So Rob went snooping around my stuff today and found my journal. He laughed at me and called it a diary, then he said he liked what he read and told me to write some more. So here I am writing some more. I thought I was going to stop since I didn't think I'd have anything interesting and awesome to put in here…and I still don't think I have much to put in. I guess I can write about being with Team Zero and my Pokémon. I wonder if I will get any new Pokémon now.

Rob and I sat down and talked to Zero in his office underneath the Hearthome City gym. I think I'm going to stop trusting Pokémon gyms. Never knew so many had all this hidden stuff in them.

Zero said I need to pull my weight. Rob did all the talking and said I could help him out when he was around. Zero said I gotta do more and said the two gym leaders in Veilstone could give me work. That or help that Eli guy out.

Rob was furious that Zero thought that. But Zero calls the shots for Team Zero (He's THE ZERO for Team Zero so of course he'd be the leader) and he didn't change his mind at all.

I don't think Rob wants me to be in Team Zero. I asked him after we left and he said he just didn't want me in trouble. I thought that was funny because I'm in Team Zero.

And I even got a coat and a mask too. Rob said I would only have to wear it to meetings.

I want to help out. I want to help out other trainers.


Chapter II – Right Hands

Eli didn't mix well with me. He was one of those people who'd keep quiet and act like he didn't hear whoever was talking to him. But when he did open his mouth, he'd say something short and condescending. Add that I've never seen him without some knife or gun of some kind strapped to him and you have one person I would avoid being in the same room with.

And it was my luck he was sent to look into the murder for Zero. Rob and I just started putting weights on barbells when he whistled from across the gym at us to meet him in the upstairs office overlooking everything.

Inside were two folding chairs waiting for our posteriors to sit in. Eli was watching a Pokémon battle out one of the windows with the most disinterested face. A giant Fearow sped upward past the window and out of view toward the roof. The Veilstone Gym was split in two parts – a side for people to exercise and a side for Pokémon to train and battle.

Eli never spoke first and I imagined he only would if he was going to make a threat. How a guy could be such an awkward asshole was beyond me. He wore a dress shirt with a grey vest and slacks. A handgun was strapped to his side. He was the last person Zero would send to find investigate anything unless he felt someone would have to get hurt in the process.

At any rate, I started with what was on my mind.

"Zero sent you to talk to me?" I asked.

"Sure did," he chirped. I couldn't tell if that was sarcasm. "And to look into this new mess and to silence anyone who knows too much."

"So what did you hear from the Gengar?" he asked. He plopped down on the leather chair and kicked his feet up on the stacks of paper and books on the desk. His black dress shoes made me question if he was just kicked out of a church for having a firearm on him.

"What's this about?" Rob asked his fellow lieutenant. Eli ignored him.

"It was talking gibberish," I said. "I think it was telling me about the last moments the guy had before he died."

"Who died?" Rob asked, looking at both of us to answer.

Eli's words were short. "Rob, you don't need to be in here if you don't know what's going on."

Rob's voice dropped its curiosity. "Then tell me. I have a right to know."

Eli rocked slightly in his chair and put his arms behind his head with the blank face he always wore. He was glaring at Rob.

"A Champion got murdered. Died around here. It has nothing to do with you, but Zero wanted me to tell your sickly ass back to Hearthome the moment I talked to you. Seems like your break's over. Go back to Hearthome and actually do some work."

Rob was at a loss for words. Eli had that effect on people with his unnecessarily snide comments, even people like Rob who he had been working with for years.

"It's pretty urgent, so I don't know why you're still sitting there," Eli said. Again, I couldn't tell if he was being serious or sarcastic.

I handed Rob the keys to my apartment to get his stuff. Defeated, Rob pocketed my keys and left the room.

"How's Rob's health?" Eli asked. It took a second for me to realize it was only us two in the uncomfortably small square room. "He had a bad cold last time I saw him."

"He had a sore throat this morning," I said. Since when did Eli care about others?

He nodded as if to register that tidbit for safe keeping. "Alright. So what did the Gengar say?"

I was more worried the Gengar was going to kill me. I jogged the back of my memory. "I don't remember. I guess it was the guy talking to his murderer."

I shrugged. Eli impatiently pulled his feet back onto the ground and leaned forward on the desk. "Nothing else? Did it say anything about other Champions?"

He was right. "Yeah…yeah it did."

