OkamiChairo
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This is the beginning of a series hopefully. I hope this is the right place to post. No content warning necessary
The Fall of Team Rocket p1
The sky was a clear blue, dotted with a few puffy white clouds. From perches in nearby trees, Pidgey, Fletchling, and Starly sang their morning songs. The sun shone brightly through a second-floor window, its beam drifting across the room until it landed squarely on the face of a sleeping Erin Rogers. She stirred and groaned.
"Fine, sun! I'm up already," she muttered, sitting up to stretch the sleep from her limbs.
Down in the kitchen, her mom was scrubbing a pot while a small Skwovet chased a dust bunny across the floor. "Morning, mom," Erin said.
"Good morning, sweetie! You're finally awake! Did you want breakfast?"
"No thanks," Erin said, her appetite nonexistent. "I'm going to go watch the Choosing Ceremony."
Her mom’s smile softened with sympathy. "I'm sorry you can't get one too, honey. I know you should be first in line this year, but the life of a trainer just isn't for you."
"I know, mom." But she didn't, not really. The words sent a familiar pang through her chest. Why couldn't she be a trainer? It wasn't fair.
"Well, go ahead then but be careful."
Erin headed out the door. She walked down Main street past the bicycle shop, past the vegetable market, past the bakery with its wonderfully pleasant smells of sweets and bread.
Finally she made it to Professor Johnathan Maple's Laboratory. There was at least a dozen trainers in line. One particularly haughty boy spoke loudly, "Naturally I'm first this year. They know the best when they see them, and I am absolutely spectacular!"
In Erin's mind's eye she saw herself standing triumphant beating this kid into the dust. Oh how she'd love to teach him a lesson he wouldn't soon forget!
Coming out of her reverie, Erin looked around and spotted a sign.
The sign out front proclaimed in large letters: WELCOME NEW TRAINERS! PLEASE LINE UP. Then in smaller letters: ALL POKEMON ARE FIRST COME FIRST SERVE. ONLY ONE POKEMON PER TRAINER. TYPES ARE GRASS, FIRE, AND WATER - KNOW YOUR DESIRED TYPE BEFORE REACHING THE CHOOSING STATION.
Erin's chest tightened as she read the sign. The large, cheerful letters felt like a personal taunt. A sigh escaped her. This should be her!! She should be in line, she should get a Pokemon. She even knew what she'd want: a fire Pokemon.
As she stared at the sign, her mind grasped a fantasy she was forbidden from making real. She stood at the Choosing Station. Her choice resolute, she chose the fire starter Charmander. Or maybe it would be Torchik? Tepig? The details didn't matter.
The dream shifted and a proud Erin stood being declared Champion. Thousands cheered and her evolved Pokemon reered up roaring and...
"Erin! I didn't expect you here. How are you?" The voice of Professor Maple rang out.
"I'm fine." She wasn't fine, her stomach was in knots.
"No, you're not. Your mother is being harsh. She's overprotective and one day you'll be old enough to get a Pokemon by your own volition, so her decision only delays the inevitable."
"That's when I'm 16, Professor! I'm only 11 now. I just don't understand why I can't have one now!"
"Erin...your father, he..." The Professor sighed. "Never mind. It's not my place to say. Listen, Erin, there's no point in watching the Choosing Ceremony. Why don't you go do something fun? Why torture yourself here?"
"I... Professor. It's your decision who gets a Pokemon isn't it? I don't need parental approval. Please, Professor Maple, if you could..."
"No, Erin. I love you like the daughter I never had. That's why I taught you how to catch and care for Pokemon. But I can't override your mother's feelings. Now go. You don't need to see this."
Erin's heart fell as her last hopes were destroyed. She wanted a Pokemon so bad! It just wasn't fair. Every other person of age is getting one, why not her? Hundreds of trainers every year and nothing happened to them. Nothing would happen to her either. If she could only get her mom to understand.
Lost in her thoughts, she walked all the way to the outskirts of Farmer Bronson's fruit grove. Suddenly a roar that sounded pained lit up the grove. A Pokemon in pain? I have to help, she thought.
She finally tracked down the injured Pokemon. It was a Vulpix! And it was...caught in a trap? Who in the world set up such barbaric traps?
