Lucy was the newest addition to our group. She was a pretty girl (no competiton 
for me of course, ha ha) and had 3 Pokemon. Totodile, Squirtle and Goldeen. 
     "Seems like a nice evening," Andy muttered as we walked through the streets 
of Violet City. The stars shone brightly above us. I looked around. Many people 
were rushing into malls and Poke'Marts to get their last-minute items. 
     "Hey, it's the Violet City Gym!" I exclaimed, pushing past the two. I ran 
towards it and up to the window. I looked inside. I could see a girl with long 
black hair. She was packing some things into the duffel bag she had around her 
arm. I smiled and pulled open the door for her.
     "Thank you," she said. She looked at me. She had green eyes and tan skin. 
"I'm Raven, the gym leader here."
     "Hi," I replied. "I'm Laura." I offered my hand. She shook it. "Um ... I'm 
here to challenge you for the Zephyrbadge."
     Raven yawned and gave a half smile. "That's great. I need a nice challenge. 
You will have to wait until tomorrow afternoon, however. This gym closes at 
10:00. Sorry."
     I looked at my watch and realized it was close to midnight. "Oh, I didn't 
realize the time," I muttered. "Sorry."
     She shook her head. "Don't be sorry. Just be here tomorrow afternoon. I'll 
be happy to take you on. Don't expect me to go easy on you, sweetie." She gave 
me sort of a nasty smile and walked away.

I sat up in the bed at the Pokemon Center. Andy and Lucy were both asleep in 
their beds. I turned to Pichu, who slept next to me. 
     "Pii," it whispered.
     I smiled and patted it on the head. "I know you won't let me down, Pichu. 
As long as you try your best, I'm happy with what you do. Just give all you've 
got out there and fight to the end. Can I count on you?"
     "Pika," Pichu replied.
     I rolled over on bed and fell into a deep sleep.

Pichu shot a wave of electricity at Raven's Hoothoot. Hoothoot fell to the 
ground, but swooped up at the last second, about to ram into Pichu. Pichu 
attached itself to the bottom of Hoothoot. The bird Pokemon flew high into the 
air. Pichu blasted it with a Thunderbolt. The two Pokemon glowed yellow and fell 
to the ground at an amazing force. I watched as the two rushed down to the 
ground at an incredible speed. Inches before the two hit, I found myself in 
another scene.
     I looked around. I was falling now. I didn't know where, I was. I was in a 
white gown, falling. More like plunging to my doom. The ground got closer and 
closer. I gasped. It was as if the ground were rushing up towards me. I tried to 
shield my face. I came closer ... closer to the ground. Closer to my doom. I saw 
a flash of light.

I woke up and cold sweat. I sat up in my bed and wiped it from my face. I 
blinked my eyes and looked around. 
     Not a sound. No one moving. I looked at my watch. Not even 4:30 in the 
morning yet. 
     I woke up Pichu. "I'm going to take a walk," I said. "You coming with me?"

Pichu and I walked down the dark streets. Some dim streetlights blinked above 
us. I had left a note on the dresser in case Andy or Lucy woke up and were 
looking for me, so they didn't worry. I told Pichu about my dreams. 
     "I think it means something. Maybe ... maybe someone tried to push me out 
the window. I kept having dreams about us falling. Falling from large heights. 
Almost as if someone were trying to tell me something. Like we're in danger."
     "Chu," Pichu muttered. We had walked down to the corner of the street. I 
looked back and saw the glimmering lights of the town. 
     "Pretty sight, isn't it, buddy?"
     "Pichu," Pichu replied. It looked up at me. 
     Suddenly, I heard a loud sound. Like ... an engine. I turned around and 
gasped. A large red truck sped at me. It ran right over a bench and a trashcan. 
I picked up Pichu and jumped out of the way. I landed hard onto the ground. The 
truck sped off into the night, altogether disappearing in the shadows. 
     My legs felt like Jell-O and my stomach lurched. "I think someone was 
trying to run us down," I whispered. Pichu pulled on my pants leg. I turned 
around again, this time seeing yet another car speeding towards me. "THUNDER 
WAVE!" I yelled randomly.
     Pichy jumped in front of me and let loose a huge electric charge. It hit 
the hood of the car. The car spun around for a second, but then got back under 
control, and sped the opposite direction.
     I fell backwards onto my rear and wiped sweat off of my face. "Someone ... 
someone just tried to ..."
     Pichu shrieked. As did I. A dark figure made its way towards us. I backed 
up. Only to run into another immovable object. I slowly turned my head. I was 
face-to-face with a Scyther! 
     At first I didn't know whether I should be excited or frightened, when I 
realized I was surrounded. There were 5 Scythers surrounding Pichu and I. I 
scrambled to my feet and looked around. Pichu and I stood back to back, ready to 
fight if needed. 
     However, the Pokemon did not attack. Instead the five of them created a 
circle around us and put their scythes together, almost as if praying. I 
scratched the back of my head, uncertain of what to do or why this was 
happening. I stared in awe as each one of the Scyther's slowly began to glow a 
light greenish color. It was almost eerie. 
     I had to swallow to keep myself from screaming as grass started to raise up 
in the air and spin around us. It was like a tornado of leaves and grass. 
     "Piiiiichhhuuuuu!" Pichu cried. The noise of the wind was deafening. The 
Scyther's began to hiss, menacingly. I was thrown to the ground, hard. I was 
surrounded by a golden light and then ... black.

