"You're the... one the boss wants!" One of the grunts pointed at me. Chikorita yelled out and slapped his hand away with her vine "ow!"

"Don't you know it's rude to point" I crossed my arms.

"You're that girl Ronan was taking care of!" Another grunt pointed. Chikorita again slapped them away. 

"You're that little slut from the club..." another closest to me said. I grabbed his shirt and twisted it enough that could almost choke him.

"A slut, huh? I was a slave, you dirty dipshit" I pressed my forehead on his "I've suffered long enough... You have no right to call me names!" I released his shirt and slapped him across the face so hard that he passed out into another grunts arms.

"Believe what you want. I am a victim. I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren't for your group's torture and black mail" the group prepared their Pokéballs, but was too focused in what I was yelling at them.

"Ronan just treated me like crap. He got what he deserves, and because of everything I went through, I'll mess you up until you beg for mercy!" I shouted "Every last one of you! I don't care who you are! I will make you beg for forgiveness after I rip off that title from your chest!" I pointed ahead "Chikorita! Battle for me!"

"Chika!" A battle against 5 and 2 wasn't very easy, but taking the advantage of Chikorita being able to spread her attack and Pichu using disarming voice, the battle was over quickly and I got to walk pass the grunts passed out on the floor after hearing Pichu's screaming.

"I meant what I said" I glared at myself "I don't care if I'm not any better than any of them... I'll do what I have to do" my Pokémon frowned at me and followed me through the tunnel.

The more I walked, the more Slowpoke I see whining. It broke my heart to see them in pain... "They could had done a lot worse to these poor things, but doing this to them pass their limits is cruel" I overheard someone talking and looked up ahead to see a blue haired grunt with a white uniform talking on his Pokégear.

"We can get more supply, sir" he waited "Right. Gotcha" he hung up the phone and noticed me approaching "oh?" He smirked "What do we have here?"

"Are you in charge here?" I asked. He shrugged his arms.

"Maybe? Who's asking?"

"Doesn't matter who's asking. I asked a question" he chuckled.

"How rude. You demand a question when speaking that way? Where are your manners?"

"Not with you" he tapped his chin.

"Very amusing" he chuckled again "Well, what can I say? You're pretty scary looking, so do I surrender and give you my name? Is that what you want?" I just glared at his smart mouth "Very well. My name is Proton. I am often labeled as the scariest and cruelest guy in Team Rocket, but I can't compare with that scary face of yours" he smirked amused "Don't think I didn't see you back there with the rest of my team. How scary" he stuck his tongue out "but even if you managed to take them down, it does not impress me. They are weak. I am not. I strongly urge you not to interfere with our business"

"The things you do is my business" I stepped up "I will not be stopped. I will take your organization down one way or another" he smirked more.

"With that little party you have there?" He pointed at my Pokémon "I'm terrified" my eye was twitching from his smart mouth. I looked at my Bayleaf, who had evolved from her previous form after battling with the grunts behind us, and gave her the nod. She nodded back and prepared for battle.

"You should be. I will not go down without a fight!" I set Pichu in the floor "Battle me, Crouton!" Proton snickered and fixed his hair, sending out his Zubat.

"How dare..." Proton almost snapped at the nickname I gave him "If you insist" he had the same amount of Pokémon as I did and for someone who was in charge, he didn't put up a good fight. With all the training I got my Pokémon doing, battles were getting easier and easier to go through, but I never said Proton was an easy opponent. I was actually lucky to win, even if he didn't put much effort in attacks or demands.

"You won?" Proton held his chin "Well I'll be damned..." he held his hip "I'll say that I'm quite surprised, but I give you my congratulations. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"What I want is for you to leave these poor Slowpokes alone. You're hurting them" his giggle started growing to laughter.

"You came here thinking you can mess with our plans? Foolish girl. You stand alone in front of a team of hundreds! Do you seriously think we'll bow down to you just because you beat us?"

"It happened before" he flinched and glared, finally. I was hoping I'd break through that smirk of his.

"Oh? So you think you're funny?" He pulled his hair "For a kid, you're not bad, but watch who you're messing with, Valerie" I let go of my glare and took a step back "The best thing to do is stay away from an organization that's been looking for you. You dare come after us?"

"You know my name..." he smirked and held his hat.