"Easy, girl." Erin said noting Vulpix's gender. "It's okay. I'm so sorry you're caught in this."
She pet Vulpix to calm her, then reaching down to the trap enclosing her paw painfully, pulled it apart
The Vulpix tested her paw tentatively. Then apparently satisfied that she could walk, nuzzled Erin's hand. Then she disappeared into the forest.
"You're welcome." Erin muttered.
Well, at least I did something useful today, Erin thought. She settled down underneath an Apple Tree and fell asleep.
She awoke at twilight, the last glimpse of sunlight dying at the horizon. Great, she thought, now she was late.
She started on her way home. Along the way, she heard voices and something inside her said to hide. She hid and listened.
"...the boss wants Ho-Oh captured or it's our heads. We HAVE to find it!" a male voice said.
"I know, Lucas, I know. But this backwoods place? Why would a legendary be found out here?" a female voice said
"You should be careful of what you say. Someone might think you're doubting the Boss..."
"N-no! I don't doubt, it's just...."
But what it was "just" Erin would never know as they were too far away.
Erin started back on the path. She finally came to the Laboratory but... something was wrong. There was a group of Team Rocket members standing around Professor Maple. An aggressive Ratatta stood above him.
Erin didn't even think, she ran out in front of the Professor. "Stop! Don't hurt him!" She yelled.
One team Rocket grunt smirked. "What do we have here? A baby bird trying to protect the Professor? Bring out your Pokemon little bird, I want to teach you what it means to defy us." His voice was deep and emitted venom with every breath.
Erin blanched, embarrassed. "I...I don't have one. But I'll still stop you!"
The grunts all laughed. "Fine, have it your way. Ratatta! Takedown!"
The Ratatta replied "Ratatta!!!" before slamming in to Erin. She fell over, injured and in pain. It was over. What could she do? She had no Pokemon. A tear fell down her cheek.
Suddenly in the bushes a light shone. Vulpix walked out, shining brightly in the night. She stood between Erin and Ratatta.
"Vuuulpixxx!" The Vulpix said warningly.
What...what was this? Erin tried to focus through the pain. Vulpix was helping? She remembered her lessons with Professor Maple. Vulpix was fire, and had several attacks including...
"Vulpix!" She wheezed. She took a shaky breath. "Ember attack."
The Vulpix complied, a stream of fire hitting Ratatta square in his face. The Ratatta was mad now!
And so was his owner. "Ratatta! Tackle attack! Get rid of this pipsqueak already."
Erin clenched her fists through the pain. "Agility!" She said simply.
Vulpix dodged the Ratatta easily.
"Ember again!"
A stream of fire lit up the forest smelling of burning logs. It hit the Ratatta in the chest. When a final gnashing of very large teeth...the Ratatta fell.
"You...you...!". But what the grunts wanted to say was soon pointless as something amazing occurred
Ho-Oh appeared. Erin was amazed and speechless. Why? What? She couldn't form a coherent thought with this legendary hovering not five feet in front of her.
The Ho-Oh yelled out a cry...it emitted a rainbow light...and suddenly Erin saw it all. Past, present, and...future?
She was standing in Avardion City, her arms around...a Team Rocket member? She was in love. She kissed him deeply, the kiss of lovers enthralled with each other. (What? Who was this?)
Things blinked and she was elsewhere...she stood above a cliff side. A man hung over the edge. She felt an overriding hatred for this man. (Why?) She knew she had the power of life and death over this man. And she didn't know which way she'd go l.
Things blinked again. She stood on a stage. She was being presented the Championship trophy. The crowd was cheering her and a Ninetales by her side. (She would be Champion??)
The Ho-Oh released her from its hold and Erin fell to her knees. Her future...she had seen it clearly. But now, it was ephemeral, it faded away from memory. Only certain points stuck with her.
With Ho-Oh flying away, the dumbfounded grunts chased after it.
Where was the Professor? Her thoughts of her future faded with the needs of the present. "Professor! Professor, are you okay?"
The Professor picked himself up from the ground stating, "Yes, yes I'm fine, but you...that Ratatta hit you hard..."
"I'm... sore but I'm okay. Nothing broken."
"Well, that's good at least. Oh, look at this...a Vulpix. She performed admirably against Ratatta! Will you keep her?"
