safe to go out after nine anyway so you can't do much now."
"Okay," said Mark, as she led him upstairs to a bedroom.
"Sorry about the pink wallpaper," she said, "It's our daughter's room - she's in a school in Johto as an exchange student."
"How old is she?" Mark asked.
"Twelve. She's not quite so keen on pretty pink any more either. She simply won't be a nurse though, however much I try to persuade her. She's set her heart on being a rock star." Mark smiled. That had been something he had wanted to do until he was ten and had begun writing more.
"I'm going to be a writer," he said and watched the nurse smile.
"Really? That's what Nick does in his spare time.or at least used to. Neither of us have much time nowadays. I'll leave you now then."
"See you later," he said, falling back onto the bed with Eevee and dreaming whilst awake.
There! Finished! Please R&R with any comments cuz I'd love to know what you think.
The Pokémon Masters
Chapter 2
Mark set his alarm clock for four in the morning, telling his parents that he had to get up especially early for his paper round to deliver extra newspapers. He woke up Eevee, who had been sleeping at the bottom of his bed, acting as a hot water bottle and took the ticket from beneath Eevee's basket in the corner of the room. He put on a tee shirt and jeans, both of which were black and his trench coat - the one his father didn't approve of. He tucked Eevee into his bag with some warm blankets, partially doing the zip up. It was very cold outside and there was rain - he didn't want Eevee to catch a cold.
He tiptoed down the stairs, his bag on one shoulder. He was sure he looked very much like a burglar from one of the programmes his sister watched on the television, but he couldn't remember what it was called. As he approached the front door with the keys he turned them as quietly as possible and slipped out, putting the keys back though the letterbox. They barely made a sound when they fell onto the doormat, though Mark would probably not have heard it for all the noise the rain was making. He walked along the street a little, turned left and towards Professor Oak's laboratory. The lights were on in the laboratory - they always were nowadays. Professor Oak was always conducting experiments and couldn't sleep. It had been like that ever since Gary had disappeared.
Mark let himself in - the door was not locked and walked to the room in which he and Eevee had first been introduced. Eevee jumped out of the bag and ran to the far end. That had been where he had first set eyes on his human companion. Mark looked to the other side of the room and saw Professor Oak, old and frail, typing on the computer.
"Professor?"
"Mark? What are you doing here? And so early?"
"I'm going to Saffron City. I wanted to tell you so that someone knows I'm okay. I would have told Mom but she'd have worried."
"What? You can't go to a place like Saffron alone! You know about Team Rocket, don't you?" Mark nodded. Team Rocket was an organisation run by Giovanni. They had once stolen Pokemon but now their interest was world domination and their main targets were Pokemon Masters.
"Gary told me this would happen." Oak said, "He told me a lot of things.but I ignored them all." He seemed to be saying this to himself but then he turned back to Mark. "Mark, promise me you won't go outside of Pallet Town."
"No. You don't know what it's like living with my family. Mom's the only one who loves me. Dad and Isabelle hate me."
"Your father has a lot of enemies, Mark," said Oak, "Enemies that would kill him and his family if they could. It's not safe outside of Pallet Town."
"I'll find Gary for you." Professor Oak bit his lip.
"Gary's dead." Mark shook his head.
"Then how come no one found his body?"
"He's dead, Mark," Oak told him, "Look for him if you want - I doubt I can stop you."
"Will you tell?" he asked, knowing how good a friend the professor was to his father.
"No," he said after a long silence, "But you must promise to stay out of trouble and out of sight. People will be looking for you, friends and foes. Trust no one."
"No one?" he asked. Professor Oak sighed.
"You will be going to Viridian first?" Mark nodded. "Then trust only Nurse Joy. I know not if Officer Jenny is to be trusted, and do not give your name to anyone." Mark was sure the professor was overreacting. Perhaps his father did have enemies, but even so, he was not defenceless against them, and many people had nothing to do with Team Rocket.
"Promise me that?"
"I promise," said Mark, his fingers crossed behind his back, just in case, "Could you give me a lift in May's car, Professor?"
"Just as far as halfway," he said, "After that you're on your own."
Professor Oak stayed true to his word - he took Mark halfway to Viridian and dropped him off by the trees on the side of the road.
"Be careful," was the last thing he said before turning the car around and going back. Mark and Eevee started towards Viridian and saw its light shining on the hillside. He thought of his family and then of himself and Eevee, and quickened his pace away from his home.