"To the effect that Champions would come to figure out what happened to him? He say who?"

I tried to remember.

"Well? Say something. You're wasting my time."

Nothing was popping up. Perhaps for a reason.

"He honestly didn't mention anyone. He just made threats. He said something about some headquarters I think and how the guy who murdered him would be killed."

Thinking about it, a Champion making death threats? Sure, he was at the end of his life, so maybe extreme behavior is expected.

"Aren't Champions all about preserving peace? Who could they be looking for, trying to -"

Eli interrupted. "And he said nothing about who exactly?"

I shook my head. He was drilling the questions. The sooner he was away from me, the better.

An off-place mischievous smile twisted onto his face. "That's what Zero wanted to ask you about. Now I have something I want to ask you, and I feel like you're going to first tell me no."

"No, Eli," I said. "I will not help you jump the Rocket boys. You know I don't do that anymore."

He tapped his fingertips together and stared at where they touched. "This is something else. Something outside of Team Zero. So you can't go running to your boyfriend about this. He'll tell Zero because he's a suck-up like that and who knows what Zero would do?"

He had some nerve to make that suggestion. "Hmm. Let me think about that…definitely no. God no."

Eli was the only member of Team Zero I knew who never used Pokémon. Now I've seen all kinds of crazy, cruel people with Pokémon who would either abuse their Pokémon or worse – have their Pokémon become crazy and cruel too. But it was always weird seeing a person who worked with Pokémon but never had one. Zero and Eli must have had history together. Eli was the odd man out of everyone. Eli was just an odd man.

"It's not like not holding Rob's hand once in a while is going to kill you. You're grown. You just turned eighteen, right? You definitely didn't mind beating the living daylights out of other grown men so some independence would do you some good. That and I think you would like some grand tossed your way. "

Grand? That was money. "What?"

Eli laughed. I never wanted to hear him laugh again after that. He got up with a disturbing perkiness and strut in his step. "I need to hurry somewhere, but just know to meet me at Dock 4 next to the yellow crates with Adelphi written on them. You'll see them. 2 AM Saturday morning, after Friday night. We're going to be picking up some packages and driving them to Hearthome. Then we get paid and your cut would be about thirty grand."

He was having a time seeing my expression, I bet. A cold sweat broke from my forehead. Money wasn't a problem to me since Team Zero kept a roof over my head, and gave me clothes and food. But I never saw a dime of that money. The jobs Eli used to give me earned me a few thousand for beating people up. Moving packages would be more than fine, so who wouldn't take the opportunity?

People who didn't want to be caught moving drugs. That's who. "What's in the packages? Being in Team Zero is a crime already."

"Some underground Pokémon technology I heard, but don't ask questions. I'd have to kill you."

He whipped a pistol out and pointed it at me.

I had already activated Nick's Poké Ball.

A quick hand would always beat a Trainer with no Pokémon out. That was why Eli used guns.

He put the gun back in its holster and shook his head in condescending disappointment. He managed to be offensive while not opening his mouth.

He got up and went over to the door. He turned around at me before he left. "I almost forgot. You're to pick up Alice Rowan from the Veilstone docks next Thursday. Then you two are to report to Zero for a briefing. Think about my offer. It'll do you some good to do things yourself for once."

With that, he left me in the office neglecting to give a simple 'bye'. I couldn't tell if he was rushing to get to a bathroom or wanted to be away from me. One other thing he did was not ask me to help him out with some other job he had planned. He and a few other Team Zero members were assigned to shakedown some Rocket boys who figured they'd want a little something slipped under the table from Team Zero.

What we did to them was not pretty. Rob got me out that job some months back and things been different between me and Eli. He was always a freak – he would get like a child in a toy store when he had the jump on a guy – but at least then, we were coworkers. A bit short of being partners. Never friends though. God no.

Since Rob was gone and running into Eli had the tendency to suck the excitement out of life, I figured my Pokémon could get a moment to run around. I went downstairs and entered the Pokémon part of the gym. Most trainers were gathered around the center ring where one of my guardians, the lady Gym Leader Ilia Stukov, stood on one of the raised platforms facing a teenage kid across from her. Her husband, my other guardian and the second Gym Leader Dmitri, sat at the bench on the sidelines. His massive frame took up two seats. Both were the whitest people I've ever met, both with dazzling, shoulder-length blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. They would've looked like siblings if Ilia didn't have rosy cheeks and dimples.

