Pokemon Violet IC

Solaceon Town, 9 AM

Professor Toron was asleep. In fact, he was so asleep that when his Hoothoot attempted to wake him, the Pokemon professor refused to awaken, and the Hoothoot, being the scaredy cat he was, to fly away for help, assuming his master to be dead. He flew through the early morning air, causing several bird watchers to marvel at the sight of a Hoothoot flying in the morning, which was extremely odd.

Eventually, the professor awoke, and, realizing that he has overslept, jumped out of bed, his head nearly hitting the ceiling. He quickly ran into the bathroom, where he brushed his hair, washed his face, shaved quickly, nicking himself once or twice. He sprinted into his bedroom, nearly trampling his young assistant Cyril, a small, meek-looking young man who wore a red bandana on his head and had a Ditto perched on his left shoulder. The professor laughed for a moment, helped the boy up, and quickly threw his clothes on.

"Oh shoot! Magby scorched my pants when he ironed them!" Professor Toron cried out, examining the small black burn mark on the back of his pants "I hope nobody notices".

He quickly threw on the charcoal-grey dress pants and a white shirt, along with a tie and a pair of black loafers and his labcoat. He stopped in the mirror to fix his hair, and was halfway down the steps before he realized that he'd forgotten something. He bolted back up the steps, threw open the door to his room, and walked over to a small, elevated dog house in the corner of his living space. he knocked on the roof of the dog house three times and cried out "Oh Adam!" A small noise, meeker and quieter than a mouse's echoed from out of the dog house, and out flew a floating pink rat-like creature with a long tail; Adam the Mew. Adam cried out in happiness when he saw his master, and hugged him tight. The professor returned the hug, and Adam took up position on his left arm, wrapping his tail around Toron's shoulder for support.

"Time to make some magic happen!" The Professor said, motioning for Cyril to follow him.

---

Meanwhile, down in the lab's spacious foyer sat a large wooden stage that hit the actual labs and the stairs, in front of which were several steel chairs. The chairs were all filled with young people; teenagers and tweens, who would get their first Pokemon today. In the very front row sat a tall, intimidating boy with bright red hair who went by the name of Draco. He longingly stared at a room to the right of the stage, where an assortment of coos and growls could be heard; the kennel. In that room dwelled his new best friend. Draco straightened up in his seat, and smiled sentimentally. He had waited his whole life for this moment. He had travelled all the way from Anville Town in Unova to start his journey, and thinking about it finally being realized made him happier than he had been his entire life.

This was it.




A Toron Production

POKEMON VIOLET

In the back sat probably the tallest and most intimidating teen in the whole group. He was dark and although he seemed uncaring, he had hatred and anger in his eyes. It was visible. The boy looked a if this whole thing was a waste of his time. This boy was named Red.


Red sighed and relaxed in his seat. He knew fill well how to handle pokemon. He didnt need this talk. He whistled and a few seconds later a strangely colored Deino came and jumped into his lap.

"Craw!" It chirped, before climbing up to Red's shoulder and biting his head.

Everyone knew you couldnt remove a Deino once it bit down. He would have to wait until it decided to let go. Thankfully it did. The little reptile had a small smile on it's face, and slide back down to his lap.

Red's hand found the creature's head and began to pet it. The creature was silent, but greatly enjoyed the attention it was getting. As Red continued to pet it, the little creature yawned, and laid down in his lap, and was quickly asleep.

Red knew full well who would be his starter on his journey.

A few moments later, another man walked into the lab, causing several people to look up. The man was massive, at least six feet tall and grossly muscular. His face was harsh-looking and was accentuated by a pair of dark eyes that seemed to almost absorb light, like two black holes. Following the man, who's name was Bernard, was a small Nosepass, about half the size of a full-grown one. It waddled up to him, causing the floorboards to creak with its weight. The Nosepass cried out, and nudged Bernard's leg affectionately, causing Bernard's keys to stick to its nose. Bernard laughed as the Nosepass attempted to get the keys off of its nose, it's arms too long to reach them. It began to walk in a circle, attempting to grab the keys with it's short arms. Bernard laughed once more, and pulled the keys off of Nosepass's nose. It shot him a dangerous look, but then turned its head to see a little Deino sitting on an angry-looking teenager. Nosepass, being the poor stupid Pokemon it was, cooed when he saw the Deino and walked over to it.

