Alpha

Chapter One: The Item on the Shelf

 I wake up with a dry throat, sighing. I get up and look over at the clock on my white bedroom wall, which had a Pokémon Calendar I got for my birthday. Today is my cousin's birthday, and the party's at Two. I still have nothing for him at all either! I sit on the edge of my bed and think... My little cousin, Nick, is turning nine, so he's the perfect age for Pokémon. I'm just barely twenty, and I'm still into Pokémon. I go out of my bedroom and into the kitchen, which doesn't take long, since I live in a one story house, and make breakfast. The clock in my kitchen reads 9:30, so I still have some time before Nick's party. Finishing my meal and a shower, I promptly leave and drive myself to the closest 'Toys R' Us', and looked at some Pokémon figurine that he could have, and a movie, too. It's the first Pokémon movie, "Mewtwo Strikes Back" It was a little iffy, since one of the main characters kind of "dies" at the end. But he will still love this! I get up to pay for the items, and spot a Masterball on one of the shelves by the cash register. I need something new for my collection, so I put it on the conveyor. The cashier, her name was Tiffany, took one look at the ball when it was in her hand. "Excuse me, sir, but we don't sell this item, I don't think we even have it in the store. Where did you find this?"

"I found it on the shelf here, does it belong to anyone?" I ask.

She takes a look at the ball and back to me. "You are my first customer this morning, so no one's been here, second, this ball doesn't even have a barcode. I can talk to my manager, he might know what to do." She goes to reach for her belt and pulls out a radio, "Mike, it's Tiff, we have an unidentified Item here, and there's no barcode."

"Copy that, Tiff, what's the item?" I hear the guy say over the radio.

"It looks to be from our Pokémon section... What do you call this item, sir?" She asked.

"A Masterball." I answer flatly.

"A Masterball?" She echos.

The manager's voice comes in with a tone of confusion, "Sorry to say Tiff, we don't have anything like that, except for a plushie, is it a plushie?"

"No."

"Hold on, then. I'll make my way over to you. Mike, out." The lady put the radio back to her belt.

"Where do you think it came from?" I asked

She only shrugs, "Don't know, maybe some kid left it, or something."

Just then, a dark-skinned man walked up to the lady, "So... This item?"

"Here, Mike. I have no idea where this came from. I just opened my station."

"Hmm..." the man closely inspects the ball, "Yeah, this is nothing that we carry. Did this young man find it?"

I nod, "Yeah."

"Then hold on a minute, I need to radio the surveillance guy, Buck might tell us who had this, if it's no one recognizable, I'll let you keep it, since I see you're a fan." The man said, eyeing my Pokémon wallet. He takes out his own radio, "Hey, Bucky, you seen anybody that left anything in Tiff's lane today or yesterday?"

"Give me a minute, Mike, I'll get back to you on that one." Five minutes go by, and I have already paid for Nick's present. I lean against the end of the conveyor, scrolling through my Facebook feed, when finally, an answer, came through the radio, "Mike? It's Buck."

"What's the word?"

"No one has been through that lane in exactly three days. No one was even stationed there. "

Mike turned down his radio a little, "alright, thanks." he turns back to me, "It's your lucky day. The ball is yours. Have a nice day!" Mike then smiles and leaves to help another customer.