Pokemon: Off The Beaten Routes

Chapter 2: First Day Growing Pains

Cerise Lab

Once Eric and Chloe had cemented the fact that they would be traveling partners, the two Professors and Talia both clapped happily for them and gave their daughter a big hug. After they let her go, both Talia and Chloe left, the mother stating she had to get her daughter's things ready and also for Chloe to clean herself up a bit from all the tears that she had shed and gotten her uniform and arms soaking wet.

Tira had finally been placed down before they left and she trotted over to her trainer, who picked her up and bounced her up and down on his knee much to her joy even though his hand was right behind her just in case she might slip off by accident.

"This has been one heck of a day and it's only...two in the afternoon." Eric noted as he took notice of a digital clock on one of the machines nearby.

Both of the professors nodded in agreement. "Thank you for agreeing to take my daughter with you. I do apologize we didn't ask you beforehand but we were worried that you might have had a far more drastic opinion if we had said anything beforehand and we didn't want our child to feel crushed or any other kind of pressure that she wasn't already burdened with." Professor Cerise both explained and apologized.

The trainer waved his concerns away with his free hand. "It's ok. Traveling with a companion is safer than going by yourself. Even with Team Rocket getting hit pretty badly between the new rule changes and stricter League crackdowns, it can be rough out there by yourself if you don't have someone watching your back." He said. After all, he was already risking a lot by doing what he was doing in the eyes of the League. It was best he had someone with him to keep his expectations grounded and staying in reality and reminders that wild pokemon and terrorist organizations were still on the prowl definitely helped there.

"Yes. As for the issue of Chloe not having a pokemon of her own, we know that wild Pikachu and Eevee roam nearby. So it might be good if the both of you capture one of them or one of each if you can manage it before heading over to Professor Oak's lab." Professor Elm suggested.

The eldest Cerise nodded in agreement. "They're pretty versatile critters. Though with Chloe, she'll be on an even stricter restrictions than you I'm afraid. She's going to be registered solely as a research assistant, unlike yourself who is both that and a fully registered trainer. So my daughter will be able to catch pokemon and she can train them with other pokemon she has caught or with your own, but she cannot actually Pokemon Battle others unless it is an absolute last resort. Her usage of pokemon are strictly for traveling and self-defense. With that said, it will be up to you to bring her up to speed to make sure she can find her way to defend herself in a bad situation."

That made Eric rub the back of his head in worry. "I...haven't even started training myself for proper trainer battles, but both Hania and Tira are registered as qualified to battle, so I'll do my best. Though I can't guarantee anything." He didn't make a full promise as he wanted the older man to know he was basically going on this trip with a wing and a prayer himself. Yet he would still do what he could to keep her safe.

"We wouldn't expect you to be a master battler regardless, but what you've just said is more than enough." Professor Cerise assured him.

They talked among themselves for awhile, going over things like Hania's unusual color to how Togepi's could affect luck and some of the newly minted professor's research before Tania and Chloe returned an hour later.

Chloe was dressed in a new uniform from her high school, which apparently was certified as travel durable since it was rather flexible on how students could attend classes. The other research assistant he had yet to see, Goh, had apparently only gone to school during exam days to continue being enrolled after passing all of them.

It was primarily white in color with blue as the secondary on her shirt collar while on her skirt the blue parts were in the shape of an anchor, to show she attended Vermillion High School. She also had a yellow necktie and a gold chain on the front of her skirt to help her on windy days to keep it down without needing to constantly adjust it. There was also on on the back of her skirt for the same reason.

Compared to that, Eric was wearing a white undershirt and a blue jacket with white as the secondary color going in lines from collar to bottom. He also had on rugged dark blue jeans, white socks, red sneakers and dark blue fingerless gloves for when he needed to keep his grip on something. In a way, one could say they matched but in opposite color schemes.

"We've packed all the essentials. We also included that Galar style automatic tent maker that Professor Magnolia sent us last year." Talia told them with Chloe looking extremely relieved that her 'roughing it' as it were would be a lot more comfortable at night.

"That'll be good for rainy days with lots of wind. While it is nice to do things the old fashioned way for safety, sometimes technology just does things a bit better." Professor Cerise mused.

Both Eric and Elm scratched the back of their heads, looking uncomfortable since he had the old school style tent all Kanto and Johto trainers used while traveling. Just another way that the new technology of other regions was beginning to encroach on places where change was very, very hard to approve.

"Mom packed us some food we can use for the next few days thanks to the Silph Co. dimensional storage system in my backpack. It keeps it fresher a little longer." Chloe told Eric as she walked up to him.

"I remember the maps from school. If we can catch your first pokemon quickly, it should only take us about a weeks worth of travel to get from Vermillion to Pallet if we bike, about two and a half if we walk." he said, thinking about their travel rations versus their expected travel time. He himself had a blue fold style bike from Goldenrod that he had gotten as a present when he turned thirteen that had the gear shift from speed to acrobatic tricks if they had to cross certain small gaps.

"Oh! I have one of those too. That should save us a lot of time then." Chloe looked relieved that she was not alone in having transportation since she was beginning to feel bad about having more advanced travel equipment than her travel partner.

"Well then, let's get you two kids off. If you take a right from the bottom of the steps that lead up to the front entrance you should see another branching path. Take the left one and you'll find the Eevee and Pikachu field since the Eevee Evolution Lab is close to there." Professor Cerise advised.

Both teens nodded in understanding while Eric recalled his pokemon.

