Handle with care

Authers notes:

Ahh, the first chapter. I hope you all enjoy it!

I want to thank the ever patient Jabz for being my champion Beta reader. Without his guiding wisdom, I would be shaping the largest dildo of a story, and slowly embedding it deeper inside my colon with every miss grammatically placed word. Much love bro.

---

HANDLE WITH CARE
Chapter one: Everything that has a beginning...

“Run Jack! RUN!”

A young female trainer and her even younger pokemon were tearing through the heavy undergrowth of the Illex forest as fast as they could muster, the sound of their rapid and clumsy footsteps crushing the foliage underfoot shattering the unusual silence of a clear and warm summers night.

The infant Growlithe gave a quick glance over its shoulder at the advancing red eyes piercing the shadows closing in on them. The same red eyes belonging to whatever had attacked him and his trainer, wounding one of their teammates. Turning back to his trainer and giving the air a short sniff, he managed to identify seven creatures in the shadows, all from different directions.

Different directions, and closing fast.

“D-don’t stop Jack!” His trainer panted, her legs starting to burn with the fatigue of 5 days trapped in the forest. She had been warned by the Azealia gym leader that she would need a much stronger team to aide her safely through to woods, but her foolish and headstrong attitude had given her the impression that she and her team were untouchable, choosing not even to purchase any medical supplies before entering the forest.

[Ash... Ashley, I- I can’t keep going, I -]

The young girl heard a small series of exhausted barks from her companion, before he collapse mid run, rolling and sliding along the forest floor kicking up a small amount of leaves and debris. Seeing this, she quickly stopped and slid along the ground to where the small fire dog had fallen and began to hysterically pull handfuls of his fur in an effort to get him moving again.

“Jack, don’t stop! We are almost there! Come ON!” she cried out, trying to drag him to his feet, but it was to no avail. They had been training way too hard during their time in the forest, and Jack’s body was screaming at him to rest. “Jack, they’re coming, I can see them get up get up-”

Ashley was cut off by her own shriek as a pair of blood red glowing eyes lunged at them from the darkness with such speed that it almost seemed to create a vacuum of air behind itself, kicking up leaves and small branches along the path it travelled. Thinking quickly, the young growilithe met the glowing red eyes of the strange beast with its own, stopping it dead in its tracks. Despite being injured and exhausted, jack was still able to intimidate it long enough to let off a large roar so loud that several pairs of glowing red eyes ceased their attack as if scared of the young pup, before changing their course and moving around the rear of the fallen pair.

[A-ashl ley, I... I can’t get up. I can smell the city and you can make it, but only if you run for it now! While I keep them busy!]

Of course, Jack’s words fell on deaf ears. Ashley had no way of understanding what he was saying, which only doubled her attempt at getting him to stand. “Quick Jack, you scared them for a few seconds, get up, and let’s go!”

Jack shook her hands free of his coat and blew a small burst of flame at her, causing her to squeak in surprise. “J-jack?”

[I know you can’t understand what I say, but I know you’re not stupid!] He growled, pointing at her with his muzzle, still damp with the blood of when they were first set upon only moments before. It took her a few nudges to finally understand what he had meant, her eyes growing wide quickly.

“No Jack, no! I won’t let you!” She cried, unclipping his ball from her waist and pointing it at him. Jack’s body tensed slightly as it prepared for the well deserved rest that laying in the warm timeless void that the pokeball provided. He was so tired and simply wanted to sleep it all off. The noise of their hunters moving quickly through the surrounding trees however caused him to snatch the ball from her hand in his large mouth.

“Wait, no don’t!”

He bit down hard on the small sphere, sending tiny shards into his gums and large chunks all over himself and his trainer causing him to wince at the pain. Now, he knew; she had no choice. Quickly nudging her again, and a second time after that, she was pushed to her feet.

[Run Ashley! I will keep them off you! Go! Now!]

With no way to recall her injured partner, she stumbled back a few steps in shock. He was willing to give his life to protect her, and she was simply standing there waiting for those things to tear them to pieces. Quickly staring at him for a moment, she gave him a small nod before running at her fastest towards the approaching lights of Goldenrod City. “I’m going to bring help Jackie boy, I promise!” he heard her say as she took off. He chuckled slightly to himself. It’s not like it matters if she gets back here with help or not. Hopefully by then he will have at least taken out most of them.

[Ok, you bastards] Jack said warily as he shakily got to his feet. His ears were moving in almost every possible direction, tracing where the small flitting noises of light bodied feet moving at high speed around him were coming from. He gave a small smirk and lowered his head. If he was right, then he had enough energy left for a single attack, and he was going to make it a damn good one.

[Found you!] He barked, and lunged forward with all of his strength, dragging one of the beasts seemingly out of thin air and to the ground, where they writhed around each other trading blows before he clamped down hard on its throat. It struggled weakly for a few seconds against the Growlithe’s powerful jaws, but he bit down on the creature’s neck even harder, feeling the bones snap and the arteries rupture in his mouth. The feeling of victory was short lived however as his ears quickly picked up the sound of several red eyed creatures coming at him at every angle at once.

---

Ashley was pumping her aching legs as fast as she could. The day care centre was finally in sight, and if she was lucky, they would have a few strong pokemon there to keep her safe until the police arrived. “Hold on just a few more minutes Jack, I’m almost there” she cried breathlessly, tears streaming down her face. Her chest and throat were burning, but she was so close. Just a few hundred more meters and –

Something large and wet slammed her hard from behind, knocking her to the ground and forcing the wind out of her already breathless lungs. She rolled and bounced along the small gravel road, the adrenaline in her blood not letting her feel the dozens of gashes and scrapes collecting all over her small body. Wincing in pain and trying her hardest to both breathe and get back to her feet; she rolled around to face her attacker.

Behind her lay the lifeless and mangled corpse of her beloved Growlithe, it’s once beautiful orange and black coat now a labyrinth of deep cuts and mangled flesh. Ashley tried to scream, but having no air in her lungs to do so only caused a small groan to escape her throat. Panic setting in, she began to shuffle back away from the body of her lifeless friend, before turning away and reaching out for the day care centre.

She tried to scramble to her feet, the air finally returning to her body before she felt the most blinding pain she had ever felt burst into her spine and stomach. Her head flew back as she collapsed back to the ground, clutching at her abdomen not able to think of anything other than the searing, tearing pain.

