Jason Creight awoke in room 108 of a modest motel in Viridian City.

He looked around. The motel room had two beds, a bedside table, and a window covered by a white blind. The blind wasn't helping much; light was still leaking in from outside. He had been unfortunate enough to get a window on the east side of the motel.

And in the other bed lay Kelly.

Jason still wasn't sure of what to make of her. She looked so peaceful when she was asleep, a direct contrast to her "awake" mode. Of course, her bad mood might have something to do with how they had argued with each other the day before.

Jason sighed. If I'm gonna get on even terms with her at all, I have to get to know her first.

Unfortunately, he didn't know where to begin. He didn't even know whether or not he should wake her up.

He decided to forego that for the moment, and instead got out of bed and popped into the bathroom for a shower. It felt good; he hadn't had a decent shower in a long time. For two years now, "showers" to Jason usually meant taking a dunk in a freshwater lake or river. He was even more thankful to find a full towel rack. After drying off and donning some fresh clothes, he left the bathroom.

As he walked over to his backpack, he saw that Kelly was stirring. He was buckling his capture ball belt just as she sat up.

"What time is it?" she asked.

Jason checked the clock on the bedside table. "7:53," he answered.

"Man," she muttered. "I'd better get up, then, huh?"

Jason shrugged. "If you want; it makes no difference to me."

"Well, it makes a difference to me," she replied, and with that, she picked up her backpack and headed into the bathroom.

Jason sat on his bed and put on his shoes. He felt reluctant to leave the motel after sleeping in such a nice bed; most of his journey, he'd had to sleep on the cold ground, amidst wild Pokémon. On the other hand, he figured it was good for him to get out there and get in touch with nature.

"Jeez," he muttered. "Two years and I still haven't gotten in touch with nature?"

He grinned to himself as he put his socks and shoes on. Today's the big day.

Indeed, it was. He was going to battle at the Viridian Gym, and hopefully, he'd win and get his seventh badge. He rubbed his hands in anticipation. I can't wait!

Then he heard the shower being turned on. His shoulders slumped.

I guess I'll have to.

***

When Kelly was finished with her shower, they checked out of the motel and headed for Viridian Square, where the gym was. As they walked, Kelly asked, "What do you think this gym leader will be like?"

Jason shrugged. "I don't know. I've looked up everything about Viridian Gym, but there's not even a picture of the current leader. Only his Pokémon. They're not pushovers, either. This one'll be real tough to beat." He looked at Kelly. "You planning to battle?"

"Nah. My Pokémon aren't strong enough to beat yours yet, and if yours are going to have a tough time against this leader, imagine how easy it'd be for me to lose."

"You're going to give up badge collecting because my Pokémon embarrass you?"

"No, I'm just putting things into perspective."

He shrugged again. "Fine."

They found the gym and entered its cavernous recesses. It was dark inside. As soon as they walked a few feet inside, the colossal doors swung shut.

Abruptly, a pair of strobe lights trained on Jason and Kelly flared to life. They were positioned on either side of the gym.

Another, dimmer light activated, this one atop a ridiculously tall platform. It was positioned behind a seated figure. The figure was impossible to make out; not one ray of light struck it.

Next to the figure sat a Persian. That, at least, was a shadow that was easy to make out. At first, Jason didn't know whether it was real or a statue, but he figured it out when he saw the figure reach out to pet it and heard it purr.

"Ah. More victims." The voice was cold and calculating. It had unmistakably come from the seated figure, who Jason, by the pitch of its voice, took to be a man.

"Are you the gym leader here?" Jason asked.

"I am much more than a gym leader, young insolent. Much more."

Jason glared at the dark figure. "I don't care about your status in the outside world. Right here, right now, are you the gym leader?"

The man chuckled. "I am."

"In that case, I challenge you to a battle."

The shrouded gym leader chuckled again. "You are no match for me."

"We'll see about that. As a gym leader, you're bound by Pokémon league rules to accept all challenges issued by trainers, whether they're a match for you or not. So bring it on, tough guy, or I'll have to take it to you."

