Chapter One
Sunday Morning,
Indigo Plateau
My name is
I'm a con-artist, thief and the
daughter of
I am also a pokemon
trainer.
Quite a repertoire,
huh?
To be quite honest, pokemon is not exactly my forte. Give me gloves and a
lock-pick any day.
It had begun as a decoy when I as 13,
a harmless hobby to distract my parents, the law, everyone, from discovering
where I really went after ballet. However, after my first chance battle,
that simple decoy had grown into something much more serious. It had delivered
an incredible adrenaline rush equal to that of pick-pocketing and it had soon
become a full throttled addiction. It was no longer a means of deception; it
had become the truth. My hunger grew more demanding and only the thrill of
winning would leave it satisfied.
The fact I kept losing was probably
the reason why had continued with it. Unlike fortunate others, I had been
gifted with absolutely no talent or beginners luck. My winnings were few and
far between and it was only my zealot-like obsession and good old fashioned
cheating that I began showing any signs of improvement at all.
Four years later I found myself the
current Indigo League Champion alongside Tempest Gale. How I got there,
remained a complete and utter mystery – to the public. I wasn’t joking when I
said I sucked. Believe me, I really really sucked.
It was only by a bizarre series of coincidences that had enabled me to work my
way to the finals. The majority of contestants, who would
have quite plainly; kicked my arse, had all mysteriously fallen ill.
Their ailment? A mysterious bout
of indigestion, most likely caused by the consummation of mysteriously tampered
lobsters at the banquet the night before.
Not that I had anything to do
with it.
Hey, I never once said I’d given up
my wickedly ways.
I stopped beneath the shade of a
conifer, sweat trickled from my temples and I regretted wearing my jeans on
such a hot day. Waving my hand before my face, I attempted a makeshift breeze.
The climate of the Indigo Plateau in summer was virtually unbearable, and I
cursed myself once again for my arrogance. When I’d received the invitation to Ebonisa Hall three weeks ago, I’d been ecstatic, thinking, of
course I had to go. It was expected, it would be simply outrageous if I
didn’t, being the Indigo Champion and all! The meeting involved all the past
and present champions of the leagues, and it was at the Plateau’s Ebonisa Hall that the challenge of becoming members of a
new Elite Four would be issued.
It certainly shouldn’t have concerned
me; it took a tummy bug for me to win last time. This next occasion I might
actually get caught! A general rule of thumb amongst thieves; never burgle the
same house twice.
But no, my pride had gotten the best
of me and with delusions of greatness; I’d booked the first flight from Johto.
“Idiot.” I muttered.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
I checked my watch.
Damn, I didn’t want to be late. But
then again, I didn’t want to step out into the sunshine and endure its
insufferable heat. Beads of perspiration dropped from my chin and splattered
upon the paved ground. Sighing, I wrenched myself away from the shade of the
conifer and dragged myself up the pathway and towards the looming black marbled
Hall ahead, imposing against the crisp cyan sky. Tempest
Big time.
Beneath the beating heat of the sun,
I groaned, “They’d better have air conditioning.”
Man, why was I here again? It was a
complete unnecessary waste of time. I could be challenging a battle I’d most
likely be able to win, say with a ten year old. I could be relaxing on a strip
of deserted beach in the
With a sigh of self pity, I consoled
myself with the fact that with the amount of people certain to attend, I’d at
least have some pick-pocketing fun.
I made my way to the finely cut
marble steps of the building, momentarily stopping to stare in awe. It was a
huge structure of thick black marble walls cleanly rising into the sky at
almost thirty metres high, and just as much wide, its elegant gable style roof
made it a further ten metres taller.
Now wouldn’t that be an
interesting investment?
Eager to see the inside furnishings,
I bounded excitedly up the steps, my uncomfortableness in the heat vanishing. I
pushed open the heavy double oak doors and was greeted with the clamour of
hundreds of people whose voices reverberated loudly around the bare room. Rows
upon rows of plastic sable chairs, numbers clearly printed on each back, took
up most of the room in the hall, leavings trainers to mill around its edges.