"Oh, before you leave and this applies to the both of you. I want to ask a favor. Since your Cyndaquil has an unusual base color Eric, let me know if you come across or if you or Chloe capture any other rare colored pokemon as you travel. Since you're only allowed six pokemon at a time, swapping them out every now and again to both keep their badge level evolution within acceptable ranges and also help advance my research." Professor Elm requested of the two.

"I'm not sure if we'll be that lucky, but we can try." Chloe shyly stated.

"I won't ask for miracles. Just a sharp eye." Elm promised.

With that and the final goodbyes given, the two teenagers made their way out of the lab and towards the steps that would take them away from the lab.

It took a few minutes to walk down all of them, but once they had hit the road, they made a right like they were told and walked down the path given.

There might not have been train tracks or a group of four traveling down that way, but Eric felt like he had began the first step of a much greater thing and it felt good. While silence might have been there between him and Chloe, he wasn't going to begrudge her to talk or make conversation to break the monotony of shoes crunching on gravel and pavement roads.

Soon, their feet kept taking them further and further away, until they began to descend down a hill from the lab and slowly leaving it from their visible sight. The sounds of Pidgey and Rattata going across the rustling grass reached their ears, but they did not stray past it. Pokemon that were of a more animal like nature tended to avoid anything not naturally made unless they were running away in fear or were already born in an urban like environment that benefited their specific nature like poison or electric types.

As such, it was until they reached the second branching road along the way from the Cerise lab where the two really stopped. The left branch began to be less man made road and more simple dirt roads until it reached the lab which was next to Vermillion City itself, while the right branch would have them going towards the Diglett's Cave, which would technically be a shortcut from Vermillion to Pewter City, but at the moment it was considered off limits due to the local population of its namesake causing several cave-in's in the years prior due to increased Team Rocket activities at the time.

It was here that Eric handed Chloe Tira's pokeball. "Remember, self-defense only. I'll help weaken any Eevee or Pikachu we come across with Hania so you can catch them. If you absolutely need to use Tira, she knows the moves Pound, Growl and Future Sight. She isn't well versed in psychic type energy so if you decide to use the latter use it early on since it is documented that it takes awhile to actually form and hit something." He instructed.

Chloe gulped and gave a shaky nod of her head, clutching the pokeball like it was a lifeline and she a person trying to stay afloat in stormy seas. Once she gathered herself, they walked left, heading towards the dirt roads and going closer and closer towards the tall grass. The moment they did, there was a shift in the atmosphere that both could feel. The once playful pokemon became more sharp and cautious, watching their every move.

They were invading their territory and human visitors were very much not welcome unless they were caretakers of the land itself. The more skittish ones immediately ducked deeper into the grass and away from the two while the bolder ones chose to wait and observe from perches and hiding places. As a precaution, Eric had Hania's pokeball at the ready himself.

Since the Cyndaquil was still considered a child, he would not release him to walk alongside them just yet. On an off chance that they were more adult and mature pokemon on the hunt, which was common even on daily traveled roads such as these, they could whisk Hania off without much trouble from the rest of them and they would be unaware until it was too late.

Instead they kept their ears out for telltale noises. Pikachu and Eevee had very distinct cries that one could easily make out from the various other pokemon around. Though they were more often found in the cities due to easier access to electricity, there were more than enough tales of Pikachu living in the wilds or forests in packs to ward off predators and share their own electricity energy with one another.

As for Eevee, they were more rare to find out in the wild, but they were very social creatures and often if found were in packs. Though it might mean fighting an entire group, there was a better chance of at least catching one which was the main goal of their excursion today.

If they wanted to do that, however, they'd have to venture deeper and deeper into the tall grass, in what little forest was preserved for pokemon usage next to the Vermillion City limits. Going off an established route was not recommended, by anybody since wild pokemon far above the established badge recommendation level could be among the usual populace and the only reason they were doing this now was only for the fact that Professor Cerise would not have told them to go there if he didn't know that it was safe beforehand.

Soon enough the average pokemon started to veer away as they traveled further in. The light of the mid day sun was slowly being covered by the leaves of tall trees, poking out here and there among the forest grounds. They stopped at the entrance for now to re-establish how they wanted to approach things.

"I'll be on the lookout for Eevee tracks. Let Tira out and hold on to her tight. Feel free to prepare that Future Sight attack like I mentioned earlier. We don't know when it will activate but it's handy for a pinch." Eric advised to Chloe, who gave another silent nod and activated the release button on the pokeball.

The Togepi chirped happily at seeing her trainer and Chloe again before she was picked up by Chloe and held tight against her bosom. Eric rested a single finger on the domed area between all of the spikes of her head and gently rubbed it back and forth.

"Alright girl. Your job is to protect Chloe if she needs protecting." He told her and the pokemon waggled her tiny arms in understanding.

Chloe gulped and finally found her voice again. "P-prepare a Future Sight attack." She ordered shakily.

The Spike Ball pokemon obeyed and wiggled her arms back and forth before raising them up high, her eyes glowing a deep violet as the psychic type energy took hold of her before it suddenly vanished as quickly as it appeared.

"D-did it work?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, the energy dissipates into the future itself, or so I heard to be used when it is needed." Eric said as he recalled his Pokepedia Textbook of Pokemon Techniques.

Though the summoning of the psychic type energy made the forest seemingly come alive as the rustling of bushes were heard. Eric gripped his great ball tightly as the two were now back to back. The sounds came from all over, but there was no way to determine an origin point.

Though after several minutes passed, the rustling began to stop and die out, but the feeling of being watched remained. The tenseness if the air vanished and as the two looked at one another, they shared a small nod of agreement. They needed to keep going. If they let this scare them, then they wouldn't be able to make their deadlines at all in the future.