A long slender yet muscular creature stepped calmly from the shadows, its red eyes glowing so bright that for a moment; Ashley thought she could make out the twisted smile on its face. All rationality finally lost, she began to crawl away as best she could from the terror in front of her, reaching out a single arm to the day care centre, and the elderly man she could barely make out leaning against the fence using his mobile phone.

“H-h....he.....lp..... m-” she cried, her voice only escaping her lips as a hoarse whisper.

More creatures slowly stepped out from the shadows, surrounding her with the glowing red eyes, chittering to each other greedily in their native tongue.

“He....lp .... me... s-some.... s... omeone..”

---

[SIMON, LOOK OUT!]

“Wha – Oh, SHIT!”

Simon snapped out of his small daydream to find himself driving along the freeway leading back to his house, and drifting into the oncoming lane causing a large truck to blare its horns menacingly at the small car crossing into its path.

Swerving to the left on pure instinct, they sailed just barely passed the large semi, almost taking out a section of reflective guide posts in doing so. Looking up at his rear view mirror, he caught a glimpse of the back end of the truck, smoke pouring from the tyres and almost lurching into the other lane after the driver had slammed on his breaks and veered out of their way.

[What the hell are you doing? You almost killed us!] The large Raichu in the passenger seat cried out, breathing heavily.

Simon didn’t reply as he shakily indicated to the left and pulled over in the emergency lane, his eyes locked dead ahead on the now empty road. Without as much as a small whimper, he quickly pulled out a cigarette from the carton on the dashboard of the car, and fumbled with the lighter several times before successfully igniting it.

[Simon, answer me. What the fuck was that?] She asked again, angrily. [I almost jumped over there and tore the wheel out of your hands!]

The faint smell of tobacco smoke filled the car as Simon took a long and heavy drag of his smoke, trying to calm his nerves. “It uh...” he began, voice shaking. “I um, had another one of those hallucination things.”

[Arceus damn it] The electric type said, trying to calm herself down. [We need to get that checked out, Sai. That’s the third one this week]

“Yeah, I know, I know” he replied, feeling a little calmer. He had been having the same hallucination for about a month now, and it liked to show up at the most inopportune times. This time however, things were very different.

[So, I’m gonna go ahead and guess it was the eyes eating you alive again?] She asked as she looked back over the rear seat to make sure the truck hadn’t jack knifed into a house or something.

“Nah Gems, this one was messed up.” He began, taking another drag of his smoke before exhaling and continuing. “It was really vivid. I was being chased by about 8 of the shadow things this time, and there was a Growlithe. Named john or jack or something.”

[More eyes and a Growlithe? Doesn’t sound that bad to me] she replied, putting a hand on his knee. [You sure you’re right to drive? Want me to go get Alfred?]

Simon took another puff of the cigarette, letting it calm him as he felt the hallucination slip away from him. “Nah, it’s ok. We are almost home anyway.” He answered as he indicated to the right before checking over his shoulder good and hard to make sure nothing was coming up behind him.

The rest of the ride home was spent in silence, Gemma flicking through the songs on Simon’s phone, giving him some time to think about the new information he’d gotten from the hallucination. The depth of this one had troubled him incredibly deeply. Although he wasn’t entirely sure about it, but he thought for a moment that he had actually felt the pain of being attacked and injured like the girl he had seen. His back even felt a little tender, a dull ache in his stomach accompanying it. Pulling into the driveway of their house, Simon switched of the ignition, and gathered his things before heading inside.

“I’m gonna go ahead and take a quick shower Gems” he said as he threw the keys onto the kitchen bench. Their house wasn’t overly big, which was the way Simon liked it. They lived in a small 3 bedroom place in a quiet part of Violet city where he had been with Gemma for the last 4 years. They were lucky when he found it, as the owner had kept rambling about a Dusknoir constantly attacking the tenants, and he managed to purchase it quite cheaply.

[Ok then] she replied as she padded over to the study. [I might jump onto the Silph network and do a bit of reading. Never hurts a handler to have too much knowledge you know]

“Righto” Simon answered flatly, stripping his uniform off as he walked to the bathroom, leaving a small trail of clothing in his wake. Gemma noticed this, and called out [Don’t think for a second that I’m gonna be picking those up Sai. We spent ages getting the house spotless yesterday, and I was hoping to keep it that way].

Simon grumbled as he walked back towards the front door, picking up each article of clothing he had thrown on the floor. “Yes, mum.” He replied sarcastically. “I swear, having you and Alfred teach me poke tongue feels like more of a curse than a blessing sometimes. If I was anyone else, I could simply pass your little ‘Rai’s and ‘chus’ off as cute pointless babble”

[Yeah, well you’re just annoyed because I’m getting on your arse about keeping the house clean. If it were up to you the place would have Muk’s growing on the walls]

“Funny, Gems”. He mumbled heading to the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

[Oh also, what you feel like doing for dinner? Pizza?] She called through the locked bathroom door.

“Yeah, go for it. I don’t feel like cooking anything tonight” he answered, hanging his uniform on a hook on the bathroom wall. “Barbeque sauce on mine, remember”

[Yeah, I know]

Simon let out a loud sigh as he stood in front of the large mirror above the sink, the hallucination weighing heavily on his mind. Standing up straight, he turned to look at his back as if expecting to see some sort of wound or large bruise, only to find nothing.

“Why was that last one so strong?” he muttered to himself as he reached into the shower, turning both taps before returning to the mirror. He had been sure to take care of the house as much as he could, but it seemed the water heater needed replacing, and took a little while to run hot water through the pipes.

Giving a quick stretch, Simon looked himself over in the mirror. He stood at about 6 feet tall with an average yet solid build, and a slightly defined upper body. After looking over how puffy and tired his eyes were from his day of training with the other handlers, he pulled a few silly faces in the mirror. Laughing quietly at his immaturity, he quickly jumped into the shower and began to wash himself. All he felt like doing was eating something and heading straight to bed. He was in there barely 5 minutes before a soft knocking on the door could be heard.

[Ok, pizza's on its way. Should be here in about half an hour]

"Thanks, gems" Simon replied as he squirted a generous amount of shower gel into his hand. "Don't wander too far, your having a shower straight after me"

[Aww, do I have to?] she whined.

