Chapter 2

"Um, Mom?" I called into the house as I entered through the front door. There was no point in trying to be sneaky anymore, not with me being as filthy as I was. She was sure to follow the muddy trail straight into the bathroom. "I'm home."

"Christopher Alexander Juniper!" growled my mother as she came storming down the stairs. Her light brown hair might as well been the storm for the slight gray starting to poke through and the mess it was in. "What happened? Where have you been?! That was one of the worst lightning storms we've had in a long time. You've had me so worried!"

I glanced away and stared at the book case beside the door. It was full of random cook books and other boring leather bound volumes.

"You keep me in a constant state of worry with all that wandering off you do!" she continued as she stopped a few steps before me. She was still slightly taller than me, but barely, so I didn't have to look up at her anymore. "I never know if I'm going to have to come after you or if that Team Plasma has gotten to you or … Why are you so filthy?"

I shifted my weight in discomfort. She was definitely going to hate what I might have to say to her about the Pokémon, but I needed to tell her. We needed to get help for it.

"Um," I started without looking at her. I moved my arm slightly and the chest tucked under it fell to the ground and scattered its contents across the blue rug in the entry way.

For the span of about ten seconds, she stared at the mess of random objects and papers splayed on the ground. With slow, deliberate hesitation, she knelt and began gathering the objects carefully.

"I," I started as I still couldn't look directly at her out of shame.

"Bathtub," she said in a soft, quiet voice. "Shoes off."

I slowly kicked off my shoes and left them behind as I hurried up the stairs to the bathroom. I knew the routine. I spread out a towel and swiftly dumped my soiled clothing onto it to be gathered for laundry. My mother would leave clean clothes just outside the door for when I was done. I'd come home dirty and wet before, but nowhere near this bad. Then again, I haven't had a dog Pokémon pinning me into the mud before either.

I removed the ball from my green jacket and set it on the counter next to the sink. I'd tell my mother about the Pokémon when I was clean and she had a little time to cool down.

I took my time in the tub and made sure every part of me was completely scrubbed. I had a towel around me when I went to the door.

"Chris," said my mother as she stood there with clean clothing in her arms.

"Ye-aaaaahhh!" I yelped as I jumped back and almost lost my towel. I hadn't been expecting her to be waiting out there for me. I just managed to maintain a hold of it and remain decent. "What?!"

She stared at me with a neutral glare as she crossed her arms with my clothing in between them. "What did you do with the Master Ball?"

"Master … ball?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. It hit me as I shot a glance at the purple and white ball sitting beside the sink. My eyebrows shot into my hair line as I turned back to my mother in horror.

She blinked her green eyes slowly and leveled me with a stare. "What did you catch? You know you're not allowed to use it! Have grandpa and I taught you nothing?! You can't catch Pokémon! Team Plasma made sure of it!"

"I didn't want to!" I yelled before I hushed my voice. "I had to help it. It's injured. Team Plasma showed up after I caught it and I could tell they were going to hurt it if I told them I'd caught it! I'm pretty sure they are the ones who hurt it before. I'm going to let it go once it's back to full health and can fend for itself."

Her glare remained neutral, which was starting to creep me out more than if she'd been yelling at me. She seemed way too calm for my liking.

"What did you catch?" she asked softly.

"I'm not sure," I muttered as I crossed the bathroom to the sink and snatched up the ball. It grew in my hand until it was roughly the size of an orange. "Maybe I should just show you. I know there are a lot of different kinds, but I've never seen any of them face to face before."

"Not here," said my mother as her green eyes darted swiftly over her shoulder. She handed me my clean clothing. "Get dressed. Take your dirty clothes to the laundry and then we'll talk in the cellar."

She shut the door behind her before I could reply. I swiftly did as I was told. Once I was decent and the laundry was seen to, I brought the white and purple ball down into the dimly lit cellar.

"You have it?" asked my mother softly.

"Yes," I replied in a similar whisper although I wasn't sure why we were speaking in hushes tones. "Let it out here?"

"No!" she replied. "Not yet."

She pushed lightly against the side of one of the shelves and it slid forward and to the side. I was left gaping unattractively at the hole in the wall to the passage behind.

"How long has that been there and why haven't I found it sooner?" I asked softly.

"Come," she said quietly.

She led the way and I followed her in. The shelf slid shut behind me, but my mother didn't seem concerned. It was as though she'd been down here often. The short tunnel was dimly lit, but lit nonetheless. We swiftly left the tunnel and stepped into a bright room lit by three oil lamps.

