Red's POV

I stood outside a house. A house I was supposed to be outside. Professor Oak had told me to go to a man named Kurt, in the belief that I would deliver him the GS Ball.

Last year, I messed up real bad. I found the GS Ball in Rock Tunnel and delivered it to Oak using Lavender Town Pokecentre machine. Unfortunately, it was sent to Professor Ivy, who lived in Orange Islands.

Just to fix my mess, a trainer I already knew, Ash Ketchum, was sent to the Orange Islands to get it. Now, he delivered the GS Ball to Kurt a few days back.

I looked at the old unpleasant home. I remembered those old nineteenth century films in which the houses had almost the same appearance.

I walked to the front porch and rang the rusty bell and started to tap the wooden floor with my feet impatiently.

The wooden door of the one storey house was opened by a five year old girl.

Her face was light peach. She wore a cotton pink t-shirt with blue denim shorts. Her nicely combed hair were the color of a newly grown coconut.

She looked at me in surprise. She hurried out and took out her mobile from her pocket. 'Can I take a selfie with you ?'.

I hesitated, being famous was a real problem. Almost everyone I met knew me. No one knew Blue, only because he came second. Coming second was no big deal, if only I was second, my life would've been much better.

'Hello, I am looking for someone named Kurt', I said, looking at the name plate on the main door that said - Kurt.

'Oh', said the girl. 'Grandpa, the Indigo League Champion is here to meet you'.

It was too overwhelming for me that the girl knew who I was exactly. Moreover, Oak sent the GS Ball to an old man ? To do what exactly ?

What could an old man in a small house probably without any equipment do ?

'Send him in, Maisie', said the voice of the old man. The voice was commanding.

I walked inside the old house. I could figure that many generations had lived in the very house. But the house outlived them because of its concrete lifeless body. Some of the windows to my left were broken. The rest remained yellow and shady by time.

The floor was dark oak, with non-uniform polishing at places. The walls looked newly painted, but the paint could also be seen on floor near the walls.

If I ever entered the house at night. I wouldn't be coming out in one piece. Or maybe I won't be coming out at all, who knows ?

At my left was a parlor where an old man sat on a rocking chair. He smiled at my face as soon as I looked at him.

'Come on here, please take a seat', he said, gesturing his hand to a couch in front of him.

I walked to him and quietly sat on the couch. He looked at me, then at a table between me and him. I realized he wasn't looking at the table, he was infact looking at a box kept on that table.

'That box contains the mysterious Pokeball', said Kurt. 'Or the GS Ball as you call it'.

I crawled my fingers on the table towards the box. But Kurt blocked me and snatched the box away. He looked at me with trust.

'I am counting on you, kid. Keep the box safe, let no one touch it. Keep it away', said he. 'And do not open the box'.

I felt strange. I had a bad feeling about it. 'Why ? What is inside the ball ?'.

'Something you shouldn't know about', said Kurt. 'At any cost, do not set what's inside the Pokeball free'.

'I wouldn't I promise'.

Then something came to my mind. Why should I take such risk ? Waiting for myself to get back to Kanto and deliver it to Oak if I could just transfer it using the Pokecentre machine.

'Can't I transfer it to Professor Oak using the Pokecentre transferring system ?', I asked.

'Do not. Last year the systems were hacked. Oak believes that Team Rocket is still monitoring the transferring system', said Kurt. 'If we send this using the system, Team Rocket might steal it before it gets to Kanto'.

'I remember that, the systems were shut down by the government. I thought they figured out who it was', I said.

'Everyone thought that', said Kurt, he handed me the box. 'Only if you think you can keep it safe, then carry it'.

'I can', I said, taking the box from Kurt's hands and putting it safely into my bag.

'Okay, you must better get going. Team Rocket could be here any minute. I'll take care of them', said Kurt. 'Go !'.

I waved to Kurt and rushed outside the house. In a distance, I could see a Team Rocket member marching to the Kurt's house.

I looked here and there for any other way I could take to avoid the grunt. Then continued down from the opposite side.

I walked and walked untill I was near a forest. I started to work away when I bumped into someone.

'Red', said Ethan. 'I thought you ditched us'.

'No, I had to pick something for Professor Oak', I said, pulling up my socks.

'We won', said Lyra, overexcited. 'The gym battle against Bugsy'.

'Whoa. Congratulations. I'm really sorry I couldn't be there to see it', I said.

'It's okay', said Ethan.

'Finally, I have two badges. So what's next ?', asked Lyra.

'Goldenrod city ? But we have to go through the Ilex Forest first', said Ethan.

'Forest ? That sounds great, the last forest I went to was Viridian Forest. It was fun', I said, nostalgia hit me hard.

'So what are we waiting for let's continue', Sid Lyra, walking towards the forest.

The forest was not far. It was about two hundred meters away. And I could do anything to avoid Team Rocket, so I quickly started walking towards the forest.