The path was smooth and worn because so many trainers left Pallet Town each year for Viridian along this path. There were a few eyes in the darkness amongst the trees watching him, but to them he was just another Pokemon trainer. He saw a sign on the roadside - 'Welcome to Viridian City'. Perhaps he would have felt more welcome if the sign was actually nearer to the city, rather than about half a mile out, but it didn't take him long to reach his destination.
It was much bigger than Pallet Town, which was so small it was almost village-like and warm, welcoming light shone from every house. He saw the Pokemon Gym from which his father had won his eighth and final Kanto League Badge. The Gym Leader had then been Giovanni, head of Team Rocket but now it was empty, the windows boarded up and the door's paint was peeled off.
"You won't find anything worth your while in there," said a voice behind him, "That place has been deserted for over twenty years.and it's haunted." The speaker was a Rocket, Mark saw as he looked at her. She had blonde hair, purple-blue eyes and very pale skin, and looked about his father's age, or possibly a little older.
"Oh really?" he said, pretending that her Team Rocket uniform didn't surprise him in the least.
"You in Team Rocket?" she asked.
"I'm flattered that you think I'm skilled enough," he said, smiling a little.
"I may be skilled as an agent," she said, also smiling, "But you must have heard of the infamous blunderers of Team Rocket - Jessica and James."
"Jessie and James? Yeah, my friend said they used to chase these three kids around all the time," he quickly made up, "Pretty pointless if you ask me. Why chase amateur kids when there's all those Pokemon Masters out there?"
"Exactly," said the Rocket, "And why chase Ash Ketchum, when you can catch his son with half the hassle?" She took out a pistol and pointed it at his head, "You may have made a good Team Rocket agent," she said, "But you'd make a good corpse too.goodbye." As she began to move her finger towards the trigger a gunshot was heard and she fell to the ground, screaming in agony, and for good reason. Blood poured from her head, staining her perfect hair and forming a moat around her. Her face was twisted in horror and she was paler than before, her eyes red with the blood that filled them. The red substance exited from her mouth as well, making her look rather like a vampire if such a creature really did exist. Mark looked around for the killer, and then to the Pokemon Gym. A cloaked male figure stood in the now-open doorway with a rifle.
"You ought to be more careful," he told Mark, "It's obvious you're a Ketchum, even in this light. Hide your eyes."
"What? How will that help?"
"They're your father's eyes."
"They're not," said Mark, though he knew they were identical, "These are mine."
"Hide them."
"Why should I trust you?" The man stepped out of the shadows. He had long black hair and sharp eyes and looked as though he could be about twenty years old. He didn't look at all familiar, but Mark felt strangely comfortable in his company.
"Where's the Pokemon Center?"
"I'll take you there," the man answered, "My wife is the nurse." Mark remembered Professor Oak's words - he could trust Nurse Joy. It took about five minutes to reach the Pokemon Centre and when they got there Nurse Joy greeted them warmly.
"You must be exhausted," she said, looking to Mark, "It's so early in the morning to be up and about. Especially when you have come all the way from Pallet Town. Your Eevee looks in better condition than you do!" That was certainly true as Mark was still in shock. Having a gun pointed at your head and then being presented with a dead body was not his idea of fun, though Isabelle would probably have found it so.
"You too, Nick," she said to her husband, "It's not good for you to get so little sleep."
"It's a good job I was about," he said, "Or there would be no Mark Ketchum any more, at least not a live one." Mark expected Joy to get overexcited and start mothering him but instead she just nodded.
"There's so many Rockets about nowadays," she said after hearing the full story, "They can't all be evil can they?"
"Most of them are cowards," said Nick, "Afraid Giovanni will take a disliking for them if they don't join him."
"I had no idea there were so many of them," choked Mark, "I thought there were just a few, you know."
"There are approximately fifty Rockets per hundred people," Nick told him, "Call me cynical, but I don't trust anyone."
"You'd better get some rest," said Nurse Joy, "It's only safe to go out after nine anyway so you can't do much now."
"Okay," said Mark, as she led him upstairs to a bedroom.
"Sorry about the pink wallpaper," she said, "It's our daughter's room - she's in a school in Johto as an exchange student."
"How old is she?" Mark asked.
"Twelve. She's not quite so keen on pretty pink any more either. She simply won't be a nurse though, however much I try to persuade her. She's set her heart on being a rock star." Mark smiled. That had been something he had wanted to do until he was ten and had begun writing more.
"I'm going to be a writer," he said and watched the nurse smile.
"Really? That's what Nick does in his spare time.or at least used to. Neither of us have much time nowadays. I'll leave you now then."
"See you later," he said, falling back onto the bed with Eevee and dreaming whilst awake.
There! Finished! Please R&R with any comments cuz I'd love to know what you think.