The man stood slowly. "You will see the error of your ways soon enough. Very well, I accept your challenge. The wager is five thousand."

Jason hissed. "That's a bit steep."

"It's an exchange of challenges. If you do not accept mine, I will not accept yours. Five thousand, and no less. Do you agree to the wager?"

Jason pursed his lips, then said, "Fine, I agree."

"Very well, then. My first Pokémon." The man pulled a capture ball from his pocket, enlarged it, and lazily tossed it to the floor far below. It opened as soon as it landed, and revealed a high-level Rhydon.

"Go, Gyarados!" said Jason, lobbing Gyarados' Poké ball into the arena. The snake-like Pokémon writhed in anticipation of the battle.

"Before we begin," said the gym leader, "know this."

He leaned forward, over the railing of his platform.

"I know who you are, Jason Creight. And you have much to answer for."

And Jason saw his face.

He gasped.

Giovanni seized the opportunity. "Rhydon, Horn Drill! Do not miss!"

Jason's attention was rudely drawn back to the battle by the sound of Rhydon's drill whirring and Gyarados roaring.

"Gyarados, Hydro Pump, quick!" he called.

The battle had begun.

***

Giovanni's Machamp went down without a whimper by the powerful psychic attacks of Jason's Slowbro.

"Arrgh!" Giovanni shouted. "Machamp, get up! Do as I say!"

"That's your last one!" Jason called out. "According to league rules, I've now won the Earth badge fair and square!"

"You may have won it, but you did not earn it, upstart! Nor did you earn one credit of the wager!" the Team Rocket founder spat, completely losing control. "You are a disgrace to your family name!"

And he raced for the door behind him.

Jason enlarged one of his Ultra balls and threw it in Giovanni's direction. "Gengar, don't let him get out that door!"

The poisonous ghost Pokémon floated up through the walls of the platform and grinned its insane grin at Giovanni as it blocked the exit.

"Pick him up and toss him over the railing!" Jason ordered.

Gengar's grin began to fade and it glanced at its master, not sure of the logic in that last command.

"You heard me, toss him over!" Jason called out.

Then he tapped the side of his head.

Gengar's smile returned.

Giovanni's death scream may have been loud, but Jason's next order was louder. "Slowbro, catch him, please!"

Four inches above the ground, Giovanni became surrounded by a glowing blue haze, and his fall came to an abrupt stop. When Giovanni finally realized he was not going to die after all and stopped screaming, Jason said, "Okay, let him go."

Giovanni made a dull thud when he hit the ground. His breath was knocked out of him for a moment or two; Jason stood patiently as he waited for Giovanni to catch his breath again.

Jason bent down on one knee. "You and I are a lot more alike than I might usually care to admit," he growled. "But like you, I'll do whatever it takes to get what I want. Now, give me the Earth badge and the five thousand. If you don't... well, you know how Slowbros get. They've been known to feel the effects of their own attacks, like Amnesia. If Gengar drops you over the edge again, Slowbro might suddenly forget how to use its power to catch you."

"I'll make sure... you'll regret... having crossed me," Giovanni wheezed.

Jason grunted. "You've already made sure my family's regretting me having crossed you. I don't intend to join them. Give me the badge and the credits."

The tainted man reached into his sport coat (which, Jason noted with great pleasure, bore Gengar's claw marks on the lapels) and removed from the inside pocket a heavy credit bag and a badge in the shape of a leaf.

Jason inspected the badge. It shone emerald between his fingers. "This better be authentic."

Giovanni chuckled. "You never were worried about the money, were you?"

"Not really." Jason stood. "This is what I was looking for. I just wanted to see how far I had to go to make you into a man who keeps your word. As far as the money goes, well, you can always spare a little cash for the needy, right?"

The insanely rich gym leader stared up at the boy. "You really are a fool. Your family would never have raised you this poorly."

Jason glared straight into Giovanni's eyes. "I have no family."

Then he walked out, credit bag and badge in hand.

***

Kelly didn't know what to do.

She had seen it all happen right before her very eyes.

She had heard it all with her very ears.

And now, she didn't know what to do.