"Really, Professor, can I?"
"I promised Angela I wouldn't give you a Pokemon. You got this one on your own!"
"Okay...Vulpix, do you want to be my teammate? Do you want to travel with me?" Erin asked tentatively.
The Vulpix stared at her with warmth in her eyes, then said an affirmative, "Vulllpixx"
"Well, we need a name for you." Erin looked at the flaming Pokemon and decided. "I got it! You...are...Ember! Our first move we used."
"VULPIX!" Ember let out.
"Here. I'm not giving you this Premier ball, I'm just...well let's say it fell out of my pocket."
The Professor gave a sideways smile before handing it to her.
"Okay Vulpix, here we go."
Erin threw the pokeball at Vulpix. It shook once...twice...then glowed green. Vulpix was officially hers now! Ember was her first Pokemon.
"You know, your mother isn't going to like this." The Professor mentioned.
P2
Waking up the next morning, Erin felt the butterflies in her stomach. Ember had reentered her pokeball sometimes after Erin fell asleep, but last night she had snuggled together with Erin keeping her warm.
The smell of frying bacon drifted by Erin's nose making her stomach growl. She'd only eaten two apples as she lay beneath the tree in the orchard yesterday.
Looking out the window, the dark sky surprised Erin. Lightning crackled in the distance, lighting up the sky, and thunder followed a few seconds later.
Erin sighed and decided it was best to get this out of the way. She dressed, grabbed Ember's pokeball, then headed down to the kitchen.
"Hey, Erin! You're awake. Would you like some breakfast?" Her mom said by way of greeting.
"Uh in...in a minute, mom. I want to talk to you."
Her mom cocked her head slightly curiously at her, but said, "Okay, dear. I'm all done here anyways. Let me take the pan off the burner."
She placed the pan on a cool rack.
"Okay! So what did you have to talk about?"
"Okay. Well, um, I'll start at the beginning. I went to the Choosing Ceremony."
"Yes, I wish you hadn't. It's not good to pine over things you can't have."
The kitchen lit up a bit as lightning struck somewhere in the distance, and soft thunder rumbled
"Yes, right, well Professor Maple said the same thing, so I decided to leave. I went to old Farmer Bronson's orchard. When I was there, I found a Vulpix in a trap. I released her and she ran off."
"You always were so good with Pokemon care. You love them so much. You have a big heart. But Erin, what's got you so nervous? Did something happen?"
Another roll of thunder, this time louder.
"Yeah, something did. I fell asleep under a tree, and when I woke up I headed back home. There were two team rocket members and..."
Her mom's face contorted into a mask of fear and anger. "Team Rocket?! Here? I don't understand. They shouldn't be here!"
"They were hunting a legendary Pokemon named Ho-Oh."
"That makes even less sense. Ho-Oh is drawn to great trainers. It can grant wishes, it's said, or give glimpses through time. Why would it be here?"
"I...I don't know. But when I got to the lab, there were six Team Rocket member harassing the professor for his Pokemon. They wanted to steal them!"
"They're scumbags, Erin. Thieves and murderers. Disgusting!". Her anger was palpable and she practically spit the last word out.
"Mom...there's something I need to show you." Erin hated this part. She slipped the pokeball out of her pocket. "Ember, come on out."
Ember appeared in a glow of red and orange that coalesced into a Vulpix.
"What? Why do you have a Pokemon?"
"She came to me and helped me beat Team Rocket. You see, mom? You had nothing to worry about. I won!"
"Do you know how how dangerous they are? They are killers!"
"I do. But, mom, I beat them. And I could do it again if I needed to."
"No you don't. You don't understand. And how could you? I never told you what happened to your father."
"He...he died in a boating accident."
Erin's mom steeled her jaw and spat out. "No. Team Rocket killed your father."
Thunder hit so hard it vibrated the house
Erin stood dumbfounded. How could this be? Team Rocket...killed daddy? She began to feel the rage her mother did. Tears began to flow.
Why had she kept this from her? The annoyance of Team Rocket turned into a hot hatred. She wanted to destroy them. Make them feel pain.
"I...I have to stop them." She finally said with determination in her voice.
"What do you mean stop them? Don't be ridiculous. One little girl versus an evil empire spanning an entire region?"
