4

(BTW, this is one of the longest chapters in the whole fic… make time  )

I wake up the next morning to see eevee sleeping quietly on the wooden floor next to the bed. I glance at the clock on the nightstand and see it is almost 10 in the morning. I get up, get dressed, and wake Eevee up quietly. I bring it back to its pokéball and go down to the lobby and grab a muffin for breakfast. I look around the lobby and only see a few other people around. I go back up to my room, back my things, and go back down stairs and check out of the room.

Outside, I take in the environment. The dirt path in front of me worn down by travelers, trees on all sides, and a wondrous view of the city in front of me. I go down the path and enter the city faster than I realize. There aren't many skyscrapers like the big Saffron city, but it is huge nonetheless. At least compared to my tiny little Pallet. Big buildings are everywhere, and people are already flooding the streets. I look around some more when I get pushed down. I fall on my head, feel a stinging pain, and see black almost instantly.

- - - - -

I wake up calmly and look around the small room. No windows, and a toilet. Must be in a bathroom, I think, and then realize what happened. Did someone attack me? Did I land badly? My head doesn't even hurt… I get up, and feel my legs buckle as I fall down. So much for that, I think, and look over what I have. I have my pokéball still, my shirt, pants, all the essentials. But no shoes or backpack. Who steals shoes? I think, and see them near the door. Okay, this is getting freaky.

Sitting in a bathtub, I don't see anything inside the small room that tells me anything. The toilet is clean and smells fresh, the sink is shining white with the pale green tile, and the tub is white. Everything is completely clean, and no clothes are in sight.

I decide to take the pokéball and release my eevee. As the red light hits the bathroom floor, she appears, but lies unconscious on the floor. Now I'm REALLY worried… I think and return her to my pokéball.

Just then, the door opens and someone walks inside the room.

"Oh, hello there. You're finally awake. I was worried." I don't look, but can tell the voice belongs to a woman. "Hey, do you think you've been kidnapped or something?"

"Yes." I say bluntly I try to get up, but my legs buckle again and I fall out of the tub. She catches me just as I am about to hit the floor and I take a look at her. She has beautiful eyes, green ones, and a dark green vest on, with a red shirt under it. Her hair is done in to two ponytails. She has on shorts and tennis shoes. Doesn't look like one to kidnap anyone.

"Well you're wrong, I saved you." She lays me down on the floor and hands me some medicine and a water bottle. "Your legs should work now, but I had to bind them."

"What are you talking about?!" I yell, confused. I take the medicine distastefully and swallow it, not drinking the water. It goes down smooth and I feel my legs after a few seconds. I don't try to walk though, in fear of them giving again. "So what happened?"

"You don't remember? That's odd, you hit your head when it all started, not at the end… Well, I'll tell you when you can walk. You're in a hotel room with me, and you were almost kidnapped by some other evil people. Well, anyway, you're fine and your eevee will be fine as soon as we visit a pokémon center."

I decide to play dumb, to see how she responds. "My eevee got hurt?!" I then realize that that is all I know.

She nods. "Not too bad, just unconscious. You're lucky I'm here. Oh no, where are my manners. My name is Sakura. Now can you walk yet?"

She told me her name, so I decide to trust her, whether or not it's true. "Raizu." I get up quickly and grab my shoes and slip them on. I walk out of the bathroom and take in the room. A small room, the windows are covered by curtains. A green carpet covers the floor and the bed is queen size with dark green sheets. A TV rests on a stand opposite of the bed, and is normal sized. I turn to her and ask "So what happened?"

"Well," she says. "First off, you are wanted now. I don't know what you did, but you got the entire city after you."

"What!?" I say, stunned. "I've only been here a few minutes. What happened?"

"A few minutes?" She laughs. "You were out all day. It's almost night."

"Okay, this is so weird."

"Tell me about it. In fact, I was assigned to catch you. I had a uniform at the time, but now I have on normal dress."

I grow alarmed. She was supposed to capture me? This conversation is getting me no where. "What happened!?" I yell.

"Hey, chill. I am a pokémon ranger and I was assigned to catch a trainer named 'Raizu Kawashima' and I received a description. Obviously, you are him."