"Unless you want to stink for the rest of the weekend, then yeah you do" he answered, rubbing the gel all over his body.

Simon heard a few small curses as she wandered back to the computer, causing him to massage his temples in frustration. He loved Gemma with all his heart, but she could be really whiney and disobedient at times. He had toyed with the idea of getting a few badges to see if they would help, but decided against it, having no interest in the gym circuits.

Feeling that he was clean enough, Simon stepped out of the shower and began to towel himself off, feeling a lot better than he did before hand. Giving himself a quick blast of body spray, he unlocked the door and walked out into the hallway, wrapping the towel around his waist as he did so.

"Righto gems, your turn. Quick, I left the shower running for you"

She turned from the computer and gave him the biggest puppy dog eyes she could muster. She even went as far as to make them water slightly, impressive at the least. [B-but... I don't want a shower...] she stammered, forcing her bottom lip out, making it quiver for effect.

Simon stood his ground, a serious look on his face. "I mean it gems" he said as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Shower. Now"

Gemma's face returned to normal after realizing her act had no effect on him, before turning back to the computer. [Make me]

“If that’s how you wanna play it”

Simon walked over and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, lifting her up off the chair. [H-hey! No fair!] She stammered before her reflex took over, curling her lower body up to her chest.

Simon walked her to the bathroom and slid the door open, steam billowing out into the hall. "I'm serious gems. You going to take a wash, or will I have to do it for you like when you were a Pichu?"

[Ok, ok fine. Put me down] she replied, defeated. Smiling, Simon placed her on the ground, and slid the door shut.

"Don’t forget you have to use your special soap. You will get that weird itch again if you use mine" Simon reminded her. He waited at the door for a few seconds, only turning to leave after he heard her shut the showers glass screen.

"I think I've earned myself a beer tonight" Simon muttered to himself as he headed to the bedroom, throwing his towel in the dirty laundry hamper and digging through his wardrobe for his night clothes. No sooner had he found his clothing, when he heard a scream come from the bathroom. Panicking, Simon threw the clothes on the bed and bolted down the hall, throwing the bathroom door open.

“Gems!” he cried, almost losing his footing on the damp tied floor. “Gems, what happened?”

[My – my eyes, I can’t see! It hurts Simon! It huuuuurts!] She whined as she lay on the floor of the shower, holding her face in her paws. Simon slid the glass screen open, water spilling out into the bathroom as he entered the shower.

“Shit, shit, shit. Was it my razor? Did you cut yourself? Show me, Gems” he said as he knelt down and placed his hands on the side of her face. She didn’t reply.

“Here, lemme have a look” he said calmly, moving her paw away from her face. “This might hurt Gems, but I gotta take a look, ok?”

Gemma was sniffling and whimpering as Simon was expecting the worst. What if she loses an eye over this? He moved his hands over her face and slowly pulled her right eye open. “Hmm, you didn’t cut it, but there is a lot of redness there. What’d you do?”

[I was washing my face ‘cause I didn’t want to stink, and the soap hurt my eyes] she replied between sniffles.

Simon let out a small grateful laugh. “Thank god. I thought you’d cut your eye out or something. Here” he said as he began to massage her closed eyes while pushing her back under the running water. It was only now that he noticed he was kneeling in a pool of shower gel “See? How’s that?”

Gemma carefully opened her eyes, the stinging sensation dulled down and quickly fading. [Much better, thank you]

“Ok, cool. Next time it happens, just rub your eyes while under the water ok? You’re old enough to take care of something like that”

[Sorry, I just panicked and - ] She opened her eyes fully, and was now completely aware of just how naked Simon was. [O-oh my god, S-Simon! Get out! You’re naked!]

Simon looked down, forgetting in his haste that he had just thrown his towel into the hamper before rushing in to help her. “Oh, shit -”

[Simon! Out! GET OUT!]

“Sorry, sorry” Simon apologised, as he ran from the bathroom, covering his naked body with his hands while blushing deeply, slipping on the wet floor and driving his knee into the door frame in his doing so.

“Ow, fuck!” He cursed out loud, grabbing his leg in pain. Looking down at the damage, he saw that the impact had split just above his knee open, blood already starting to seep from the fresh cut. Wincing a little, he got to his feet and limped back to his bedroom and quickly got dressed in a large white shirt and a pair of black trunks. After giving the cut a wipe with the towel he had used to dry himself earlier, he threw it back into the laundry hamper and headed out to the kitchen to grab two beers from the fridge.

“Christ, what a night” he said aloud, flopping himself down on the couch in front of the TV. Looking up at the clock, he noticed the pizza was still about 10 minutes off, and decided now would be the perfect time to unwind with a smoke and a little television. Grabbing a cigarette from the packet on the coffee table in front of him, he lit it and leaned back on the couch, flicking through the channels hoping to find something interesting.

“Reality bullshit, Elite four battle tourney, more reality bullshit, something in French. Why is there nothing ever worth watching on TV anymore?” he asked himself as he took another drag of his cigarette. After flicking through a few more channels, he decided to leave it on a documentary detailing how people had lived before the unearthing almost a century ago.

“And here” the Narrator began as a video of a small Meowth looking animal played on the screen “was one of the primary choices for common household pets at the time. The domestic short hair was a simple minded feline, which like all fauna at the time, lacked the self awareness of the fauna we have today.” The video illustrated this point by showing a cat’s owner filming their pet with a handheld camera as it sat there ignoring every command.

Simon tried to imagine for a moment what it would be like if Gemma had been a mindless beast like the one on the screen. No way of communicating, following orders, offering her opinions and objections. Just blind raw instinct and nothing more. Simon shook his head, as if disagreeing with something.

“I just don’t get it.” He muttered to himself.

[Don’t get what?] Came a voice from the hall behind him. Standing at the door of the living room was a very fluffy towel dried Gemma, the static from her body causing the towel to stick to her no matter how hard she tried to remove it.

He gestured her over so that he could remove the towel for her, receiving several small static shocks as he did so. This was almost a nightly ritual however, and he was used to it by now. “I don’t understand why anyone would want to keep something like that. Look at it, all it does is eat and sleep and kill smaller things”

Gemma gave a small shrug as she walked to the TV unit and retrieved her anti static brush, tossing it to Simon before sitting between his legs on the floor. [Me either. I still can’t believe something so stupid existed before what happened]

“Yeah, well I’m glad things are the way they are at the moment. I enjoy being able to talk to someone as smart as you, even if you aren’t human” Simon replied as he brushed her fur back into place, small sparks of electricity jumping onto the brush.