"I'm going to do it. I'll find a way. They...they need to be stopped mom. Someone has to do it."
"Now you listen to me, Erin. You will march right on over to Professor Maple and give him that Pokemon and you'll forget about Team Rocket. Are we clear?"
"N-no." Erins voice was weak.
"Excuse me young lady?!"
Lightning klit up the room.
"I said no. No!" She said stronger. "I'm not giving away Ember. And I WILL stop Team Rocket."
"You'll die! Don't you understand? They killed your father, they'll kill you too!"
The thunder from the lightning finally hit shaking everything. It was a bad thunderstorm.
"I have to do this. I know you don't understand. Maybe...maybe one day you will."
"Let me be clear. If you walk out that door with that Pokemon," her mother said, her voice dropping to a deadly whisper, "you are choosing them. You are choosing the very thing that ripped our family apart. And you will be doing it alone. I will not watch them kill you too, Erin. I can't. So if you go, don't expect me to be here when you come back. I can't survive it a second time."
Tears still obscured Erin's vision. Wiping them, Erin took a deep breath to steel herself. "Then I walk alone. Bye, mom."
She began walking, thunder crackling all the while. She couldn't stop. If she stopped, she'd never leave.
"Erin, please. Please don't do this to me." Erin's mom's weak voice pleaded. She was literally begging her daughter to stay.
Erin said nothing. She didn't look back. She recalled Ember, grabbed her backpack she'd left by the front door, and reached for the door knob, but ...her hand hesitated in place. Both her and her mother held their breath knowing this choice would define everything that happened from this point onward.
Without a glance back, Erin turned the knob and stepped out into the storm. It was okay. It was nothing like the storm in her heart.
P3
The rain was done but traces of it remained. Mud everywhere; enough to make a horde of Mudkip happy. Puddles muddled the road for anyone walking. And branches that had fallen from the storm littered the path.
One curious Vulpix watched her owner with concerned eyes. Ember knew something was wrong. Erin was...well, she was not acting well.
Erin's eyes defocused into the distance, a blank expression on her face. Master likes snuggles, Ember thought, and with that she nuzzled Erin's hand. No reaction.
Ember trotted alongside her, worried.
Erin tripped over a branch straight into a mud puddle. Ember ran over to her but by the time she got to Erin, she'd already gotten up and was walking ahead. Erin paid no attention to the mud on her clothes.
The Vulpix didn't know how to make Erin better. And then Ember's great eyes spotted something in the distant sky. It was coming in fast.
A Spearow! Ember realized. Just what they needed. Ember ran ahead of Erin to protect her.
As Spearow dived at Erin, Ember tackled it midair. They landed in the weeds off to the side of the road. Spearow peck attacked Ember's shoulder, making her screech.
Angry, Ember shot an ember attack at Spearow. Spearow squawked in pain, and fell over.
Ember ran to catch up to Erin.
They walked for hours, never resting. Ember considered going inside her pokeball but discounted that option as Erin needed her.
Finally, Erin broke off the main road. They walked together into the forest. There was a clearing! A log sat next to a previously used campfire that was now ashes and dirt.
Erin sat on the log making no comments. Ember knew it was up to her to care for Master. She gathered kindling and wood for a fire. She had to hiss at some big Pokemon to get them to leave Ember and Erin alone.
Lining up the wood, she spit fire into it and suddenly it was ablaze. The Vulpix coiled up at Erin's feet, begging for attention. Anything to show Erin was okay. But she received nothing from Erin.
Finally, Ember decided she'd take it upon herself to make dinner. She toppled the backpack and clawed through it hunting a pot and a container of stew. Things laid strewn outside the bag.
A gasp made Vulpix exit her head from the backpack. Erin had moved? She was shaking...holding a stuffed Ponyta Ember had packed. She knew Erin liked the plush so had placed it in during the night before the storm.
What happened next scared Ember - Erin began bawling. She dropped to her knees and just cried.
"My...my dad won this for me when I was 5. It's the last thing I have of him. Ember, I lost everything. My home and my mom. I lost everything." Erin began crying freely again.
Ember snuggled up to Erin and finally...finally!...Erin pet her and hugged her.
Erin looked down at herself. "Oh God I'm covered in mud. And so are you now..."