Jason had just walked out with his seventh badge and a veritable fortune in credits, having almost killed the gym leader for them. All she could figure out was that there was some very bad blood between Jason and the gym leader, whatever his name was.

No, I can piece together more than that, she thought to herself. I remember Jason and Sabrina talking about some incident at a marina. Something Jason did made a lot of people suffer. And the gym leader is mad at him for it. The gym leader is really, really rich. Maybe Jason bombed a marina the gym leader owned...

What's going on?

She turned and followed him out the door. She wanted to ask him what the entire thing was about, but she still vividly remembered their argument yesterday -- was it really only yesterday? she wondered -- and chose not to pursue it. Not now, anyway.

***

Jason knew that Kelly wanted to ask him what the entire thing was about now, more than ever. He didn't need to be a psychic like Sabrina or her lackeys to know that. No doubt, right about now she was thinking she was the only one in Kanto who didn't know his secret.

So he was surprised and impressed when she didn't utter a word on the subject. She must still remember last night, he thought. Hopefully, she'll keep her mouth shut.

But then he began to wonder. Should I tell her? I mean, if I insist she keep it a secret, who's she gonna tell? I asked her not to nag me, and so far she's kept her word, even after that exchange with Giovanni.

Well, either way, she's gonna find out. She might piece it together or look it up. But it's probably best that she hears it from me.

But not now.

***

That night found Jason and Kelly setting up camp on the path to Pallet Town. Jason remembered that it took a couple of days to get there, even at a fast pace.

He was writing in his Pokémon journal, updating the index. those had been the first Rhydon and Machamp he'd seen, although he hadn't been at all surprised to see them. After all, he'd made sure to study up and had been expecting them.

Kelly was setting up camp next to a small freshwater stream. Jason glanced over at her and began to envy her; she had a small tent. All he had was a sleeping bag.

But I've got more powerful Pokémon, he thought, and he grinned.

Soon enough, we'll be in Pallet Town.

Jason couldn't shake the feeling that Giovanni would do just about anything and everything to make good on his threat against him. Even though the man was an utter coward, as most bullies were, he still had abundant resources at his disposal. Not everyone in Team Rocket was a doof, or a pushover. Some were quite competent.

Jason snorted. But if Giovanni's Pokémon couldn't beat me, I doubt any of his subordinates could, either. So he wasn't especially worried about his personal safety.

Still, it didn't hurt to be cautious.

Jason took out Gengar's Great ball and tossed into the air. The ball opened, and the dark purple ghost Pokémon appeared with its requisite ear-to-ear grin permanently attached to its face.

"Gengar, I'm gonna need you to stand guard tonight," said Jason. "That all right with you?"

"Gengar! Gengar!" it grunted, grinning and flapping its chubby, semi-solid arms.

"Glad to hear it. Trade places with Porygon if you get tired." Jason laid out his sleeping bag and got in. He turned to Kelly. "Credit for your thoughts."

Kelly sighed. She had finished building her tent, and was just crawling in. "I could use the credit, but on the other hand, I probably shouldn't ask."

"You want to know what I did."

"Yeah." Kelly crawled inside.

Jason blew his breath out his nose. "I'll tell you when I'm ready. I'm just not ready right now. Call me crazy, but I'm not in the habit of telling all my dirty little secrets to strangers."

"Well, I'll be waiting in the meantime."

Jason snorted. "Right."

They slept.

***

The next morning, Jason awoke to the sight of a shining sun just above the horizon. He checked his watch; it was 7:23.

He fumbled around for his backpack and pulled out a relatively fresh change of clothes. He changed in the sleeping bag, then rolled it up, packed it, and took a long drink from the nearby stream.

He glanced over at Kelly's tent just in time to hear her scream.

A split-second later, Gengar phased through the door, laughing.

Jason looked disapprovingly at his Pokémon. "I'd hoped you'd have learned something by now about invading other people's privacy."

"Jason, I'll kill you!" Kelly shouted.

"You can kill me later. We're almost there," he responded, recalling Gengar.

