Alyssa's Adventures in the Kanto Region

Chapter 17

Rocket Hideout

I gulped and called out Kaen from his pokéball, and he happily jumped into my lap. I had brought out one of the three elemental stones.

He stood proudly, waiting for me to touch his fur with the cold stone. I smiled at him and felt his soft fur with my hand one last time until I evolved him.

"Thank you, Kaen," I mumbled, touching the stone to his brown fur.

He closed his eyes and started to glow, the bright light blinded me. I backed away and watched as Kaen grew.

The light faded soon and bright orange fur replaced his chocolate fur. Kaen's fur matched his fiery personality and his tail was light yellow and puffy.

"I hope you're ok with being a Flareon," I said, petting the fluffy fur.

"Flare!" Kaen happily barked.

Kaen didn't verbally disagree, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I had just robbed him of being a Jolteon or Vaporeon. He nuzzled his fuzzy head against my knees and purred. I think it was his way of reassuring me that he was fine with my choice.

"Let's go to the Game Center!" I happily exclaimed.

Kaen gave me a determined stare and hopped alongside me. We rushed over, occasionally bumping into several strangers along the way. They were all understanding of me since I was a child with a Pokémon.

I called Kaen back in his pokéball and busted my way through the doors, but nothing incredibly interesting was happening with anyone.

Everyone was gambling and making bets they probably couldn't afford, but that wasn't my problem. I was almost tempted to bet myself, but then I spotted a suspicious guy.

He was loitering around a poster, glaring at everyone who passed by. From what I could see, the poster had nothing special but he was adamant.

"What are you doing?" I asked, trying to sound innocent.

He glared and hissed. "Scram you little brat."

He could see right through me, so I dropped my act. "What are you hiding?"

"I'm guarding the poster and I won't let anyone get in our way!" He snarled.

"'Our?' Are you with Team Rocket!?" I gasped.

He smirked and threw out his pokéball. He only had a Raticate and Zubat, so defeating them was an easy task.

He scurried away as soon as his Pokémon were knocked out, and left behind the poster he was guarding.

As I thought, nothing was wrong with the poster. It was just advertising the building, but it had a huge lump right in the middle of it. I touched the lump, but it wouldn't budge.

I grew irritated and removed the poster and saw a red button. I pressed it, and the whole building started to rumble. It was like Spike was using Earthquake, and he didn't even have that move yet!

Everyone was oblivious to the shaking, and the walls even started to shift. A set of stairs going underground were at a dark corner of the place, but nobody cared.

I was beyond shocked but decided to ignore the apathetic people who kept gambling their life away. I stared at everyone, hoping that someone was watching just in case I didn't make it out alive.

However, no one cared. It almost felt like I was back in my world. I was a coward, but if no one else was going to enter the ominous staircase, I was.