Ember didn't mind.
The Fall of Team Rocket p1
The sky was a clear blue, dotted with a few puffy white clouds. From perches in nearby trees, Pidgey, Fletchling, and Starly sang their morning songs. The sun shone brightly through a second-floor window, its beam drifting across the room until it landed squarely on the face of a sleeping Erin Rogers. She stirred and groaned.
"Fine, sun! I'm up already," she muttered, sitting up to stretch the sleep from her limbs.
Down in the kitchen, her mom was scrubbing a pot while a small Skwovet chased a dust bunny across the floor. "Morning, mom," Erin said.
"Good morning, sweetie! You're finally awake! Did you want breakfast?"
"No thanks," Erin said, her appetite nonexistent. "I'm going to go watch the Choosing Ceremony."
Her mom’s smile softened with sympathy. "I'm sorry you can't get one too, honey. I know you should be first in line this year, but the life of a trainer just isn't for you."
"I know, mom." But she didn't, not really. The words sent a familiar pang through her chest. Why couldn't she be a trainer? It wasn't fair.
"Well, go ahead then but be careful."
Erin headed out the door. She walked down Main street past the bicycle shop, past the vegetable market, past the bakery with its wonderfully pleasant smells of sweets and bread.
Finally she made it to Professor Johnathan Maple's Laboratory. There was at least a dozen trainers in line. One particularly haughty boy spoke loudly, "Naturally I'm first this year. They know the best when they see them, and I am absolutely spectacular!"
In Erin's mind's eye she saw herself standing triumphant beating this kid into the dust. Oh how she'd love to teach him a lesson he wouldn't soon forget!
Coming out of her reverie, Erin looked around and spotted a sign.
The sign out front proclaimed in large letters: WELCOME NEW TRAINERS! PLEASE LINE UP. Then in smaller letters: ALL POKEMON ARE FIRST COME FIRST SERVE. ONLY ONE POKEMON PER TRAINER. TYPES ARE GRASS, FIRE, AND WATER - KNOW YOUR DESIRED TYPE BEFORE REACHING THE CHOOSING STATION.
Erin's chest tightened as she read the sign. The large, cheerful letters felt like a personal taunt. A sigh escaped her. This should be her!! She should be in line, she should get a Pokemon. She even knew what she'd want: a fire Pokemon.
As she stared at the sign, her mind grasped a fantasy she was forbidden from making real. She stood at the Choosing Station. Her choice resolute, she chose the fire starter Charmander. Or maybe it would be Torchik? Tepig? The details didn't matter.
The dream shifted and a proud Erin stood being declared Champion. Thousands cheered and her evolved Pokemon reered up roaring and...
"Erin! I didn't expect you here. How are you?" The voice of Professor Maple rang out.
"I'm fine." She wasn't fine, her stomach was in knots.
"No, you're not. Your mother is being harsh. She's overprotective and one day you'll be old enough to get a Pokemon by your own volition, so her decision only delays the inevitable."
"That's when I'm 16, Professor! I'm only 11 now. I just don't understand why I can't have one now!"
"Erin...your father, he..." The Professor sighed. "Never mind. It's not my place to say. Listen, Erin, there's no point in watching the Choosing Ceremony. Why don't you go do something fun? Why torture yourself here?"
"I... Professor. It's your decision who gets a Pokemon isn't it? I don't need parental approval. Please, Professor Maple, if you could..."
"No, Erin. I love you like the daughter I never had. That's why I taught you how to catch and care for Pokemon. But I can't override your mother's feelings. Now go. You don't need to see this."
Erin's heart fell as her last hopes were destroyed. She wanted a Pokemon so bad! It just wasn't fair. Every other person of age is getting one, why not her? Hundreds of trainers every year and nothing happened to them. Nothing would happen to her either. If she could only get her mom to understand.
Lost in her thoughts, she walked all the way to the outskirts of Farmer Bronson's fruit grove. Suddenly a roar that sounded pained lit up the grove. A Pokemon in pain? I have to help, she thought.
She finally tracked down the injured Pokemon. It was a Vulpix! And it was...caught in a trap? Who in the world set up such barbaric traps?
"Easy, girl." Erin said noting Vulpix's gender. "It's okay. I'm so sorry you're caught in this."
