Eater of Dreams
Chapter 1
Ash covers everything.
Smoke drifts lazily from what's left of the two story farmhouse. Pidgey trill sleepily from the trees and Nidoran begin to emerge from their holes as the sun whispers a promise of dawn incoming.
A man kneels in the ash in front of two graves. One is twice as large as the other. He has not yet gathered markers for the graves, as he can only kneel with his fists clenched and his head bowed. Tears make tracks on his ash covered face and his forehead is grimy from constantly swiping hair from his eyes.
The man is numb, but he can feel the departure of the few Gastly that had arrived hours ago, drawn by death. From the corner of his eye he notices one drifting toward him. He tries to stand but staggers, catching himself with a hand in the dirt of the smaller grave. He recoils, then turns to find the Gastly right behind him. A dark, perfect sphere of a head sits inside of a purple cloud; tendrils of haze drifting around it in an unseen wind. The Gastly stares curiously at him with large white eyes and tiny dark pupils; its mouth curved in a slight frown.
Suddenly the Gastly's eyeballs pop out of its head and its mouth opens wide. Its tongue wags and it bares it's shining white fangs. The man yelps and begins a half run, half stagger towards the trees. Behind him, the Gastly's eyes glow red and the man collapses.
The man stands on a field of white. Details begin to emerge around him – walls building up from the ground, a room forming with furniture and a fireplace. A little girl plays with a pokedoll as a woman hums from the kitchen. The man finds himself sitting in a chair, a book in hand. He is filled with anxiety and an awful anticipation, but cannot fathom why. The girl – his daughter, Emilie - looks up and smiles at him, waving the dolls arm as if in greeting. He half smiles, waving back. His wife, Karina, takes a break from humming to taste the soup she's making in the kitchen.
A knock sounds at the door, three strong hits. Karina calls from the kitchen, "Now who could that be? Liam, would you get the door?" Liam's anxiety increases as he slowly picks himself up and walks to the door. As he reaches for the doorknob, another knock pounds at the door and he hears a low growl. Snatching his hand back, he yells, "Who is it? What do you want?"
From outside, he hears a curse, then, "Houndoom! Flame charge!"
The door explodes inwards, crashing into Liam and pinning him to the floor. Flames lick at the door frame as a large man dressed in a deep purple uniform casually enters with the enormous canine pokemon, Houndoom. He sneers as he looks around him, then turns to Houndoom and says "It isn't here. I should have guessed.. well it's no issue. Get rid of the evidence. Burn this place to the ground." Houndoom takes a deep breath, then spews a torrent of flame from it's mouth as the man exits. Liam struggles to get the door off of him, screaming for his wife and daughter. Houndoom turns his stream towards the kitchen as Karina tries to rush in, engulfing her in flame. Liam screams, struggling with all his might. Houndoom barks one last flame at the ceiling, then saunters out.
Crying, Liam turns to his daughter, who is laying on the floor unmoving; her pokedoll still clutched in her hand. He calls her name over and over, until the ceiling collapses, and he says no more.
Liam stirs, then awakes with a groan. Pulling himself to a seated position, he spies a group of Nidoran in front of him, watching nervously. In front of him sit several Oran berries; brusied, but no less edible for that. Liam pulls one to his mouth and begins chewing robotically, searching around him for the Gastly. When it doesn't appear, he stands up, grabbing a few berries as he does so. The Nidoran scatter as Liam trudges by, onto the path to the nearest town. Instinctively, he heads for the only safety he knows. Towards Professor Oak.
Fearow flew through the air, keeping her wings as steady as possible to ease the flight of her passenger. Large forests and jagged hills passed below in the wild, uninhabited area of Kanto. Executive Ryker rode on her back, deep in thought. He trusted Fearow to spot the hidden entrance to the Team Rocket Headquarters, as they had made this journey hundreds of times before. Below, a herd of Rhyhorn drank from a small lake, watched over by a Rhydon. A pack of Pidgey flew by in a V formation, staying well clear of the duo.
Ryker clutched Fearow's feathers tighter as she abruptly dove. A massive cliff face loomed just ahead; giant pointed rocks sprouting from the water below. As Fearow expertly navigated through them, an opening suddenly materialized in the rock. She swept downward, alighting gracefully in the cave entrance. Ryker hopped off of her back, returning her to her pokeball. He immediately released Houndoom, who snorted and looked around before lazily starting forward. Aside from being Ryker's first partner, he was also very good at intimidating other Rocket members.
Not that Ryker needed it. An imposing 6'5", Ryker was as solid as a Taurus – and about as temperamental. His deep purple suit was expertly tailored to fit close but give plenty of range of movement. He walked through a pair of sentries with Growlithes, unseeing as they saluted. Still deep in thought, he pulled his key card out and swiped it at the first set of metal doors. He walked through as they sprang open, revealing a large elevator. The doors closed behind him and the elevator began rising upwards into the cliff. Houndoom circled twice then sat, facing the doors. Ryker stood rigidly, hands clasped behind his back. When the doors opened again, Ryker and Houndoom emerged into a hallway. To the left and right the hallway vanished into the distance, doors at irregular intervals lining the sides. Fluorescent lights buzzed in the celing as Ryker turned and started walking down the right hallway.
11 doors later, Ryker swiped his key card at a door on the left. Inside, six rockets lounged, a few with their pokemon out. Five of them wore unrelieved black, aside from a large red R emblazoned on the chest. Ryker approached the sixth, who wore white with the same R on his chest.
"Underling Antone." said Ryker.
"Executive Ryker, sir." gulped the rocket in white. A Golbat fluttered at his side, glancing at Houndoom uneasily.
"Tell me, Antone. Why did I just waste my time flying out to a country hovel in the middle of nowhere?"
Antone gasped. "You mean the item wasn't there sir? But my contact in the League Office assured me! He said that Professor Oak had left it with a Liam Rodrick just outside of pallet town! He promised that his information was-"
Ryker held his hand up. "I can feel when the item is close, Antone. It was not there." He moved closer to Antone, a few of the rocket grunts sidling away. "Tell me, what is the name of your Golbat?"
Antone looked around for help, and finding none, turned back to Ryker and whispered, "Fanger".
Ryker grunted, then said, "Return 'Fanger', please".
Antone's shoulders slumped. He pulled a pokeball off of his belt and returned the Golbat in a flash of red light. Ryker held his hand out. Apprehensively, Antone placed the ball in Ryker's palm. Ryker released Golbat, who immediately moved away from Houndoom.
"Your name is Golbat," Ryker said, staring the Golbat in it's eyes. "And you belong to me now." He returned the Golbat back to it's pokeball and clipped it to his belt.
Antone moved as if to protest, but then huddled into his chair at a threatening growl from Houndoom. The rocket grunts all looked on with wide eyes, a couple surreptitiously returning their Pokemon.
Ryker walked back to the door. On his way out, he called over his shoulder. "Maybe next time you'll make absolutely sure of your information." Houndoom snorted an imitation of a laugh, then followed him through the door.