This is my first fanfic, so constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated! The prologue contains my rendition of the attack on the Goldenrod City Radio Tower, this time being led by a different man. Sorry if the format is annoying, I was in a hurry and didn't have time to fix it. Hope you enjoy it!
Shades of Grey
Prologue
Goldenrod City, a beautiful megalopolis of
opportunity! The sun was beginning to set, and the sky was a
deep orange, with crimson streaks gracing it. Tranquility was
setting in, the local Sunflora were beginning to close their
leaves, when chaos ensued. A choke of black smoke strangled the
sky, as if the Radio Tower had let out a demonic scream. Flames
began to spew from the windows on the top floor, as glass rained
down like snow. An intense, terrifying bellow was released from
the tower, as two onlookers gazed upon the discord. A young
woman with soft, lavender-colored hair and passionate
blue-stained eyes looked over, as tears welled in those same
cyan eyes. She quickly shook her head, scattering the tears, as
she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. As she looked over, she
saw that same face which had comforted her so many times
before. The man had spiky golden-blonde hair, and foggy blue
eyes. He had a face that had the enlightenment of a life-long
journey completed successfully. A stern look was quickly and
suddenly chiseled into his face. Like the woman, his face was
filled with remorse, although constrained. She looked up at him
and quickly stood up from the bench. She slowly nodded, and the
gestured was quickly returned. The got up and darted into the
flame-consumed spire, as the man tackled through the doors, and
explosion of flame shot out.
“Ampharos, we need your help!” yelled the man, as he
threw an unusual Pokéball into the air, topped with a deep gold
rather than the generic red. The ball exploded upon, and with a
flash of light, the Pokémon appeared. Ampharos let out a loud
cry, as it followed the man up the stairs to the second floor.
The woman remained on the first floor, where the
reception table was located, as she hurried and sorted people as
they ran through the doors, gasping and coughing as screaming
and crying could be heard echoing from upstairs. Suddenly, a
man with a maniacal grin and curly pink hair descended the
stairs, laughing madly. He was dressed in an ash-covered black
suit, which was seized by a large, bright red “R”. “Team
Rocket..!” gasped the woman “I-I thought… you disbanded three
years ago..!” she stammered through a choked voice. The man
laughed as he cold, life-less eyes pierced her false courage.
“Ha! C’mon sweetheart, you say that like it’s a good thing!” he
laughed while he pulled a Pokéball from his belt and tapped the
middle button with his index finger, thus expanding it. “C’mon
out an’ play Weezing!” he growled as he through the ball into
the air, releasing the monstrous, double-headed, fiend as it
coughed and wailed while releasing a toxic, green-colored gas
from its two mouths.
The woman gasped as she covered her mouth with her arm, trying
to protect from the lethal combination of smoke and toxic gas.
“Slowbro, I need you!” she muttered to herself as her eyes began
to tear up from pain. She reached for a small pouch on her
waist, which she soon produced a Pokéball from. The man laughed
maniacally as she fell to her knees, dropping the Pokéball on
the floor.
The fire had now worked its way downstairs, and the floor was
covered in a blaze that surrounded the two trainers. The fallen
Pokéball that had been dropped by the woman had exploded open,
releasing Slowbro.
The Pokémon quickly ran over and doused the woman with a spray
of water from its mouth, as she slowly stumbled to her feet.
“S-Slowbro, use... I-ice-punch..!”
The normally lax-looking Pokémon had a serious look creep upon
his face, as his right hand began to glow a bright blue. The
Pokémon thrust forward, his right arm pulled back in preparation
as he shot it forward into the depressed-looking Weezing’s
larger face. The Weezing shot back, plummeting through a now
weakened wall as embers and ash fell slowly to the ground. A
blaze shot up and welled around the Team Rocket member.
The madman-look in his face quickly disappeared as he called on
his Pokémon to return and ran out of the tower.
“Ampharos, use Discharge!” roared the young man as
his Pokémon released a blue bolt of electricity towards three
Team Rocket members’ Pokémon.
“Return Raticate!”
“Return Arbok!”
“Return Golbat!” rang out the three frightened and disappointed
voices. The trio quickly scrambled halfway up the stairs
leading to the third floor, when a man came running down the
same stairs.
“You idiots, which one of you started the fire!? Get
downstairs, now!”
“I-it was August, n-not us!” stammered the grunt who battled
with an Arbok.
“August, you say? He will be dealt with accordingly” muttered
the man. “Get out of the tower, head back to base. Make sure
you aren’t followed. It seems we have a ‘hero’ I have to deal
with.” said the man calmly. He had a generic Team Rocket hat
pointed down on his head, covering his eyes. Silver hair could
be seen underneath the hat, as well as a confident smirk. He
was wearing a slightly altered Team Rocket uniform. It had an
open chest that had stitching crossing the gap, which revealed a
white shirt underneath. The trademark “R” was also silver,
instead of the bold red. The man gave another intimidating
smirk, as he drew a Pokéball from behind his back.
“My name is September. How are you?”
Most of the ceiling had collapsed, and the woman had
nearly been struck by a falling support beam. As she wiped her
eyes with her arm, she looked up at a now gaping wound in the
ceiling while Slowbro had been attempting to douse the flames.
She looked up and saw man who she had seen countless times
before. She had never seen him like this. He laughed at a man,
who was smiling ominously on the other side of the room, tossing
up a Pokéball with one hand, and catching it repeatedly, while
his other hand sat in his pocket.
“Damian! The tower’s coming down, we need to get out of here!”
the woman yelled up at the man.