I rubbed my head in pain. I opened my eyes and blinked. Where was I? I got to my 
knees and looked around. It was like I was in space or something. I could see 
the stars, but I was literally walking in air. I gasped as a huge face appeared 
in the air. I recognized the face at once. It was none other than Florida of the 
ACXX Team Rocket. 
     "We meet again, young Laura. Enjoy your little ride?"
     I glared up at her. "How did you find me? I thought you were in jail!"
     She laughed. "As soon as we woke up we got as far away from that shack is 
possible. I mean, come on. We aren't that stupid. Mitch and I knew you'd call 
the police. And I think this is our most brilliant plan, yet. Even more 
brilliant than setting you up in that ACX--"
     "It was you guys who threw me into the hole?!" I demanded. "What did I ever 
do to you?"
     Florida beamed in spite of herself. "Your father was against the ACXX, 
Laura. We drugged him and knew he'd have to drive home. So we were hoping he'd 
crash and die."
     "HOW COULD YOU?!"
     I fell to my knees, tears streaming down my face. This was all because of 
Florida. Ever since I was a toddler, it was her who tried to make my life 
miserable until the day I died. 
     "You will be put into a series of battles," Florida continued. "If you 
complete it, we'll let you go."
     I didn't have the heart to battle. But I knew I didn't have a choice. 
Florida's face faded away and a glowing white figure appeared before me. It 
changed shape into a Charmander. I turned to Pichu and nodded. I was determined 
to destroy every Pokemon the ACXX threw at me.
     Charmander used a Flamethrower. A rush of flames glided towards Pichu. 
Pichu jumped high into the air, over the Flamethrower attack. "Pichu, 
Thundershock!" I commanded.
     Pichu shot a charge of electricity at Charmander. Charmander threw itself 
to the ground, avoiding the Thundershock. But Pichu wore itself out early, and 
held the side of its head. I knew Pichu was too small to be using such big 
electrical moves and eventually it would catch up to him.
     "Come on, you can do it Pichu!" I encouraged the Pokemon. Pichu hopped to 
his feet and ran at the Charmander. Charmander reared back and swung its tail 
around, catching Pichu hard in the stomach, but the tiny Pokemon hung on. 
Charmander tried shaking him off, but Pichu had an iron grip. I knew I'd hafta 
do something to put Charmander away quickly, so we could conserve energy for the 
battles to come. I didn't know how many Pokemon of the ACXX that Haunter and 
Pichu would need to defeat. Florida could give us four or forty. 
     "Bite attack!" I decided. Pichu crawled up on Charmander's head and sank 
its teath into the flesh. Charmander cried out in pain and rabbed Pichu from off 
of its head. I had Charmander right where I wanted it. "Spark!" Pichu let loose 
another charge of electricity. This time it didn't work against us. The power of 
the attack surged through Charmander's body and he shook violently, before 
collapsing on his side, to the ground.
     Charmander glowed red and vanished into thin air. "Pichu," Pichu muttered. 
I knew it was ready for another battle. 
     We didn't have to wait long, for another white figure became visible in 
front of us. When it stopped glowing, I saw it was a Venonat. It was a poisonous 
Pokemon, so we couldn't let our guard down.
     "Quick Attack!" I ordered. Pichu lowered its head and rammed Venonat, 
leveling it instantly. Venonat fell backwards to the ground, but rolled over and 
hopped back up. 
     "Venonat," it chirped angrily. It shot a white beam of energy from its 
body. A Psybeam! Pichu was instantly thrown backwards. A psychic attack was not 
particularly effective against electric type Pokemon, but it did enough to do 
damage to Pichu. 
     "Come on, Pichu. We can't let Team Rocket beat us. Those ACXX goons are 
going down. Show Venonat what you've got!"
     Pichu got back to its feet and charged at Venonat. Venonat glowed blue and 
Pichu slowly rose into the air. I gasped as it yelled in pain. Venonat was using 
Leech Life and sucking the energy from Pichu, which was not good so quickly into 
