“Good morning Saffron City!Today’s weather is slightly-“Mason hit the sleep 
button on the top of the digital alarm. “Hey, wake up guys.” The Meowth on the 
foot of the bed snapped awake, but the Charmander blew smoke at Mason in 
protest.” Come on, Char! You need to wake up! Today we start the journey of all 
journeys!” The Charmander slowly rose out of the small bed at Mason’s side. 
“That’s it!! Now come on and let’s get the first badge!”

 

Earlier that week, Mason had gotten his Charmander from professor Birch. Many 
years before, the three professors Birch, Oak, and Elm decided to share the 
starter pokemon between themselves so people could have all kinds of pokemon no 
matter where they were. Mason already had the Meowth that his Mom had given him 
as a going away gift. He was now going up to the closest gym in the area. The 24 
gyms had also changed. Each had a wide range of leveled pokemon so the trainers 
didn’t need to travel so much. ”Ok you two,” Mason said to the pokemon. ”This is 
the big moment. So I need perfect concentration from both of you.”

 

 As Mason entered the gym, he saw many people holding spoons in their hands. 
*What’s up with that?* he thought. He saw a large door and thought it led into 
the battle arena. He noticed that the door was half open so he peeked inside. 
”The Mew has gotten near Pettalberg City in the Hoenn region. Go there and get 
it. And watch out for Team Magma and Aqua.” Mason backed away as two people came 
out of the room and left, not seeing him. The pair had on black jumpsuits with 
white boots and gloves. There was also a big red “R” on the front of their 
shirts.*Wow. That was weird,* Mason thought as he walked away. But the Meowth at 
his side had an odd look on its face. It looked as if it had been reminded of 
something from long ago.

 

The actual gym arena was just down the hall and as Mason entered, he saw a tall 
woman with long black hair. He knew that she must be the gym leader Sabrina. 
Mason heard a voice in his head that said, *Welcome to the Saffron City Gym.* 
“Uhh… hi. Can I have a gym battle? This is my first time so-“*SILENCE!! You will 
get your battle when I see fit. There was a long pause for about 2 minutes.*Ok, 
let’s do this thing.*

 

 

 

 

Sabrina held up a pokeball and threw it. With a flash of light, an Abra came 
out. Mason knew that Abra couldn’t use any attacks, so he decided to use 
Charmander since it needed the experience. “Go Charmander!” He said as he threw 
the ball.

Sabrina also threw a second ball.*Go, Mr. Mime!*

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” Mason asked.

*In this gym we use two pokemon at a time, fool*

“Oh,” Mason said. ”Well you should’ve said something. No offence, but I’m not a 
freak of nature that reads minds like you.”

*None taken.* Sabrina answered. Mason threw the pokeball that contained Meowth 
and the battle began.

 

Mr. Mime used a confusion attack on Charmander and the orange lizard fell to the 
ground in a heap. Meowth used swift in retaliation and the Abra fell, out cold. 
Just then, Mason noticed a man behind a glass window in the wall of the gym. He 
had on a red suit and a Persian was at his side. Mason remembered him as the man 
from the room in the hallway. Mason ignored this and focused on the battle. But 
with al the focus he had, he wouldn’t notice the look in Meowth’s eyes as it too 
saw the man. Meowth was shocked into reality as Mr. Mime used another confusion 
attack. Then Meowth jumped into the air and used a mega kick right between the 
eyes of Mr. Mime. The battle was over, but Sabrina did not move.

 

*You have passed the test. You are indeed the true inheritance of that Meowth.* 

“Yes indeed he is.” The man said from behind Sabrina. Mason hadn’t even seen the 
man move, but he had somehow gotten down to the floor. “My name is Giovanni. I 
am the leader of Team Rocket. You may not remember me, but I was a very close 
“friend” of your fathers.”

“WHAT? My dad didn’t have anything to do with you!” Mason said.

“Not true,” Giovanni replied. “He owed me a large sum of money, and before he 
could pay up, he died of lung cancer. On his deathbed, he requested that that 
Meowth there at your side represent the debt he owed. Whoever owns it owes me 
money.”

“NO!! My mom wouldn’t give Meowth to me if that were true!” Mason said.

“Oh, your mother didn’t know anything about it. She probably thought that your 
father wanted you to inherit it. Well you did, and by doing so you also 
inherited your father’s debt.”

* And now you work for us!!* Sabrina said.