My disappointment at the Spartan
quality of the inside was quickly shoved aside as my eyes bulged at the sight
of so many people so closely clustered together. A gleeful grin spread across
my face, it was a pickpocket's paradise! They'd never notice if a personal item, or a few....O.K, more than a few, dollar bills went
missing!
At the front of the room was a raised
dais where I could see the eight professors of the world conversing together.
Oak,
I elbowed my way through the crowd.
Wow! Nice watch, I'll just grab
that....
Ooh! A twenty dollar note!
She won't neat this cheap ring
anymore....
Oh my! Now what have
you got in your pockets!?
WHOOMPH!
“Aagh!” Something caught my feet. I stumbled, losing grip of a boy’s
red cell-phone as I crashed into a group of Kimono Girls.
"Sorry!" I yelped, as I
tried to catch my balance, failed miserably, and collided into a giant of a boy
with pale green hair smoothed carefully on either side of his face with gel and
a gorgeous golden chain wrapped around his neck. He glanced down at me loftily,
his face painted with foundation, his features uncannily straight.
"Watch it!" He snapped, his
voice haughty, the words perfectly pronounced........!!!
Oh God. NO!
This boy...... richly dressed,
pampered all his life, and was more of a girl than other normal girls who were
actually girls.
Shit! It was
"Oh man." I groaned
inwardly.
"
I frowned,
the only thing that had changed about
"What on earth are you doing
here?"
....and had grown several inches
taller than when I had last seen him....
"Fancy that!"
....he was actually quite big now,
not the little short arse that I remembered....
"Humph! I suppose you are going to
try your luck at becoming an Elite Four?"
....nope, definitely not a little
short arse....
"I seriously don't know why you
bother, you're basically wasting your time now that I'm here, and you did
travel quite a long way to get here, only to be turned back by your superiors,
poor thing."
....but still the
arrogant pig.
"Well, answer me girl! What are
you doing here?"
"Nothing," I mumbled,
furtively glancing about for an escape.
He snickered, "You know your
parents disapprove of you on this absurd 'Pokemon
Journey.' A helpless girl like yourself should not
wonder the roads alone. There are Pokemon thieves
around, and Team Rocket did make a nasty mess of the Silph
Co. building in Saffron. You should be with my sister in The School for Ladies.
It's very good I hear. Fix you up right as rain, so to say." He simpered,
"You know I could go with you on your Journey. Misery loves
company."
My eyebrows shot up. I thought of a
few offensive comments, thought about expressing them, but realized how furious
my father would be if I started a fight with his partner’s son. Groaning
inwardly, I forced a smile and replied, "Uh... no. But.....
Oh look! There's my seat! Better go! Bye!"
"There's a good girl, I'll see
you later!"
Pretentious moron.
He turned, and walked away.
Without a gorgeous
golden chain.
Tempest
"Damn people," I muttered
under my breath. They just kept swarming in. Didn't they know they didn't have
a chance of becoming an Elite Four Trainer now that I was on the scene?
I swore as my slight frame was squashed against the black marble wall. Mumbling
obscenities, I shoved through the masses of humanity and headed towards my
designated seat.
"Hey you - off my chair!" I
barked, even though I felt like saying my planet instead. The blonde
air-head lounging on my planet, uh, correction, chair, glanced up at me.
"Chill out, baby," he
drawled, I saw myself reflected in his silver tinted sunglasses, a petite girl,
with an unblemished complexion, framed by a cascade of silky midnight blue hair
and royal blue eyes the colour of priceless sapphires stared back at me…
All right, I'll level with ya. What I just said - was a load of bullshit. I'm a short,
scrawny, kid with lots of split ends in that 'silky' hair, and you don't wanna corner me in a dark alley. I'd clawed to the top from
the bottom of the barrel, and when I mean bottom of the barrel - I mean it,
ruthlessly eliminating anyone who got in my way. I had striven for success
since my 10th birthday searching everywhere for the greatest Pokemon that ever lived, the legendary birds of the Wings
of Council. However, despite these features, I'm the world's best diplomat.