“No, I can’t let their leader get away! You run, I’ll get this
punk…” replied Damian.
The woman should her head defiantly, and threw a Pokéball up on
the second floor, next to Damian. The Pokéball released an
Ivysaur, which shot down vines that grabbed the woman, pulling
her up besides him.
“Heh, you really are stubborn, aren’t ya Lacie?” laughed Damian.
Lacie stuck her tongue out and winked “Almost as stubborn as
you!”
September smiled, and looked up, revealing cold
green eyes underneath his hat. “Cute. Are you two done?”
The two looked at each other and nodded, quickly looking over
towards their foe.
“Two vs. one? Tyranitar should be enough” September snarled as
he released the ferocious Pokémon from its ball. Lacie withdrew
Slowbro and Ivysaur, in return releasing her Altaria.
Damian withdrew his Ampharos, quickly replacing him with his
Typhlosion.
“Hyper Beam” September said coldly. Tyranitar released a
massive orange beam from his mouth, which shot towards
Typhlosion, who barely dodged the attack. The beam kept
shooting forward, as it blew through the wall behind the two,
causing the right side of the third floor to come plummeting
down. Damian and Lacie coughed frantically as a cloud of debris
fell upon them, completely obscuring their vision of September.
A disturbing silence soon followed, which was broken by a cold, familiar voice.
“Team Rocket is back, and we’re stronger than Giovanni ever was.”
Immediately after, a large support beam fell upon the duo, who
just managed to return their Pokémon. The beam was covered in
embers, and was smoldering.
Lacie let out a cry of fear, as she heard the beam falling.
After a moment of preparing for the worst, she looked up in
surprise of the beam never making contact with her. She saw
Damian, hunched over and on all fours over her, with the massive
beam burning into his back.
“L-Lacie… I… Love you” he choked as he winked and gave that same
smile she had seen thousands of times before.
“No! Don’t leave me… You can’t leave me!”
Damian smiled again, this time, tears rolling down his
ash-covered cheeks.
“I’m not going… Anywhere” he said, giving one last smile.
Damian soon collapsed. Lacie, crying, tried to push the flaming
beam off his back, burning her hands as she screamed out in
pain. A mottled choke of tears and pain echoed out from her.
“I won’t leave you! I can’t leave you..!” the beautiful young
woman with lavender hair and blue eyes cried.
Neither ever left the tower.
Chapter I
The Journey Begins
“Last night, a terrible even struck the city of
Goldenrod. It’s been reported that just before the destruction
of the Radio Tower, a man could be heard on the radio saying and
quote, ‘Team Rocket has returned. Hear that Giovanni? We’re
back!’”
The camera switched views from the reporter to a sky view
showing a smoldering tower, burned to the bottom floor. A group
of firefighters and their water Pokémon were attempting to quell
the few remaining embers, as the view switched back to the woman
with long, black hair and a frightened look. “Thankfully, no
one was killed.” said the reporter, who was soon confronted by a
young woman with pink hair and a soft face. “No! Someone was
killed! Err… Two people actually… They saved me…” the woman said
while looking down somberly as she pressed her fingers together.
The T.V. went black, as a young man threw the remote
across the room, grimacing with hatred. He was around 15 years
old, and had long, shiny, black hair that fell just above his
eyes, which were a dark, chocolate brown. His face was thin and
gaunt, complimenting naturally pale skin, and a small,
hatred-torn mouth. He was wearing a black T-shirt, with a grey,
long-sleeved overcoat with gold trim and a deep red scarf. He
buried his face in his palms, inhaling deeply. A tall man
opened the door, and approached his chair, putting his hand on
his shoulder.
“Ya know, you should really stop watching those recordings.
They’ll just bring up bad memories” said the tall man behind
him. He had a rugged, care-free face, and was no older than
30. He had long, wavy brown hair that fell to his shoulders,
and a goatee around his mouth. His eyes were a deep green, like
the color of a forest in the summer. He was wearing a long,
brown coat that ended at his knees, and a white shirt that was
regally frilled.
“Really? I don’t remember having any good memories. Do you,
Uncle Sebastian?” the boy said sarcastically.
“You’re hilarious, Alice, truly” replied Sebastian, while
ruffling his hair. After a moment of silence, Sebastian spoke
somberly.
“Ya know… She’s right.”
“Who’s right?” asked Alice, confused.
“That girl, you know, the one with the pink hair. They went
into the tower to save people. They’re heroes.” He said
smiling sadly.
“They’re dead” he said, looking away. “Why help people at all?
You try and save them, and you end up being the one who dies.”
“Don’t say that… You don’t mean it, you’re just angry. I told
you those videos were no good.” Sebastian replied. After a
short moment of silence, Alice replied.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right” he said looking down at a small
necklace his mother gave him when he was young that was clutched
in his palm. It was looped with a delicate silver chain. The
chain came down and looped through a diamond-shaped pendant that
contained a faintly red gem.
“C’mon, it’s late. You’d better get to bed, big day at Pokémon
School tomorrow” Sebastian said, patting his shoulder.
“Yeah… big day” Alice muttered to himself.
Chapter II
The teacher stood at the front of the room, writing on his chalkboard. In big letters, a schedule was written.
1. Pokémon Battles – Become acquainted with Pokémon and how to communicate with them.\
2. Knowledge Test – Test to see if you know enough about
Pokémon to obtain your own.
3. Catch a Pokémon – If you score high enough overall, you
will be allowed to venture out and catch your first Pokémon
today, rather than waiting to visit Professor Rowan or until the
end of the year.