Ilia returned her Pokémon and caught sight of me. She smiled and showed off her perfect teeth. "Vanven!" she boomed down at me. The northern Sinnoh greeting was too hoarse-sounding for me to feel any welcome from it after nearly four years. "Ed! Come here! I want to see your Pokémon fight! You have June with you, yes?" She shook a fist in the air.

She must've just finished her fight since all the other trainers were leaving the bleachers. Dmitri came over to me and his very presence at close proximity made my physique a joke. Every guy who worked out in the Veilstone Gym wanted to get like Dmitri. He was the strongest human in the gym and was a walking hulk of muscle.

"Yonna, is he not ready to be tested? All he does is train and train…" He put a sympathetic hand on my shoulder. He could've lifted me in the air and strangled me between two fingers if he wanted.

"Tell her no. Tell her…how you say…'take a hike.' Tell her you want a full, complete battle for once," he said.

Ilia joined his side. "His Pokémon would be smooshed."

Enter Ilia, the best human fighter of the Veilstone Gym. Mon-Chan Ki, Mon-Lee Ki, and Mon-Top Ki master. If folks wanted to work out to be as strong as her husband, then everyone else wanted to be a human weapon like Ilia Stukov. I would talk about the things I've seen her do, but I will just say June couldn't beat her one-on-one. And I mean if the two got into the ring together and went at each other.

She was mine's and June's sensei. Unfortunately, June was far more loyal to her teachings. You're not supposed to attack the weak, you see. Most of the people I ever did hit were young thugs who were tied up.

Didi-BEEP!

My cellphone rang and vibrated in my pocket. The sleek black cumbersome brick was a gift from my brother back when I was a trainer. I checked for a text message.

Hey ed

Can u come by the U and walk me home?

i got off work early. got something to show u.

3

I deflated and felt fat. So much for working out. But I was excited about what Gabby got me. After telling them about the message, I got my stuff and told Dmitri and Ilia I'd come by earlier tomorrow to make up for today.

"Eddy! Wait one second!" Dmitri shouted. He jogged toward me as I was about to leave the gym. "Did Eli tell you about who you have to pick up next Thursday?"

I nodded.

"Then what took you so long? He said he was in a hurry," Dmitri recalled. "What were you two talking about in the office?"

Thirty grand was enough to tell me he was being too intrusive and I needed time to think if dealing with Eli was even worth it. Dmitri and Ilia were too close to Zero – both were lieutenants. I lied and said Eli and I almost got into a fight because I looked at him funny. Dmitri backed off. He knew about what Eli used to have me do.

This meant I wouldn't be able to tell Rob a thing.

Gabby worked at the Trainer's Union on the all the way on the western side of the city. I chose to take the train instead of flying to think about the risks doing Eli's job. Gabby would be mad but so what? She'd shut up if I gave her a pearl necklace or some diamond earrings.

The off-work traffic was so bad it made me thankful I didn't know how to even drive a screw. I could do a piledriver at the very least! I cut across the congested street through the idle cars and trucks and walked up to my girlfriend who was posted up next to the double doors of one of the few legit places that took care of Pokémon Trainers.

"The hell took you so long?" was the first thing to come out her mouth. "Why didn't you fly?"

She had no idea I worked with Team Zero and I was for damn sure she wasn't about to learn I was about to do some side business. "I figured I'd be romantic and fly us back to my place. I didn't want Vic to get too tired. She doesn't do round trips."

I had forgotten to turn on the sarcasm in my voice. Gabby threw her backpack over her shoulder and began the walk down the street to the bus stop. "I'm not flying on your dumb bug lizard thing."

I tossed out Vic. Her green filmy skin reflected the deep orange sinking sun. Her seven feet tall body was more slender than usual, which meant she needed food to last her for the next two or three weeks. Her orange translucent diamond-shaped wings were wide open and she twitched her head around hoping for any Butterfree to pass by.

I jumped to Gabby's side and Vic followed on all fours. "Come on. She likes you. Do you really wanna walk?"

Vic's eyes were as big as a plate and as shiny as a snow globe. People were either weirded out by them or found then cute and figured she was a docile creature that couldn't set a house on fire with purple, stinging fire or didn't actively hunt down the most peaceful bug Pokémon currently alive. Her eyes were a deep yellow with a black orb half as big as the eye itself inside as the pupil. They were currently ravenously following a small flock of Zubat fluttering by overhead.