[I don’t see why being human is so great] she said, leaning back into the brush contently. [We are just as smart as you.]

“Some are smarter” Simon corrected her. “Humans are different in how our brains work though. We are a lot more intuitive and curious about how things work, where as you lot just seem to accept things as they are. Guess that’s our ‘weapon’ I’d imagine. We don’t have fangs and claws and electric sacs like pokemon, so we need to rely on our creativity for survival.”

Gemma gave a small shudder. [You’re ‘weapon’ is a lot more dangerous than any attacks I’m aware of. Some of the things your people have made scare the hell out of me]

“It’s not all bad” Simon said as he worked on her fur “We made the nanites in potions that fix you up whenever you get too hurt”

[yeah I s'pose. I'm just thankful that you won't be using any of those guns the sweepers were training with today]

“But I have a gun, you know that”

[A small one; and even it frightens me when you fire it. But the big one that Sweep leader was testing today was so loud and scary]

Simon gave a small chuckle. "That instructor was a bit full on, wasn't he?"

[Oh god he was!] Gemma said, turning to face Simon, putting on an authoritative voice. [YOU! Maggot! What is the difference between a handler and a sweeper?!]

"Sir!" Simon replied bringing his hand to his forehead in a mock salute. "A handler's duty is to keep the peace and retrieve injured and unruly pokemon where as a sweeper is sent in to exterminate overly violent pokemon sir!"

[That’s what I like to hear son! Now drop and give me a thousand or I swear to Arceus that I will force my Onix right up your arse!]

They both burst into hysterics, almost failing to hear a knock coming from the front door.

"Oh, dinner time. Gems, go grab some plates would you?"

"Chu!" she replied, racing off to the kitchen.

Simon got up from the couch and walked with a slight limp to answer the door. When he opened it, he was met by an exhausted looking young teenager, probably spent a lot of time training in the wilderness recently; considering the condition of her clothing and matted hair.

"Good evening sir" The girl said politely as she handed over the boxes. "The order was charged directly to your account, so the money has been taken care of"

"Awesome" Simon replied, giving the girl a quick once over. She looked to be no older than 14. "You're a little young to be delivering pizzas"

"Yeah, I'm just passing through. I stopped here to get the badge, but I get destroyed every time, so I had to take a job to get enough money for a new TM while in town. I didn't want to come this far and give up"

"Good to see you have your head on straight" Simon said as he put the pizza boxes down on the small table next to the door. "Is that everything?"

"Um.... Yeah... I" the young girl stammered nervously.

"What’s up?"

"I was wondering. I thought I heard a Raichu minute ago."

As if on cue, Gemma popped her head around the corner, two small dishes in her hands. [What’s going on Simon? I'm hungry!]

They girls tired expression grew wide with delight. "It is a Raichu! Wow I've never seen one up close before!"

"Yeah this is Gemma" Simon said, bending down and picking her up off the ground. "Say hi to the young trainer, gems"

Gemma gave a little squirm in his arms, almost dropping the plates. [Yeah, hi whatever. Simon, c'mon! I'm really hungry]

"Heh, sorry. She's impatient for some dinner." Simon chuckled. "Be nice, Gemma"

[Fiiiiiiiine] she said in an annoyed tone, leaning over to the girl to give her a small sniff, before turning and giving Simon an approving smile. [She smells kind. I like her]

“You’re so lucky!” the girl said, rubbing the fur on Gemma’s head. “Where did you catch her? Pikachu are impossibly rare around here”

“I didn’t” Simon replied as he set Gemma down, putting the pizza boxes on top of the plates she was holding. “Here Gems, go get it ready”

[Pizza!] Gemma cried out happily, wobbling over to the coffee table in front of the television.

“She is trained so well too. You must be a real good trainer!” the young teen gushed

“Not everyone who owns a pokemon is a trainer, you know. Gemma has been my closest friend for about 3 years now. Ever since I found her digging through my garbage when she was only a pichu”

The girl gave Simon a strange look. “If you aren’t a trainer, then why do you have her?”

Simon shrugged and looked over his shoulder at the small electric type, already channel surfing with a large piece of pizza in her mouth. He could hear her humming a small song while she chewed on her pizza slice – something she only ever did whenever she was very happy. He could still clearly remember that night three years ago when he had heard his garbage bin being knocked over, and the large shock he received from her when he went to check it out.

“She needed me” he answered simply, turning back to the young girl with a smile. “And it didn’t take me too long to realise just how much I needed her too.”

“Well, she looks rather strong” The teen said as a hand dropped to her belt. “Do you mind if I challenge you to a battle?”

Uh oh.

“I uh... I don’t think that would be such a good idea” Simon began. “She’s had some pretty intense training, so she might hurt -”

“You said you weren’t a trainer! So how can you not be her trainer, yet be training her at the same time? Are you scared of a challenge?”

Simon put his hands up in defence. “No, no it isn’t that, you don’t understand. Me and Gemma are hand -”

“C’mon!” the young girl said, a small smirk crossing her lips. “Our eyes met, so we need to battle! Unless you’re too scared”

“I really don’t think you want to do thi-”

“Mister, I challenge you to a battle, right now!” the young girl interrupted him again. She was quite pushy for someone her age. “I’ve been destroying all the Rattata and Sentret around the area, so I need a decent challenge before going up against Faulkner again!”

Simon hung his head and began to massage the bridge of his nose. If she wanted a battle this bad, then... well, he would just have to go easy on her. “Ok, ok fine. Gemma?”

[Hmm?] She replied peeking over the couch with a mouth full of pizza. She had already managed to smother some sauce all over her mouth and paws, which she began grooming off.

“This young trainer has challenged us to a battle. You up for it?”

Gemma ceased cleaning the sauce from her paws to give the girl another quick look over. [You’re kidding, right?]

“’Nope. She thinks that we’re too scared to take her on.”

[Simon] She said as she hopped off the couch and headed to the front door to join the pair. [You realise that I could actually KILL whatever infant starter she has, right?]

“Yeah I know. Just... take it easy on her, would you? Don’t go showing off.” Simon said as he nodded at the impatient and confused girl in the door way.