She pet Vulpix to calm her, then reaching down to the trap enclosing her paw painfully, pulled it apart
The Vulpix tested her paw tentatively. Then apparently satisfied that she could walk, nuzzled Erin's hand. Then she disappeared into the forest.
"You're welcome." Erin muttered.
Well, at least I did something useful today, Erin thought. She settled down underneath an Apple Tree and fell asleep.
She awoke at twilight, the last glimpse of sunlight dying at the horizon. Great, she thought, now she was late.
She started on her way home. Along the way, she heard voices and something inside her said to hide. She hid and listened.
"...the boss wants Ho-Oh captured or it's our heads. We HAVE to find it!" a male voice said.
"I know, Lucas, I know. But this backwoods place? Why would a legendary be found out here?" a female voice said
"You should be careful of what you say. Someone might think you're doubting the Boss..."
"N-no! I don't doubt, it's just...."
But what it was "just" Erin would never know as they were too far away.
Erin started back on the path. She finally came to the Laboratory but... something was wrong. There was a group of Team Rocket members standing around Professor Maple. An aggressive Ratatta stood above him.
Erin didn't even think, she ran out in front of the Professor. "Stop! Don't hurt him!" She yelled.
One team Rocket grunt smirked. "What do we have here? A baby bird trying to protect the Professor? Bring out your Pokemon little bird, I want to teach you what it means to defy us." His voice was deep and emitted venom with every breath.
Erin blanched, embarrassed. "I...I don't have one. But I'll still stop you!"
The grunts all laughed. "Fine, have it your way. Ratatta! Takedown!"
The Ratatta replied "Ratatta!!!" before slamming in to Erin. She fell over, injured and in pain. It was over. What could she do? She had no Pokemon. A tear fell down her cheek.
Suddenly in the bushes a light shone. Vulpix walked out, shining brightly in the night. She stood between Erin and Ratatta.
"Vuuulpixxx!" The Vulpix said warningly.
What...what was this? Erin tried to focus through the pain. Vulpix was helping? She remembered her lessons with Professor Maple. Vulpix was fire, and had several attacks including...
"Vulpix!" She wheezed. She took a shaky breath. "Ember attack."
The Vulpix complied, a stream of fire hitting Ratatta square in his face. The Ratatta was mad now!
And so was his owner. "Ratatta! Tackle attack! Get rid of this pipsqueak already."
Erin clenched her fists through the pain. "Agility!" She said simply.
Vulpix dodged the Ratatta easily.
"Ember again!"
A stream of fire lit up the forest smelling of burning logs. It hit the Ratatta in the chest. When a final gnashing of very large teeth...the Ratatta fell.
"You...you...!". But what the grunts wanted to say was soon pointless as something amazing occurred
Ho-Oh appeared. Erin was amazed and speechless. Why? What? She couldn't form a coherent thought with this legendary hovering not five feet in front of her.
The Ho-Oh yelled out a cry...it emitted a rainbow light...and suddenly Erin saw it all. Past, present, and...future?
She was standing in Avardion City, her arms around...a Team Rocket member? She was in love. She kissed him deeply, the kiss of lovers enthralled with each other. (What? Who was this?)
Things blinked and she was elsewhere...she stood above a cliff side. A man hung over the edge. She felt an overriding hatred for this man. (Why?) She knew she had the power of life and death over this man. And she didn't know which way she'd go l.
Things blinked again. She stood on a stage. She was being presented the Championship trophy. The crowd was cheering her and a Ninetales by her side. (She would be Champion??)
The Ho-Oh released her from its hold and Erin fell to her knees. Her future...she had seen it clearly. But now, it was ephemeral, it faded away from memory. Only certain points stuck with her.
With Ho-Oh flying away, the dumbfounded grunts chased after it.
Where was the Professor? Her thoughts of her future faded with the needs of the present. "Professor! Professor, are you okay?"
The Professor picked himself up from the ground stating, "Yes, yes I'm fine, but you...that Ratatta hit you hard..."
"I'm... sore but I'm okay. Nothing broken."
"Well, that's good at least. Oh, look at this...a Vulpix. She performed admirably against Ratatta! Will you keep her?"
"Really, Professor, can I?"
