My Pokémon Anime Journey | BOOK ONE: KANTO

The Secret of Pokémon Training?

A Team Rocket Grunt squirmed in the chair he was tied to. He did not get payed enough for this. A woman had jumped him and stuffed him in some warehouse. She had to be Interpol. The Grunt reasoned that if he avoided fessing up, he'd be due a raise.
Sunni paced, not affording her captive a glance. He had seen through each of her bluffs. He would soon realise knots were not her specialty. Sunni wished she'd thought more about her career before skipping girl scouts.
Her superiors thought interrogations were fruitless. They knew nothing of the nature of Team Rocket's plans, not even enough to bluff. Sunni had to admit that they'd been right. This Grunt wouldn't tell her anything he didn't think she already knew. She'd have to let him go.
If only Sunni knew something so she could trick this low-life into talking. Even just the name of Team Rocket's secret plan... but she doubted that anybody outside of Team Rocket had access to that information.

Ari smacked her fists together. "Flamethrower!"
Charmander opened his mouth wide, but Squirtle was nimble on his feet, evading the roaring flames.
"Mega Kick!"
Ari saw Squirtle dash at Charmander, but the scene was like watching a film; there was a distance between her and reality.
That reality had been tainted with danger. Ari had a bone to pick with Team Rocket. Those stretches during her childhood when her mother vanished off the map, and left her with neighbors, or, occasionally, her father, were down to people like Team Rocket. Not the idiotic Trio, but the shadowy masterminds, and their nefarious plots, like Operation R. Whatever that was.
Ari gritted her teeth as Charmander and Squirtle exchanged elemental attacks. She wanted to do something, make any sort of impact. She could tell that Misty and Brock had not registered the significance of Meowth's little slip. She didn't bring it up; she understood her mother now, leaving those close to her in the dark. Ari tried to imagine her childhood if those fantasies of her mama triumphing spectacularly were replaced by what would've happened if the villains won. Ari didn't know what Team Rocket's endgame was, but if she could be the one to save the day...

"Ari!" Misty's voice brought Ari back to earth.
"Huh?" Ari looked down and saw that Charmander had knocked Squirtle out. She hadn't been paying attention to her commands. "That was good training, Squirtle." She watched the Tiny Turtle Pokémon vanish into the Poké Ball. "I guess that got a little... out of hand." She tried to laugh, but her throat strangled the noise.
Misty rolled her eyes, but Brock was concerned. "Ari-,"
Eevee suddenly tightened her grip on Ari's head, then hopped off, staring intently at a gap between the trees.
First, Ari saw the flame, which burnt brighter than the Pokémon's blazing carnelian skin.
"Charma!" Charmander waved his arms. The other Pokémon surveyed him with eyes that sparked blue.
Ari's Pokédex said, Charmeleon, the Flame Pokémon. A Fire-type. The Evolved form of Charmander. When it swings its burning tail, it elevates the temperature to unbearably high levels.
Charmeleon shot a Flamethrower into the air, mimicked by Charmander. The fire painted the sky in the hues of a sunflower field. Charmeleon's lip curled approvingly.
Suddenly, a girl burst through the brush. She straightened up, and exhilaration brushed aside her exhaustion. "Why, hello there. I love it when Charmeleon finds me good opponents."

The blonde hair of Charmeleon's Trainer was strung up in a ponytail, swaying like a wrecking ball. She had eyes like stones of amber, and just as unflinching. Her stance was tough and her clothes completed the image: a blue hoodie and torn leggings, complete with slightly scuffed trainers.
Brock's eyebrows rose in recognition. "Lena. I see you've gotten stronger."
Lena grinned as she set her bag on a nearby stump. "Brock the rock. What's a Gym Leader like you doing on the road?"
"Following my dreams, like any other Trainer," smiled Brock.
"Brock, you know her?" Misty said.
Brock's face filled with nostalgia. "Lena here challenged me two days before Ari. She came from Pallet Town with that Charmander."
"Pallet Town?" Ari repeated. "Your Charmeleon... that's Professor Oak's Charmander, isn't it? You started on the same day as me."
Lena noticed Eevee by Ari's legs. "You're the girl who got the Eevee."
"You know about me?"
"I asked Oak how there could be three Pokémon and four of us. Not that it matters. I got first pick." She stroked Charmeleon, but her Pokémon was intensely focused on Ari's Charmander.
"How did you manage to beat Brock with a Charmander?" Ari asked.
Lena snickered. "How about I give a practical demonstration? Charmeleon seems rather interested in your Charmander."
"Bring it on, sister."