“Can.. Can you understand her?” the girl asked, not sure of how to handle the situation. Was this guy crazy? All she could hear was ‘Chu raii ch chu ra r chu rai raaa’

[Fine. Just get ready to call the pokecenter and let them know they are to expect a visitor shortly]

“We accept your challenge” Simon said as officially as he could, ignoring her question about understanding what Gemma was saying.

The young girl smiled, and took a few steps out onto the front lawn. “That’s more like it. Are you ready?”

[*sigh* Ok, whatever. Let’s get this done. My pizza is getting all cold and hard ]

“Yup”

The trainer pulled the ball off her belt, and in an overly dramatic motion, launched it high into the air. “Go! Chikorita!”

A quick flash of light lit up the entire front yard briefly before dying away, only to reveal a small grass type. Simon stifled a chuckle before speaking up. “I think it would be best if I let you go first. Also, don’t throw the ball so high; it might land on the roof.”

The girls smile turned to a scowl, not liking the way Simon was treating her. She had been training for a week now, and she knew what she was doing.

Gemma walked towards the young starter, who stood its ground, growling menacingly at her.

[You seem kind of on edge. You know it isn’t too late to return yourself now] Gemma said as she crossed her small arms over her chest. [Simon and I won’t think any less of you]

The Chikorita lowered its head, focusing on its target. [You call your trainer by name? He must be terrible at what he does if he can’t command even the most basic respect from you.]

Gemma gave a wide smug grin, her eyes squinting a little as she did so. [This is gonna be fun]

“Chika!” the young girl cried out “End this in one hit! Razor leaf! Go!”

[Yes, master!] The small grass type replied as it leant back to launch a volley of leaves at the large Raichu in front of her.

“Gemma, agility. Then it’s all you.” Simon said, effortlessly. “Just... Don’t hurt it, ok?”

[I said I won’t; get off my back about it!] Gemma replied in an annoyed tone before closing her eyes and relaxing all of her muscles. Agility allowed her to move a lot faster than normal, and if she could manage several in one fight, she would be able to move too quickly for her opponent to track.

[Take... this!] The young Chikorita cried as it launched a few volleys of razor thin leaves at Gemma, who; now that the agility had taken effect, wove in and out of their paths as if they were standing still.

“She’s quick Chika! Use another razor leaf!” the trainer called out, Chikorita nodding in reply before launching a second wave at a much higher speed.

Gemma moved through the blade like leaves and quickly closed the gap leaving the Chikorita completely exposed to a frontal attack. Chikorita’s reflexes took over, and rather than dodge out of the way, cringed at the last moment before Gemma raced past her, grabbing her neck and spinning around to her back pulling the four legged grass type off her feet. The Chikorita struggled and kicked at the air trying to get away, but Gemma had grabbed her around the throat so tightly that she couldn’t breathe.

“What is she doing to Chika? What move is that?!” The young girl cried out

“Gem’s” Simon warned. “I mean it, be gentle.”

Gemma rolled her eyes a little as she weakened her grip just enough for the small grass type to get its lung full of air before leaning close and whispering into its ear, a mischievous smile on her face.

[My turn!]

With that, Chikorita collapsed to the ground gasping as Gemma disappeared from sight. Quickly getting to its feet, it looked around the front yard and the surrounding street before turning to its trainer, a confused look on its face, panting heavily and feeling a little light headed.

“Hey, why did you recall your Raichu! The match wasn’t over yet!” the girl protested, stamping her foot on the ground.

“Oh, the match is still going.” Simon said in a mocking tone. “Where oh where could she be, I wonder?”

The Chikorita didn’t have to wait long to find out as the sound feet moving at high speed across the soft grass could be heard, quickly followed by a dark blur racing into her, knocking her to the ground before taking off again at an even higher speed. No sooner had she struggled back to her feet, when she received another from a different direction. And another.

“Watch the house Gems” Simon called out into the dead night. “And wrap this up, I’m getting hungry.”

“How is she doing this? Where is she? Stop cheating!” the young trainer yelled, her Chikorita’s pokeball clutched tightly in her hand.

The small Chikorita spat out a mouthful of blood onto the grass. [I-I’m not afraid of you, come out! Face me!] She barked into the warm summer air. A rustle of grass and air behind it caused the wounded pokemon to quickly spin around and fire a volley of leaves at the direction of the sound, hitting nothing.

[You shouldn't be afraid of me, hatchling...] Gemma whispered into the air as she passed by her opponent, causing it to lash out with its vines, the attack coming close enough to its trainer causing her to give a small squeak in shock. All of a sudden, Gemma stopped directly in front of her target crouched low on all fours, her tail held high in the air. A faint hum could be heard as Gemma charged up an all powerful thunder attack.

[You should be absolutely terrified]
Quickly, before the scared little grass type could even move, Gemma grabbed it by the torso causing Chika to cry out in fear as electricity began arcing off Gemmas fur and onto the ground around the pair.

[N-no, please! You win! You win!] She begged, trying to get away.

“Stop! No!”

Simon leant back against the door frame, his arms folded, smiling insanely to himself at Gemma’s little tactic. “Go on Gems, finish it off. Show her how we deal with people like her.”

Gemma let out a powerful roar as thousands of volts of electricity were dumped into the air around the two pokemon, the entire street bathed in an awe inspiring blue light for several seconds. Several wild pokemon nearby had left their nests to figure out what was going on, only to be scared back inside by the ferociousness of Gemma’s thunder attack. Almost as quickly as it had begun, the electricity died away, and a tiny spark jumped from Gemma into the petrified grass pokemon who gave a quick shudder, and fell to the ground paralysed.

“Chika!” the young girl screamed as she ran over and scooped her up in her arms before glaring menacingly at Simon. “What did you do!? She isn’t moving!”

Simon and Gemma both burst out laughing. Simon had to grab on to the door frame for support as Gemma fell to the ground holding her stomach, rolling in the grass.

“Shut up!” the girl cried, tears in her eyes. “You really hurt her!”

Simon’s laughter quickly died off as he saw how close to breaking down the young trainer was, and raised a hand while he caught his breath. “I-it’s” he stammered between small fits of giggles. “It’s only a very weak thunder wave. The light show was just to scare you. Your Chikorita is gonna be fine, She’s just paralysed.”

