Author note: I lied.
"Remind me again why should I tag along with you?" I ask Jim.
"Because Gade, you're the only person I trust enough," Jim responds. "Also, it's lonely to go alone."
"But of course." Holding onto my forehead, I let out a sigh to express my tiredness.
I don't know how it happened but Jim somehow convinced me to visit his hometown with him. So right now, we're currently waiting for Petrel to get his Alakazam.
"Seriously, you guys need to get your own Teleport pokemon," Petrel complains as he takes out a pokeball. "I'm not your uber, man." Releasing his Alakazam, Petrel then asks. "So where to?"
"Viridian City." Both Jim and I answer his questions at the same time, making our voices mashes together.
"Huh, what a coincidence." Petrel calmly states. "Ariana just went there about half an hour ago."
"Ariana?" I wonder what's she doing there.
"Yeah. Heard it was something to do with the Gym." Petrel elaborates. "She probably went to open it since it was closed for quite some time now."
Hold on. "Wait- Open the gym? You meant to tell me she's a Gym Leader?"
"Proton didn't tell you this?!" Proton looks at me, a bit surprised. "Well, since you're going there anyway, why don't you ask her in person?"
"Not sure if she would tell me. I don't make a good impression, remember?" I remind Petrel of my last conversation with her. Let's just say it didn't end on a good note.
"She will. Don't worry." Petrel reassures me. "Besides, you're bound to find out." He then gestures for us to come closer. "Alakazam is ready for Teleport so hold on tight." Jim and I do as Petrel instructs.
Suddenly, everything around us goes distorted as our surroundings change from the interior of the Rocket Hideout into an entrance to the Pokemon Center. "Alakazam!"
"Man, I'm never going to get used to this," Jim complains as he holds onto his forehead.
"Now do you understand why I don't want to come with you?" That was a lie. Truth is, I specifically told Alakazam to make it woozy for Jim so that next time, I would have an excuse to not go with him. "Anyway, thanks Alakazam."
"Alakazam!" Alakazam waves at me before he Teleports away.
"Now let's get going, shall we?"
Viridian City, aka the city of green, is a city that surrounds itself with forests from all sides, hence the name Viridian. It is located in the western part of Kanto and directly connects to the Pokemon League, making the city also known as "the gateway to Indigo Plateau".
"So... where's your house?" I ask Jim while looking around for a roof structure.
"It's actually next to the Gym," Jim responds as he leads me to his house. Eventually, we reach the place where Jim lives at. "By the way, I want to introduce you to my grandpa. Do you mind coming inside?" Opening the door, Jim gestures for me to come in.
At the time, I wasn't paying attention to him as my eyes were looking straight right at the person standing in front of the Gym. "...I'll be back in a sec." Excusing myself, I proceed to march toward the person as he notices me approaching. "Long time no see, Mr. Smell ya later!" I greet Blue.
Blue look at me and smiles back. "Heh, Red told you about my signature line?" He chuckles.
"Nah, it's all over the Pokenet." I take out my Porygon phone and show him the article I save. "Still haven't finished reading it but anyway, how have you been man?"
"Good, good... until I found out that the Gym is closed." Blue lets out a sigh. "Been here for over half an hour now and still no sign of anyone coming." Huh, what a coincidence. "...except you, of course."
"That's because the Gym was abandoned a long time ago." Out of nowhere, A mystery but familiar voice explains the reason behind it. I turn my head to the source of the voice and notice a recognizable red crimson hair. The moment that our eyes connect, she greets me. "Fancy meeting you here, Gade."
"Fancy meeting you here too, Ariana." I return the gesture
Right now, she is not wearing her usual Rocket Executive uniform. Instead, she wears a black mini dress with a brown leather jacket on top, black knee-high socks, and black boots. "Hey! My eyes are up here!" Oops, I must've stared for a bit.
"Sorry! Can't help but admire y'know." I scratch the back of my head. "Moving on, I assume you're here to open the gym?"
Ariana stares at me, judging my behavior. "...Proton tell you about it?" She ask- ...more like demands actually.
"No it's actually Pet- I mean, Yes! It was Proton who told me about it, including your son." Shit. I accidentally blurt that last part out. Can't help it since I'm not good at performing under stress, especially in the presence of big mommy dommy- Oh my Arceus I really need to get l̶a̶i̶d̶ help.
"My... son...?" Ariana raises her eyebrow, eyeing me suspiciously.
"...yes." I am now sweating bullets. So much that Blue almost snickers at my expression.
"...Putting that aside, I assume you're here for the Earth Badge, correct?" Ariana asks.
"Um... No? I-"
"Wasn't talking to you." Oh. "Blue Oak," Ariana calls out his name, grabbing the attention of Professor Oak's grandson. "I'll be waiting for you inside."
"...Simp."
Making our way into the gym, we are met with a dusty interior of the inside. The 2 stone statues standing next to each other are shown to have cracks and cobwebs all over. Most of the spin tiles seem to be broken, and completely unfunctional. At least the stop tiles are still yellow... is it supposed to be yellow?
"Sorry for the wait, I have to look through some of the old stuff." Ariana returns back with a small box in her hand. Searching through it, she then tosses something toward Blue. "Here you go."
Blue catches it mid-air before inspecting the item, revealing it to be an Earth Badge.
"Hold on- That's it?" I question. "No dramatic speech. No epic battle. Just like that?"
"Gade. Look at me and please tell," Ariana calls my attention. "Do you really believe I can beat Blue Oak in a pokemon battle?"
I open my mouth to try and argue but nothing comes out. Opening my mouth and closing it again, I remain silent. "Exactly. Now that's out of the way," Ariana continues. "Why are you here?"