Kelly grunted loudly and shuffled around in her tent. When she finally emerged, she was glaring at Jason with such ferocity that if looks could kill, he would most certainly have been vaporized right then and there.

"I was changing! Can't you teach your Gengar something about respect?" she demanded.

Jason popped the ball into the air, then caught it with one swift swipe of his hand. "When I encountered it, it was a Gastly causing havoc in Lavender Town. It did stuff like that all the time. It's improved greatly since then, but Gengar's still a bit perverse."

"A bit?!" Kelly exploded. She took a few slow, deep breaths. "Just keep it in that ball until you turn it in."

Jason sighed and shrunk the ball. "Have it your way." He tucked it into the empty slot on his belt, then strapped the belt on.

Kelly began taking her tent down. "So, you know Professor Oak, huh?"

"Yup."

"How'd you meet him?"

"I was caught in the middle of a bad storm last year. He found me and got me and Gyarados to safety."

She grinned. "Sounds like a great guy. Can't wait to meet him."

"Well, if you're so eager to meet him, we'd best be on our way, then, eh?"

"Yeah." Kelly finished packing her tent and strapped it to her backpack. "So let's go."

They started off.

***

Mrs. Ketchum was working in her garden when she spied them coming over the horizon. It was two teenage children; one a girl, the other a boy.

A very familiar boy...

"Oh, my gosh!" she exclaimed. She turned to her young son, playing in the mud. "Ash, look! It's Jason! Remember him?"

With a huge grin on his muddy face, the toddler shook his head. "No."

His mother shrugged. "Well, I do. I suppose that's all that really counts." She hoisted her dirty son onto her hip. "Let's go meet him!"

***

Kelly began to get a little worried when she saw a woman in soiled clothes running up, her equally soiled son in her arms. She glanced at Jason.

Oddly enough, he was grinning.

When he saw the look on Kelly's face, he waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry, they're friends of mine." He waved to Mrs. Ketchum. "Hey!"

She plopped Ash on the ground, abandoned all pretense and gave Jason a bear hug.

When she finally pulled away, she looked him up and down. "You're growing up on me!" she exclaimed.

"So is Ash," Jason responded, picking the kid up. "How are you, Ash?"

"Fine," the boy responded, grinning and sticking his dirty finger in his mouth.

"How old are you now?"

"Five. I had my birfday on free days from now."

"Really?" Jason had to grin, as did Kelly, at the boy's childish accent. "Happy birthday!"

"Fank you."

Jason put Ash down, and Mrs. Ketchum asked, "What brings you back to Pallet Town?"

"Well, mainly I'm here to repay a debt while passing through to Cinnabar," he answered.

"Ah. And I see you've made a friend," Mrs. Ketchum noted, turning to Kelly.

"Yes. Kelly, this is Mrs. Ketchum. Mrs. Ketchum this is Kelly, a trainer I met a couple of days ago," Jason replied.

Mrs. Ketchum and Kelly shook hands. "Pleasure to meet you," said Kelly.

"The pleasure's mine." Mrs. Ketchum turned to Jason. "I suppose you'll be visiting Professor Oak while you're here."

"Yes, indeed."

"Well, he's taking the day off today. But I know him." She winked conspiratorially. "He'll probably go visit the preserves this evening to check up on the Pokémon. Still, it may be best that you wait 'til tomorrow. But I don't know where you'd be more likely to find him. He could be at his grandson's house, or he could be at the lab."

"Well, we may as well visit the lab," said Jason. "I need to change my team a little bit."

"And I want to see it, too," Kelly added.

"Okay, then. Off to the lab. See you later, Mrs. Ketchum," said Jason. "Bye, Ash."

Ash grinned his goofy grin. "Bye-bye!"

***

Out of the corner of his eye, Jason could see Kelly's amazement at the immensity of it all.

Indeed, to a newcomer, it was nothing short of astounding. The bustle, hustle, and assorted commotion was just a few notched below chaos. There was an air of barely controlled patience among the human assistants, while the freely-roaming Pokémon had not a care in the world.

Jason had seen it all before. He remembered last year, when he had first come. Considering his history, he hadn't been so completely taken aback as Kelly was, but it had been a bit of surprise. Not anymore, though.