'What's the matter ?', asked Ethan, curious. 'You look exhausted'.

'We gotta go, at least from here', I said. I continued towards the forest.

Ethan and Lyra walked after me without another word. They looked very eager to know the truth about why I was trying to get away from the place. Ethan began to say something but remained quiet.

'You going somewhere ? ', asked a familiar voice. 'I want to talk to you, Red'.

I looked to my left from where the voice came from. It was Silver, the trainer I met when I was in the League. He stole my Pokemon back then, but I wouldn't call it stealing.

Moreover, he was Giovanni's son. Giovanni asked me to tell him that he was proud of his son and that he wanted him to win the Pokemon League.

'Your dad', I began. 'Wanted me to tell you-'.

'I don't care what he said. He never supports me in anything, I don't talk about him at all. I wanted to tell you about his big plan'.

His big plan ? I knew Giovanni was planning on something but could it be that big that his own son would expose him ? But it's not a big deal anyways, he was against Team Rocket now.

'What about his big plan ?', I asked.

'Everything', said Silver, put his hands in his pockets and took support of a tree as a back rest. 'Everything you need to know'.

'Come on, Red. You really trust this guy ?', asked Ethan. 'Why would he share stuff about his dad anyways ?'.

'We can't risk letting him go like that. He stole a Pokemon from Professor Elm', said Lyra.

I couldn't say anything to both Lyra and Ethan. They were right. But Silver was right too. He was doing the right thing in a bad way. He couldn't choose the starter Pokemon because no one would let him as he was Giovanni's son. So he had to steal it. And I knew it was not right, but it was right in a way.

'Your dad asked me to tell you that he was proud of you and were doing the right thing', I said. 'That's all'.

'And yet he is Team Rocket's leader, in secret. He couldn't even tell that to me himself. I am his son. And now I don't even trust the guy anymore'.

'No, he's not Team Rocket's leader anymore. There's some kind of mistake. He is against Team Rocket with his new team called Rainbow Rocket'.

'That is totally incorrect. I think he's acting. And I also know he's acting under someone's orders. Everything he does is ordered by an unknown person'.

'Giovanni works under someone ?', asked Ethan. 'That's new'.

'I've never seen the person, nor I know what his goals are. But I do know of a crisis, which will be coming soon'.

'A crisis ? What are his plans ?', I asked, curious from top to bottom.

'I don't want to share some stuff. Not like this. But I do know he had a hard drive in which everything related to his plans was there'.

'A hard drive, where ?', I asked.

'Last time I knew, it was in his office, in Celadon City', said Silver.

Celadon City had a Team Rocket Hideout but it was way back. The hard drive could be anywhere by now, and who knows if Silver is just intentionally getting me against his father. I had to be sure.

I looked around. Ethan and Lyra looked at me in disappointed, as if they too were thinking what I was thinking. Silver was lying.

'I don't believe you. And who is this guy giving orders to Giovanni. Something doesn't add up. Why would Giovanni take orders form anybody ? And if he is, that means he's innocent', I explained.

'Okay, I get it. Don't believe me', Silver raged. 'Ahem, we can have a battle can we ?'.

'No. I didn't take any of my Pokemon to the Pokecentre. So, only one is left, that too in low health', I said, calm.

Silver calmed down. 'Then I better be get going, farewell. Sorry for trying to serve you the truth'.

Silver started to walk away. 'Truth ?', asked Ethan. 'Nothing you just said made sense'.

'My father's been working under that guy since five years. He even quit searching for that Mew's clone which fled years back in 1999', said Silver. 'The truth is that you don't even want to hear it'.

I had no choice but to believe Silver, his expressions were not fake. They were as real as he was. But still, things were not summing up, something wasn't right.

'You said, Giovanni is acting good ? Why would he do that ?', I asked.

'To get what he wants', said Silver.

'What ?', I asked.

'The Mewtwo. The clone made by Mew's DNA. He tried to steal it for himself 14 years ago, but it didn't end well. The Mewtwo ended up destroying the lab and injuring many scientists and even killing a few'.

'Oh my god', said Lyra. 'I can't believe that ever happened. And no one is even aware of that ?'.

'No, I hacked into his laptop and copied information for myself', said Silver. 'But now, you need that hard drive at any cost. Now, I better get going'.

Silver walked away without turning back. I was confused, just an oversight could reveal the truth. Who was telling the truth ? Whom should I believe ? Giovanni, the now-good person against Team Rocket ? Or his already-good son ? I had no choice.

'Uh, hey Red', said Ethan. 'I've been wanting to ask something'.

'What ?', I asked.

'What is that ?', asked Ethan, pointing at a wooden structure in the dense forest.

I walked to the structure, it resembled a Hokora, a small Japanese shrine used for worshipping the almighty. But it was oddly placed in the middle of a forest.

'It is a shrine, but why is it placed at such a place ?'. I turned to Ethan and Lyra.