Alice was sitting in his desk with his feet up and his arms
behind his head, appearing to be sleeping, when Mr. Card yelled
from across the room, without even turning around to look.
“Mr. Crane, if, mind you, this class is so easy that you would
sleep through it, you wouldn’t mind answering a question, would
you? Why is the Dragon-type often sought out to be used
competitively in battles?”
Alice’s neighbor and long time friend, David, leaned over and
whispered to Alice.
“I think it’s because they’re the strongest type!” Without
making a single movement, and not even bothering to open his
eyes, Alice replied.
“It’s because they have only two weaknesses. The Ice-type, and
ironically, themselves.”
Mr. Card turned around and spoke, his shock was visible even
through his thick, gray moustache.
“Yes… That is… correct” Mr. Card said slowly. He cleared his
voice, and made an announcement. “The battles are about to
begin, if you wish to participate for a chance to catch your
first Pokémon early, come this way.” Ten students rose from
their seats, including Alice and David. After a short time
walking, they entered a large room, with tall ceilings and stone
floors. Seven giant fans hung from the ceiling, and the room
floor was scattered with boulders and small ponds. Mr. Card
gestured to the south side of the room, where a table and 10
Pokéballs were located.
“Over there, you will get your Pokémon. I will read off this
list, and assign one to you. You will find an ID Card next to
each Pokéball that will tell you which Pokémon it is, what moves
it knows, etcetera.” Mr. Card cleared his voice, and began
naming off his list.
“Isabelle Plant, Tangrowth.”
“David Ortime, Lickilicky.”
“Roman King, Rapidash.”
“Auburn Rose, Politoed.”
“Jacob Bracht, Machoke.”
“Graham Mahana, Magneton.”
“Allister Crane, Sableye.”
“Jason Brown, Wartortle.”
“Ian Rowlison, Luxray.”
“Alan Cruz, Snorlax.”
Mr. Crane looked up from his clipboard and gestured towards the
table again, and then he spoke.
“We will begin the matches after everyone has obtained their
assigned Pokémon. Meet back here, and we will assign matches.”
Everyone went to the table and picked up their Pokéballs. Alice
found his, and looked at the card next to it.
Sableye
Dark/Ghost
1. Shadow Ball
2. Dark Pulse
3. Shadow Claw
4. Focus Punch
“Huh, guess I’m stuck with you” Alice said, looking at his
Pokéball. His trance was soon broken by Mr. Card.
“First match shall start immediately. Roman King shall battle
Auburn Rose.”
The two got up and took opposite positions across a small box,
drawn on the ground. Alice thought to himself. “No way Burn
can win, despite her type advantage; Roman is one of the best in
the class. He’ll find some way to win.” Roman stood chuckling
to himself. He was just a small bit shorter than the rest of
the class, and had short red hair. His eyes were brown and
piercing, and he was extremely narcissistic. After a short
display of ice and water attacks by Auburn’s Politoed, it was
quickly defeated by Roman’s Rapidash.
A flurry of battles ensued, and finally, it was Alice’s turn.
“Allister Crane will battle Jason Brown.”
Alice smiled. “This will be easy,” he thought to himself,
“Jason is a complete idiot.”
Jason stood, excited. He was a cocky young man, his face
beaming with false superiority. He used to be best friends with
Alice when they were young, but Alice quickly abandoned him
after he grew ignorant as an adolescent.
“C’mon Alice, no way you can beat me!” Jason yelled.
“We’ll see about that…” Alice said to himself, smiling.
Jason threw his ball into the air, releasing Wartortle. Alice
did the same, as he released Sableye.
It was a quick match; Wartortle had charged Sableye,
who had already had Shadow Ball ready, as he threw the black
ball surrounded by blue sparks towards his foe. That attack by
itself almost defeated him, but he quickly got up and attacked
with Hydro Pump. Sableye dodged, and began to float in the air,
gathering a black aura into his center. Wartortle charged with
Skull Bash. Right before making contact, Sableye released an
explosion of black energy, sending Wartortle across the room and
into a small pond. Alice had won.
Chapter III
The rest of the day had gone quickly, and soon, it
was nightfall. The winners of the competition were Roman,
Alice, and David. Roman and Alice had won through a combination
of doing excellent in their battles and tests, but David had
flunked his test. He managed to make it, due to his “invention”
of a new move during battle. Tangrowth had wrapped up
Lickilicky tightly, and he was about to lose, when he used Gyro
Ball. Tangrowth flew into Lickilicky, and upon contact, was
flung across the room, knocking Tangrowth out.
“When do we start, Card?” David asked impatiently.
“Soon; we leave Jubilife City for a secluded route where many
types of Pokémon live.” Mr. Card replied.
Just as he said, they soon left, following a path that led them
to a spectacular canyon. It was a brilliant sight to see, the
stars were twinkling in the sky, with purple streaks and ribbons
graced them. The canyon looked to be rather small; however, it
was filled with diversity. There were lakes and cliffs, plains
of grass, and even a small glacier towards the end of the
valley.
“You may begin your journey. Here are your Pokéballs” Mr. Card
said proudly, as he handed five balls to each of the three.
“You are on your own from here on out.”
Mr. Card released his Noctowl and grabbed on to its leg, as they
flew back to Jubilife.
Alice had gone down into the valley, near a cave.
An enormous, white, dead tree stood before him. Alice sat down
at its base, and looked up at the sky, taking a few moments to
think. Across from him was a large, glowing blue pond. Steam
could be seen rising off of it, when Alice quickly recognized it
as a hot spring. He went over to wash his face, when he heard
an ominous noise. It was the sound of a long, solemn cry,
sounding as if it were being played through an ancient
instrument. He quickly scrambled to his feet, and looked around.
