-Black-
The sky erupted with explosions, forcing me awake. I scrambled to my feet. Confusion and fear turned and mixed in my head and stomach. I heard the roar of unearthly creatures boom in the air. I took in my surroundings. I was in a city that was being reduced to nothing. Rubble and debris towered over me with fire stretching as far as the eye can see.
I thought of Sheldon and my new boss, White. Where were they? I started to call out my Pokemon's name, but was stopped by a horrific shriek. Two gigantic Pokemon soared through the sky and crashed into the building above me. I instantly recognized them as Palkia and Dialga, the Legendary Pokemon of Space and Time. Glass and rubble started to rain down. Despite my being scared shitless, I took off in a dead sprint.
The ground behind me shook from the impact of the falling debris. Explosions and cries of unknown Pokemon continue to drone in the air. I ran a few blocks, making sure I was far away from the two battling Legendaries. Through the chaos, I somehow heard the shouts of teenagers. Given the situation, I decided to duck behind a pillar to a building with the top few stories missing.
I peeked my head out. I saw a boy my age run across the street, straight toward where the action seemed to be. He had a raggedy red jacket with a bloody bandaged side. He had his hair tucked under a backwards black and yellow hat. A squadron of Squirtles followed him.
"Squirtle Squad, let's go kick some ass!" the boy shouted as they ran out of sight.
"What the hell is going on?" I muttered.
I heard a hiss that sent a cold tremor down my spine. The man with two minds.
I whirled around to see myself only without my hat or my jacket. The dead-wringer also had sharp, piercing red eyes. An evil smile was plastered on its face. I instantly knew who it was.
"Hilbert," I grunted.
Hilbert swiftly clutched my throat and slammed me against the pillar. I grabbed his wrist and tried to pry it away. His grip only tightened.
He leaned close and whispered in my ear, "If you think this is bad, you ain't seen nothin' yet. I've got so much more in store. And you're gonna help me do it."
He saw my look of terror and busted into laughter. My whole body became numb and limp. My eyes closed, and I started drifting away.
"GRUNT!!!" an all too familiar voice shouted.
My eyes flicked open and drifted to White standing over me. She was pissed to say the least.
"I've been telling you to get up for the past ten minutes!"
"Sorry," I mumbled.
"You'll be sorry once my foot is a mile up your ass! You have five minutes to get ready before we continue to Straiton City. We have a lot to discuss so don't keep me waiting."
She walked off, leaving me. My head throbbed from her shouting and the dream I had. I couldn't quite remember it. It was just a blur that made me feel dread when I tried thinking about it.
"Master, I really, really don't like her." Sheldon waddled over to me with an apple clutched to his chest.
"Me neither." I crawled out my sleeping bag and jammed my hat back on my head.
"Then why are we letting her boss us around?"
I put a hand on my Pokemon's head and turned it to White's bottom who was bending over, going through her bag. His eyes widened at the sight of her rear end. I smiled at my naive starter. He was learning more of the world every day.
"It's beautiful," he sighed.
"Tis indeed. Besides, we don't have a choice. We can't afford to be sold to the cops. Hilbert just made their jobs hell down at child protection services."
"Who?" Sheldon cocked his head to the side. I covered my mouth, realizing I let Hilbert's existence slip. Sheldon still didn't know who he was and what he did.
"N-no one. Why do you have that apple?"
"It's for you! Since the booty-- I mean boss won't give you time to cook something," he offered it to me.
I accepted it with a smile, "Thanks, Sheldon."
He was the nicest living thing I knew. Everyone in this region would more than likely ruin that.
"Sheldon, I'm glad you're my partner." I beamed at the Oshawott.
"Really?" his eyes became misty.
"Really."
"Grunt, you have one minute!" White yelled.
I held the apple in my mouth and quickly stuffed my sleeping bag away. I offered Sheldon my arm. He scurried up to his place on my shoulder. I jogged to an impatient White.
"I'm ready," I announced.
"I am your superior. You shall refer to me as sir," she folded her arms.
"Wouldn't you prefer ma'am?" I asked.
"Better yet, refer to me as Sir Empress Queen White!" White smiled, boasting confidence in her idea.
"Sir Empress Queen White, may I call you Boss?"
She thought for a moment before responding, "Sir Empress Queen White will allow it."
"Thank you, Boss."
White turned on her heel and started down the dirt road leading to our destination, "Your welcome, Grunt."
"His name is Master!" Sheldon snapped.
"Really? Cause last time I checked, I call the shots around here," White patted her holstered gun, "I also call where the shots go to. Your head for example! So shut it, freckles!"