"I promised Angela I wouldn't give you a Pokemon. You got this one on your own!"
"Okay...Vulpix, do you want to be my teammate? Do you want to travel with me?" Erin asked tentatively.
The Vulpix stared at her with warmth in her eyes, then said an affirmative, "Vulllpixx"
"Well, we need a name for you." Erin looked at the flaming Pokemon and decided. "I got it! You...are...Ember! Our first move we used."
"VULPIX!" Ember let out.
"Here. I'm not giving you this Premier ball, I'm just...well let's say it fell out of my pocket."
The Professor gave a sideways smile before handing it to her.
"Okay Vulpix, here we go."
Erin threw the pokeball at Vulpix. It shook once...twice...then glowed green. Vulpix was officially hers now! Ember was her first Pokemon.
"You know, your mother isn't going to like this." The Professor mentioned.
P2
Waking up the next morning, Erin felt the butterflies in her stomach. Ember had reentered her pokeball sometimes after Erin fell asleep, but last night she had snuggled together with Erin keeping her warm.
The smell of frying bacon drifted by Erin's nose making her stomach growl. She'd only eaten two apples as she lay beneath the tree in the orchard yesterday.
Looking out the window, the dark sky surprised Erin. Lightning crackled in the distance, lighting up the sky, and thunder followed a few seconds later.
Erin sighed and decided it was best to get this out of the way. She dressed, grabbed Ember's pokeball, then headed down to the kitchen.
"Hey, Erin! You're awake. Would you like some breakfast?" Her mom said by way of greeting.
"Uh in...in a minute, mom. I want to talk to you."
Her mom cocked her head slightly curiously at her, but said, "Okay, dear. I'm all done here anyways. Let me take the pan off the burner."
She placed the pan on a cool rack.
"Okay! So what did you have to talk about?"
"Okay. Well, um, I'll start at the beginning. I went to the Choosing Ceremony."
"Yes, I wish you hadn't. It's not good to pine over things you can't have."
The kitchen lit up a bit as lightning struck somewhere in the distance, and soft thunder rumbled
"Yes, right, well Professor Maple said the same thing, so I decided to leave. I went to old Farmer Bronson's orchard. When I was there, I found a Vulpix in a trap. I released her and she ran off."
"You always were so good with Pokemon care. You love them so much. You have a big heart. But Erin, what's got you so nervous? Did something happen?"
Another roll of thunder, this time louder.
"Yeah, something did. I fell asleep under a tree, and when I woke up I headed back home. There were two team rocket members and..."
Her mom's face contorted into a mask of fear and anger. "Team Rocket?! Here? I don't understand. They shouldn't be here!"
"They were hunting a legendary Pokemon named Ho-Oh."
"That makes even less sense. Ho-Oh is drawn to great trainers. It can grant wishes, it's said, or give glimpses through time. Why would it be here?"
"I...I don't know. But when I got to the lab, there were six Team Rocket member harassing the professor for his Pokemon. They wanted to steal them!"
"They're scumbags, Erin. Thieves and murderers. Disgusting!". Her anger was palpable and she practically spit the last word out.
"Mom...there's something I need to show you." Erin hated this part. She slipped the pokeball out of her pocket. "Ember, come on out."
Ember appeared in a glow of red and orange that coalesced into a Vulpix.
"What? Why do you have a Pokemon?"
"She came to me and helped me beat Team Rocket. You see, mom? You had nothing to worry about. I won!"
"Do you know how how dangerous they are? They are killers!"
"I do. But, mom, I beat them. And I could do it again if I needed to."
"No you don't. You don't understand. And how could you? I never told you what happened to your father."
"He...he died in a boating accident."
Erin's mom steeled her jaw and spat out. "No. Team Rocket killed your father."
Thunder hit so hard it vibrated the house
Erin stood dumbfounded. How could this be? Team Rocket...killed daddy? She began to feel the rage her mother did. Tears began to flow.
Why had she kept this from her? The annoyance of Team Rocket turned into a hot hatred. She wanted to destroy them. Make them feel pain.
"I...I have to stop them." She finally said with determination in her voice.
"What do you mean stop them? Don't be ridiculous. One little girl versus an evil empire spanning an entire region?"