"Nosepass! Don't mess with him!" Bernard yelped. But it was too late. Nosepass waddled over to Red and the sleeping Deino, and began to pet it on the head.

"Croooowa!" the Deino snarled, as if to say: 'DONT TOUCH ME!". Deinos lacked sight like a Bagon lacked flight. Deinos couldnt see untile the evolved into Hydreigons. To make up for this, they have incredible hearing and smell. It had senses the Nosepass and was alerted. It nearly launched a dragon rage.

Red placed his hand under the irate pokemon's chin and scrathed it lightly, calming the creature. The Deino the scurried up to Red's shoulders and layed down, allowing it's tail to press against the teen's chest to keep it steady.

The pokemon hissed threateningly, but Red was rather uncaring to the whole situation. He patted the Nosepass affectionately, knowning that it was an accident. He looked around for the owner of the pokemon, only to see a man a few iches shorter than him, but far more muscular. "Go back to your trainer, Nosepass... Deino here doesnt play well with others." In truth, it wasnt really the Deino's fault. It was agressive by nature and it's final evolution, Hydreigon, attacked everything that moved if it didnt know it was a friendly.

The Deino cooed in annoyance at it's trainer. It just didnt like being woken up.

In the crowd, there was one person that seemed to not fit in. In fact, so great was the strangeness in comparison to everyone else, that a large number of people stared at her, rather than at the kennel in anticipation of their first pokemon. Israh kept her gaze from straying away from the door to scan their faces. She tried to ignore them, but it was incredibly difficult. She overheard a few people whispering things about her. It was amazing how terrible people were at hiding things. They seemed to think she didn't notice them staring, but in fact, it was just her pretending that fooled them. She wanted to snap at them to quit staring and get back to their own business, but she didn't, because that was a rude thing to do. The truth was, she was actually feeling a bit nervous. There were too many faces, and too many people breathing her air. She kept on monitoring her own breathing, feeling like she wasn't able to get enough oxygen.

Just when she thought she was going to pass out from a lack of proper air supply, a terrible, hollow sound made her gasp, restoring much-needed oxygen to her brain and clearing her thoughts. She looked around and quickly managed to spot what was causing the noise. Hidden underneath a bush, a Cubone sat, almost invisible in the shadows. It was obviously upset, as it was sobbing quite loudly. A few people seemed concerned, after they followed the path of her gaze and saw what was wrong. What angered Israh, though, was that they were too busy waiting to help it. They all seemed a bit surprised when she got out of line and walked over to the bush, and crouched down near the distressed pokemon.

She reached out and gently took hold of the Cubone's free hand, getting its attention. It stopped sobbing and looked at her, but tears still streamed from its eyes, pooling in the empty space of the skull's sockets. Israh knew that most Cubone were orphans, and that they wore their deceased mother's skull. The deaths that occurred were traumatizing, and the sound of their crying was awful, especially during nights of the full moon. "It's okay, I'm here," Israh spoke gently. The Cubone, still incredibly sad, did something unexpected. It jumped into her arms, and not aware of any other solution, Israh hugged it, while it continued to weep, although it seemed to be calming down as a result. A Cubone in many ways was still a child, and a child wanted nothing more than to be told that it was safe. Hugs made people feel safe, too. "It's okay, I got you, Riffraff." Even though the word 'Riffraff' was considered an insult, Israh used it as an endearment. She had been called the same thing, many times.

By this point, she didn't need a professor to give her options. She knew, without any question in her mind, what pokemon she wanted to come with her. She had been the only trainer present to come to the Cubone's aid, and now, they were irreversibly attached to one another. "That's what I'll call you: Riffraff."

Bernard ran over to his Nosepass and grabbed it by the arm, tugging it away. The Nosepass cried out in protest, but took one look at his furious master and hung his head low.

"Sorry man," Bernard said to Red "Lennie here isn't exactly the smartest thing in the world. He loves to pet things, though I'm not sure why he'd want to pet a Deino". Lennie the Nosepass, meanwhile, wandered away from his master, seeing something else that looked fun to pet; a funny-looking creature with a big white head. He watched as it jumped into a human's arms, and he stopped. Lennie normally liked humans, as they would give him treats and pet him for doing funny things. But this human was a little scary-looking. It had strange markings all over its face, and wore a hood, even though it was warm out. But Lennie, being Lennie, assumed that this was just another Pokemon, and waddled across the porch of the lab and over to the Cubone, where he jumped with joy and patted it on the head like the imbecil he was.