With a bit more respect and apprehension for the unknown around them, they made themselves keep going. About five minutes to the trek, Eric stopped and noticed some mud on the ground from probably a recent rainy day. Crouching down, he saw a paw shape that stood out to him as being similar to an Eevee's. It had the right size and paw pad shape and it pointed towards their right. A few extra muddy steps confirmed that as well. He stood back up and patted Chloe's shoulder, keeping a finger to his lips for silence and pointed to their right where the tracks led.

She nodded in understanding and they followed the tracks. A few more things made themselves known that they were going the right way from a few half eaten berries on the ground and snapped twigs here and there.

Soon enough, the bushes and underbrush that littered the forest began to thin out, as did the trees. The two plus pokemon finally saw a light breaking out between the treeline and upon crossing it, found themselves in a small grove. What they saw had the two humans holding their breath for a moment.

Eevee. There were Eevee as far as their eyes could see frolicking and playing around with one another. A small dug hole showed a possible cave like home for them to rest in, especially during the winter months or as the tracks suggested a rainy day with no doubt extra trails in the ground for water to go through while the pack stayed warm.

As they let their collective breath out, it was then that they noticed the pokemon had taken notice of them. ALL of them had began looking at them. Eric had been confident on taking down two, maybe three Eevee or Pikachu at most with Hania. Two dozen and higher according to his mental count was far beyond their scope.

The humans and pokemon were at a standstill, until one Eevee, looking scruffier in its fur than all the rest, came out and approached them. It sat down on his hind legs and started at the two of them, before giving out several cries of its name.

"Eevoi! Eevee Eevee Eevoi!"

The two humans were confused until the creature raised its front paw and pointed at the great ball in Eric's hand.

That is when the metaphorical light-bulb went off in his head.

"Oh! We're not here to harm or disturb you really. We just...my friend here, she doesn't have a pokemon of her own. The one she is holding is mine. We were hoping one of you might want to travel with us, or if we can prove ourselves in a battle to show we would be worthy of following? I would like to also travel with one of your pack as well, if possible. Though it will be me battling for the both of us." Eric told the pack leader and hoping it understood. He threw in some body language as well to help, pointing to Chloe, himself, Tira, the Eevee pack and the pokeball to emphasize his point in several places.

Thankfully, it seemed to have worked. The lead Eevee turned around and gave off several barks and cries that had the others looking at one another and muttering their names in their own unique communication.

Eventually, from the crowd, two emerged. One was a normal Eevee, with its brown fur and white tipped tail and neck fluff. The other had them gasping. The other Eevee appeared to be pure white in fur color, or almost silver. Just like Professor Elm had said, they WERE to be on the lookout for pokemon with color variants to show differences in breeding. They just didn't expect to run into one several hours starting into their trip.

The white/silver colored Eevee stopped in front of him, while the normal one bounded over to Chloe almost eagerly, like it knew her for some reason. The lead Eevee then looked at the two of them and gave a sharp "Eevoi!"

These were the two that volunteered to battle Eric to test if they were worthy of traveling with them. With a small nod, the gathered Eevee retreated to their den save the pack leader and the chosen two. It did not involve them and they would learn the results afterwards one way or the other.

The trainer slash lab assistants heart was beating a mile a minute at the thought of his first pokemon battle. The white Eevee stood in front of him as he held out his pokeball and from it, Hania emerged.

The Cyndaquil gave a quick look to his trainer.

"Hania, this is a battle. You will be fighting this Eevee to see if we are worthy of having it join us." He informed his partner.

The fire spots on Hania's back flared to life after understanding that. The pack leader Eevee held up its paw, showing it would referee at to let them know when to begin. Both humans were beginning to see that this Eevee was very old and very smart to know such things and had probably won more than its fair share of battles between wild and tamed pokemon alike.

When it's paw stamped on the ground, that was the sign to start.

"Hania, growl!" Eric commanded.

As the 'shiny', as he would term it, Eevee rushed at them with what appeared to be a quick attack, the Cyndaquil gave a fierce, to pokemon, but to the two humans adorable, growl, causing it to falter and its rush to slow considerably.

"Now Tackle!"

The Cyndaquil rushed forward towards the charging Eevee and body checked it by slamming the whole of its body against the other pokemons head. It knocked the Eevee back a bit before Hania looked back at his trainer.

"Keep going Hania! Press the advantage!" Eric urged him.

The Cyndaquil nodded and rushed towards the Eevee who was getting up and shaking off the head blow.

It did not get up in time to avoid a second tackle, but while it was on the ground after getting hit again, it's paw dug into the dirt and grass and threw it at Hania in what Eric could only guess was an improvised version of a sand-attack. The Cyndaquil was hit face first with it and gave a small squeal as he tried to wipe the dirt and grass out of his eye.

This let the Eevee fully recover itself and it gave a rather evil grin at seeing an opening.

"Hania, Extrasensory!" Eric called out after realizing he let himself be absorbed by what was going on and not paying attention of the flow of the battle.

'Rookie mistake number one! Get it together!' He thought to himself.

Sadly, his order came a bit too late as the Eevee slammed its body into Hania and then quickly chased after it to slam him with its tail and paws.

'Flail? Do Eevee's know that move?!' The trainer thought in realization as he kept calling for Hania to get back up.

The Cyndaquil did so, shaking his head free of the rest of the dirt and grass on it while the Eevee seemingly taunting him by sticking out its tongue.

That was its mistake as Hania's eyes glowed with a purple gleam, just like Tira's did earlier. Only instead of an attack that would come in the future, it happened right then and there. That energy then flowed outwards, enveloping the Eevee and twisting it's body to and fro, causing it extreme pain before it was slammed downwards.