"Want to see my Pokémon?" he asked the awe-struck Kelly.

"Huh? Oh! Sure!" Kelly's eyes came back into focus.

Jason grinned. "You all right?"

"Yeah, fine!" she said. "I've just never been to a lab so huge!"

Jason grasped her hand. "Come on, let's go visit some friends."

***

Even Jason was amazed at how many Pokémon he'd caught.

There were seven ball racks sitting on his shelf; each rack had twelve concave indents in three rows of four each. Six of those seven racks were filled with various capture balls. The seventh rack had five balls in it. Next to the racks was a name tag that read:

Jason Creight

Tangelo Island

Orange Islands

He stared at the name tag for a moment. He hadn't told anyone which island he was from, only that he'd lived in the Orange Islands. Of course, Professor Oak knew all about him, but Jason was beginning to think that Oak was striking a little to close to the point where Jason would be discovered.

He turned his attention back to the ball racks and noticed the one that had only five in it. He shrugged. Counting those and the six he had on his belt, he'd captured a total of 83 Pokémon; not bad, all in all. And that didn't even count their evolutions while being trained.

He'd never released any Pokémon he'd captured. He had two of a lot of them, but he'd promised himself that he'd only release his Pokémon when they truly desired it. So far, none of them had made the request.

He'd been thinking about talking to Professor Oak about breeding some of them. Jason thought it might provide some valuable information and fascinating insight. He made a mental note to talk to Oak about it at first opportunity.

Jason turned to Kelly, who was also surprised at how many Pokémon he'd caught.

"I'd have to check my journal to see which ones I have," he said. "I've lost track."

Kelly was now positive that Jason was not just your average Pokémon trainer. He was devoted. Some Pokémon were extremely hard to catch; to ensure that the Pokémon weren't fainted when a trainer threw the ball was quite difficult to manage. Trainers had to remember the intensity of the attacks they were using to weaken their target.

And Jason had 83 Pokémon!

"It's getting to be dinnertime," said Jason, shaking her from her reverie. "How about we go to the dorm wing, drop off our stuff, and go get something to eat?"

Kelly shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

***

When they got to the dining hall, Jason wasn't surprised to see Professor Oak sitting at the head of the long table. The side to the left of Professor Oak was reserved for trainers passing through the area or returning from their journeys. The side to the right, of course, were for his dedicated assistants.

Oak looked up from his plate and saw Jason and Kelly. He grinned through a mouthful of food. "Jason! Glad to see you! Come on over here!"

Jason and Kelly gratefully took their seats next to Oak, who shook their hands.

"How are you, Sam?" Jason asked.

"Oh, I'm holding up," Oak answered. "Getting grayer every day, though." He indicated his hair, and Jason saw he was right. Oak's hair had much more gray in it than when they'd first met. There was also still a good deal of brown left in it, but even that was getting lighter.

"How about you, Jason? You seem to have found a friend," he continued.

"Yeah, this is Kelly. She's a trainer I met a few days ago. Kelly, I believe you know of Professor Oak," said Jason.

"Yes, a pleasure to meet you," said Kelly.

"All mine," Oak responded. Then he saw the spark in Jason's eye, the one that silently informed him that Jason had just remembered something. "What is it, Jason?"

"You probably know that a lot of the Pokémon I've captured have a twin somewhere in the bunch. If you're ever interested in breeding them, I think it would open up a whole new branch of research in Pokémon," Jason answered.

Oak smiled. "I'll take that into consideration. I think you're right. We've still much to learn about their mating habits. It would be interesting."

He sighed. "Unfortunately, I can't do it for a while yet. I don't have the resources, equipment, or manpower."

Jason and Kelly looked at each other, then back at Professor Oak.

"I'd have no problem in helping you out," Jason said.

"Neither would I," Kelly added.

"Now, hold on," said Oak. "You both still have journeys to complete."

"Oh, I can always put mine on hold," Kelly responded, waving her hand dismissively.

"And I'm almost finished with mine," Jason added. "Only one badge to go, and I'll be qualified for the Indigo League."