Meanwhile, Cyril was losing his mind. Two Pokemon were missing from the kennel and were nowhere to be found. He could have sworn that the Cubone was in his cage the night before, though it probably hadn't slept. Cubone never slept after their mothers died. The Aipom, however, probably got out of its cage and was running around on the ranch. He looked all over, but was unable to find either of the two. He was running to the professor when he heard the rattling noise. Noticing that it was from a Cubone, Cyril ran through the crowd and out onto the porch, where he was the Nosepass and the Cubone in the woman's arms.

"Ma'am!" he cried out "You can't take that!"

Israh looked up at the stranger, before standing up, still holding the Cubone she had just decided to call Riffraff. "Is this your Cubone, sir? He was underneath this bush, crying. I was waiting to get my first pokemon, but I'm still surprised that none of the trainers here were willing to come help it." At these last words scorn crept into her voice. It was clear she had been disappointed by the crowd's reaction. She took one hand off of Riffraff and pulled her hood off, before her hand returned to support it. The little Cubone continued to hold her arm very tightly. Out in the sunlight, her painted markings caught the light and seemed to glow. In truth, if it were not for them, Israh would have been considered pretty. It was amazing how people stereotyped markings and tattoos with hoodlums, and being scary, for some reason she could not fathom. Despite this, in their own way, the markings were unique, done in a style that seemed to others to be difficult to replicate. They had a graceful elegance that was unexplained, elaboritely applied with a steady hand.

"Sir, this Cubone is upset, I just calmed him down, and now he looks like he's going to cry again." Indeed, Riffraff's eyes were filling with tears again, and he looked at Lennie with incredibly sad eyes. "It's okay, it's just a Nosepass, he didn't know," Israh said, hugging the little pokemon a little tighter. She didn't speak to it like she did earlier, as though to an infant or small child. Instead, there was a small degree of humor. Israh felt like baby talk was derogatory, to a certain degree, and that it was best not to overuse it. She then looked back at the man, "Sir, if this is your pokemon, then I must give him back, but if he is for new trainers, I would choose him in a heartbeat."

Riffraff seemed to be getting over his moody fit, and now appeared to be making an attempt at defying Cyril. He stopped crying, and looked directly at the man, glaring menacingly and growling in a sharp way that was intimidating. "Hey, it's not nice to use Growl outside a fight." Israh said, her voice warning, "Don't do anything rash, I don't want you to get into any trouble."

"Hm... I don't know..." Cyril looked over at the angry Cubone, and then on the ditto on his shoulder, with which he exchanged glances. "It's typically against the rules to give a newbie trainer a Pokemon without the Professor's approval first." He bit his lip nervously, nearly ignoring poor Lennie, who sat on the ground and began to sniffle. Cyril had quite the problem, now. This Cubone obviously liked this trainer a lot, but he wasn't exactly one to break one of the professor's rules. He looked down at his feet, and sighed. He remembered that Cubone's mother. He helped it through childbirth and was there when it died. He fed that little Cubone milk for a week, and then gave it meat for another month or so. He was one of the few people in the world to have ever seen a Cubone not wearing its skull.

"well," he began, looking once more at his ditto "I suppose I can take you to the professor and ask him..." He was cut off by Bernard, who ran across the porch of the lab and over to the Nosepass.

"I told you not to run off Lennie!" he scolded. He then looked up and said "I'm so sorry if he did anything bad. Lennie here isn't the smartest Pokemon in the world, and loves to touch all kinds of things for some odd reason. I intend on eventually taking him to Mt. Coronet and seeing whether the magnetism will set him straight or not".

Israh frowned at the thought of punishment, "Well, don't be too hard on him. Everyone's just having a weird day, I think." The Cubone looked up at her, seeming perplexed. She glanced down at him, "Well, it's better than a bad day, right?" She asked, as though in response to some question that the pokemon had silently voiced. The Cubone seemed to understand, and looked back at Bernard. Of course, it might have also made Israh look crazy, to some people, but she was positive that she wasn't the only person who talked to pokemon in her spare time. She then looked at the Nosepass, who now seemed upset, "I'm so sorry I didn't acknowledge you earlier. I would have, but there's been a lot of confusion today. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. It really is a pleasure to meet you, Lennie." Israh was genuinely concerned. She had just seen a Cubone cry, and she didn't want to know what it was like when a Nosepass was upset.

the Nosepass stood up, wiped his nose, and hugged Isra around the waist, though it was a somewhat awkward hug, as his nose obstructed his short arms. Bernard just laughed and plopped down in the grass. Cyril chuckled as well, and looked down at the Cubone.