I freeze. I told her my name.

"When I saw you, you were wondering through the morning rush. People all going to their jobs, when some idiot bumped you and you fell on your head. I hadn't received word of you yet, so I went over and took you inside this hotel and layed you on a bench. You woke up in a few minutes. You woke up and we introduced each other."

What!? I think, She already met me? And I woke up after a few minutes?!

She can tell by the expression on my face what I'm thinking. "Yeah, I realized you didn't remember who I was, so I hadn't said my name yet. Anyway, you sat for a little while and I walked off and received a call to catch you. You were described as a villainous abuser of your pokémon. From our short talk, I didn't believe it, so I decided to walk with you. We left after the rush and talked as we went to the pokémon center. We came in and an officer attacked you with her growlithe. Fortunately, you evaded the flamethrower and called out your eevee. It took down that growlithe with, quite literally a take down, and it did so to many others as well. Unfortunately, it was hurt by this point, and officer jenny came out with her ninetails and took down your eevee with ease."

"Then I stepped in. I talked with her and defended you, seeing how much your eevee cared for you, and clearly listened to you even though they kept saying to it they can help, thinking it was abused. She just said she had orders and it occurred to me that the only higher orders than officer jenny is the mayor of viridian. She attacked you with her ninetails with a fire spin and it hit you dead on, leaving you unconscious, with no head injuries. I just got my pidgeot and flew off with you to the outside window of this hotel and jumped in, thankful no one has taken it yet. I rested you in the bathroom and changed to this casual dress so no one could recognize me as I plainly watched TV. And that was only this morning."

I sigh. "So why did I forget all that happened?"

She shrugs. "I don't know, but since I don't fall under direct orders from the police, I can do whatever I want free of punishment. I plan to sneak you out of the city tonight. Just stay here."

"Alright, but what should I do?"

"Well," She flips on the TV and I watch a news broadcast describe what transpired at the pokécenter. "You are most definitely wanted. The thing is, a simple abuser never gets this much trouble, just a few officers to watch you, not the entire city to hunt you down and attack you."

I nod, not really entirely concerned, unless the answer to my next question is bad: "What about other cities like pewter or vermilion?"

"I'll be sure to inform them that there is no reason not to trust you. Being the west-kanto pokémon ranger, I have more power over their police than another city."

I nod, relieved. "So when do we go?"

"After an hour, it'll be dark enough that you will be hard to make out. Lucky you like you're dark clothes."

I nod again. "Hey, where is my back pack?"

"That got left at the pokécenter, but I called nurse joy and told her to keep it there. She trusts me better than those police dogs." She takes a peak out the windows for any cops. "They're turning out the street lights now actually. We should go. Now. Before they search buildings."

I nod and dart for the door when I hear a voice next door, which is quite loud. "Hello, have you seen a pokémon ranger come by?"

I jump back and say to Sakura, "I think the police are already here."

She isn't even taken aback. "I was afraid of this… They are doing a search long before the city goes all lights out. Get away from the door." I do so and she takes a pokéball out and releases a seviper. "This isn't legal, but a seviper is incredibly useful." I just stand behind a wall and listen to what happens.

The person opens the door, and sounds male, I assume to be an officer. "Oh, Sakura, have you had your fun today?"

"Sure I have." She answers. "Seviper, Poison Tail!" She calls out. The man doesn't even yell. There is a dull thud and I see the seviper drag the man into the bathroom. "This'll confuse any dog who comes in here. Both you, a seviper, me and this policeman combined with a little poison scent here and there. But enough, we need to leave." And with that I dash out of the room and into the corridor. I look back and fourth and see no one.

She comes out and motions to the elevator and leads me down the hall a few doors and then to the left into a few elevators in their own little hall. She presses a button and one door opens instantly. We take it down and talk the few minutes we have to wait.

"Hehe, he took this up didn't he?" I say. "Few will be expecting us to go down the same one."

"You catch on quick little man." She says.

The door opens and we dash out, looking around to make sure no one is around. The man at the front desk is still there, but doesn't even notice our presence. She dashes up to him and says, "$200 says you don't tell anyone." She smacks the money down in front of him.