"And after you get the badge, you'll be heading to Indigo Plateau, and that'll take some time," said Oak.

"After I'm finished with the league, I can come back real quick," said Jason.

"You mean we'll be coming back," said Kelly.

Jason looked at her. "You seriously want to come with?"

She shrugged. "I'll get to see Indigo Plateau, and my opposition if I decide to keep earning badges."

"Don't want to stay with the ol' professor, eh?" asked Oak, amused.

"After Jason's finished with his journey," she answered.

Jason shrugged. "Fine, if it's really what you want."

"Yup."

Oak pointed to the food on the table. "Better eat up. If you're headed to Cinnabar tomorrow, you've got a big day ahead."

***

That night, long after Kelly had fallen asleep, Jason was still pacing in their room. He didn't want her to know about what he did in the Orange Islands; on the other hand, he wanted to get it off his shoulders. He'd never told the story to anyone.

Is now the time? he asked himself.

He decided to go ask someone else.

***

Oak was closing the lab for the night: putting Pokémon back in their capture balls, turning off the lights, and so on. When Jason walked in, Oak frowned. "You should be in bed."

"I couldn't sleep." Jason sat down on a bench next to the door. "I need to talk to you."

Oak sat as well. "What about?"

Jason sighed. "Giovanni and Sabrina both knew who I was when I battled them."

Oak shrugged. "That's no surprise."

"Both of them spoke with me about it in full earshot of Kelly. If she ever heard about the incident, it must not have stuck, because she doesn't know a thing about it. She knows my name, but apparently has no idea who I really am."

Oak nodded, understanding. "She wants to know what you did."

"Yeah, and that's basically why she's following me around. I insisted she not ask me about it anymore, and so far, she hasn't. But it's gotten to the point where I know I'll have to tell her to avoid having her go off and research it or something. I don't want her to do that, but I don't really want to tell her, either."

Oak shrugged helplessly. "I'm afraid I can't help you there, Jason. It's been a long time since I knew anything about girls. My advice would be that you tell her, if it's preferable to her finding out elsewhere."

Jason snorted. "You're a real help."

"Hey, you're the one who got you into this mess. You, not me, and not Kelly. Ask yourself if you're ready to tell her, and if she's ready to listen. When the answer to both questions is yes, that's the time to tell her."

Jason considered this for a moment. Then he got up. "Thanks."

"No problem." Oak stood also, and smiled at Jason. "Now, get yourself to bed. You've got a long journey ahead of you."

Jason took the man's advice, headed back to his and Kelly's room, and tried to get some sleep.

I'll tell her once we're on our way.

***

That night, Jason and Kelly were awakened to a loud banging on their door.

"This is the police! Open up!" yelled a female voice.

"Officer Jenny," Jason muttered, as he stumbled to the door.

When he opened it, it was indeed Officer Jenny of Pallet Town who greeted him.

"Are you Jason Creight?" she asked flatly.

Alarms began going off in his head. He knew this day might come, but he'd been hoping it would be on a day of his choosing, not the police's.

"Yes, ma'am," he answered.

"I'm going to have to ask you to come with me," said Officer Jenny.

Kelly strode up to the door.

"What seems to be the trouble, Officer?" she asked.

"Your friend here is being taken in for questioning," Officer Jenny answered. She turned back to Jason. "I'm also going to have to ask you to turn over your Pokémon to me."

"Not until I see a warrant to confiscate my property," Jason responded.

The officer sighed and pulled out a piece of paper; obviously, a warrant. "You're going to make this difficult for me, aren't you?"

Jason read the paper. "This isn't just a warrant for property search and confiscation, this is a warrant for my arrest."

"What?" said Kelly. Her head snapped up to Jenny. "Why do you want to arrest Jason?"

Jenny ignored Kelly. "Yes, this is a warrant for your arrest."

Jason was ready for the answer to his next question, but he wanted to confirm it. "What's the charge?"

Jason thought he was ready, but Jenny's response stunned him.

"Attempted murder of Professor Samuel Oak."

Jason Creight stared on.