"Okay." he said doubtfully "I'll take you to see the professor".

---

Meanwhile, the professor sat behind the stage, his mew on his shoulder he looked over his speech a few more times, trying to commit it to memory. He looked over at Adam, who nudged him affectionately.

Don't worry! Adam thought-spoke to the Professor I know you'll do great!


(short post. so sue me).

Israh nodded, "All right then. Lead the way, I'm not sure where I'm supposed to be at this point." Meanwhile, Riffraff was now standing next to her, with a determined look on his face. By this point it was obvious that he wanted to be Israh's pokemon, but the professor had to consent to it, and it seemed the Cubone was positive he could convince the man through sheer force of will. It brought Israh's admiration, because such a small pokemon, who had only cried moments before, would suddenly be so prepared to face this. Israh had grown up in a family that valued the individuality and personality of people and pokemon alike. It was part of the reason they wore markings. It set them apart from others, and represented their personality. Even the family pokemon Israh had grown up playing with, an old female Arbok named Hagar, wore painted markings on the places where she did not have natural ones. Hagar was incredibly mild-mannered, for an Arbok, and was actually very gentle around children. Israh would miss the old serpent, and all the days they would play hide-and-seek. She wasn't a little girl, though, and Hagar would be fine with her parents.

"Um, okay." Cyril lead Isra through the crowd with her cubone, pushing people aside. Several kids yelled at him and one gave him a certain special hand gesture, causing Cyril to shrink down. He hated other teenagers.

A few moments later, he was behind the stage, Isra behind him. He walked up to the Professor, who looked up.

"Sir," Cyril began "Um, this girl found the Cubone that escaped, and it kind of attached to her. She wishes to know if she can keep it as her own". Professor Toron's eyebrows raised. He walked over to the cubone and squatted down, looking in its eyes. Adam floated of of his shoulder and flew between Cubone and Isra, examining them. After a few moments, Professor Toron sighed happily, and rose to face Isra.

"What is your name?" he asked rather abruptly.

She frowned thoughtfully, at this, but still, gave the professor her name, "My name is Israh, sir." She answered. She was now stuck between now, and that time when she had been out for a walk, back when she had lived in Snowpoint City. It didn't help that the Mew floating before her brought back the memory. She remembered that it was cold, freezing, in fact, enough to give her frostbite. She was so heavily wrapped in coats, that nobody saw what she looked like, not her markings, nor her face. She had wandered near Lake Acuity, and just for a moment, gazed at the lake. It was always strange, how no matter how cold it got, the water never seemed to freeze into ice. That was when she had seen it. Something, just for a moment, had shimmered above the water. That something had looked like a pokemon, and still, to this day, Israh wondered if it had not been the legendary knowledge pokemon, Uxie. She wasn't sure, but whatever she had seen, she didn't think she had imagined it.

"Interesting..." the professor looked at the girl oddly for a moment, not taking in her appearance, but her aura. This was a special girl indeed. He could almost feel the presence of...something strange on her, as if she were blessed by something. He wasn't sure, but one thing was surprisingly clear to him; this girl was destined to have this Pokemon; to be a trainer.

"Well," he said after a moment of thought consultation with Adam. He turned and smiled at her "you can keep him. Welcome to the world of Pokemon, Miss Israh!" Adam squealed and did a backflip midair, landing back on the professor's shoulder. Cyril just smiled, and rooted through a crate, pulling a silver Pokeball out and handing it to Israh.

"All you have to do is catch that Cubone and he's your's!" he said, smiling.

"Come ON!" Red groaned out loud, waking the Deino on his lap.


"I've been sitting here for ten minutes and that old fart still hasn't shown up! I need my trainers license so I can get on the road!"

Red groaned out loud and slumped in his seat.


"Craw!" the Deino cooed, and then bit his head again.

"Get off of me lizard!" Red said jokingly, placing his hands on the Deino's flanks and lifting it off his chest.