"Consider it done." He says, as he messes with a few computers and says, "Not even cameras knew you where here. Now hurry up. That's wasted money if they walk in here."

She nods and we both slowly approach the doors that lead outside. She opens it slowly and looks outside. She moves outside slowly and I follow her. I look up and down the street. There isn't a soul around, not even people who go on evening strolls.

"This is too weird." I say under my breath. "No one is out in the late evening?"

"It's our only shot. They would expect us to wait until it was way too dark to see anything." She answers. We dash silently down the street, eastward, and turn south in hopes of getting to the pokémon center before anyone notices us. At each street corner we take a peak around, using towering fences, buildings, or hedges that are on nearly every street. We saw only one policeman, but he didn't notice as we dashed past him.

We got to the entrance of the pokémon center and walked in. Nurse Joy acknowledges us by hugging me. "Thank the stars you are all right. Here, I need to see you're eevee." She swipes the pokéball from my waist and I just kind of stand there like a statue. "You are lucky to have such a wonderful and kind trainer, little eevee." Nurse Joy says to the pokéball.

I turn to Sakura and ask something. "This has been on my mind for a while. Are you saying my eevee got KO'd by a single fire attack? FIRE SPIN nonetheless?!"

She sighs. "I didn't want to tell you but I guess I will. You lost you're memory… because you saved you're eevee. After a few minutes of battling the ninetails, Officer Jenny did something unforgivable." She motions to follow her to some chairs and tells me to sit down. I do so, still confused.

"Why don't you just tell me? It can't be THAT bad." I say.

She shakes her head. "It is. I don't know how, but she got her ninetails to curse you're eevee by pulling one of her own Ninetails's tails. You got in the way of that attack."

I fall of my chair. Landing on the ground butt first, I just sit there for a few seconds taking in what I was just told. Ninetails's curses can kill, give bad luck, and even ruin lives for future generations.

"I heard the curse she laid on you too. When a trainer commands a curse, it must be said out loud. You are cursed to die soon." She says darkly.

I continue to sit there and say one word as I think about how imminent my death might be. "Time?"

"I'm not sure. But you will feel random spasms of pain that will cripple you for minutes to hours until that time, and the closer the time, the more often they happen. I'm vowing to travel with you until we discover a way around this. A "cure" of some type. A ninetails' power is mysterious so we must find a mysterious source of power."

I hardly hear her, but nod anyway. I haven't done anything. Or was it…

Nurse Joy runs in and lays eevee on the ground and tosses me her pokéball. "Go on Raizu. Just know I told my sisters about you and they'll get you any help they can give." She also tosses me a small watch shaped object, which I barely catch as I toss it again and again into the air as it finally lands in the palm of my left hand. I look and realize I was given a pokétech, a watch that can to several functions, include give me time, be a calculator, remember recent caught pokémon, and etc.

I thank her and pick up my Eevee, who has a very worried look on her face. It chants its name a few times and starts to cry. "I bet you said you wished it would have been you and not me, eh?" I say, and she barely gets in a nod. I regretfully return her to her pokéball and walk toward the door. "My duty as a trainer is to get pokémon as strong as we can be, human and pokémon alike, and defeat all who oppose us in our quest, or those who are meant to be trial to us. LOOK AT ME!" I scream. "I've already failed and I've been gone from home for barely two days. I'm going to die and leave my eevee with no one..." I begin to sob. All because of some ridiculous misunderstanding all those years ago… I think.

"Hey, cheer up." Says Sakura, comforting me. "I know where we can go. Lavender Town has a tower where pokémon who have died are buried. Strange powers are at work there, and I'm sure something can save you."

"And if not!?" I yell. "Am I just going to die?! I'm not even a teenager yet. Haven't gotten a job, been laid, married, seen a parent enter retirement, NOTHING!! I haven't even met my girl friend in real life! ONLY OVER THE STINKING PHONE!" I walk out the door slowly and just leave, heading north to the exit of the city. With eevee fine, I'll just take care of anyone in my way. Despite how I felt inside the pokémon center, I know I can find a cure. I don't want some ranger getting in my way. I will live, and become the greatest trainer ever to roam the earth.