At that point, the Eevee tried to get back up but couldn't. The psychic attack was too strong for it to handle at its current level. It was a good thing too, since he could tell Hania was also trying to catch his breath. After it failed to get back up a third time, Eric decided it was time to see if it would end there.

"Eevee, I don't want you hurting yourself further. Have we proven ourselves to you? Do you think we're strong enough for you to follow?" He asked the creature.

It gritted its teeth as it attempted to get back up a fourth time and this time it was successful, but it fell forward after taking a single step and gave a slow nod of its head. There was nothing more it could do and it accepted that it was beaten fair and square in an honorable fight.

With its acceptance, the trainer took out a pokeball whose colors were almost inverse to a normal one. Rather than the normal red and white, it was pure white with red lines going around the middle and its circular center piece. It was called a premiere ball and he had gotten it for free after purchasing ten pokeballs back at the Cherrygrove Pokemart before he had gone to the Elm Lab earlier that day.

It was going to be his first capture, so he felt it deserved something special to commemorate it. He lightly tossed it to the fallen pokemon and upon tapping it, the capture device opened up and absorbed the creature with a red light and came out of it before snapping shut.

Eevee did not fight the capture and allowed itself to be immediately caught. Suddenly, a buzzing noise came to his ear and his Rotom phone pulled itself out of his pocket.

"Bzzt! Successful capture recorded, Trainer Eric! Would you like to see more information about the Eevee you have just captured?" It asked him.

He shook his head in response. "Not right now. We still have another battle. This time for Chloe's Eevee." he told it.

The machine gave him a curious look before it moved its body up and down in agreement and went back into his pocket. The trainer then looked at the second Eevee, who had curled up in front of Chloe and was snoozing peacefully.

"Umm...should we let it sleep?" He asked the pack leader Eevee, who snorted and trotted over to the slumbering creature and smacked it face first with its tail.

"Eevoi!" The leader shouted and the previously slumbering pokemon woke up quickly before taking the field. With the few minutes he had to catch his breath, Hania looked a little better than before, but utilizing psychic type energy he was not naturally attuned to had seriously drained him of energy.

Eric knew he had to end this fight a lot more quickly than the first and was ready to do so. This Eevee, however, seemed a lot more playful than its companion, making him wonder if it was truly battle ready.

The pack leader, however, seemed to already think so as it just tapped its paw against the ground with little care for fanfare the second time around.

"Hania, tackle it and keep tackling! Leave it with no room to counter!" He commanded as in this case it was really the only thing he could do. He did not know the limits of his own pokemons strength because of the 'rules and tradition' of not being able to actually train his pokemon to battle, just to harness its own inner energy.

As such, he was just as blind to what was going on as anybody else would be. He hated it, he absolutely loathed that he had to endure such a thing for six months. While he would never regret being able to love and connect with his pokemon, he was sad that he couldn't do anything to actually make them stronger, which was the goal of all trainers.

So this was to be his trial by fire as it were. Hania bravely charged forward and the playful Eevee dodged to the side in order to avoid the first tackle, but the Fire Mouse pokemon dug his lower heels into the ground to halt his momentum before jumping backwards, slamming his head into the Eevee's body.

It was not expecting something like that and before it could get up Hania slammed himself into it, again and again. Each time it would try to fight back, Hania tackled it back down to the ground.

Though even with all the damage it was taking, the Eevee continued to remain playful and made it look like it felt nothing. The trainer was worried if its defense was legitimately too high to actually take damage from such a simple move and Hania was beginning to sweat once again while faltering in speed and power. He was giving everything he had and then some.

Yet again, the playful Eevee surprised all of them by simply surrendering then and there as it laid down on the ground. Scuffed, battered and a little bruised or maybe even more injured than it let on, but the entire time it was showing off its endurance for Chloe, rather than trying to avoid capture.

The pack leader Eevee shook its head and began to walk back to the den as well while Eric took out a pokeball from a different space in his bag and handed it to Chloe. These were registered to her lab assistant ID so that her capture would not be mistaken for his own.

She tossed it at the Eevee who let itself be captured as well. When it was over, she delicately picked up the pokeball and looked at it with wonder.

"My first actual pokemon. Caught by me...even if I had help." She muttered to herself, contemplating on how it had been far too easy. The entire time Eric had been battling, the playful normal colored Eevee had been playing around with her and Tira. It legitimately felt like it knew her.

It was then that a memory from awhile back tugged at her. At helping out an Eevee in the rain years ago with Yamper. It was cold and shivering from a heavily rainy day with some gusts of wind going about. She had felt bad for it, so she had taken it to her school which had been nearby and gave it a warm bath in the gym showers and let it stay in her backpack until it was time to leave. When the rain had stopped, it had left and she had just let it go as a memory of doing a good deed.

Was that the same Eevee from then? Was it trying to repay her for the kindness of giving it shelter and safety for awhile before letting it go back to the wild? If so, how did it remember her years later?

She was shaken out of her thoughts when she heard a yelp of pain coming from nearby. Both her and Eric had turned their heads toward the noise and saw the pack leader Eevee getting tossed back towards them.

From a nearby treeline, the unmistakable floating visage of a Koffing came into view, the orb like body with many opening to let out its poison gas. Alongside it was a Meowth, a cat like pokemon who had a gold, olden money like attachment on its head.

The Meowth was licking its paws, a clear sign of who had just attacked the leader Eevee. Though what came out after them had the trainer and assistant shocked and dismayed.

