Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters. I only own Lilly Revere, her mother (who will remained unnamed), and my precious laptop.
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Chapter 5: Here to Help
Ages: Professor Oak- 46
Lilly- 11
Giovanni- 39
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3 years later…
"Thank you! Come again soon!"
Lilly, now the age of 11, walked out of the PokéMart and into the streets of Viridian with a bag of various medicine supplies in hand. The Professor had informed her that they were running out of certain types of medicine and that he wanted her to go and pick up some extra, since the order of their normal supplies wouldn't arrive for another few weeks. Soon, she found herself walking the normal path of Route 1, heading south towards Pallet. She was about halfway there when she heard a choked Pokémon cry somewhere to her right. She cocked her head slightly before taking off into a slight jog into the direction she heard it. In a few seconds, she burst out of the brush to find herself at the same river where she had first found Ryuu those five years ago, but this time, the water had doubled in height and was rushing by at incredible speeds. She scanned the area, seeing nothing in particular off, and was about to leave until she heard the same cry but strong. Looking up the river, she spotted some sort of cream colored cat-like Pokémon trying to stay afloat in the rapid-like water, and failing. Lilly dropped her bag of supplies next to a rock before detaching Ryuu's Pokéball from her belt and throwing it towards the river.
"Ryuu, help that Pokémon!"
Once Ryuu was free from the capsule, he quickly swam towards to feline who had started to sink into the water. Quickly, he dove into the water after the Pokémon. Fearing for the worst, Lilly rolled up her jeans and stepped out of her shoes before she heard a splashing sound. Looking up, she saw it was Ryuu and he had the Pokémon somewhat draped across his back. Wading partially into the water, Lilly met Ryuu halfway to the bank and lifted the Pokémon, now identified as a Persian, out of the water and onto the river bank, away from the rapidly flowing water. Remembering Ryuu, she turned back towards her Pokémon.
"Ryuu, I need you to swim upstream to see if you can find a trainer of sorts looking for a Persian. If you do, get their attention and bring them back here, understood?"
Ryuu seemed to nod his head and started to swim upstream, proud that it could easily ignore the current.
Focusing her attention back onto the Persian, she started checking him for injuries.
'Head, minor scratches. Front legs, fine. Torso and chest, possible bruising. Tail, fine. Back legs, broken or dislocated left knee and/or left leg.'
Lilly looked around the clearing, 'I need to splint Persians leg so that it doesn't move any more than it already has.'
She looked up towards the trees of the bank and saw a small pile of sticks and small tree limbs, most likely have been gathered by a bird Pokémon for a nest. Lilly quickly looked around and, not seeing who they might belong to, moved over to them and picked out two longer, more sturdy looking limbs from the pile. After returning to the injured and unconscious Persian, she quickly set his leg and wrapped it up with a roll of medical tape that she had just purchased. Careful of his injured leg, Lilly picked the Persian up and moved him up and over to a spot of grass a little bit from the raging water. After a few minutes, the Persian began to stir. His brown eyes slowly blinked open and carefully looked around before noticing Lilly, who was patiently waiting for the Persian to notice her before she started checking his injuries.
"Are you alright Persian?"
The Persian looked at Lilly for a moment before trying to stand.
"No Persian, your leg is injured from when you were in the river! You can't stand yet! Do you have a trainer?"
Persian looked back up at Lilly, having fallen back to the ground midway through her speech, and nodded, looking back upstream with a longing type look.
Lilly nodded, "Ok then. I just sent my Pokémon, Ryuu, to go swim upstream and see if there were any trainers looking for you. If there were, he would bring them back here."
Persian seemed to accept this answer and laid his head down on Lilly's knees. He gently nudged her hands behind his ears, telling her that he wanted to me scratched. Lilly giggled before scratching Persian behind his ears with the tips of her fingers instead of with her nails, knowing that her cat back home HATED it when she used her nails. This would be how they would spend the next couple of minutes, waiting for Ryuu and Persian's Trainer.
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With Ryuu….
The farther upstream, the slower the water seemed to be getting. Glad to be given a break, Ryuu surfaced and looked around before diving once again. Soon, he reached the base of a waterfall and was going to turn around and tell Lilly he couldn't find anything until he heard the sound of someone yelling.
"Persian! Persian, where are you?"
Ryuu surfaced once again and noticed he could see a man up near the edge of the waterfall, yelling downstream. He was wearing the most particular colored suit but that didn't bother Ryuu. Ryuu quickly swam towards the river floor and, with a mighty push of his tail, propelled himself towards the water's surface. When he broke the surface, he jumped at least 12 feet into the air, halfway up the side of the waterfall. The man looked down at Ryuu with an odd look on his face and was going to continue yelling but stopped when he noticed Ryuu staring at him from the bottom of the waterfall. Thinking maybe the Magicarp knew where his Persian was, the man quickly spotted a few sturdy vines hanging from the top of the cliff and used them to climb down. When he reached the bottom, the man looked around and spotted the Magicarp that was still staring at him and only now noticed the Magicarp odd coloration.
"Now that's odd…," said the man as he made his way over to the Magicarp.
He squatted down near the Magicarp, "Do you know where I may find my Persian?"
Ryuu nodded and swam a few feet down stream before turning back and looking at the man.
The man sighed, "Alright, I will follow you. I just hope you really do know where Persian is."
It went on like this for a few minutes. Ryuu would swim a few feet downstream and then stop, turn, and wait for the man to catch up, and when he did, the process would repeat. This happened until Ryuu saw the bend in the river that meant he was near Lilly, which then he sped up and turned the bend without waiting for the man behind him.