"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY
CHAIR!" I yelled. "If you didn't know, these seats are ordered by rank
and this seat is near the front and unless you're as dumb as you look, I am
Tempest! Master of the Wings of Council!"
"Tempest eh? Nice name," he
smirked, “For a dog.”
As I reached for my masterball containing Moltres,
ready to fry the arsehole into a crisp chip, the voice of
"Is this thing on? Oh! Ahem, can
the Champions of the Leagues please come to order."
Immediately the deafening voices died
down to a low murmur and there was the scrape and rattle of chairs as each and
every member of the room struggled to find their seat. I glared at the impudent
blonde boy in mine.
"Get off before I…" I let the threat hang.
"Before you what?" he
challenged, his eyes boring directly into mine, “Screech me to death?”
“What?” I screeched incredulously,
raising my fist ready to pound him into a bloody pulp. “I do not screech!”
"Excuse me, but I think you're
in my seat."
I wheeled around ready to hammer the
new trainer vying for my chair, but I caught it just in time.
"Ugh,
We were both in casual dress. I
wasn’t a big believer in fashion, in fact I thought
the whole concept was the epitome of all things ridiculous. A scraggly well
worn in violet sleeveless T-shirt woven sometime in the dark ages, and a pair
of short which on me looked like they’d been swiped off a fat mans clothes
line. As always, my dark blue hair was tied in a ponyta
tail and I had slipped it through the hole in the back of my official red and
black Metone League cap.
However, such carelessness concerning
clothes was not a part of
"Hey Tempest!" she grinned,
attempting a friendly punch to the shoulder which I froze with a glare,
"How long's it been?"
"Not long enough." I eyed
her suspiciously, my hand drifting towards my pockets. I had first met her
during the competition for the Indigo League Cup and after two weeks, had concluded
she was the shiftiest, most dubious little con ever to grace the league. She
was a klutz when it came to battling and how she had made it to the finals was
beyond me. Initially I hadn’t minded, in fact, I had greeted the prospect of an
easy win - until some horrible chance of fate had kicked me in the face. The
match had been hurtling along bloody fantastic,
I had resented
After my attempts to scratch out her
name on the trophy had ended in restraints and a week in therapy, I had finally
settled on a grudging awe. The answer as to who was the better trainer was
obvious (me, you dolt!) and didn’t need questioning, but by crikey, was that
girl lucky!
"Ahem."
"As if."
"Ahem."
"You can at least say
hello."
"EXCUSE ME."
"What?" I whirled around in
annoyance.
"But he's in my seat!" I
protested, jabbing a finger at the blonde who only smirked insolently.
"ExCUSE
me?!"
"Beep!" Blondey
said, pressing an imaginary buzzer. "Both answers are incorrect. Would you
like to go for a, Double Jeopardy?"
"Then who's
bloody seat is it!" I cried, throwing my hands up in exasperation.
"Duh! Mine of course!"
"Sorry Milady's," he mocked
an aristocratic tone. "Mineth cardith was upsidedownith."
He got up and sauntered towards the
back row.
"Then where the bloody hell is
mine?" I fumed.
“Oh.” I flushed and quickly sat down.
He cleared his throat uncomfortably.
"Now that we've got that over and done with, let's begin the
meeting."
Silence descended upon the room.
I glared down at my hands, strewth, if I weren't like a bloody marsupial mouse amongst
a pack of bloody emus I'd beat the bloody living daylights out of every -
Hey!? Wasn't I wearing a bloody watch
a few minutes ago?
"Welcome all Champions of the
South; Johto, Kanto, Metone
and Orange Island Leagues, and those of the North; Ariellan,
Mercury, Geo, and
“To make one
League.”
“The
In order to become a member of the
Elite Four you must earn all the Badges of the Geneva League, 64 Badges in all.