[You should have seen your face!] Gemma said to the Chikorita as it lay twitching in the girl’s arms. [You honestly looked like you were about to die or something]

[sh – shut – u - up] Stammered the Chikorita, the electricity playing havoc on her central nervous system. [Tha – t wasn’t f – f – fun - ny]

Gemma picked herself up off the grass, holding her stomach and wiped a tear from her eyes. [No, it was very, very funny. You shouldn’t act so full of yourself]

“What do you mean paralysed? So now she will never move again? You’re horrible! Why is that funny to you?” The girl screamed, her voice echoing into the empty street. Obviously this had been her first fight against an electric type.

“I take it you’re pretty new to training then?” Simon said as he walked across the yard to inspect the damage done to her young starter. “Gemma used a weak thunder wave on it, like I said. All it does interfere with the signals Chicka’s brain sends along her neuron pathways so she can’t move or use any attacks. It wears off pretty quickly though, so she will be fine in a few minutes.”

The trainer pulled Chika closer to her chest and took a step back from Simon. “I-it will? You’re sure?”

Simon leaned down and looked over the defeated grass type in her arms. There seemed to be only light bruising and two or three small cuts where Gemma didn’t pull her claws back in time, but nothing permanent or scaring. “Yeah she’s gonna be fine. Gemma was a little too rough, but it looks like there is nothing badly damaged. She will be fine in the morning, maybe a little bit of stiffness in the muscles, but that’s it. In fact, the paralysis is starting to go away now”

The girl looked down at her Chikorita, and sure enough, she had begun to stop trembling as her motor functions came back under her control. Simon got a little closer and put a hand on its head, careful not to touch any of the bruised areas. “How you feeling little one? A little better?”

The Chikorita gave Simon a strange look and answered [I can move again... yes] before turning to Gemma. [Why is he addressing me directly and not through my trainer? He can’t honestly expect to understand my reply, can he?]

Gemma gave a small proud smile, and crossed her arms over her chest. [Actually he can. I spent two years teaching him our language. Took him forever to get the basics down though.] Gemma leaned in close, a paw covering the right side of her mouth, and said in a whisper [But that’s because he’s an idiot]

[I... see. You realise how stupid that sounds, right?]

Simon stood back up, pretending to act hurt. “And what would be so stupid about that?”

“Huh?” the girl asked, noticeably calmer than she was after realizing her Chikorita wasn’t going to die on her. “What are you talking about?”

“Your little Chikorita there” Simon said, pointing to the wounded pokemon “Seems to think that the idea of me knowing what she says is stupid”

Both the trainer and her Chikorita were unimpressed. “You don’t have to make up lies, even if you won!” the young girl huffed as she turned away and headed across the yard to the street. “If you’ll excuse me, I have more deliveries to take care of. Some of us need to work for our money instead of picking on younger trainers.”

“Ah yeah, about that” Simon said, stopping the girl by placing a hand on her shoulder. “You challenged me to a battle, and lost. Guess that means I win some prize money or something, right?”

The young girl turned as white as a sheet, and slowly turned to face him. “W-wait a minute! You said you weren’t a trainer! So that means you-”

Simon interrupted her by giving a small shrug. “I don’t make the rules. Like you said, our eyes met, we must do battle. Gemma” he said as he met the Raichu’s confused gaze. [Simon, you’re not really going to take money of this brain-dead child, are you?]

“Gem’s, go inside and grab my wallet please sweetie. It’s about to get a little heavier” He finished by giving her a small wink, causing the electric type to roll it’s eyes and smile as she began walking to the house. [You’re too nice Simon. She doesn’t deserve kindness like yours].

Simon turned back to the young girl. “Now, seeing as Faulkner has been wiping you out completely, I’m to assume you have no money, correct? And you won’t be getting paid until tomorrow?”

“Uh.. y-yeah, that’s right” the girl said, unsure of where this conversation was going. What was he going to ask her for?

“Hmm. And I’m guessing you also haven’t eaten all day either?”

“No s-sir...”

Simon thought for a moment, a hand on his chin. “You have no money to give to me after losing, no money to buy food, and I’m not a trainer, so your gear is useless to me.” He looked her body up and down, a smile forming across his lips. “I think I know what a girl like you can do for me. How old are you now?”

The girl took a small step back, and looked around. Simon lived on an almost empty street, thick bush directly across the road from his house, and his nearest neighbour lived about 500 meters away. There was no way she could out run him if she tried anything. With nowhere to go and unable to use her only pokemon to defend herself against him, she turned back to face the large intimidating man. “T-thirteen...” she stammered.

Simon crossed his arms. “13? That makes you more than ready. You’re probably not going to like it, but if you don’t do as I say, then I will have to notify the league and let them know that a young trainer is losing battles and refusing to pay up any winnings. You’d have your licence revoked by this time tomorrow.”

[Here Simon] Gemma said, returning from the house and handing his wallet over. [I’m gonna go back inside. Have fun]

Simon nodded as Gemma headed back into the living room. “Turn the front light off Gems. I need as little light out here as possible.” He turned back to the girl “So, you can either do what I say, or enjoy the league taking away your training privileges. Your choice.”

The small Chikorita squirmed nervously in her arms. [Trainer, what is he talking about? What does he want from you?] She asked in a worried tone. Shakily, the young girl unclipped her pokeball from her belt and pointed it at her starter. She didn’t want to lose her licence she had worked so hard on earning, and didn’t want Chika to see what was about to happen.

“Chika, return” she said in a small scared voice, the young pokemon unable to protest as it was drawn into the ball and placed back on her belt. Looking down at the ground, she began to tremble with fear. Her mother had warned her about people like this, but she had always thought she could handle the situation if it ever arose.

“Good” Simon said in a calm tone. “Now that Gemma has turned the lights off, we can actually see them. Come here and look through those trees”

The young girl did so, a small scared and nervous whimper escaping her lips. Simon quietly pulled something from his wallet, the small crinkling noise going unheard by the young girl. “See? Just through there.”

After giving her eyes some time to adjust to the darkness, they could see the faint yellow glow almost completely covered by the surrounding trees.

“What I want you to do is catch a Mareep, train it up and destroy Faulkner.”

“W-wait, a Mareep?” she repeated, confused.