Israh nodded, and with a smile that was honest, yet did not show her teeth, was upon her features as she accepted the pokeball. She turned to the Cubone, "Ready? I'm not sure how it feels to a pokemon, but you have to do is go into it, and let it lock into place." The Cubone nodded with a sound of agreement, and Israh tapped the pokeball on his head. It opened, and a red energy enveloped the pokemon, pulling him into the ball. It snapped shut, and it shook in her hands for a few moments, before clicking shut with a tiny flash of light. Israh continued to smile, and even though it was more subtle than that of others, her eyes danced. She turned back to the professor, "Thank you, sir. I'll take good care of him. I've actually come up with a nickname already. I'm going to call him Riffraff, because then he'll never have to have the same name as someone else."

She frowned suddenly, hearing the crowd of eager trainers, "Goodness, I'm sorry, I'm delaying the speech! I'm going to get out of here so you can get back to it. These people have been in line forever, my apologies!" With this, she half-ran, half-tripped away. An issue with her was that if she wasn't thinking, she would trip over her own two feet. Most of the time, she was coordinated, but she was actually too happy with her new pokemon, and too embarrassed about the delay, to really stay focused.

"Oh goodness!" Professor Toron jumped and Cyril ran out onto the stage, where he skittered next to the podium and grabbed the mike.

"Sorry everybody!" he cried out apologetically "The professor was dealing with a...minor problem." this caused some muttering in the crowd, much to Cyril's discontent. "So, without further ado, here is the legend himself, Professor Toron!" The crowd applauded, and the Professor walked out, Adam on his shoulder. He let the audience applaud a moment, and then shushed them with the raise of a hand. He looked out at this crowd and smiled, seeing several Pokemon already present. This was Professor Toron's favorite time of the year; when he started the next batch of your trainers on their journey.

"Hello, everybody!" he said to the crowd, who cheered once more "I am Professor Toron, but you can call me the Pokemon Professor! I travel the world, studying creatures known as Pokemon. Pokemon are amazing creatures that inhabit our world and all its regions, from the Islands of Hoenn to the far edges of Unova. Pokemon have a variety of abilities and appearances, and there is still more to be discovered. Many years ago, the great Professor Oak hypothesized that there were 151 Pokemon in the world. Now we know of over six hundred and many more are still to be discovered." At this point, he began to pace across the stage, Adam following him close behind, no longer perched on his shoulder.

"So," he continued "You are all probably wondering why I've brought you here today. Well, today, you all start a journey. A journey that will take you to the farthest reaches of our world and into the deepest depths of your imagination! Because, today, you will all receive your own Pokemon and start your journey!" there was more cheering, and the professor raised a hand to stop it "Now, what I want you all to do, starting with the first row is to get up in a calm and orderly fashion and walk over to the glass door to the right. That's right, the front is first"!

Draco's heart leapt as he stood and realized that he was at the front of the line. He would be the first to get his very own Pokemon! All his life, he'd been secretly waiting for this moment. As he walked in, the room greeted him with a barrage of coos and growls. Draco looked all around to see that the room was lined with baby Pokemon, each in their own tiny glass cell stacked up against the wall. He walked around the room, examining all of the different Pokemon. There were so many that he was overcome with indecisiveness. For minutes he wandered the room, searching as others were let in.

After a couple minutes, Draco heard a small coo like the sound of a dove. He turned around to see a tiny Dratini in a glass cage on a bottom row. It sat there, its black eyes full of tears, whimpering. Draco crouched down in front of the Dratini, and opened its cage. It looked up at him fearfully, as if afraid of what he was going to do. He smiled at it and placed a hand on its head, slowly petting it.

"It's okay." Draco said "It's okay".

Israh quickly vanished from the area, not wanting anyone to see her, for fear of embarrassing Professor Toron any further than she already had by making him late for the speech. She had no trouble avoiding detection, as she traditionally did so quite easily, even in though she was not concealed in the blizzards of Snowpoint City. All it took was going slightly into the treeline. Once there, she was able to follow the path of clearings and roads, without being detected. Plenty of pokemon did the same thing, and this was one of the reasons they often seemed to appear out of nowhere in the wild. Israh was known for her ability to understand pokemon, and it was a well-known fact that she interacted better with them than other human beings. Pokemon weren't humans, but they understood things that people did not. They sometimes shared their secrets with people who listened carefully.