“Who’s there? Reveal yourself!” he yelled. He frantically
looked around; spotting something he hadn’t expected to see. A
small creature carrying what looked to be a bone in his hand was
at the base of the tree that Alice was formerly sitting
beneath. The creature had a brown body, with two spikes coming
out of its back. It was short, no taller than Alice’s legs, and
had a pure-white head. Alice slowly approached, when he
realized the mysterious cry was coming from this creature.
“It’s a… Cubone” Alice said to himself in sudden realization.
He slowly dragged his feet towards the small creature, putting
his hand on its small shoulder when he reached it.
The creature jumped up, and let out a melancholy
wail. The Cubone drew his bone-club like a sword, and was
prepared to fight. Alice jumped back and grabbed a stone,
willing to defend himself. Just as he was about to throw the
stone, he saw the creatures eyes through its mother’s skull.
Tears were running down its face, as it tried to put on a false
courage. Alice dropped the rock, and approached slowly.
“You lost your mom too, huh?” “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.”
He said, holding his hands out as to show him he was
weaponless. The Cubone shook its head wildly in disagreement,
as if to show he didn’t trust the human. Alice looked over
behind the Cubone and found that it had been building a small
tower of stones at the base of the tree. It looked to be a sort
of shrine. Alice’s voice choked.
“I get it now… This is where your mother died” he said slowly.
Cubone stretched out its arms, not allowing Alice to pass.
Alice’s eyes began to water as he reached for his pocket. He
pulled out the faintly glowing crimson pendant his mother had
given him. He got down on one knee, and showed the lonely
Pokémon. Cubone stood silent for a few moments, let out a sad
cry, and nodded.
“I know what it’s like… I feel your pain” he said, with a
constrained voice as he fought back tears. Cubone looked up at
him with his eyes sparkling with a combination of tears and the
reflection of the hot spring. The Pokémon came closer to Alice,
and pulled on his sleeve.
Alice picked the Pokémon up, and spoke.
“You wanna come with me?” he asked. The small Pokémon nodded
its head. Alice wiped the tears from his cheeks and nodded back.
“We’re in this together.”
Chapter IV
Alice had just entered the Jubilife PokéCenter, when
he noticed a large group of people gathered around a monitor.
He managed to squeeze himself through most of the crowd, and saw
the screen. A man in a black suit with a silver “R” in the
middle was sitting in a chair, and speaking.
“Team Rocket is back! Here that, Giovanni? We’re back!”
A sudden shock fell upon Alice, as he ran home. He hurried up
the stairs leading to his home, and found that that when inside,
Sebastian was gone.
“Uncle Sebastian? Uncle Sebastian!?” he yelled with fear in his
voice. He ran into his bedroom, and saw that the T.V. was on,
and playing the same message of the man he saw in the
PokéCenter. He recognized the room he was in as the Jubilife
T.V. building, and quickly darted out the doors.
He forced himself through the main doors of the T.V.
building, and saw a group of men battling a familiar face.
“Hehehe, lets play, little hero!” laughed a man in a Team Rocket
uniform.
“Go, Hypno!” Sebastian yelled as he released his Pokémon.
“Hypnosis!” he bellowed, as Hypno’s eyes began to turn multi-
colored. The Team Rocket grunt’s eyes were transfixed, as he
fell on the ground, appearing to be unconscious.
Alice ran up to Sebastian.
“Nice. I could’ve done better though” he said smiling.
“Oh please, you don’t even have a Pokémon!” Sebastian laughed.
“I do now. Cubone!” said Alice as he threw his Pokéball into
the air, releasing his new companion.
“Cubone, eh? Let’s see what he can do” Sebastian said, pointing
at a grunt that had just run downstairs.
The grunt panicked at the sight of Cubone and Hypno,
and sent his Zubat out.
“Gah! G-get them Zubat! Use Leech Life!” stammered the grunt.
Zubat flew towards Cubone, showing its gleaming teeth.
“Cubone, use Skull Bash!” Alice yelled, as Cubone jumped through
the air and collided with the Zubat. The Zubat fell to the
ground, unconscious.
“Nice. I could’ve done better though” Sebastian said snidely.
Alice stuck out his tongue, and hurried up to the top floor with
his uncle. Upon reaching the 4th floor, he found Roman and
David battling two grunts.
“Go! Growlithe, use Ember!” Roman roared.
“Poliwhirl, use Water Gun!” David said simultaneously.
The flurry of flames struck a grunt’s Weepinbell, while the
stream of water shot out at the other grunt’s Ekans.
“About time you showed up!” beamed David towards
Alice. Roman shrugged, and spoke.
“Hmph, I had it under control.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re the greatest Roman” Alice replied
sarcastically.
The four kept heading up the floors, defeating
countless grunts along the way. Sebastian had run into an
Admin, and was forced to use his Nidoking rather than Drowzee.
Sebastian quickly disposed of the grunt after using Nidoking, as
they came upon the final floor. The man Alice had seen on T.V.
with the silver “R” on his jacket was waiting for them. He
lifted up his hat, revealing his icy, pale green eyes.
“Four vs. one? Tyranitar should be enough” snarled the man,
pulling out a Pokéball. He threw the ball into the air,
releasing the terrifying Pokémon.
“Hyper Beam” the man said coldly. Tyranitar shot out a massive
orange beam that struck Nidoking directly, knocking him out
cold. Tyranitar kept the beam going, as he turned his head,
causing it to explode with power into Growlithe and Poliwhirl,
causing them to faint.