This room too had shelves. A swift glance showed most of them to have books with titles relating to different Pokémon. Some had some old looking equipment. There was a bed covered with a red blanket in one of the rugged corners. There was a small desk as well.

"What is this place?" I asked in hushed tones.

"All that remains of what I had before Team Plasma won," said my mother in a hesitant tone. Her green eyes betrayed hurt and regret. "They took almost everything, including my …" She gasped softly, "this is all I could save … You can let your Pokémon out now. We'll heal it here as best we can."

I stared at her in utter silence. "Uh, how do I do that?"

My mother sighed in agitation to herself. She grumbled something inaudible which definitely included the word 'Plasma' several times.

"Okay," she said as she stuffed aside her irritation. She began talking to me in a tone she usually reserved for teaching in a classroom setting. "All you do is throw the ball gently and command the Pokémon you caught to come out. It will come out at your call."

Feeling rather foolish, I tossed the ball lightly into the air. "Um, you can come out now?"

In a flash of bright white light, the muddy yellow tiger appeared in the middle of the room as I caught the now empty ball. It stared at me intensely for several long moments while my mother gasped. It took a shaky step towards me before it collapsed. My mother rushed to its side and it growled weakly at her.

"Shhhh," she hushed it softly. It continued to growl at her. "Shhhh. I'm not going to hurt you. Chris, talk to it. You caught it; you are its trainer. It will listen to you."

"I-" I started, softly. "I don't know what to say …"

At the sound of my voice, the feline Pokémon turned its head slowly towards me and stopped growling. It gazed at me with bright red eyes.

"Come here and keep talking," murmured my mother as she began to gently rub the creature's neck.

"I don't want to be its trainer," I mumbled and gazed at the floor. "I didn't even want to catch it! I was protecting it! I needed to get it help. Team Plasma was after it."

"And in catching this Raikou to save it and help it, you gained its respect," said my mother as she rushed to one of the shelves and removed several towels and pasty white bandages. "I need your help cleaning it and bandaging it."

"A Raikou?" I asked hesitantly as I knelt beside the cat Pokémon and placed a hand gently on the top of its head. A soft rumbling sound could be heard as I scratched under its chin with the other. "That's what the Plasma lady said they were after … What kind of Pokémon is that?"

"Raikou are not common here," said my mother absently as she passed me a towel and immediately began to gently rub off the mud with one of her own. "They come from a different region. Not much is known about them. They supposedly carry storm clouds on their back. They are the lightning type of the legendary beast trio."

"Wait," I paused in cleaning up the Raikou's face and head. "Legendary?!"

The Pokémon grumbled slightly until I began absently cleaning it again.

"Yes," replied my mother gently. "Based on how long the cape-like mane on its back is and on the short , dull saber-like teeth it has, I'd say this Pokémon is rather young. I've never come across any Legendaries so young before. I don't know how strong it is, or what moves it has learned."

"It's just a baby?" I asked as I gazed at it in awe.

"Yes," replied my mother. "Well, young adolescence if you will. It's in the middle of its teen years if we compare it to a human."

"Oh," I muttered softly as I continued to clean it gently "So it could easily fend for itself on its own then."

"If it was in full health," added my mother as she set aside her defiled towel and began examining it using gentle prods here and there. The young Pokémon hissed and growled at her several times. "I don't think anything is broken, but I'm sure there is spraining on its legs. You'll need to keep it safe for several days before it will be able to walk on its own. We don't have the facilities to take care of injured Pokémon anymore."

"How do you know all this?" I asked as I kept my gaze locked on Raikou's gentle red stare.

"I was a professor before Team Plasma won," replied my mother with a distant look as she wrapped a white bandage around the Pokémon's back leg. "I made it my job to learn everything I could about the origins of Pokémon and where they came from. I had to learn ways to treat them as well. I loved my job. I wish I could get it back."

"Wow," I said softly. "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

My mother hesitated. "Help me lift this young Raikou onto the bed."

I reached under the Pokémon's chest and lifted its front half gently. My mother lifted its rear and we gently maneuvered it until it was comfortable on the bed. It licked me on the face as we put it down.

My sputtering caused my mother to laugh. "Looks like Raikou has accepted you as a new friend."

"I'm grateful," I grumbled.

I watched the Pokémon as it rested its head on its paws. It looked comfortable sprawled on the red blanket draped across the bed.

"I suggest you rest here tonight with Raikou," said my mother as she gathered the towels and headed for the exit. "I'll explain more on what a trainer used to be like in the morning."