“Yeah, Mareep. Electric types, will fuck Faulkner right up.” He said as he held up his hand “and with this fifty dollars I want you to go have a meal tonight, and maybe get some pokeballs to catch one. You’re 13 now, so that’s 3 years older than most trainers at your level, which makes you perfectly capable of catching one.”

The girl stood there dumbfounded. “So... You weren’t trying to rape me?”

“What?” Simon said, taking a step back. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I uh..”

“It’s fine, whatever. I don’t wanna know” Simon said as he handed over the money to the young girl. “Be sure to get Chika looked at before you go scrounging through the bush for Mareep’s, you can get eaten alive in there.”

The girl was stunned for a moment by the random act of kindness she had just been shown. It took her a few moments to collect her bearings before protesting. “But I can’t accept this! It’s too much!”

“Then buy some ultra balls or something” Simon said as he gave her a wave of his hand. “Take it and be on your way, or come inside and wait for a league official to come and tear up your card.”

The girl stood there for almost a minute, looking Simon over. Was he really just being randomly generous? No one just gives out large amounts of money for no reason.

“Ten seconds until the deal expires” He said, heading back to the house counting loudly. “Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven-”

“Ok, ok I’m going” the girl said, as she pocketed the 50 dollars. “Thank you, sir”

Simon gave a small casual two fingered salute as he headed inside. “Don’t mention it kid. Have a good night.”

“...You too” she replied as he shut the large heavy wooden door, turning the light on so that she could find her way back to town.

---

Gemma looked up at Simon as he threw himself down on the couch, taking a long drink from his beer. She wasn’t sure, but Gemma thought she could notice a faint blush across his face. [She take the money?]


“Yeah, I sent her to get a mareep as well.” Simon said, taking a slice of lukewarm pizza from the two open boxes on the table and sinking his teeth into it. “Blordi kirdz gmz, I sfwere”

Gemma gave Simon a funny look. [What?]

He swallowed his pizza and washed it down with a quick swig of beer. “Bloody kids, I said. Makes me glad we didn’t go for that training bullshit.”

[What’s wrong with a life of adventure? See a different city each week, meet exotic people and pokemon, try different foods from the other regions... ]

“Yeah, that’s all well and good” Simon began, reaching for another slice of pizza. “But your forgetting about the countless nights sleeping in a cold wet tent, the threat of being killed in your sleep by a wild pokemon, being trapped in forests and caves for weeks, wondering if you packed enough food to last the trip, carrying all your gear everywhere...” Simon stopped, giving her a small grin. “...and that’s not even mentioning the bugs, gems...”

Her eyes flew wide and her ears stood straight up, scanning the house for any sound. “B-bugs?”

“Yup!” Simon said, removing a piece of long grass from his foot that he had accidently brought inside with him, making sure Gemma couldn’t see what he was doing. “Bugs. Not the Caterpie or Weedle shit either. I’m talking cockroaches, spiders, worms. Ants, even. EVERYWHERE“. Gemma hated insects, and was so scared of them that even the sight of something small and harmless would drop her to the ground quivering, waiting for Simon to come ‘rescue’ her.

[I uh... Don’t want you to be a trainer then] She replied, giving a small shudder. [At least we are safe in the house.]

“Oh” Simon said, sliding down off the couch and onto the floor next to her, pointing to the left of the TV unit. “Don’t be so sure. When I came in just then, I’m pretty sure I saw a big, hairy spider just over there. Huge bastard too, thought it was a pokemon for a second.”

[Simon!] She yelled. [That’s not funny! You know I hate bugs!]

“I’m serious” he said, trying and failing not to show his enormous grin. “In fact, I think I see it on your back....”

[Simon, I mean it, this isn’t cool!]

“It is! It’s right about....” Simon said softly as he dragged the unseen piece of grass along the base of her tail.

Gemma gave a blood curdling scream and jumped away from Simon immediately, her tail lashing about wildly trying to shake the piece of grass that her static had stuck to her fur. [SIMON HELP GET IT OFF! GET IT OFFFFF!!!]

“Ok, here let me get it” he said calmly, taking his time to crawl over to where she was huddled and shaking on the ground [Simon hurry up, pleeeeease!]

“Ok, here, I got it. See?” Simon replied as he plucked the blade of grass off of the base of her tail. “Wow, it’s so gross, have a look at it!”

[No Simon, get it out of the house!] She cried, on the verge of tears. [I hate bugs Simon, yuck]

Simon didn’t say a word, and laid the blade of grass right next to her pizza slice that had ended up on the table. “Behold, the mightiest of insects”

[No Simon, take it outside please.]

“It’s fine Gems, it was only a piece of grass, see? There was no bug. Promise.”

Cautiously, Gemma peeked over the edge of the coffee table and sure enough, was met with a single blade of grass lying next to her pizza.

[Siiiiiiiimooooon] She growled, low in her throat.

“Hey Gems, I’m just uh..” Simon said, standing quickly to his feet and heading for the hallway that led to his bedroom. His hair had begun to stand on end, small sparks crackled over Gemma’s cheeks. “Just gonna, you know... Use the toilet. Real quick.”

He broke into a full run, throwing himself into the bedroom door and closing it.

[Simon! Let me in!] Gemma yelled as she banged her paws on the door.

“Nah, think I might just stay here for like, a few weeks. You know, it’s comfy in here.”

[Simon] she warned, her voice low. [Let me in now, or I will force my way in]

Simon began laughing. “And how you gonna do that, little girl? I’m so much stronger than you, and -” Simons laughter stopped as he felt Gemma slide her long thin tail under the door, and wrap itself around his calf muscle. His eyes went wide with fear.

[Simon~] she said, sweetly. [Oh Simon, please open the door~ I wish to talk with you... chuu~] going even as far as to add the ‘chuu’ at the end, serving to scare Simon even more.

“Wait, wait truce!” He called out, opening the door, and letting out a large sigh of relief when he felt her tail move away from his leg. It, however was short lived, as she barrelled through the now open door and tackled Simon onto the bed.

[That was NOT funny, Simon!] Gemma said once she had him pinned underneath herself, her tail raised high above, twitching and swaying like an angry snake. [Give me one reason why I shouldn’t give you 100 volts right now]

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry Gems, let me up, come on, it was a joke!”

[Not good enough]

Simon began to sweat nervously as her tail inched closer and closer to his face, Gemma ignoring his please to stop. He looked up at her, his eyes apologetic and regretful. “Please gems, no...”