Sheldon's brave face crumbled and he held onto my jacket with the little comfort it could give him against this she-devil.
"Hey, leave the Oshawott alone! He already has self esteem issues!"
"I would too if I had a nose the size of a Pokeball," White flipped her ponytail, "but I don't."
"I wanna go in my ball," Sheldon whined.
I returned my Pokemon, giving him the most comforting smile I could. He's grown on me more than I thought. Maybe it's because I see myself in that little chimera. Nobody wanted to be friends with me as a kid and the ones that do now are psychopathic stalkers from a hick village. The doctors said I came up with Hilbert because of said loneliness.
"Why do you call me grunt?" I inquired as we continued down the trail.
"Don't you know? Every successful evil team has grunts that do the grunt work," she said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Evil team? Like Team Rocket? Or those Team Plasma cosplayers?"
"Precisely. Except we will be better than any evil team."
"There's only two humans in this little club of yours."
"What makes you say that?" White whirled around.
"You have two Pokeballs on your belt, you tried mugging me in an alley, you kept me alive. I'd say your numbers aren't good....boss." I said.
White huffed, "We are in our early phases. We don't need numbers. Yet."
There was no use arguing with her. She seemed so dangerous at first, but I was seeing more of a childish side to her.
"What even is our evil team, boss?" We continued walking.
She stopped in her tracks. I halted before I could bump into her. A melodramatic wind picked up, gentling waving her hair and vest.
"Who are we, you ask?" she turned around, her hat casted a shadow over her eyes. "We are those who will usher in a new era of Unova."
Smoke started to crawling along the path, slowly rising around me.
"Okay, what the hell?" I looked at the smoke that appeared from no where.
"We are those who will do anything to reach our goals." White continued.
"Seriously, who is vaping this early in the morning?" I tried fanning the smoke away.
White widened her stance and clenched her fist, "We will changes the tides if we have to, we will level mountains, silence thunder, tame tornadoes, and shake this planet to its very core."
I collapsed to my knees from inhaling the growing smoke. "I don't know what's worse: your speech or this smoke." I started hacking and coughing.
"We. Are. Team White!" She finished, punching the air.
My head snapped up in utter disbelief while the smoke vanished immediately. The dramatic moment was long gone.
I looked up at White, "What?"
"You heard me! We are Team White!" she announced proudly.
"Why? Are we trying to make the world pure, like pure white?"
She stared at me blankly.
I sighed and muttered under my breath, "Arceus dammit." I got to my feet and brushed my self off. "Okay, okay let me explain."
"What were the goals of Team Aqua and Team Magma when they summoned Kyogre and Groudon all those years ago?"
"Team Aqua wanted to flood the Earth and Team Magma wanted to expand the world's landmass," White answered.
"Yes and notice how their names aligned with their goals. Team Galactic wanted to screw around with time and space. Team Rocket wanted to reach the stars and conquer the world or whatever."
"What about Team Flare?" she folded her arms.
"Their name makes since because they were all a bunch of insecure gingers. So in conclusion, what does our name mean?" I flattened my hands together and pointed at her.
She paused for a moment before sheepishly admitting, "It's my name."
"White. Leader of Team White...White. Redundant much redundant!"
"Shut up, Grunt! I could turn you in right now if I wanted to!"
"You wouldn't have anyone to do your dirty work then!" I smirked.
"I could win badges all by myself if I wanted to!"
I froze, "What?"
"Shit! I forgot to tell you," White snapped her fingers.
"Tell me what...?" I stiffened up, bracing myself for the answer.
"You're going to challenge all the Gyms and become champion, pretty much making Team White the leaders of Unova," she smirked at her idea.
My heart sank into my liquified guts, bobbing slowly at the surface. Her words struck me to where I was literally teetering back. Challenge the Gyms. No. Become the Champion. I won't. Challenge the Gyms. I can't.
Become the Champion.
"Never!" the words exploded out of my mouth without my knowledge until it echoed through the forest and made wild Pidoves take flight.
White had an uncharacteristically look of concern on her face, "Black, are you okay?"
"I'm sorry, but you recruited the wrong guy," I took off past her, running as fast as I could.
I refused to look back. No matter who many times she shouted my name.
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Author's Note: it's been a while! Yes, I'm alive somehow! I survived a whole school year with sanity intact and a list of accomplishments! I apologize for my frequent absences, but you would understand if you were in the position that I was. I do not know how updates will play out this summer or in the future but just look out for them! I won't give up! I still have big plans!
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