It was an older man. They could tell just by his gaunt visage and the lines on his eyes that he had done things, terrible and unspeakable but could care less about it. He also had a gut, but it seemed to be one that had at least some strength behind it as his arms had muscles on it.

Though what had really put fear into the two teen's hearts was what he was wearing. A page boy style hat…and a fully black uniform with a red 'R' directly in the middle of it.

"T-team Rocket…" Chloe whimpered out.

This caught the man's attention as he pulled out from his side a well used leather whip. Well used because even from a distance, one could see red flecks of blood on it.

Eric also noticed the man had more pokemon on him than just the Koffing and Meowth. There was a third ball attached to his belt. There were many things that could have meant and none of them were good.

Both of them had been raised on the horror stories of Team Rocket. They'd beat, kidnap, kill or 'convert' children into their organization or just straight up steal all of their pokemon and money and drain them dry of finances holding them for ransom and never returning them even after payment had been given.

TV reports were shown daily of dead and bruised children, broken families and pokemon gone feral to the point of having to be put down. So graphic were they that at one point even when it was breaking news there had to be warnings to take all children away from the TV for at least a minute before the reports could start.

They had very little in the way of morals and they had gotten to the point where they had even challenged the very legends that guarded Kanto itself. Though the wrath of Moltres was swift and vengeful, it was a very near thing that they had nearly brought low what was said to be the concept of fire itself had Champion Lance and Professor Oak himself had not intervened.

Even when supposed legendary trainers like Red and Leaf from Pallet Town had helped to bring down much of the Rocket Organization, they had not broken it. If anything, the two ten year old children at the time, some of the last trainers allowed to leave at that age, made them harder to catch as they just went underground to bide their time.

Now, one of those infamous gang members were in front of them. With nothing but three weakened pokemon and Tira not knowing anything that could truly assist them outside of its Future Sight, which had still not activated even after all this time.

"I come here hearing rumors about an Eevee colony and I find two brats trying to impede on my big payday. We can't have that now can we?" The Rocket member's voice rumbled from across the glade.

"Drop it. Your bags, your pokemon, your cash and walk away. It'll never happen and you get to live. Otherwise, things will get messy."

The order was given right away and in the back of the teenagers minds, that primal childhood fear had made them consider it for a moment. Hania would not be able to handle two more battles. Tira did not have the strength to go against a Meowth and a Koffing and the Eevee's were bruised from their fights. Granted Chloe's might still be fight capable but she herself was not ready to give commands in a battle.

Yet their fears were shattered when harsh reality came back as the pack leader Eevee stood up, unafraid of the pokemon in front of it and more than ready to fight back. It had chosen to help them, let two of its own members go to travel with them. They could not abandon it now in its time of need.

That was also to say nothing of the fact that for Eric, he made a lot of promises. To his pokemon, to himself, to Professor Cerise. He promised to make Hania and Tira the strongest they could be, so that they could in turn help him to be the best he could be. He promised to protect Chloe no matter what. To give that up because of fear, he would never be able to look at himself in a mirror again, much less live among civilized people.

So even with quaking knees and sweating faces, they shook their heads at the given 'offer'. There was also no guarantee that even if they did what they were told that the Rocket member would let them leave anyways. They were witnesses and could give a description to the nearest Officer Jenny. They often just left corpses to tell their story instead.

"They always choose the hard way. Meowth, slice them up a bit. Maybe they'll make for good 'recruits' and if not, well eventually a wild 'mon will come and clean up the mess. Koffing, deal with that Eevee. The runt is old by our standards and the boss likes it when they're older since it means they're stronger." The grunt commanded.

The two pokemon did not hesitate. The Scratch Cat pokemon immediately lunged at them with claws fully extended.

Eric did not plan on losing at that moment, but if he wanted to win or at bare minimum survive, he'd have to throw away all caution and do something considered insane.

Fight Back.

"Hania, I know you're tired, but give everything you got into one last Extrasensory!" He shouted.

The Cyndaquil obeyed. Once more his eyes took on the deep purple glow and the Meowth was stopped in its tracks before its body began to be twisted and bent like a pretzel. It was shouting in pain, but Hania did not stop, not until his last bits of energy was gone.

As even while he was just trying to hold off one, the Eevee pack leader was savagely fighting the Koffing with its years of experience.

Each time it spewed out its toxic fumes the Eevee would jump back, taunt, force it to battle on its terms. The only thing that stopped the Koffing from falling into it was the commands of the Rocket member, who used his whip to instill obedience into the pokemon to fight off its own instincts.

"Hania, throw it towards me, it's okay!" Eric commanded.

With the last vestiges of its physical and mental strength, the Cyndaquil obeyed. He turned towards his trainer and let the psychic energy go, shooting the battered Meowth at him.

Eric immediately recalled his pokemon as the enemy flew towards him. The moment a collision seemed imminent, he stepped to the side and grabbed the Meowth by the tail, twisting it around and slamming it hard against the ground. The pokemon screeched in pain once again as the trainer whirled it around it circles by its tail before tossing it back at the Rocket.

All the while, Chloe was on her knees, eyes wide and horrified by the violence going on, everything that was happening one after another. It was too much, too much for her to keep up with. Her traveling partner was trying to keep his promise to her father, even if it meant that he would get hurt or worse. The helpful Eevee was fighting for its life and she couldn't even make a single noise come out of her throat.

She was absolutely powerless and she hated every single second of it and thus, she let herself go, her consciousness leaving her as she couldn't handle any more of the insanity going on in front of her.

As for the Rocket member, he calmly recalled the Meowth while telling the Koffing to aim for the hole that was the Eevee's Den with it's poison smog. The leader Eevee immediately reacted and slammed itself against the poison pokemon's body, but this time it could not stop itself from inhaling some of the fumes and becoming poisoned itself.