It is a great task to undertake and I know that only those of the Elite Skill
will complete it. Once all Badges have been collected you will return here to
the Indigo Plateau, where you will compete against others who have made it as
far as yourself, down to the last four, you will then go on to battle a member
of the Elite. If you defeat an Elite Trainer in a Pokemon
battle you will take their title. Are their any questions?"
"I've already earned 16 Badges.
Do I have to battle for them again?"
"No," he answered. "If
you have the Badge in your possession now, you do not have to battle for them
again. But you must have the rest of the Badges to compete in the Geneva
Championship. Any others?"
He gazed around the room, his grey
eyes squinting to see if there were any hands raised down the back. "No?
Alright then, I'll explain the rules. You must earn these Badges, you may not purchase them or steal them. If any are
stolen they will immediately be reported to us. You must travel around
the regions in groups of at least three. This is for your own safety."
Low growls and murmurs started around
the room.
I shot out of my seat, there was NO
WAY I was going to travel with some audacious dipstick, "You
can't make us! You must be barmy as a bandicoot! Don't you know who I am? I am
Tempest! I travel alone, earn my Badges alone and I'll do this - alone! I'm
the lone wolf!"
"Don't you mean lone dog?"
Someone called from the back, laughter erupted around the hall.
“Yeah, woof woof!”
I whipped around and tossed my masterball containing Zapdos into
the air. He burst from the ball and careened over their heads, shocking
innocent victims.
Heh, heh, heh.
"That's ENOUGH! Return
your bloody Zapdos this bloody instant! The reason
for the introduction of this new rule is that recently there have been numerous
brigand attacks on solitiary trainers. If you don't
agree to our bloody rules I'll give you such a big boot up the arse you'll be
passing blood for the next five weeks!" shouted one of the other professors
on the platform. Growling, I recalled Zapdos, turned
and took my seat again.
"Again Tempest? You're bloody askin' for it aren't you?"
Through gritted teeth he grabbed the mike from Oak and shouted into it. We all
clutched our ears as the static screeched through the amps. "You will
obey all the rules. Any broken, and I'll be buggered if I don't see to it
myself that you're Pokemon License is revoked!"
As he handed it back to the startled
"Ahem," Oak started again.
"Yes, well, the 3rd and final rule is that you must complete this Quest
within two years. On January 1st, two years from now we will hold the first
Geneva League Championship Tournament. If you are one of the remaining four who
manage to triumph over an Elite, their title shall be bestowed upon you."
"What if you lose?" someone
cried.
"The Elite Four member will
remain. If all that is made clear, those of courage, determination and
compassion take up this challenge. If you deem yourself worthy, receive maps
for the Geneva League from the leading Professor from whose region you
originally come from. May each of you reach for your goals, for you are all
worthy of the path you have chosen. Stand strong against the challenges and
hardships you will face and you will never lose your way. Good Luck and
goodbye, may I see every one of you here in two years time." With that, he
stepped down from the mike and returned to his seat, removing a bundle of
papers from the inside of his coat.
"Pretty speech," I
murmured. Beside me, Tempest wore a bored expression.
She snorted, "Biggest load of
crap I ever heard. These people worthy? Hah! The only
person I see up on the Indigo League platform getting the title,
is me."
She slid out of her chair and left to
see
I shook my head, watching her go. She
hadn't changed one little bit. I hadn't expected her to though. She was a rock.
An unmoving, unchangeable rock. Good for nothing
except breaking windows.
Glancing at Ebonisa’s
Exit, I mused about whether or not to get out while I could.
Face it
But the title of an Elite Four was
very, very luring.
“Ah crap,” My resistance crumbled. I
got up and headed towards
WHOOSH!
What the-?
I dodged a flying chair,
it sailed over my head and crashed into a row of empty seats behind me. I
whirled around, "Hey, watch it you little punk!"
The room was becoming a war zone.
I shoved my way through the crowd -
acquiring a few handy trinkets on the way of course.
"Hey!"
"Sorry." Nice ring, mine
now.
"Don't push in!"
"Yeah, I'll make a note of
that," I'll just confiscate this, thank you very much.
"You stepped on my foot!"