"Pardon?" I ask.
"I assume you're not here for a business trip since the boss gave everyone a week's break. " Ariana elaborates. "So you're either here for a reason or it's just a coincidence."
"Well... since the Skitty is out of the bag, might as well." Inhaling and exhaling, I calm myself before continuing. "Petrel told me that you could tell me about Viridian Gym Leader."
Ariana is studying me through her gaze, making me feel small under her presence. "...I'm supposed you 2 should know this." Walking toward the stone statue, Ariana presses the button underneath, lighting up the whole Gym. "Take a seat. This is going to take a while."
A long time ago, there was 3 young trainer in Pallet Town, Samuel, Agatha, and Giovanni. Samuel was friendly and always open up to help the others, whereas Agatha, was the complete opposite of him. She was mean and always seclude herself from people. As for Giovanni, he was a bit sinister but always diligent when it came to getting the work done.
Samuel and Giovanni knew each other ever since they were babies. They grew up with each other, completely inseparable until Agatha came into their life. The young lady was annoyed with them at first, but Samuel was persistent. He always talked to Agatha and tried to help her out, to the point where Giovanni would constantly tease Samuel about her. Although every time that Samuel approached her, she would battle Oak to try and get him to go away, but he was always better than her, and so she would battle him again and again. Eventually, the time that they spent together began to mean a lot to Agatha, forming into something more than a friendship. The 3 of them would then end up as best friends ever since.
Until on that fateful day... when the first Indigo League Championship took place, Samuel and Giovanni were the last 2 remaining contestants. Their battle was fierce, rocking the entire audience. It was a battle to not be forgotten as Rhydon used Earthquake and Tauros used Double Edge. But the sad truth still remained that only one of them came out victorious, and it was none other than Samuel Oak, the World First Champion. Following the second place was Giovanni and the third place was Agatha. Both of them were offered the position of the Elite four which Agatha graciously accepted. To everyone's surprise, Giovanni rejected the offer. Instead, he chose to go for a less honorable title as the Gym Leader. But little did they know... Giovanni actually had another plan for himself.
Feeling bitter about his defeat, Giovanni started an organization called "Team Rocket". They would later grow influence and power, capturing the attention of the Champion itself. Eventually, Samuel managed to break into one of their operations, preparing to arrest whoever that's responsible for leading the organization. However, nothing would prepare him for meeting the face of his old best friend, Giovanni himself. Confused and in disbelief, Samuel demanded an explanation, to which Giovanni graciously explained to him that he chose the path of strength. In order to achieve that, he had to abandon all the moral ground and did whatever it take, even if it meant starting a criminal organization.
Couldn't bring himself to turn his friend in, Samuel pleaded for Giovanni to stop this madness, but all Giovanni did was give him a sad look. Feeling guilty, Samuel stepped down from the title of Champion and quit pokemon battling entirely. He then later dedicated himself to researching a pokemon and pursuing his career as a pokemon professor. Agatha was not happy with the outcome by the slightest. She felt absolutely betrayed from both of her best friends and became resentful. Afterward, their relationship went sour and everything went downhill afterward.
Meanwhile, on Giovanni's side of thing, he started on his secret weapon called "Project: Mewtwo" alongside Dr. Fuji and Blaine. They began working on their project inside the basement of Cinnabar Mansion. In due time, their project had come to a success. Mewtwo was created. It was a powerful pokemon, capable of mass destruction. Giovanni was ecstatic... until he realized that he couldn't control it. As powerful as Mewtwo could be, with no control, there's only chaos. What was left of the aftermath was a burnt-down mansion, no trances of Mewtwo left, only ashes.
Many years had gone by and Team Rocket became one of the most influential criminal organizations in the entire underworld, controlling multiple parts of the region, including Cerulean Cave which happened to be where Mewtwo was last seen at. Then as if Arceus showed his graces, the news about Silph Co.'s development of the Masterball reached Giovanni's ears, a capture ball that claim to catch any type of pokemon without fail. With our hand on the Masterball, Mewtwo will be captured and Team Rocket will become the strongest empire on earth.
Finishing her story, Blue and I are flabbergasted at the amount of backstory Ariana has told us. "Now you are cursed with the knowledge like I do." Getting up, Ariana then takes her leave.
"Wow... just- ...Wow." I break the silence. "I mean- ...this feels so surreal."
"Yeah, I get you." Jim respon- Waitwhatthefuck?!
"Mother of Xerneas!" I exclaim. "When did you get here?!"
"I've... been here from the start?" No, you're not! How did I not notice you?! "Maybe you should pay more attention to your surroundings." Jim comments.
"Anyway!" I try to change the topic. "We have a more important thing to worried about. Specifically, Mewtwo."
"What do you mean?" Finally snapping out of his daze, Blue asks.
"Tell me Blue, do you seriously think that putting a pokemon into a tiny ball would immediately make it listen to you?" Immediately, Blue gets what I'm trying to convey. "If anything, we need to get to it first!"
"But how? Wasn't Cerulean Cave known for its violent pokemon? Not to mention that it was heavily guarded by the League Official." Blue inquires.
"You forgot one thing, Blue." I then point at myself. "I'm a criminal!" For once, I can proudly say that to myself.
Nidoking (Male)
Nature: Rash
Type: Poison/Ground
Ability: Sheer Force
Item: Life Orb
Move set
- Earthquake
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
- Sludge Bomb
Cubone (Male)
Nature: Naughty
Type: Ground
Ability: ?
Item: Thick Club
Move set
- Ember
- Bone Club
- ?
- ?