Alice stood frightened, as he muttered in sheer
terror.
“Who are you…?” The man smiled.
“My name is September. How are you?”
Shades of Grey
Prologue
Goldenrod City, a beautiful megalopolis of
opportunity! The sun was beginning to set, and the sky was a
deep orange, with crimson streaks gracing it. Tranquility was
setting in, the local Sunflora were beginning to close their
leaves, when chaos ensued. A choke of black smoke strangled the
sky, as if the Radio Tower had let out a demonic scream. Flames
began to spew from the windows on the top floor, as glass rained
down like snow. An intense, terrifying bellow was released from
the tower, as two onlookers gazed upon the discord. A young
woman with soft, lavender-colored hair and passionate
blue-stained eyes looked over, as tears welled in those same
cyan eyes. She quickly shook her head, scattering the tears, as
she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. As she looked over, she
saw that same face which had comforted her so many times
before. The man had spiky golden-blonde hair, and foggy blue
eyes. He had a face that had the enlightenment of a life-long
journey completed successfully. A stern look was quickly and
suddenly chiseled into his face. Like the woman, his face was
filled with remorse, although constrained. She looked up at him
and quickly stood up from the bench. She slowly nodded, and the
gestured was quickly returned. The got up and darted into the
flame-consumed spire, as the man tackled through the doors, and
explosion of flame shot out.
“Ampharos, we need your help!” yelled the man, as he
threw an unusual Pokéball into the air, topped with a deep gold
rather than the generic red. The ball exploded upon, and with a
flash of light, the Pokémon appeared. Ampharos let out a loud
cry, as it followed the man up the stairs to the second floor.
The woman remained on the first floor, where the
reception table was located, as she hurried and sorted people as
they ran through the doors, gasping and coughing as screaming
and crying could be heard echoing from upstairs. Suddenly, a
man with a maniacal grin and curly pink hair descended the
stairs, laughing madly. He was dressed in an ash-covered black
suit, which was seized by a large, bright red “R”. “Team
Rocket..!” gasped the woman “I-I thought… you disbanded three
years ago..!” she stammered through a choked voice. The man
laughed as he cold, life-less eyes pierced her false courage.
“Ha! C’mon sweetheart, you say that like it’s a good thing!” he
laughed while he pulled a Pokéball from his belt and tapped the
middle button with his index finger, thus expanding it. “C’mon
out an’ play Weezing!” he growled as he through the ball into
the air, releasing the monstrous, double-headed, fiend as it
coughed and wailed while releasing a toxic, green-colored gas
from its two mouths.
The woman gasped as she covered her mouth with her arm, trying
to protect from the lethal combination of smoke and toxic gas.
“Slowbro, I need you!” she muttered to herself as her eyes began
to tear up from pain. She reached for a small pouch on her
waist, which she soon produced a Pokéball from. The man laughed
maniacally as she fell to her knees, dropping the Pokéball on
the floor.
The fire had now worked its way downstairs, and the floor was
covered in a blaze that surrounded the two trainers. The fallen
Pokéball that had been dropped by the woman had exploded open,
releasing Slowbro.
The Pokémon quickly ran over and doused the woman with a spray
of water from its mouth, as she slowly stumbled to her feet.
“S-Slowbro, use... I-ice-punch..!”
The normally lax-looking Pokémon had a serious look creep upon
his face, as his right hand began to glow a bright blue. The
Pokémon thrust forward, his right arm pulled back in preparation
as he shot it forward into the depressed-looking Weezing’s
larger face. The Weezing shot back, plummeting through a now
weakened wall as embers and ash fell slowly to the ground. A
blaze shot up and welled around the Team Rocket member.
The madman-look in his face quickly disappeared as he called on
his Pokémon to return and ran out of the tower.
“Ampharos, use Discharge!” roared the young man as
his Pokémon released a blue bolt of electricity towards three
Team Rocket members’ Pokémon.
“Return Raticate!”
“Return Arbok!”
“Return Golbat!” rang out the three frightened and disappointed
voices. The trio quickly scrambled halfway up the stairs
leading to the third floor, when a man came running down the
same stairs.
“You idiots, which one of you started the fire!? Get
downstairs, now!”
“I-it was August, n-not us!” stammered the grunt who battled
with an Arbok.
“August, you say? He will be dealt with accordingly” muttered
the man. “Get out of the tower, head back to base. Make sure
you aren’t followed. It seems we have a ‘hero’ I have to deal
with.” said the man calmly. He had a generic Team Rocket hat
pointed down on his head, covering his eyes. Silver hair could
be seen underneath the hat, as well as a confident smirk. He
was wearing a slightly altered Team Rocket uniform. It had an
open chest that had stitching crossing the gap, which revealed a
white shirt underneath. The trademark “R” was also silver,
instead of the bold red. The man gave another intimidating
smirk, as he drew a Pokéball from behind his back.
“My name is September. How are you?”
Most of the ceiling had collapsed, and the woman had
nearly been struck by a falling support beam. As she wiped her
eyes with her arm, she looked up at a now gaping wound in the
ceiling while Slowbro had been attempting to douse the flames.
She looked up and saw man who she had seen countless times
before. She had never seen him like this. He laughed at a man,
who was smiling ominously on the other side of the room, tossing
up a Pokéball with one hand, and catching it repeatedly, while
his other hand sat in his pocket.
“Damian! The tower’s coming down, we need to get out of here!”
the woman yelled up at the man.
“No, I can’t let their leader get away! You run, I’ll get this
punk…” replied Damian.