"Battling gave me the chance to observe you. Listen. Team Rocket had broken up three years ago, like you meant about that it happened before. But we continued our activities underground. Which is why you were still in the hands of Ronan. The boss wanted him to keep an eye on you until he was ready to see you, but because of what happened, you had to stay put"

"Your boss? You mean Giovanni?"

"Hm? So you know of him? Well, of course you do. Everyone knew him as Team Rocket's leader"

"I didn't know him because of that" he looked at me confused "He's the reason why I hate Team Rocket with a burning passion. I hated the organization way before I was kidnapped"

"If I seem to remember, you were taken at a young age. How could you possibly know Team Rocket then?" I held my hips.

"Are we really having this conversation?" I sighed "I was 7 when I was taken from the streets after my parents died. I have a good memory, so I kept the hatred for all my life and it deepened when I was taken by force and worked without pay. I was a slave and forced to sleep with others. I couldn't even take care of my own Pokémon" I pointed at him "The whole team may not have been responsible for my misfortune, but I know how bad you all are... I will take you down. I will grow stronger and make you regret getting back together" Proton walked over to face me.

"I like your guts. A pretty girl like you going through something like that and still stands tall and brave in front of an admin, impresses me" he held his chin "Although I heard from the boss he wanted to see you, he never intended to put you through hell like that. That's all Ronan's doing" I flinched as he turned around "He's almost as bad as me. I'm just being nice now" he looked back at me "You might have beaten me, but a small obstacle like you won't be much of a problem for our mission. I advise you to be very afraid of what is to come" he walked pass me without another word.

"I don't care how scary you may be... I don't care that what I went through wasn't Giovanni's intention... I still hate him and you all for everything you've done!" I shouted at him "Giovanni will regret what he did to my family!" Proton didn't respond and kept on walking. I got weak in the knees and fell down, getting supported by my Pokémon.

"I-I'm okay..." I sniffled "I got carried away. I shouldn't jump like that. It's not good for my health" I took a deep breath and sighed "I got overwhelmed... I'm sorry for behaving that way in front of you" I wiped my tears away and stood up "Let's get out of here. These Slowpoke need treatment"

"Hello?!" Someone's voice called out. I looked around, searching for the familiar voice "Young lad, are you down there?" Is that the old man I met before entering the well?

"Y-Yes!" I yelled back, wiping my tears again.

"Paramedics are here to help the Pokémon!" That's good! The Slowpoke slowly started coming up to me. I came back down to pet their heads.

"Help is on the way" I smiled "Looks like I got them to leave. You're safe now. Hopefully nothing bad happens to you all" they cried out and walked over to a pile of rocks. Bayleef pointed at their direction.

"Do they want me to follow?" I walked towards the direction the Slowpoke were heading and went pass them, since they were slow, and looked over the rocks. I gasped and reached out to grab an egg "An egg!" I observed the pink shell and frowned "O-Oh no..." a few men in paramedic uniforms and old man Kurt came towards me and the Slowpoke around me.

"Miss Valerie!" Old man Kurt approached me with a cane "Way to go! Team Rocket has taken off"

"That's a relief. Is your back okay?" He nodded with a smirk.

"Yes, ma'am! Let's get out of here. The paramedics will take things over" I looked at the egg in my arms and nodded, quickly making my way out the well and towards the Pokémon center. Kurt reminded me to visit him later, so I took him up on that and hurried to the front counter to the nurse.

"Miss Valerie!" The nurse smiled "Are you ready to pick up your-"

"I need your equipment, fast!" I cut her off. She looked a bit surprise "This egg... I have to help it"

"What's the matter?" I placed the egg on a blanket she brought over "looks okay to me" I shook my head and handed her my trainer card again.

"I am from the Zoe family, the family who specializes in Pokémon Eggs. My name is Valerie Zoe!" The nurse cupped her mouth.

"I thought you looked familiar! Miss Zoe!" She gestured her hand to follow her "Please come this way" I followed her to the back room "It's quite the honor to meet a member of the family that taught those who recorded medical science. The Zoe family is famous for their expertise on Pokémon eggs and trust in the medical field to take care of them when they can't. Even if we do our job, the skill you provide can't compare to what we can do. Please do what you must"

"Thank you so much for understanding" she took me into the emergency room and called out to some doctors to assist me.

"You are quite young though... Should I be concerned?" I smiled at the nurse.