As she reached the outskirts of Solaceon Town, she entered Route 209. Then, for reasons she didn't understand, something made her veer to her left. She didn't know why. She often didn't go on her intended path. In the world, there was an aura given off by most objects and people. Some state that they could see it, but Israh did not know if it truly manifested as a visible energy. Instead, she picked it up a different way. Locations and people sometimes had a certain 'feel' about them, and Israh instinctively sensed it. Sometimes, that energy called to her, and bade her to follow it. She never knew what she would find until she reached it.

As she followed the path, she came upon the tower, and she paused, just for a moment, to stare at it. For a moment, she dug into memory, trying to remember what this was. She was sure she had heard of it before. Eventually, she figured it out. The invisible forces had led her to the Lost Tower. She shivered, a little, for now she identified the mysterious aura that the structure gave off. It was grief, despair, loneliness, and sorrow. Many pokemon in this tower had loved their trainers, and even now, that love still remained. But that love mingled with sadness, because they were separated by the boundaries of death. However, despite this, there were a few grains that were darker. Malice and hatred existed as well. While many pokemon had been held dear, a few had been cruelly treated by their trainers. There was much anger in this tower, as well. The aura it gave off was enough to make even the most insensitive of people and pokemon cower in fear, or break into tears. It was impossible for Israh to not to be drawn to it.

Wanting some company, and aware that it was time to initiate Riffraff into her family, Israh pulled out the silver pokeball in which he was contained. She pressed the button, and he emerged in a cloud of red energy. He was facing her, but he quickly turned to look up at the tower. He did not cry, for he was used to the emotions the tower exerted, but his eyes seemed to narrow, ever so slightly, as though he were concentrating. "This is supposed to be the Lost Tower. It's the resting place of most pokemon in Sinnoh. I don't know why, but something called me here." Israh said, partly to herself, and partly to her companion. She sighed, "Well, I don't know why, but I think this is where you should be initiated." Riffraff turned sharply to look at her, a question in his glance.

Israh frowned, "It's not a dark ritual or anything of the sort, I'm not that kind of person." She knelt down so she was at eye level with the Cubone, "See these markings that I wear? It is a tradition that has been carried on by every member of my family, both humans and pokemon alike. You're my pokemon, which makes you my family." She pulled a wooden box from her purse, and set it between them. She then opened it, revealing that it contained tightly sealed jars of florescent paint. She exchanged a glance with him, looking for consent, "Are you ready? Once you accept these markings, you must not remove them. They are waterproof, so not even the strongest rinse will wash them off. Your markings will define who you are, and everyone will know to whom you belong. Accepting these, you will officially become part of my family." He seemed thoughtful, as though unsure, but eventually, he made up his mind, and he nodded. "Okay, then." With this, she opened the jars, and began to carefully paint markings onto the skull on his face, using a long brush that appeared to be normally used for calligraphy. As she applied them, she continued to speak to him.

"These paints are made with an ancient technique that has been handed down in my family for generations. Each color represents something different, and no two marks are alike. When you wear them, they will be unique only to you. Nobody can identify their own personality, so I shall tell you of the pokemon that I now mark in the name of my family." She began applying colored rings in the edges of the eye sockets of the skull, the left being blue, the right being red. "You often seem sad, but you are not so consumed by grief that you have become bitter. You possess great courage and inner strength, you are far stronger than you may think you are. You are strong, because you are brave." She began placing various markings that were green and purple, "You have a true heart, that is filled with good things. You are noble, and no matter how awful something may seem, you have the power to overcome it. You just need to look deep into yourself, and find it." With this, she had finished, and put the paints away. "Now, you, Riffraff, are a part of my family. Wear your markings with pride." Riffraff seemed to frown, although one could only read his expression by looking at his eyes. He seemed to be trying to look at the markings on his skull. "My apologies, here." Israh pulled a small mirror from her bag, and showed him his reflection. The skull, which was pure white, seemed like a beautiful mask, in a primitive sort of way, with the markings on it. To Israh, it seemed that they had been meant for Riffraff all along. Riffraff stared for a long time, before nodding, allowing her to put up the mirror.

Israh cleared her throat, "Well, now that it has been done, shall we investigate that force in the tower?" Riffraff snapped out of his daze and made a sound of agreement, and together, the two of them entered the tower. Strangely, both were unaware that someone had been watching the ritual, and was now following them with curiosity.