As he had to focus on that, he didn't notice the male teen rushing towards him until he swung his fist out of instinct. He didn't hit him, but he had to break his concentration from commanding his pokemon to deal with the obstacle in front of him.

"You little brat! Couldn't wait to get your beating personally could you?!" He growled as he began to lift his other arm up to slam his whip into him, but then pain flooded all of his senses.

Because of the fact that he lost focus, he did not see what the teen was trying to do. Which in this case was slam his foot right between the Rocket's legs. This made him fall to his knees which allowed the teen to then follow up with a fist to the face before he was tackled to the ground.

"LEAVE! US! ALONE!" Eric shouted as he slammed his fists into anything and everything he could reach. Fear and adrenaline were clouding his mind and judgment.

He needed to buy the pack leader Eevee time to fend off the Koffing, who without its trainer was taking much more vicious hits from the more experienced pokemon. He needed to buy time for Chloe to break out of her shell of fear so she could run and try to get help.

He needed to do this. He was the only one that could do this. That was the only thing driving him and in turn, was what was angering the Rocket more as he began to regain his senses.

The man was taller, stronger, older and more ruthless, but even the mightiest of men were weak to being kicked down there, yet that made him even more furious.

This time, the punch the older man threw out connected, hitting the teen square in his face and knocking him away even as his arms flailed and tried to grab hold of the man.

Whether or not he got anything was the furthest thing from the Rocket member's mind at the moment. The teen was cradling his nose which was by some miracle above not broken, but definitely bloodied. That meant the next thing the Rocket did was get up, slowly walk over to the teen and slam his foot into the teens gut, tearing the breath out from him and nearly making him lose whatever meal he had eaten earlier.

Though now that the roles were reversed and the teen was incapacitated, the Rocket took his time to grab his whip. A quick side eye showed that his Koffing was down for the count, but the pack leader Eevee was badly poisoned at this point and was struggling to keep itself upright.

The female teen looked already passed out, but he saw what looked to be a rare pokemon cradled in her arms. The Rocket grinned at the possibility of a payday at hand. With whip in hand, he wrapped the end of it against the male teens throat and dragged him over to the girl, readily ignoring the choking sounds that were being made behind him.

Once he got closer, he saw the girl was crying and she had most definitely wet herself, making his nose crinkle in disgust. Though he wasn't there for her, he wanted the little creature in her hands, which was glaring at him with a rather mean look that did not belong on such a tiny pokemon. Just as his hand was about to reach it, everything went black. Sight, sound, smell...he lost it all in a moment.

"Wha...what the fuck did you little shits do to me!" He shouted as he swung his fist at empty air, trying to see light, smell the forest, hear anything.

What he instead got was two red, glowing eyes and a wide set of teeth set in a savage smile grinning at him.

"Gengar….GENGAR!" The voice echoed all around the Rocket as he ran to and fro, his loss of senses keeping him from realizing where he was going. He slammed into several things but he didn't care. He wanted to see, he wanted to see, he wanted to SEE!

"FIGHT ME YOU FUCKING COWARD!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

That was when all the noise ceased. No longer was he being taunted or mocked. The sight of a forest in sunset had returned to him and he began to laugh at getting his way once more...but it was the last sight that he would see as he was unaware that behind him, the purple glow of a very heavily built Future Sight attack slammed into his head at that same moment.

Rather than attack his body, the Future Sight attack his mind and the human mind was not meant to resist a pokemon attack. It was an immediate shock that cut everything at once to numb the body from the absolute pain that would have gone through the entire thing at once.

Thus, the Rocket's eyes glazed to nothing and drool began to drip from his mouth, because there was nothing else TO do anymore.

If one could not think, if one did not have a conscious, then all they were was just mindless flesh and blood.

In the Eevee Grove

Eric Kisaki was heaving, his eyes bloodshot and his body in total agony. The whip that had been wrapped tightly around his throat was still there, but he didn't see what happened that caused the Rocket to flee. He was too busy trying to keep himself conscious. His hands tightly clung to his neck, he tried to undo the knot around the whip as the poisoned Eevee delicately walked towards him.

He reached out towards it, trying to say something and it looked at him akin with pity and pride all in one look. Opening its mouth, he saw the glistening white fangs on it before it bit down into the heavy leather and ripping it to pieces with the well known Bite attack. It didn't have much energy left, but there was apparently enough to at least get the knot out.

After Eric managed to free his throat, he gasped for air that he had not been getting for several minutes. Tears flowed freely down his eyes at the terrifying encounter from scant moments ago.

What in Arceus' holy name was he thinking?! Fighting an older man, mauling a pokemon with his bare hands and trying to make someone run away just by violence alone? Did he think he was a Pokewood star or something?!

He couldn't save anyone, least of all himself. He slammed his fist to the ground, letting a small, keening cry of pain and anguish out before his bit his lip down hard. Hard enough to draw blood because he had no time to pity his powerlessness.

Reaching into his bag, he quickly pulled out the pokemon first aid set and dug inside of it, pulling out several bottles before he found one filled with a purple liquid. Antidote. It was the solution for when a pokemon was so badly poisoned that berries which usually nullified the infection in its system was no longer enough. It was extremely potent and not meant to be used lightly.

In this case, he was going to save that pack leader's life by any means necessary. Crawling over to it with what little energy he was running on, he pried its mouth open and sprayed the inside of its mouth, which was beginning to take on a sickly purple tinge with a horrific smell to match with the Antidote attached to a spray release trigger.