Gabby walked right past me. "Yes. Yes I do. Now put the stupid lizard away before you scare some children," she said while lazily waving at some coworkers and trainers also leaving the Union.

Vic didn't care since she didn't understand humans' expressions and emotions outside my own, but I cared. Any trainer saying that would've gotten their team soloed by Vic. None of my Pokémon were dumb or stupid. Unfortunately, I still hadn't figured out a way to get back at non-Trainers without getting arrested. One time I almost considered keeping my Team Zero mask handy just for the occasion.

The Flygon cocked her head sideways and a slender tongue flashed out her mouth, licked her left eye, and disappeared. I scratched her neck and told her I'd let her go hunting after Gabby was gone, and then returned Vic back into her ball.

Gabby brought this up ten minutes later when we were halfway to her home on Masthall Street in the Scrinton borough, where suburbs were lined up like those little green plastic houses in that one board game. More houses were being built and land was being cleared farther down the street. Some of the new, empty houses had rolls of grass sitting out in their barren, dirt front yards. Gabby had the benefit of her family being one of the first to move into the neighborhood. Her grass was already rolled out and settled in. I bent over and plucked a blade of grass from the ground and inspected it.

"Why do you do that every time you come by here?" she groaned, searching her backpack for keys.

I rubbed the stringy blade between my fingers. "It never grows. I swear this stuff is fake or some newly-engineered grass or somethin'."

She grabbed my hand and dragged me up to her doorstep. The garage doors were closed shut.

I forgot if I had any condoms in my jeans. "Your parents home?"

She gave me the least sultry look a girl could give if she wanted sex. Then she pulled me for a kiss. My arms followed along and held her close as our lips locked and our tongues slipped alongside each other.

She pulled on my upper lip then whispered close into my ear: "When you leave, look near the fire hydrant to my left. I think they're cops. They've been showing up in that brown, old car since three days ago. Always at the same time too."

Truant officers would get to me every now and then, but they never did a stake out on students playing hooky. "That's what you wanted to show me? They just sit there?" I whispered back. I pecked her mocha-colored forehead.

"Yeah," she said. Then she embraced me. "I'm scared."

Her body language was that of an overly-doting girlfriend. I lifted her chin with a finger and stared into her hazel eyes as intently as I could. "Don't worry. Go inside and lock the door. I'll swing by tomorrow. Love ya."

I pecked her lips and walked off Palmer property. Hearing Gabby open and close the door behind me relieved me and gave me courage to get on the sidewalk and walk straight down to the fire hydrant, where an old, fat sedan was parked a space behind. Inside were two older men in tacky, worn suits. I stared at them as I walked by and they stared at me. Yeah you doughnut-eating morons, I have red hair, green eyes, and I'm 6 feet tall. Come at me.

I put my hands in my pockets and walked the entire completed length of Masthall street. The old men were nowhere behind me. I ducked into an alleyway and let out Vic. I hopped on her back and flew back to my apartment on the other side of Veilstone. Rob had gotten his stuff and left.

Being alone in my apartment for once was a moment I had to savor. And of course that required a cool bottle of beer. I took a bottle of a special brew from a local bar Team Zero partly owned and stared at the dark liquid through the glass. Then I put it back and got a bottle of water – not working out and drinking alcohol was a bad mix.

I sat down in the quiet in front of the black screen of my turned-off TV thinking about if the old men outside Gabby's house were really police, and if they were, what they wanted. Then there was if I wanted to score all that money from Eli's job. That was followed by wondering how it would be to be around Alice again.

Drinking up my water made me have to run to the closest bathroom, the one for guests. After I pissed and washed my hands, I dried them on a green towel haphazardly hanging up on a rack next to the shower tub.

Then I remembered I gave it to Rob to use while he stayed with me. I cursed aloud and took the towel to my room. I tossed it into my hamper next to my closet. The towel landed on the side and slid onto the floor. Cursing again, I picked it up with the tips of my fingers.

That's when I saw faded red-brownish splotches on the fabric. Rob had probably tried washing the towel, I guessed. A cheap lemon scent came from it. I recalled I bought some lemon-scented dryer sheets.

Rob's blood didn't wash out all the way.


Sorry for the long delay. Things got a bit too crazy in the real world with classes and a particular girl. Also, it was getting quite hard to find a focus for the story since I have a lot of ideas to go with. Hope you enjoyed!