The woman should her head defiantly, and threw a Pokéball up on
the second floor, next to Damian. The Pokéball released an
Ivysaur, which shot down vines that grabbed the woman, pulling
her up besides him.
“Heh, you really are stubborn, aren’t ya Lacie?” laughed Damian.
Lacie stuck her tongue out and winked “Almost as stubborn as
you!”
September smiled, and looked up, revealing cold
green eyes underneath his hat. “Cute. Are you two done?”
The two looked at each other and nodded, quickly looking over
towards their foe.
“Two vs. one? Tyranitar should be enough” September snarled as
he released the ferocious Pokémon from its ball. Lacie withdrew
Slowbro and Ivysaur, in return releasing her Altaria.
Damian withdrew his Ampharos, quickly replacing him with his
Typhlosion.
“Hyper Beam” September said coldly. Tyranitar released a
massive orange beam from his mouth, which shot towards
Typhlosion, who barely dodged the attack. The beam kept
shooting forward, as it blew through the wall behind the two,
causing the right side of the third floor to come plummeting
down. Damian and Lacie coughed frantically as a cloud of debris
fell upon them, completely obscuring their vision of September.
A disturbing silence soon followed, which was broken by a cold, familiar voice.
“Team Rocket is back, and we’re stronger than Giovanni ever was.”
Immediately after, a large support beam fell upon the duo, who
just managed to return their Pokémon. The beam was covered in
embers, and was smoldering.
Lacie let out a cry of fear, as she heard the beam falling.
After a moment of preparing for the worst, she looked up in
surprise of the beam never making contact with her. She saw
Damian, hunched over and on all fours over her, with the massive
beam burning into his back.
“L-Lacie… I… Love you” he choked as he winked and gave that same
smile she had seen thousands of times before.
“No! Don’t leave me… You can’t leave me!”
Damian smiled again, this time, tears rolling down his
ash-covered cheeks.
“I’m not going… Anywhere” he said, giving one last smile.
Damian soon collapsed. Lacie, crying, tried to push the flaming
beam off his back, burning her hands as she screamed out in
pain. A mottled choke of tears and pain echoed out from her.
“I won’t leave you! I can’t leave you..!” the beautiful young
woman with lavender hair and blue eyes cried.
Neither ever left the tower.
Chapter I
The Journey Begins
“Last night, a terrible even struck the city of
Goldenrod. It’s been reported that just before the destruction
of the Radio Tower, a man could be heard on the radio saying and
quote, ‘Team Rocket has returned. Hear that Giovanni? We’re
back!’”
The camera switched views from the reporter to a sky view
showing a smoldering tower, burned to the bottom floor. A group
of firefighters and their water Pokémon were attempting to quell
the few remaining embers, as the view switched back to the woman
with long, black hair and a frightened look. “Thankfully, no
one was killed.” said the reporter, who was soon confronted by a
young woman with pink hair and a soft face. “No! Someone was
killed! Err… Two people actually… They saved me…” the woman said
while looking down somberly as she pressed her fingers together.
The T.V. went black, as a young man threw the remote
across the room, grimacing with hatred. He was around 15 years
old, and had long, shiny, black hair that fell just above his
eyes, which were a dark, chocolate brown. His face was thin and
gaunt, complimenting naturally pale skin, and a small,
hatred-torn mouth. He was wearing a black T-shirt, with a grey,
long-sleeved overcoat with gold trim and a deep red scarf. He
buried his face in his palms, inhaling deeply. A tall man
opened the door, and approached his chair, putting his hand on
his shoulder.
“Ya know, you should really stop watching those recordings.
They’ll just bring up bad memories” said the tall man behind
him. He had a rugged, care-free face, and was no older than
30. He had long, wavy brown hair that fell to his shoulders,
and a goatee around his mouth. His eyes were a deep green, like
the color of a forest in the summer. He was wearing a long,
brown coat that ended at his knees, and a white shirt that was
regally frilled.
“Really? I don’t remember having any good memories. Do you,
Uncle Sebastian?” the boy said sarcastically.
“You’re hilarious, Alice, truly” replied Sebastian, while
ruffling his hair. After a moment of silence, Sebastian spoke
somberly.
“Ya know… She’s right.”
“Who’s right?” asked Alice, confused.
“That girl, you know, the one with the pink hair. They went
into the tower to save people. They’re heroes.” He said
smiling sadly.
“They’re dead” he said, looking away. “Why help people at all?
You try and save them, and you end up being the one who dies.”
“Don’t say that… You don’t mean it, you’re just angry. I told
you those videos were no good.” Sebastian replied. After a
short moment of silence, Alice replied.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right” he said looking down at a small
necklace his mother gave him when he was young that was clutched
in his palm. It was looped with a delicate silver chain. The
chain came down and looped through a diamond-shaped pendant that
contained a faintly red gem.
“C’mon, it’s late. You’d better get to bed, big day at Pokémon
School tomorrow” Sebastian said, patting his shoulder.
“Yeah… big day” Alice muttered to himself.
Chapter II
The teacher stood at the front of the room, writing on his chalkboard. In big letters, a schedule was written.
1. Pokémon Battles – Become acquainted with Pokémon and how to communicate with them.\
2. Knowledge Test – Test to see if you know enough about
Pokémon to obtain your own.
3. Catch a Pokémon – If you score high enough overall, you
will be allowed to venture out and catch your first Pokémon
today, rather than waiting to visit Professor Rowan or until the
end of the year.
Alice was sitting in his desk with his feet up and his arms
behind his head, appearing to be sleeping, when Mr. Card yelled
from across the room, without even turning around to look.