Immediately, he saw the purple tinge beginning to lighten itself up in the Eevee's mouth as it set to work detoxifying it within seconds. With that, he knew the pack leader would be ok, if a little numb.

Despite his entire body protesting in agony, he still found himself pushing further, crawling on his hands towards Chloe and Tira, with the little Togepi crying tears as she reached out to him was but was held tight in the teen girl's unconscious grip.

As he forced himself closer and closer, he felt his fingers brush against something metallic. His eyes turned slightly and saw that it was the third pokeball the Rocket Member had not used. In the mad scramble of when he got punched off the older man, he must have slapped his hand against the gangsters pokeball belt and knocked it loose. Staring at it for a few moments, he grabbed it and threw it into his open backpack as evidence while he kept crawling towards his traveling partner.

He had also noticed the same smell the Rocket did, but ignored it as he touched the hand of Chloe's that was on the grass.

"Chloe. Chloe...it's ok. He's gone, you don't have to be scared anymore. Chloe? C-Chloe?" He kept calling out to her but there was no response. She was out cold completely.

Eric was starting to feel numb, the small burst of energy he had in saving the pack leader was gone at this point. As his vision began to go black, he grabbed Tira's pokeball and returned the Togepi to it before his face landed on Chloe's lap.

"Y...you're safe now. You're safe...you're all safe…" He muttered before he too fell unconscious.

The grove fell silent, sunset fading to the dark of night. A lone shadow cast by a tree grew red eyes and a mischievous grin. The ghostly Gengar, the same one from the Cerise lab, saw that the two humans were safe.

It had been asked by the Professor to watch over them and only intervene if something dangerous was going to happen to Chloe.

Thus, it had hid in the girls shadow the entire time. It watched the battles, it watched the Rocket member introducing itself and it watch as Chloe broke down mentally. It watched the boy fight back but it did not interfere. It had only been asked to protect Chloe herself and that was what it did.

The moment that the older human had tried to reach towards her, Gengar possessed him for a moment, feeding on the negative emotions of the older humans soul. Then it made the human run around like a madman until it felt the energies of a psychic attack incoming and canceled the possession, diving back into the safety of the shadows while the older human was taken out.

Its job done, Gengar did not want to go back to the lab quite yet. After all, it loved pranks far too much and it wanted to prank the boy for a bit. For not quite protecting Chloe as he should have of course.

As it began to head towards the boy's shadow, it stopped. A pair of golden pupils between orange-red iris' stared back at the Gengar.

It knew right away whatever those eyes were, they were old. Older than the Gengar and thus, far more powerful. It fled, running back towards the safety of the Cerise lab, not once looking back as the eyes faded away and the boys shadow returned to normal as if nothing happened.

Once more, the grove was silent until slowly, Eevee after Eevee came out of the den. Well over two dozen came around to surround their exhausted leader and looked at the two humans. They heard all the noises and they knew that the human fought to protect the leader, but they would not fit in the den to heal and recover. That would require a human facility. Thankfully, they knew human society was nearby, as people with coats would come to the grove every now and again to ask for helpers. Those Eevee never returned to who they once were, but they were all the stronger for it.

The Evolution pokemon all looked at one another and nodded. The kindness of the humans would be repaid.

Later

Consciousness came back slowly to Eric. His eyes fluttered open slowly, noting that he was looking not at the sky, but fluorescent lights. It made him wince slightly as he raised an arm up before touching his face and noting that it had been bandaged slightly around his nose area, while his lips were dry, cracked and feeling numb.

He was weak and groggy, but conscious enough to realize that someone had stumbled across him and Chloe and hopefully brought them to safety. He really did not want to think too hard on the other possibility, that the Rocket had backup and those had dragged them away.

"Chansey!" He heard from his left side. Turning his head around, he saw the self-same pokemon with a nurses hat on its head looking at him. A sigh of relief came from his lips as he realized that he was safe and in turn, that meant Chloe was safe as well.

The Chansey handed him his Rotom phone, which came to life immediately. "Trainer Eric, Bzzt! You have two messages. One from Professor Cerise, one from the Vermillion City Officer Jenny. You have been unconscious for a full day, Bzzt! Would you like to see your messages?" It asked.

He could already imagine a scolding coming along, but he nodded anyways as he wanted to get any lectures over with sooner rather than later.

The Rotom phone went over to the message app and then projected an image of a grave looking Professor Cerise.

"Mr. Kisaki. I first want to offer you my heartfelt apologies. The Gengar from the lab had followed you and saw everything that happened and reported back to me once it was over. If I had known there was ANY Team Rocket activity in the area I would NEVER have advised you and Chloe to head to where you did to look for her pokemon. What happened was a tragic accident and I do not want you to blame yourself for what happened." He said before taking in a deep breath and letting it out.

"Secondly, I want to thank you for trying to uphold your promise to protect Chloe. Gengar was supposed to protect the both of you, but he took my request too literally and thus, you came to great harm. As a parent, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. As a responsible adult, I cannot stress again that I apologize for what happened. Chloe woke up before you did and also gave me her side of the story and she told me that despite everything, she wants to continue traveling with you." This time the professor paused to let out a small chuckle.

"It seems like the danger finally made her realize that she wanted direction in her life and in this case, she wants to learn to better herself. She froze and I don't blame her. She lost consciousness from too many things overwhelming her at once and I do not blame her. In fact, I'm proud that she wants to move past that and be a better person. I've asked the League to look into the forests around Vermillion some more so you don't need to worry about any travel troubles from here on in. Please, rest up and when you're ready, have a much better second day of travels than you have had for your first."