"I'm going to do it. I'll find a way. They...they need to be stopped mom. Someone has to do it."
"Now you listen to me, Erin. You will march right on over to Professor Maple and give him that Pokemon and you'll forget about Team Rocket. Are we clear?"
"N-no." Erins voice was weak.
"Excuse me young lady?!"
Lightning klit up the room.
"I said no. No!" She said stronger. "I'm not giving away Ember. And I WILL stop Team Rocket."
"You'll die! Don't you understand? They killed your father, they'll kill you too!"
The thunder from the lightning finally hit shaking everything. It was a bad thunderstorm.
"I have to do this. I know you don't understand. Maybe...maybe one day you will."
"Let me be clear. If you walk out that door with that Pokemon," her mother said, her voice dropping to a deadly whisper, "you are choosing them. You are choosing the very thing that ripped our family apart. And you will be doing it alone. I will not watch them kill you too, Erin. I can't. So if you go, don't expect me to be here when you come back. I can't survive it a second time."
Tears still obscured Erin's vision. Wiping them, Erin took a deep breath to steel herself. "Then I walk alone. Bye, mom."
She began walking, thunder crackling all the while. She couldn't stop. If she stopped, she'd never leave.
"Erin, please. Please don't do this to me." Erin's mom's weak voice pleaded. She was literally begging her daughter to stay.
Erin said nothing. She didn't look back. She recalled Ember, grabbed her backpack she'd left by the front door, and reached for the door knob, but ...her hand hesitated in place. Both her and her mother held their breath knowing this choice would define everything that happened from this point onward.
Without a glance back, Erin turned the knob and stepped out into the storm. It was okay. It was nothing like the storm in her heart.
P3
The rain was done but traces of it remained. Mud everywhere; enough to make a horde of Mudkip happy. Puddles muddled the road for anyone walking. And branches that had fallen from the storm littered the path.
One curious Vulpix watched her owner with concerned eyes. Ember knew something was wrong. Erin was...well, she was not acting well.
Erin's eyes defocused into the distance, a blank expression on her face. Master likes snuggles, Ember thought, and with that she nuzzled Erin's hand. No reaction.
Ember trotted alongside her, worried.
Erin tripped over a branch straight into a mud puddle. Ember ran over to her but by the time she got to Erin, she'd already gotten up and was walking ahead. Erin paid no attention to the mud on her clothes.
The Vulpix didn't know how to make Erin better. And then Ember's great eyes spotted something in the distant sky. It was coming in fast.
A Spearow! Ember realized. Just what they needed. Ember ran ahead of Erin to protect her.
As Spearow dived at Erin, Ember tackled it midair. They landed in the weeds off to the side of the road. Spearow peck attacked Ember's shoulder, making her screech.
Angry, Ember shot an ember attack at Spearow. Spearow squawked in pain, and fell over.
Ember ran to catch up to Erin.
They walked for hours, never resting. Ember considered going inside her pokeball but discounted that option as Erin needed her.
Finally, Erin broke off the main road. They walked together into the forest. There was a clearing! A log sat next to a previously used campfire that was now ashes and dirt.
Erin sat on the log making no comments. Ember knew it was up to her to care for Master. She gathered kindling and wood for a fire. She had to hiss at some big Pokemon to get them to leave Ember and Erin alone.
Lining up the wood, she spit fire into it and suddenly it was ablaze. The Vulpix coiled up at Erin's feet, begging for attention. Anything to show Erin was okay. But she received nothing from Erin.
Finally, Ember decided she'd take it upon herself to make dinner. She toppled the backpack and clawed through it hunting a pot and a container of stew. Things laid strewn outside the bag.
A gasp made Vulpix exit her head from the backpack. Erin had moved? She was shaking...holding a stuffed Ponyta Ember had packed. She knew Erin liked the plush so had placed it in during the night before the storm.
What happened next scared Ember - Erin began bawling. She dropped to her knees and just cried.
"My...my dad won this for me when I was 5. It's the last thing I have of him. Ember, I lost everything. My home and my mom. I lost everything." Erin began crying freely again.
Ember snuggled up to Erin and finally...finally!...Erin pet her and hugged her.
Erin looked down at herself. "Oh God I'm covered in mud. And so are you now..."
Ember didn't mind.