“Mr. Crane, if, mind you, this class is so easy that you would
sleep through it, you wouldn’t mind answering a question, would
you? Why is the Dragon-type often sought out to be used
competitively in battles?”
Alice’s neighbor and long time friend, David, leaned over and
whispered to Alice.
“I think it’s because they’re the strongest type!” Without
making a single movement, and not even bothering to open his
eyes, Alice replied.
“It’s because they have only two weaknesses. The Ice-type, and
ironically, themselves.”
Mr. Card turned around and spoke, his shock was visible even
through his thick, gray moustache.
“Yes… That is… correct” Mr. Card said slowly. He cleared his
voice, and made an announcement. “The battles are about to
begin, if you wish to participate for a chance to catch your
first Pokémon early, come this way.” Ten students rose from
their seats, including Alice and David. After a short time
walking, they entered a large room, with tall ceilings and stone
floors. Seven giant fans hung from the ceiling, and the room
floor was scattered with boulders and small ponds. Mr. Card
gestured to the south side of the room, where a table and 10
Pokéballs were located.
“Over there, you will get your Pokémon. I will read off this
list, and assign one to you. You will find an ID Card next to
each Pokéball that will tell you which Pokémon it is, what moves
it knows, etcetera.” Mr. Card cleared his voice, and began
naming off his list.
“Isabelle Plant, Tangrowth.”
“David Ortime, Lickilicky.”
“Roman King, Rapidash.”
“Auburn Rose, Politoed.”
“Jacob Bracht, Machoke.”
“Graham Mahana, Magneton.”
“Allister Crane, Sableye.”
“Jason Brown, Wartortle.”
“Ian Rowlison, Luxray.”
“Alan Cruz, Snorlax.”
Mr. Crane looked up from his clipboard and gestured towards the
table again, and then he spoke.
“We will begin the matches after everyone has obtained their
assigned Pokémon. Meet back here, and we will assign matches.”
Everyone went to the table and picked up their Pokéballs. Alice
found his, and looked at the card next to it.
Sableye
Dark/Ghost
1. Shadow Ball
2. Dark Pulse
3. Shadow Claw
4. Focus Punch
“Huh, guess I’m stuck with you” Alice said, looking at his
Pokéball. His trance was soon broken by Mr. Card.
“First match shall start immediately. Roman King shall battle
Auburn Rose.”
The two got up and took opposite positions across a small box,
drawn on the ground. Alice thought to himself. “No way Burn
can win, despite her type advantage; Roman is one of the best in
the class. He’ll find some way to win.” Roman stood chuckling
to himself. He was just a small bit shorter than the rest of
the class, and had short red hair. His eyes were brown and
piercing, and he was extremely narcissistic. After a short
display of ice and water attacks by Auburn’s Politoed, it was
quickly defeated by Roman’s Rapidash.
A flurry of battles ensued, and finally, it was Alice’s turn.
“Allister Crane will battle Jason Brown.”
Alice smiled. “This will be easy,” he thought to himself,
“Jason is a complete idiot.”
Jason stood, excited. He was a cocky young man, his face
beaming with false superiority. He used to be best friends with
Alice when they were young, but Alice quickly abandoned him
after he grew ignorant as an adolescent.
“C’mon Alice, no way you can beat me!” Jason yelled.
“We’ll see about that…” Alice said to himself, smiling.
Jason threw his ball into the air, releasing Wartortle. Alice
did the same, as he released Sableye.
It was a quick match; Wartortle had charged Sableye,
who had already had Shadow Ball ready, as he threw the black
ball surrounded by blue sparks towards his foe. That attack by
itself almost defeated him, but he quickly got up and attacked
with Hydro Pump. Sableye dodged, and began to float in the air,
gathering a black aura into his center. Wartortle charged with
Skull Bash. Right before making contact, Sableye released an
explosion of black energy, sending Wartortle across the room and
into a small pond. Alice had won.
Chapter III
The rest of the day had gone quickly, and soon, it
was nightfall. The winners of the competition were Roman,
Alice, and David. Roman and Alice had won through a combination
of doing excellent in their battles and tests, but David had
flunked his test. He managed to make it, due to his “invention”
of a new move during battle. Tangrowth had wrapped up
Lickilicky tightly, and he was about to lose, when he used Gyro
Ball. Tangrowth flew into Lickilicky, and upon contact, was
flung across the room, knocking Tangrowth out.
“When do we start, Card?” David asked impatiently.
“Soon; we leave Jubilife City for a secluded route where many
types of Pokémon live.” Mr. Card replied.
Just as he said, they soon left, following a path that led them
to a spectacular canyon. It was a brilliant sight to see, the
stars were twinkling in the sky, with purple streaks and ribbons
graced them. The canyon looked to be rather small; however, it
was filled with diversity. There were lakes and cliffs, plains
of grass, and even a small glacier towards the end of the
valley.
“You may begin your journey. Here are your Pokéballs” Mr. Card
said proudly, as he handed five balls to each of the three.
“You are on your own from here on out.”
Mr. Card released his Noctowl and grabbed on to its leg, as they
flew back to Jubilife.
Alice had gone down into the valley, near a cave.
An enormous, white, dead tree stood before him. Alice sat down
at its base, and looked up at the sky, taking a few moments to
think. Across from him was a large, glowing blue pond. Steam
could be seen rising off of it, when Alice quickly recognized it
as a hot spring. He went over to wash his face, when he heard
an ominous noise. It was the sound of a long, solemn cry,
sounding as if it were being played through an ancient
instrument. He quickly scrambled to his feet, and looked around.