With that, the first message ended and the second message started. The blue haired, blue uniformed visage of Officer Jenny filled the screen.

"Trainer Eric Kisaki. As an officer of Vermillion City, I must apologize for allowing harm to come to your person, however, duty also must come first. As you were attacked by Team Rocket, I will need you to make a report down at the station. Nurse Joy also went through your things and found a pokeball with a stolen pokemon inside of it. We know that this belonged to the Rocket. I commend that you managed to get it away from a dangerous felon but must stress to never take reckless danger of your person like that again." She sternly warned.

Clearing her throat, she continued. "The pokemon inside was a heavily abused Teddiursa. It was clearly taken from its trainer, but we have no way of knowing if the abuse came from before it was stolen or after, as it seems not all of its injuries were more recent ones. As you are the one that had saved this pokemon and as it has been over twenty four hours with no one coming to claim it, we are obligated to give you an offer to take it in as an official pokemon for your party. Once more, you can come to the station to claim the Teddiursa, but I must stress that this pokemon was abused. Earning its trust will be a hard thing to do, much less make it battle. However, Nurse Joy was informed via the local Eevee population that you treated them with respect and dignity, which is why this offer is an open one. Once you are well enough to stand, please report to me immediately."

With that, the second message had vanished and the face of the Rotom once again came to life. "When you lost consciousness, I made the emergency call to the nearest Jenny station while the Eevee's tried to drag you and Chloe there, bzzt! She met you halfway with an ambulance and Nurse Joy." It explained and the trainer nodded his head slowly as Chansey offered him a glass of water which he gratefully took to quench his parched throat.

"Now that you are safe, would you like to see the updated data on your recently captured pokemon?"

The Rotom Phone's next question had him pause for a moment. In all the chaos and confusion, he had nearly forgotten about catching the white/silver Eeevee.

"Y-yes." He said.

The Rotom phone turned itself horizontally and presented him with the Eevee's information.

"Eevee, the Evolution Pokemon. Its ability to evolve into many forms allows it to adapt smoothly and perfectly to any environment. This Eevee is female, it's level in the KinJoh index is rated as ten, within your no badge parameters. Its ability is Anticipation and it knows the moves Tackle, Tail Whip, Growl, Covet, Helping Hand, Sand Attack, Quick Attack and Flail. It is of a Serious nature." It ticked off.

That surprised Eric greatly. On the index of a pokemon's strength, its 'level' as it was often called, the newly caught Eevee was twice as high as Hania's. He was surprised that he won if that was the case, much less being able to capture her.

"Your Cyndaquil, Hania, has had his index updated. He is now to be considered level nine. Tira's index level is the same."

With that, the Rotom phone went back down and laid itself on top of a bundle of clothes. His clothes to be precise, which looked to be freshly laundered. He let the Chansey continued to fuss over him for a bit as he gave it back the empty glass of water.

Catching an Eevee with an alternative color. Fighting a pokemon with his bare hands. Fighting a Team Rocket member with his bare hands. Protecting Chloe and saving the pack leader Eevee. All of that took only one afternoon and evening. It was no wonder he was still so exhausted physically and mentally. He had definitely been thrown down a gauntlet of a trial by almighty Arceus' itself it felt like if that was just his first day of what was meant to be, by all standards, a rather relaxing and sedated paced journey.

He hoped to every pokemon god above and below that not all of his days would be as exciting as this one. He wasn't sure if he could handle that, much less the rest of his team. Plus there was also the fact that he also had apparently grabbed and taken an abused pokemon from Team Rocket, known pokemon abusers. That its trainer had not come to claim it did not speak highly of the person...if the Rocket member let them live in the first place. He saw the blood on the whip and he had no way of knowing if that belonged to a human or a pokemon.

Still, he would not leave a Teddiursa of all things at an abandoned pokemon shelter. Plenty of those had popped up over the years due to Team Rocket and some had been found to be RUN by Team Rocket. He wasn't sure if it was fate, destiny or something else guiding him at this point, but he would not let it suffer the possibility of being recaptured by Team Rocket, left to the possibility of evolving into a berserk Ursaring and put down because of it or never being picked up by a trainer again because of its past life experiences.

He grabbed the pokeball and thus, he was obligated by his own moral code to take care of it.

"First day growing pains...suck so hard." He muttered as he felt himself slowly going back to sleep to rest his weary body once more.

End Chapter

A/N: Pretty sure you weren't expecting a second chapter so soon, right? Neither was I. Though the motivation was there and with my stressful job at work being replaced with a different stressful task, I wanted to at least get out a second chapter before the mental weariness kicks in once more.

As you can see, this journey will not be full of sunshine, rainbow and the power of friendship. Real life and real consequences are happening here. While not as dark as this, there will be other chapters where the material wanders into territories like this. Growing up in a world of pokemon means violence goes hand in hand alongside peace.

It also means that those with strength will want to abuse that strength and Eric and Chloe have experienced that firsthand. Yet their struggles were rewarded with three pokemon!

Chloe's Eevee, a shiny Eevee and a Teddiursa! The third one was admittedly added in as a last moment kind of thing, but I did want to show more of the real world real consequence choice and taking in an abused pokemon is something that can and will happen to people, just like in real life with pets.

Whether or not that Teddiursa will reward Eric's faith that he can help heal it will be seen!

I think that's about all I got for right now, so see you all next chapter, hopefully!

Current Pokemon Count:
Eric Kisaki: Hania (Cyndaquil), Tira (Togepi), Eevee, Teddiursa

Chloe Cerise: Eevee

I do not own pokemon. It is owned by the Pokemon Company and Game Freak.