"Get over it." Wooh! A candy bar!
"OOOW!"
"Don't chuck a hissy fit." Obnoxious moron....
Finally, a few glares, possessions
and obscenities later, I made my way to the front.
"Please! Everyone, get into a
line!" He pleaded.
Of course, no one listened.
"Hey
"Hey! Get that chick out of the
road!" Some girl yelled.
I glared at her, "Mind your
manners bi-atch."
"Make me, you little
scrag!"
Scrag? SCRAG?
In this designer outfit?! Just as I
was about to wheel around and ram my fist into the offending trainer's face,
the scraggly brown haired Professor looked up at me.
"Why hello
again
Diverted from my fashion deprived
prey, I turned my attention back to Elm, "Yes please, Professor."
He smiled tiredly, adjusted his
glasses, and glanced pointedly at the pile of folded papers beside him,
"Just take one."
“Thanks!”
"Hey! That's not a bad
idea!" A trainer cried.
Immediately trainers surged forward,
rushing to grab a map from the pile.
"Nooooooooooooo!" Elm wailed helplessly, watching in agonized fury as
people began to shove and push each other, fighting over the maps.
He looked hopelessly at me, moaning,
"It's like this every four years..."
Then, shoulders sagging dejectedly,
he sauntered off.
I felt a twinge of pity. Only a
twinge mind you, I was more concerned with getting the hell out of that doomed
place before someone noticed their missing belongings and cried thief. That always
led to trouble.
"Hey
there!"
What now? A few steps from the oak
doors, I turned. It was the blonde boy from the seat incident earlier on.
"Hi
there!" The
blonde stuck out his hand, “
I shook it, appraising him with one
raised eyebrow, "
Though tall, he was not a bad looker. He coolly smoothed back his blonde hair, sunglasses
reflecting the light shining from the windows. Beneath his black woollen
jumper, he wore a plain white t-shirt. Baggy denim jeans almost concealed his
sneakers, the edges frayed and dirty from where they had scuffed across the
ground as he had walked. His pokebelt studded with pokeballs did nothing to hold up his pants.
"I'm a dog trainer from Kanto.”
He began with a confident grin, “Yeah, been at this game for about eight years.
Since I was ten, y’know?” His fingers tapped his pokeballs as if they added proof.
“Well, I train dragon types.” I
replied, eyeing a silver ring he wore on one of his
fingers.
“And like with the whole travel
buddies thing, I was wondering if - "
CRASH!!!
He was interrupted as the ceiling
collapsed.
People were showered with plaster
dust. Entire chunks of the roof smashed to the ground exploding into smaller
fragments, crushing chairs and everything with the misfortune of being in the
centre of the room.
"What the
hell?!"
The black marble walls shook and for
a minute I thought the whole building would collapse on top of us. Pandemonium
erupted, more chaotic, more chaotic than before. Confused shouts filled the room,
adding to the calamity of pounding footsteps as trainers ran to avoid the
debris. From various places across the hall, the professors struggled to keep
their footing.
“Get out of the way!”
"Whaa!" I was barrelled over by a mass of trainers bolting for the
door. The marble floor trembled, and my chest was racked by coughs as I
breathed in dust. The screams around me rose higher as the quaking worsened. I
could hardly hear myself think.
"Man, this has gotta be a fucking joke!"
Heaving for breath, leaning against
the wall for support, I stretched to get a better view of what the hell was
happening. Through the running bodies and the dust that had begun to settle
like a fog, I realized that the shaking, the noise, the overhead collapsing,
were all caused by something that was tearing its way through the roof.
A tall girl with short brown hair
barged into me, knocking me to the ground.
"Get out of my way!" She
screamed.
As I hit the floor I instantly knew I
was in trouble. The shaking ground prevented me from pushing myself to my feet.
Trainers trampled over me, and despite my shouts, they were too worried about their
own asses to listen. I cried out as my hands were squashed beneath the shoes of
someone with very big feet. Pain exploded up my thigh as I was unknowingly
kicked by a trainer in white shorts. A chunk of ceiling plummeted to the
ground, sending shards ricocheting into the bodies of any unfortunates nearby.