“Who’s there? Reveal yourself!” he yelled. He frantically
looked around; spotting something he hadn’t expected to see. A
small creature carrying what looked to be a bone in his hand was
at the base of the tree that Alice was formerly sitting
beneath. The creature had a brown body, with two spikes coming
out of its back. It was short, no taller than Alice’s legs, and
had a pure-white head. Alice slowly approached, when he
realized the mysterious cry was coming from this creature.
“It’s a… Cubone” Alice said to himself in sudden realization.
He slowly dragged his feet towards the small creature, putting
his hand on its small shoulder when he reached it.
The creature jumped up, and let out a melancholy
wail. The Cubone drew his bone-club like a sword, and was
prepared to fight. Alice jumped back and grabbed a stone,
willing to defend himself. Just as he was about to throw the
stone, he saw the creatures eyes through its mother’s skull.
Tears were running down its face, as it tried to put on a false
courage. Alice dropped the rock, and approached slowly.
“You lost your mom too, huh?” “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.”
He said, holding his hands out as to show him he was
weaponless. The Cubone shook its head wildly in disagreement,
as if to show he didn’t trust the human. Alice looked over
behind the Cubone and found that it had been building a small
tower of stones at the base of the tree. It looked to be a sort
of shrine. Alice’s voice choked.
“I get it now… This is where your mother died” he said slowly.
Cubone stretched out its arms, not allowing Alice to pass.
Alice’s eyes began to water as he reached for his pocket. He
pulled out the faintly glowing crimson pendant his mother had
given him. He got down on one knee, and showed the lonely
Pokémon. Cubone stood silent for a few moments, let out a sad
cry, and nodded.
“I know what it’s like… I feel your pain” he said, with a
constrained voice as he fought back tears. Cubone looked up at
him with his eyes sparkling with a combination of tears and the
reflection of the hot spring. The Pokémon came closer to Alice,
and pulled on his sleeve.
Alice picked the Pokémon up, and spoke.
“You wanna come with me?” he asked. The small Pokémon nodded
its head. Alice wiped the tears from his cheeks and nodded back.
“We’re in this together.”
Chapter IV
Alice had just entered the Jubilife PokéCenter, when
he noticed a large group of people gathered around a monitor.
He managed to squeeze himself through most of the crowd, and saw
the screen. A man in a black suit with a silver “R” in the
middle was sitting in a chair, and speaking.
“Team Rocket is back! Here that, Giovanni? We’re back!”
A sudden shock fell upon Alice, as he ran home. He hurried up
the stairs leading to his home, and found that that when inside,
Sebastian was gone.
“Uncle Sebastian? Uncle Sebastian!?” he yelled with fear in his
voice. He ran into his bedroom, and saw that the T.V. was on,
and playing the same message of the man he saw in the
PokéCenter. He recognized the room he was in as the Jubilife
T.V. building, and quickly darted out the doors.
He forced himself through the main doors of the T.V.
building, and saw a group of men battling a familiar face.
“Hehehe, lets play, little hero!” laughed a man in a Team Rocket
uniform.
“Go, Hypno!” Sebastian yelled as he released his Pokémon.
“Hypnosis!” he bellowed, as Hypno’s eyes began to turn multi-
colored. The Team Rocket grunt’s eyes were transfixed, as he
fell on the ground, appearing to be unconscious.
Alice ran up to Sebastian.
“Nice. I could’ve done better though” he said smiling.
“Oh please, you don’t even have a Pokémon!” Sebastian laughed.
“I do now. Cubone!” said Alice as he threw his Pokéball into
the air, releasing his new companion.
“Cubone, eh? Let’s see what he can do” Sebastian said, pointing
at a grunt that had just run downstairs.
The grunt panicked at the sight of Cubone and Hypno,
and sent his Zubat out.
“Gah! G-get them Zubat! Use Leech Life!” stammered the grunt.
Zubat flew towards Cubone, showing its gleaming teeth.
“Cubone, use Skull Bash!” Alice yelled, as Cubone jumped through
the air and collided with the Zubat. The Zubat fell to the
ground, unconscious.
“Nice. I could’ve done better though” Sebastian said snidely.
Alice stuck out his tongue, and hurried up to the top floor with
his uncle. Upon reaching the 4th floor, he found Roman and
David battling two grunts.
“Go! Growlithe, use Ember!” Roman roared.
“Poliwhirl, use Water Gun!” David said simultaneously.
The flurry of flames struck a grunt’s Weepinbell, while the
stream of water shot out at the other grunt’s Ekans.
“About time you showed up!” beamed David towards
Alice. Roman shrugged, and spoke.
“Hmph, I had it under control.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re the greatest Roman” Alice replied
sarcastically.
The four kept heading up the floors, defeating
countless grunts along the way. Sebastian had run into an
Admin, and was forced to use his Nidoking rather than Drowzee.
Sebastian quickly disposed of the grunt after using Nidoking, as
they came upon the final floor. The man Alice had seen on T.V.
with the silver “R” on his jacket was waiting for them. He
lifted up his hat, revealing his icy, pale green eyes.
“Four vs. one? Tyranitar should be enough” snarled the man,
pulling out a Pokéball. He threw the ball into the air,
releasing the terrifying Pokémon.
“Hyper Beam” the man said coldly. Tyranitar shot out a massive
orange beam that struck Nidoking directly, knocking him out
cold. Tyranitar kept the beam going, as he turned his head,
causing it to explode with power into Growlithe and Poliwhirl,
causing them to faint.
Alice stood frightened, as he muttered in sheer
terror.
“Who are you…?” The man smiled.
“My name is September. How are you?”