"Wait for me!" yelled the man as he moved into a light jog, trying to keep up with the Magicarp.
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Back with Lilly and Persian…..
Lilly was scratching Persian under his chin when she noticed Ryuu come swimming around the bend in the river. As soon as she saw him, she was going to ask whether or not he had found Persian's trainer, until she heard a voice yell," Wait for me!"
Lilly saw the Persian perk up in her lap and looked back towards the bend and as soon as she saw the man, she knew exactly who this was.
'Giovanni, Team Rocket Boss and Viridian Gym Leader…..Oh shit.'
There was no doubt that this man was, in fact, Giovanni. With his signature orange suit, green under vest, red tie, and slicked back brown hair, it would be hard NOT to recognize him.
'But wait…..This is before Ash ever starts to ruin Team Rocket and no one knows that Giovanni is leading a double life. But….he is showing emotion. Maybe with me coming to the Pokémon universe, it had changed some things. Maybe I am supposed to change things for the better…hmmm….i wonder….'
Lilly quickly changed her facial expression to one of hope, "Oh! Are you Persian's trainer?"
Giovanni's POV….
As soon as I had rounded the bend, I was met with the sight of a girl no older than 11 sitting against the base of a tree with my Persian laying his head in her lap. I had never seen the girl in Viridian before, so I wasn't sure who she was. She had long black hair that held a slight purple shine to it that was pulled up into a high pony tail and deep purple eyes that seemed to have electricity running thru them. She was wearing a deep maroon colored blouse with black colored buttons that buttoned up the front along with long, baggy black cargo pants with many pockets. On her hip was a side pouch that was white it color and she was wearing black army combat boots. Off to the side, he noticed a white lab coat and a pair of rectangular sunglasses laid next to an opened bag of medicine. Looking back at the girl, he saw her expression quickly change from thoughtfulness to a mix between hope and surprise before she asked, "Oh! Are you Persian's Trainer?"
Back to Normal POV….
Giovanni chuckled once he came to a stop about seven feet from Lilly," Indeed I am. I must thank you for rescuing him, I'm not sure what would have happened if you hadn't of found him. But may I know the name of my favorite companion's rescuer?"
Lilly gave him a soft smile, "I'm Lilly, but it was no trouble to rescue Persian, I'm just here to help. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I just left Persian there in the river. But….who are you?"
Giovanni tried to hide his shock of her not knowing who he was.
'How could she not have heard of me? She should be already on her Pokémon journey, so that means she would be challenging gyms so she must have heard of me.'
Giovanni cleared his throat," My name is Giovanni and I am the Viridian Gym Leader as well as the last gym you would challenge before heading off to the League."
Lilly acted surprised," Oh! I'm sorry that I didn't recognize you at first. I don't get around often, with my work and all, and I have never seen you out and about in Viridian whenever my work takes me there."
'Of course, no one see's me a lot anymore since I'm trying to get Team Rocket started,' thought Giovanni,' Wait…..did she say work?'
Giovanni gained a puzzled look," Work? Where do you work? I would think someone of your age would have already started their journey to become a 'Pokémon Master'." At that, Giovanni put air quotes around Pokémon Master.
Lilly giggled into her hand," I'm not like most people, I guess. Becoming the Top Breeder, Top Coordinator, or Pokémon Master have never really interested me. I guess it's just because that those dreams are just too….common, I believe the word would be. I would rather have fun doing something no one had ever thought of instead of doing something everyone in the same generation is planning on doing. Oh, and to answer your first question, I am the Assistant to Professor Samuel Oak in Pallet Town."
'Sam hired himself an assistant and never informed myself or the other professors? Hmmm….i will have to phone him up later and ask him why.'
Giovanni cleared his throat," Well, it was very nice to meet you, Lilly, and I once again thank you for saving my Persian from the rapids. I will return to Viridian now and have Nurse Joy heal him the rest of the way."
Pulling out a Pokéball from his jacket pocket, he tossed it at Persian and, with a carefully placed love bite on Lilly's finger, was sucked into the ball. Lilly stood and made her way over to her belongings, placing the sunglasses on her head, jacket tucked under her arm, and bag in hand, all the while aware that Giovanni was still watching her. Turning her head towards the river, she recalled Ryuu into his Pokéball before placing it in her pocket. She headed towards the brush that she had trampled earlier on trying to get here only to stop, place her hand on a nearby tree and look back at Giovanni.
"A word of advice, Giovanni."
Giovanni raised an eyebrow at her.
"Instead of stealing Pokémon loved by their trainers, steal the Pokémon that have been abused since day one and would do anything to get away from their current trainers. I'm just saying, it would be easier for Team Rocket to stay under radar if they are thought to be rescuing Pokémon from harmful trainers, not stealing loved Pokémon from honest trainers."
And with that, she was gone, disappeared into the shadows of the underbrush and trees like a phantom. Giovanni stood, wide-eyed and shocked at the girl, no Lilly, who had not only realized that he ran Team Rocket, but also gave him advice that could help him in the future. Giovanni mentally shook himself and smirked in her direction, not one filled with malice or hate like he would send to most, but one with humor and amusement.
'We will meet again soon, young Lilly. I will figure you out in time and I must repay this debt you have placed on me.'
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A.N. CUT! Ok so, yes or no? I personally have always liked Good!Giovanni better than Evil!Giovanni. Yes, Giovanni will come back into Lilly's life soon and relationships will be like this. Oak is more or less like Lilly's Father. Giovanni will act as an Uncle of sorts that spoils her to death. Both Ash and Gary will be like brothers to her, even though Gary will constantly flirt with her. Ash's mom will play the role of a good friend/ aunt to Lilly.