Red stood up, the Deino in his arms, and walked towards the Professor.

"Professor, I have picked my starter. Now all I need is my trainers license, a pokedex, and a pokeball."

Red didnt worry about money. He never had to. His parent's inheritance and Zoe's money was granted to him after she... He had never been one to spend money, and it wasnt like he needed to anyway. He had been living in an orphinage for as long as he could remember. He was never adopted. Good, now he didnt need to be. He would buy all he neede at the closest pokemon center and get right to work. He needed to toughen up before he challenged any gym. Loosing wasnt an option, and he wanted to nullify any chance of it.

A trainers license was a must for any aspiring trainer, and it's class went up as the trainer defeated more gyms and got farther in tournaments. He planned on participating in one if given the, and he didnt want to stop and pick one up later.

"Deino wants to go with me."

The Professor jumped when the young man said something about a Pokedex and a trainer's license. He spun around on his heel and looked down at the young man, whom seemed vaguely familiar to him. The Deino, however, was not familiar.

"That's odd," he muttered "I don't remember ever hatching a Deino. Do you, Cyril?"

"Not that I can remember". Cyril turned to his Ditto, who leapt off of his shoulder and suddenly transformed into a Pidgey. it fluttered over to the Deino and expected it for a moment, then flew back to Cyril's shoulder and turned back into a Ditto. It shook it's head slowly and then looked back over at the Deino, confused. The Professor scratched his head and looked more closely at the Deino, and then shrugged.

"I'm sorry, sir." he said "But I cannot warrant you a Pokedex or a trainer card at this time. That isn't one of my Pokemon, and I don't even know how you know what a Pokedex is".

---



"Excuse me, madam." A dark, shadowy figure stepped from out of the trees near the Lost Tower. He was a great, tall man, perhaps six feet tall, and wore a tophat that seemed to add nearly a foot. He was dressed austerely but formally, wearing a white button-up shirt with a black tie, over which was a long grey trenchcoat, which matched the color of his hat. The collar of the jacket was turned up in an almost vampire-like fashion. His face was partially concealed by the hat, which was partly pulled over his eyes to shield them form view. In his hand was a long, golden cane with a gold Pokeball on top of it and on his right shoulder sat a small Aipom, who smiled wickedly at Isra and Riffraff. The man raised one of his hands and patted the Aipom on the head, who growled quietly.

"Now now, Cheshire." the man said smoothly"That is no way to treat our friends!" The Aipom stopped growling, and sat back on the man's shoulder.

"Allow me to introduce myself." the man said to Isra. He spoke with a buttery smoothness, like how a snake you speak if it could "My name is Shaun. I travel the world, me and my Pokemon, finding people to join my organization, Team Rocket. Now, most of what I'm sure you've heard about us is not true. We do not steal Pokemon, we rescue those Pokemon who are abused by their masters and find them better homes elsewhere. We have currently been researching the history of Mt. Coronet in attempt yo make us our very own world on which the Pokemon we free can live. Now, my darling, I couldn't help but overhear you speaking with your adorable Cubone there, and was immediately inspired to ask you if you would like to join us in rescuing poor Pokemon who have been abused by their wicked master. You will help us, will you not?"

"Any aspiring trainer should know what both are. I have seen other trainers before. This Deino is wild, and has been my only friend for three years." Red said through his teeth.

Was Cynthia's Gible a professors? No! Was Iris' Axew from a professor? No!

"So if I can't choose this Deino as my starter... Then I dont need you."

With the Red turned around, the aura of anger and hate grew off of him. The Deino, understanding the situation, began to radiate anger too. Red walked away from the Professor and his little assistant and sat back down in his chair, watching both with a look that seemed was burning holes in them. A look that made it seem like he would enjoy burning holes in them.

The Deino was, like all Deinos, blind.

But it truly wanted to hurt both men right now.

All Red would have to do is buy his own pokeball from a shop or a passing trainer. It wouldn't b the first time someone did that.

(Ah, why not? I'll post some music, too!)