the battle. Venonat stopped glowing blue and let Pichu drop hard to the ground -
- even though it was space or something, not the ground.
     Despite its pain, Pichu climbed back to its feet. Venonat ran at Pichu, 
preparing for a Tackle. "Pichu, use Thunderbolt!"
     As soon as I realized what came out of my mouth, I realized I could have 
made a big mistake. Pichu shot the huge bolt of lightning straight at Venonat. 
But Pichu was already injured. It was off balance and began to wobble around. 
Venonat was dazed and weakened, which gave me some time to think of a new plan.
     Pichu regained control of itself. It reared up and lowered its head. I had 
no idea what was running through its mind. I was almost in shock at what was 
happening all of a sudden. I wiped a strand of hair out of my eyes and watched. 
As soon as Venonat turned around, it was met with a HARD Headbutt by Pichu. When 
I saw hard I mean hard. Venonat was sent spinning high through the air. I looked 
up and watched as it crashed hard onto the gr--- the ... whatever it is that we 
were standing on in the middle of space.
     Venonat, too, glowed a red color and slowly faded away into the darkness. 
     I backed up, as if looking to find a doorway out of the house or something. 
"Very impressive," a voice boomed throughout the area. "Very impressive indeed. 
Did I mention ... that if you lose, you must join the ACXX?"
     "That's not fair!" I yelled. "That wasn't part of the deal!"
     "I'm holding my end of the bargain," Florida said. "Now you hold yours. 
Here is your next opponent."
     A Geodude appeared in front of me. I looked down at my sweating Pichu. I 
could not afford to have him knocked out early in the match, knowing that he was 
weak against rock type Pokemon. "Pichu, take a rest," I muttered. "I think I'll 
need you for later. We don't know how many Pokemon we'll be battling. Haunter, I 
choose you!"
     Haunter burst out of his Pokeball in a flash of white light. "Confusion!" I 
commanded.
     Haunter pointed his finger at Geodude. The Pokemon glowed blue and rose 
into the air. It winced in pain, but Geodude was incredibly strong. I threw out 
its hands, destroying Haunter's Confusion attempt. Geodude flew at Haunter at a 
quick speed.
     Haunter gave sort of a laugh as Geodude passed through him. Geodude looked 
confused for a while and then turned around, only to be met by Haunter with a 
Shadow Ball attack. The blue and purple ball of energy sped at Geodude and 
knocked it hard to the surface of whatever we were standing on.
     Its head thudded hard against the ground. "Good, Haunter. End it quickly 
with a Lick attack!"
     Haunter floated to Geodude and stuck out its toungue, getting ready to hit 
it with a strong Lick that could paralyze Geodude for the time being. However, 
Geodude was playing possum. It grabbed Haunter's tongue and used a Rock Throw 
attack. Haunter was surprised by the Pokemon's attack, but not seriously hurt.
     "Be careful, Haunter!"
     Haunter turned to me and nodded. It quickly turned back to Geodude and 
grabbed its hand before it could hit it with a Mega Punch. "Haunter, Hypnosis 
attack!"
     Haunter's eyes glowed white and Geodude became quite unstable for a while. 
I knew that I had to strike fast. Streat dripped down my face. I could not 
afford to lose, no matter what. In the ACXX was the last place I ever wanted to 
be. 
     Geodude was sleepy from the Hypnosis and floated in the air, its eyelids 
heavy. "Haunter, finish this off with a--."
     Someone grabbed my hand and spun me around. I gasped as I saw Florida. She 
punched me hard in the face and I fell to my knees. I expected a cheap shot like 
this. I grabbed her legs and took her down to the ground. I slapped her hard in 
the face and rose up my fist to stike when I was once again grabbed. I looked up 
to see a huge Machoke hovering above me. It picked me up and held me above its 
head.
     I screamed. "Let me down!"
     Machoke was preparing to slam me down hard to the ground, but Pichu jumped 
onto Machoke's face. Machoke let go of me and I landed on my feet. 
"Thunderbolt!" I ordered. Pichu clung onto Machoke's face and used the 
