Chapter 2: A new role
I am loving this plot line! :D Reviews are appreciated
I hesitated before releasing the Pokémon.
A Bulbasaur popped out of the poke ball.
"Saur?" Bulbasaur cried, looking up at me. I patted his head.
"Hey Leaf! Wanna have a Pokémon battle? I picked Charmander and I want to try him out." Gary asked, releasing his Charmander.
I wiped my tears away and smirked. "You're on." I gave a faint smile, feeling empowered with a Pokémon by my side once more.
Gary returned my smirk. "Charmander use-"
"Outside! If you two are battling then get out of my lab!" Professor Oak demanded.
"Come on Bulbasaur." I sniffled, still grieving.
Bulbasaur seemed confused by my tears.
I will explain to him who I really am later. I decided, leading my new partner outside.
"Now the battle can begin!" Gary shouted.
"Prepare to be destroy-" I couldn't finish my sentence.
I broke down and fell to my knees, my eyes clouded in grief once more.
Bulbasaur left the battle field and sat right in front of me, looking concerned.
I picked Bulbasaur up and turned to face a confused Gary.
"I-I'm sorry, maybe later." I wept, running onto route one. I never looked back.
I set Bulbasaur down in the grass and leaned against a large rock, holding my head in my hands again.
Bulbasaur rose an eyebrow, looking like it wanted to know why its new trainer was grief struck.
I wiped away more tears.
"Fine. You deserve to know who I really am. My name isn't Leaf. It's Kate. I'm not from Kanto, I'm from Almia. I was never a trainer, I was a Pokémon ranger. I was considered the best Ranger in all of Almia. But I'm not!" I cried, breaking down.
"I failed Almia! I failed poor Latias and Raikou and Entei and Suicune! They all believed in me and because of them they're all dead!" I sobbed.
I expected Bulbasaur to look horrified, but he didn't. "Saur, bulb." It cried gently, placing one of his vines on my hand sympathetically.
So we stayed there for another hour while I recovered from my outburst.
Besides, falling out of the sky and into a wreckage of what used to be Pueltown wasn't exactly relaxing.
"Bulbasaur, what do you want to do? Do you want to travel all over Kanto and collect the gym badges? I'll do whatever you want to do." I sniffled, looking at Bulbasaur.
Bulbasaur looked sheepishly at the ground and nodded. I stood up.
"Ok then Bulbasaur, let's get going. We shouldn't get stuck out here." I declared, scooping my new friend up and walking him to Viridian City.
"Thanks for letting us stay here, Nurse Joy." I thanked her.
"No problem, uh Leaf." She smiled, handing us our room key.
I smiled before walking into my room.
I grabbed the TV remote and turned it on.
Bulbasaur hopped on the bed and snuggled up to me.
"And now, more footage from Almia's fall." I gasped.
"Why this channel!?" I yelled, but I kept watching.
My heart nearly leapt out of my chest when I saw Keith being interviewed.
"How are you coping with the losses of nearly all of the rangers at your base?" The reporter asked.
Keith's expression saddened. "It hasn't been easy. Even though we defeated The Pinchers, they killed basically every ranger but me and my partner, Kate." I nearly fainted when he said that.
Bulbasaur looked attentively at the TV, very interested that its trainer was on TV.
"Can we speak to Kate?" The reporter asked.
Keith shook his head. "No. We don't know where she is. I know she's alive though. She and Latias are probably just… stuck somewhere. No one's found her body in the wreckage so she has to be out there." Keith said, his voice determined.
"What if someone does knows where she is? How about a description? Will there be a reward if anyone finds her?" The reporter pressed.
Anger prickled my skin. "How dare he suggests to put a reward on me?" I snapped, turning up the volume on the TV.
Keith hesitated before continuing.
"First off, Kate's not helpless, she's a ranger."
"Was." I muttered.
"Second, she has Latias with her," I wanted to cry at the sound of Latias's name.
"And a description? She's got pretty tan hair that's typically put up in spiky pig tails, she's wearing a ranger uniform like me, and she should be hanging around with a Latias." Keith finished.
I was crying too much to take notice of my description.
"And…" Keith hesitated before answering the last part of his question.
"I wasn't going to give a reward but, if someone can please help me find my partner I'll give you one thousand dollars. She's my best friend. I need her here to help rebuild Almia with me." Keith finished solemnly.
Angered, I turned off the TV and flopped onto the bed.
I looked through my small bag for my broken styler.
I bet Keith's tried to call me a ton. I realized, pulling out my styler.
"I'll drop this by the pokemart and see if anyone there can fix it for me. You never know when you'll need a capture styler." I murmured, looking sadly at the styler.