Israh frowned, and her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Perhaps I might, but can you explain to me why your aura is so dark and malignant? I am drawn to strong forces, but do not know what they are until I find them. I have found many wonderful things following energy, but it has also led me into terrible situations. I think this qualifies as the latter." She scooped up Riffraff and took a few steps back. She leaned in and whispered to him so quietly, that only he could hear, "Riffraff, prepare for a fight, they won't let us go so easily." She continued to slowly back away. She then set the Cubone back down. "I'm sorry, sir, but I don't believe a word of what you said." Israh told him. As she said this, Riffraff took a fighting stance. "And I don't believe you will let us go so easily, either. If you wish to fight, then fine, so be it. We are in the presence of the dead, and their energy still exists here. The spirits will see all of what you do. Did you really think that in this place you would not have any witnesses?" Her face turned into a glare.

"You are a venomous serpent, whose men have stolen the pokemon from trainers, regardless of how kind they were. You stood there, and lied to me, right to my face. Your heart is black with darkness, I wouldn't even consider serving you. If you even thought you could recruit me, you're blind. The fact that you would do such acts in this place is an insult to the pokemon that rest here. I am disgusted, that you would defile their graves with such ill deeds." Israh now grew angry, "I will never join you, and I will never, ever, let you take my family from me."

(in case you haven't figured out yet, that is Shaun's battle theme)

Shaun frowned, as did the Aipom. But, after a moment, his frown melted into a smile, and he chuckled darkly to himself.

"Bad choice, madam." He said "gentlemen!" From out of the trees came several men, all wearing black uniforms with black berets and a large red letter R on their shirts. "Let's show this young lady some manners, shall we?" The grunts smiled, and slowly began to form a close circle around Isra. They all threw their Pokeballs, and an assortment of Koffings, Ratattas, Grimers, and several other poison types appeared.

"Koffing! Use sludge bomb!" one cried out.



"Let's not and say we did!" A deep, bellowing voice echoed before the Koffing could attack. "Lennie, rock throw!" A rock the size of a small car crashed into the side of the Koffing, and it hit the ground, unconscious.

"Tackle!" several Ratatta were squashed by the immense weight of Bernard Nosepass. It then spun around and, without being asked to, used Stone edge on a nearby Grimer, nearly splitting it in half. Several grunts ran, and Bernard ran into the circle, shielding Isra and Riffraff with his body. Lennie joined him, mad as a bull. Shaun smiled and stepped back.

"Kill them and liberate their stupid Pokemon, gentlemen." he said, looking down nonchalantly at his dirty yellow fingernails.

Israh and Riffraff were temporarily stunned by the sudden arrival of Bernard and Lennie, but they quickly recovered, "Thanks, you guys." Israh said. "Riffraff, quick, use Chip Away on that Rattata over there!" Israh pointed out the target, and the Cubone began to search for an opening. Suddenly, without warning, he unleashed a barrage of blows with the bone he was carrying. Every time the Rattata tried to recover, Riffraff would hit him where he was most vulnerable. "Now, go for his tail!" Israh cried. Riffraff unleashed a powerful blow on the Ratatta's tail. It screeched and ran a distance away. However, something was different about it's gait, as though it were off balance. It needed its tail to balance properly, and the blow from Riffraff's bone had messed up its tail sufficiently enough to disable it in the fight. It would heal, though. Israh was fighting to survive, but she and her pokemon weren't killers.

Riffraff suddenly cried out as he was hit with a Grimer's Pound. He staggered back, "Riffraff, don't worry, it's just pound! Take him down a notch!" The Cubone recovered, and regained his balance. He faced the Grimer and used Growl, combined with Tail Whip. The growl was endearing, as was the wagging tail. The Grimer seemed to relax, smiling, positive that the pokemon was trying to look intimidating, and failing. "Now, Chip Away again! Hold your breath while you do it!" Riffraff sucked in a breath and attacked. Despite being a weaker pokemon, he was holding his own surprisingly well in the fight.

Once more, someone who watched in the shadows was impressed.

Nosepass ran into battle once more, smashing the Rocket Pokemon with a comination of Rock Throw, Stone edge, and tackle. Several grunts ran, and several more were left without Pokemon, leaving only Shaun, who simply smiled evilly and took a black Pokeball out of his trenchcoat.

"This has gone on far enough. End this battle Duskull!" Shaun threw the Pokeball and an angry-looking Duskull emerged from a cloud of purple energy. "use will-o-wisp on these fools!" The Duskull's eyes glowed, and tongues of blue flame flew at Nosepass and Riffraff. Nosepass took two of the flames to his nose and right arm, badly burning him.