Thunderbolt. Machoke cried out in pain and fell hard to the ground. 
     Florida had tried to crawl away, but I grabbed her ankle and pulled her 
back to me. She kept wriggling loose though. I grabbed onto her pants leg. "Get 
back here you rotten little tramp!"
     She kept crawling away. Her pants leg ripped. She flopped onto her back and 
kicked me hard in the stomach. I held it and fell to the ground. 
     Pichu was lying on the ground, groaning in pain, as were both Machoke and 
Florida. I held my stomach and turned back to Haunter. I gasped. I totally 
forgot about the match!
     Haunter was getting pummeled by Geodude. "Haunter, use a Shadow Ball at 
close range!"
     Haunter grabbed onto Geodude. He let loose another Shadow Ball. This time, 
Geodude was knocked out instantly. It glowed red and vanished. I collapsed onto 
the ground, the pain in my stomach excruciating. I coughed. A splatter of blood 
flew out of my mouth. When I got kicked, an organ was interfered with. "Oh 
no..." I muttered. I fell to my knees again and coughed up another wod of blood. 
     It was trickling down my chin. I turned to Florida and gasped. She was back 
on her feet. Despite the blood dripping from the side of her face, she smiled 
evily. She held knife above me. I couldn't do anything to stop her. Pichu and 
Haunter were in pain. Florida drove it into my leg.
     I sat up and screamed in pain.
     "You little parasite! It's what you get for interfering with our plans."
     She pulled the knife from my leg. This woman was crazy. She was trying to 
kill me! 
     I crawled to my knees. I was expecting Florida to strike me with the knife 
again. She aimed it right at my head. I punched her in the stomach and drove her 
back hard to the ground. She gasped in pain. The knife fell from her hand. 
     I grabbed the knife up. This time I wasn't going to be Mrs. Nice Guy. I 
aimed it right at Florida's head. I drove it at her face.
     But I missed my target. I stabbed Florida in the shoulder. Good enough for 
me. "Pichu, Thundershock!"
     Pichu was now back on its feet. It shocked Florida. She shook violently and 
screamed in pain. Pichu stood over her, angrily. I saw what damage I had done. I 
wasn't proud of it, but I did what I had to do to protect myself and my Pokemon.
     Florida was knocked out on the ground. I whipped around, expecting anything 
now. Machoke was still unconscious next to Florida. How was I supposed to get 
out of here?
     The only person who knew now was Florida, and she was laid out on the 
ground for the time being.
     "Hello, Laura. I see we meet again."
     I turned to where the voice came from. I saw an old man ... it was Mr. 
Pokemon!
     "Mr. Pokemon ... what are you doing here?" I asked.
     He chuckled. "I created this."
     I frowned. "You? But I thought ..."
     He nodded. "I know what you thought. That it was another setup by the ACXX 
members of Team Rocket. They held me hostage in the back. They took over."
     "How did you get out?" I asked him.
     "I broke free of the ropes and knocked out that young child ... Mitch. He 
has no respect for his elders, that boy. But come now, let's get out of here."

Mr. Pokemon had pushed some buttons in the control pannel, teleporting us out of 
the Image Room as he called it.
     "It took me twelve years to make it," he said. 
     "Wow," I muttered. "Team Rocket had no right to do that."
     Mr. Pokemon shrugged. "They didn't cause serious damage. It will only take 
a few days to fix it up. However, I think it would be best if you did not tell 
anyone about it."
     I frowned. "Not even Lucy and Andy?"
     He sighed and shook his head. "I think it'd be best if you didn't."
     "How do I explain the scars?" I demanded.
     Mr. Pokemon smiled. "I'm sure you will think of something. But now I must 
go back home. I came back here to visit my grandchildren. Take care, Laura."
     I watched as Mr. Pokemon hopped into a car and drove away into the street. 
Little did I know, that this would not be the last time I encountered Mr. 
Pokemon or Team Rocket. But now I had to look ahead. Next it was time ... to 
battle Raven and win my first badge.




TO BE CONTINUED...