I shielded myself with my hands, a clump skimmed across my arm, leaving a
painful, bleeding graze in its wake.
That was the last straw. I grabbed a masterball from my pokebelt.
"Shahman,
go!"
The silver ball burst in midair.
Florescent red light flooded out forming into a huge glistening Lunar dragon. His silver scales gleamed. The ball returned
to my hand, minimized, and was clipped back on.
He was like a dragon of old. A long
snakelike body covered in silver scales, he had three pairs of short clawed
legs, and a long curling tail. He didn't have a neck as such, but the top half
of his body ended with his diamond peaked head. His face was squarish, and from
his snout, protruding from either side, was a pair of tumbling white whiskers,
giving him the appearance of having a moustache. Another one curled from his
chin. Long snowy waif-like fins, scaled down the middle of
his back, ending at his tail in a brilliant white flame. Deep set blue
eyes shone like sapphires. He had evolved from the lunar bird, seraph with the
aid of a moonstone. By that time, I had long given up in evolving pokemon the old fashioned way.
Shahman looked about with a bored
expression, watching the panic and turmoil below. How he flew was a constant
bafflement on my part. He didn’t have wings and as far as I knew, he wasn’t
telekinetic.
I gasped in agony as a foot planted
itself on my stomach, intense pain flared through my body, and I rolled on the
ground, clutching my belly while my eyes tears welled in my eyes.
I wheezed, "Shahman..."
"Oh look, chaos, destruction.
Armageddon's started then yeah?" As per usual, his voice was monotonous,
uninterested. "Oh well, better get on with it then." His translator
lay hidden beneath his jewelled tiara.
Streaming through the air towards me,
he lowered far enough to the floor so I could haul myself on. I winced, the
pain was easing off somewhat, but it still hurt like hell.
CRASH!
The ceiling exploded!
I clutched my ears in an attempt to
keep out such deafening noise.
Everyone seemed to freeze, their
heads snapping towards the roof.
The quaking had ceased. The last bits
of debris fell to the floor, crushing the chairs beneath. I rose up on Shahman's back, staring in disbelief at what descended
through the ruined ceiling.
A black sharp nosed aircraft landed
in the centre of the hall, its engine creating a thick dust cloud, preventing
us from seeing the vehicle clearly.
"Shit!"
The dust cleared, inscribed on the
craft's sides was a large bright lettered pink 'R'.
Fuck. I knew I shouldn’t have
come! Damnit, on the day that I’d forgotten my lucky kanghaskan tooth as well!
Before I could even utter an order to
my Shahman to get me the hell outta
there,
His face was redder than a tomato.
The glass hatch covering the cockpit
slid open.
"Quite an entrance don't you
think?" Asked a smug female voice.
"Oh yes, quite." Agreed a male's.
Dressed in the infamous black and
pink uniform, a pair of Rockets were seated at the
controls. A woman, long pale pink hair framing her face, sultry pink eyes and
skin white as marble, laughed haughtily as she leapt from her seat and climbed
gracefully onto the roof of the hover-craft.
"Introducing," She purred,
"
"And
Cries of panic became shouts of obscenities.
Most trainers detested Rockets as they were nothing more than bungling thieves,
an annoying hindrance at best. Me? Well, let’s just say I avoided trouble where
I could. Seized criminals tend to always point the finger.
I glanced down and saw there were
those who shared my sentiments. A few people were still edging towards the
door. It was at that moment that I had my bright spark of ingenuity. I
whispered to Shahman, "When I say go, blast em
away with moonbeam. OK?"
Beating these types wasn’t all
that hard. Even I could do it! Furthermore, after helping to put them
away behind bars I’d get praised as a hero.
I liked the sound of that!
She looked back up at me, "Got
it?"
Shit, O.K, so they weren't your
average nitwit T.R Thieves.
The male Rocket spoke up, "You
know the drill. Hand over your pokemon."