"Don't worry. It's in my blood! I know a lot more than you think I know" she bowed and let me do my thing. The doctors didn't understand why I was back here until the nurse explained. Once told, they offered their assistance. I had told them the egg was dull and almost lifeless. It takes a lot to give health back to an egg, but I come from a family who were given the ability to give life back to them. Our last name says a lot about the ability we hold to take care of the eggs. I will never abandon an egg in need, even if it was close to death.

The sudden emergency caught everyone off guard and didn't expect to work on something like this. My mom told me back then that our family were always called to assist a medical facility when it came to saving eggs. That is why my aunt works for a hospital. Though she doesn't have a nursing license, her last name made her qualified to come up to help eggs when she is called. Our name never failed us, and is why even if a man wanted to marry into the family, they took the last name Zoe, to prevent our gift from disappearing. It was superstitious, but we never failed from the very beginning.

I sighed and wiped the sweat off my forehead after working for a straight 5 hours on the egg I brought in. The nurse who brought me, holding my egg I left here, came up to me.

"Is the operation finished, Miss?" I smiled at her and nodded, having everyone sigh in relief and clap for me. I nervously laughed and gently pet the egg I took care of.

"What fantastic work!" One doctor said.

"That egg is lucky that you found it!" Another said.

"Good work!" The egg I worked in was wrapped in a breathable cloth that patched the cracks on it well enough to not hurt the shell.

I handed it to the doctor in front of me and instructed him to take it to a warm blanket to let it heal on its own for a little while as I was leaving to find a place to rest for the day. I was asked if I'll return tomorrow to check on it.

"I won't abandon it until I know it's well enough to stay here in your hands. I'll be back tomorrow" I waved with my egg in my other arm "Thank you for giving me your time" everyone bowed.

"It's the least we can do!"

"Thank you for coming"

"We haven't had the chance to call in an egg expert in years. Will you come if we ask for your help?" I thought about it.

"As much as I like to, I trust you to do your best. I have something I must do and it'll take me awhile to complete. When I'm done, I'm all yours!" I smiled and left the Pokémon center with my babies on my side.

The sky was close to getting dark. Even if I was physically and emotionally exhausted, I promised to go see Old man Kurt after I finished with what I was doing.

I traveled through the dull streets that hardly had any light and made it to the lit up workshop I came to earlier today. Old man Kurt was in his workshop with the little girl I met before, working on something in the hot stone oven as I walked in. The little girl was the first to notice me.

"You're back!" She gasped, coming up to hug my waist "Grandpa told me what you did! You're a hero!" I giggled a little.

"I didn't do much, but thanks" I sat on a chair she offered and sighed exhaustedly.

"I'm sure everything you went through must've been a lot" Kurt told me "I heard you yelling at some moments while I waited for the police and paramedics to show up" I nodded "You look more exhausted than you did when we left the well"

"I did a 5 hour long operation in the Pokémon center"

"Operation?" The little girl looked at me after softly petting my Pokémon "What kind? Are you a doctor?" I shook my head and explained myself throughly.

"Zoe..." Kurt held his chin "I haven't heard that name in years. I knew your grandparents" he smiled "If you were operating, I'm sure you succeeded" I nodded "Good work today. I'm sorry I had to make you come here after doing what you did. I just wanted to properly thank you"

"Grandpa is offering the guest bedroom!" I looked at her surprised and looked at Kurt going back to work "He's working on the Apricorn you chose" she whispered to me "It might not be much of a thanks, but you handled the bad guy's situation when he couldn't. Grandpa often protects the town when Bugsy isn't around, which is all the time"

"Who?" I asked.

"He's a gym leader in the town!" A gym leader! Maybe I should battle him for more experience, and maybe a new badge "Grandpa is going to give him a piece of his mind after disappearing when help was needed!"

"Is that so?" I looked at Kurt "Thank you for your offer. I'll gladly take it"

"Don't mention it. Malerie, you fix dinner yet?" The little girl, Malerie, nodded.

"Yup! While you were gone and working! It's still hot!" She bounced up and down in front of me "Let's go eat!" I chuckled and took the hand she grabbed me by and followed her into her home. I've been given hospitality and gratitude everywhere I go without even trying. I'll never get use to the kindness people throw at me, but I'm happy I get to see the smiles in people's faces when they do. I won't let Team Rocket take anymore of people's happiness away.

Even if I'm a girl with a incredible amount of luck, who survived a house fire unharmed, and rescued from my hell once speaking up about my problems, I want to grow to be worth being given so much kindness. Through a long and tough walk, I'll keep walking until I reach the end to find that happiness everyone deserves.