She gave an evil smile, and prepared to exact her revenge on her friend. [Looks like you will think twice about trying to scare me next time, huh?]

***RIIIIIING***

***RIIIIIIING***

“Oh, the phone!” Simon said, quickly moving Gemma off of him and running to the living room.

[This isn’t over, Simon!] She yelled after him.

Simon quickly grabbed the phone off of the receiver, cutting it off mid ring. “Hello, Simon speaking”

“Mr Lee, this is Cathy from Silph. How’s you night going?”

“Pretty good thanks Cathy, yours?” Simon asked as he sat down on the couch, taking another slice of pizza. Gemma came around the corner, her fur a little rough in patches from their small wrestling match and sat down at her spot between his legs on the floor.

“Good thank you for asking. Are you free at all tomorrow?”

“Uh...” Simon thought for a moment. “I should be I guess, didn’t really have anything planned. It’s my mother’s birthday tomorrow, but I don’t need to go until tomorrow night, why what’s up?”

“It seems that the boss wants to chuck you in the deep end a little sooner than expected” She began, causing Simon to raise an eyebrow. “If you are free between 5 am and midday tomorrow, he wants to send you out on a mission with some of the boys.”

“Wow, that’s pretty cool” Simon said, stroking Gemma’s head. “But my training is only in its like, 8th week. I still need four more, don’t I?”

“Apparently not” she replied. “They were pretty impressed by your skills today, and want to see how well you can handle yourself on a simple retrieval mission. Interested?”

“I guess... It’s a little strange though. They say anything specific?”

“No.” She said simply. “They asked for you by name.”

“Wow, really?” Simon asked, causing Gemma to look up at him with a questioning look.

“Well, not really. More along the lines of “I want that one who can talk to pokemon on the team”, so I guess you’ve been handpicked by the powers that be”

“Oh, cool” Simon replied.

[What is it?] Gemma asked. Simon held up a finger to stop her so he could continue. “So what’s the mission?”

The sound of papers being rustled and searched through could be heard, before she answered him. “Seems like there are a few disgruntled psychic types just south of goldenrod, so I assume they are sending you in to retrieve one and talk to it. Find out what’s wrong.”

“Drowzees?” Simon asked. They were normally incredibly docile. “Something must be stirring them up I suppose?”

“Not sure, they don’t give me the full details. Can I count you in?”

Simon took a small swig of his beer. “Yeah why not. Be nice to get some field work in.”

“Ok, fantastic. A vehicle will be sent to pick you up at 5am and head straight out. No need to drive in to HQ”

Simon gave a small laugh. “Straight into the fray, eh? I look forward to it.”

“Great. Well thankyou Mr. Lee, I hope tomorrow goes well for you.”

“Yeah, cheers Cathy. Have a good night.”

Simon hung up the phone and took a large bite of pizza. [What was that about?] Gemma asked.

“Seems that the boss wants to send us to Goldenrod for a mission tomorrow”

[Oh, awesome!] She said, standing up and facing Simon. [What time we leave?]

“5 in the morning. They’re gonna pick us up.” Simon replied, downing the last of his beer and setting the empty bottle on the table. “Guess that means we should probably turn in soon.”

[mm] Gemma agreed as she sat back down and snuggled between Simons legs. [Oh, also before I forget. Remember what I was saying before?]

“Hmm? About what, Gems?”

[I said] she replied as her tail began to slowly wrap itself around Simon’s leg. [That this wasn’t over.]

“No, c’mon Gems, I said I was sorry! Can’t you just forgive me? I won’t do it again! Please!” he cried, bracing himself for one of her shocks.

Gemma gave a content smile and snuggled back into her closest friend, closing her eyes as she did so. [Are you suuuuuuuure?]

“Yes, yes please, I’m sorry!”

[Fine] She replied, unwinding her tail and crawling up onto his lap. [But you owe me. Tummy scratches. Now.]

Simon gave a sigh of relief and began to work on her soft stomach with his fingernails, giving small fast scratching motions all over. This was her favourite treatment, and would normally have to beg Simon to give them to her. [Mmm, feels good]

“Glad you like it, your majesty” Simon said jokingly, the scratches slowly becoming absent minded strokes as his attention was turned to the TV. She had a full belly and was a little worn out, so with any luck, the tummy scratches should put her to sleep.

After about two hours of watching some old movie that had come on, his mind started to wander. Why was he being sent out on a mission so soon? There was still so much that he didn’t know, and his training was far from complete. Maybe he was just a really good handler?

“I’m sure I will find out tomorrow” he said to himself, finishing a cigarette and lying back on the couch. Giving Gemma a quick glance, he had noticed that she had fallen asleep in his lap, letting out a small barely audible ‘chu’ every now and then which caused Simons heart to melt. He truly loved the little Raichu, even if she was a complete and utter handful at times. He gently picked her up off his lap, and laid her down next to him on the couch, her face scrunching up a little as she gave a small whine.

“Sorry sweetie, I gotta go to the bathroom, then I will put you in bed, ok?”

She didn’t reply, so Simon gave her a small kiss on the cheek and headed to the bathroom to relieve himself. Once he had finished, Simon gave his teeth a quick brush and headed back out to the lounge room to find that not only had Gemma moved to the other side of the couch, she was now lying half off it.

“Charming” Simon muttered as he turned off the TV and put the unfinished pizza in the fridge. Making sure the doors were all locked, and all lights turned off, he headed to the couch to help Gemma into bed.

“Come on girl, bed time” he whispered as he picked her up, her body curling into his so that her tail wrapped itself around his torso.

[......Simon...] she mumbled in her sleep as he carried her along the hallway to his room.

“What is it Gems?” he asked as he laid her down on the mattress, gently uncoiling her tail from around him so he could lie down as well. Once he was lying in bed with the covers pulled over both of them, she rolled over and snuggled into her friends chest, her tail lazily lying across his legs.

“What’s wrong, Gemma?” Simon asked again, stroking the top of her head.

[mmm love... you...] She breathed, drifting deeper into her sleep

Simon smiled. Closing his eyes and placing an arm around her, he drew her a little closer.

“Love you too, Gems.”

And with that, he surrendered himself to the warm welcoming sleep his body had been screaming for all night, unaware of the large red eye watching their sleeping forms from outside the bedroom window.