“Since you two clearly need money if you’re traveling alone, I’m going to give you a little. Oh, and here’s the Hive Badge, Jack.” Bugsy handed me a pile of bills, as well as the flat circular piece of metal. It looked kind of like a Ledyba, with black dots on the red surface.

            “Thanks, Bugsy.” I said gratefully. In a single day I’d already become friends with two people. Granted, one of them had saved me from a Zubat bite, but still. “I really appreciate it.”

            Bugsy shrugged. “Have you any idea how much money I get? Every other day someone comes in completely unprepared for my Scyther. And you definitely earned that badge. It was the best battle I’ve had in a long time.”

            I smiled and looked up at Gigi. After dinner we’d gotten our Pokémon back, and Gigi was healthy as always. My Smeargle had already taken a liking to the name Romeo, and I figured I might as well call him that. Especially since he’d made googly eyes at Gigi a number of times already. I think my Pokémon is a player…

            “Jack, we should probably get a room for the night.” Luna commented. I nodded in agreement. It had been an exhausting day. She frowned. “Make that ‘rooms,’ plural.” I heard Bugsy snicker. Great, now I have a Pokémon and a person trying to be matchmaker.

            “Yeah, I don’t want a repeat of last time.” I said, remembering how Luna and I had met. I really didn’t want another backpack to the face.

            “Well, I’d better get back to gym, so I’ll leave you lovebirds be. Good luck with your journey. It was nice to meet you!” Bugsy said, walking away.

            “We aren’t in love!” Luna and I shouted in unison. Bugsy just waved back at us and continued down the street.

            Romeo waved his tail in farewell, but Gigi was more concerned about rooting through my bag for cookies. She had become an expert on unzipping my backpack and opening cookie packages, and her record was thirty seconds. She didn’t quite beat it this time, but she was delighted to stuff her face with cookies nonetheless.

            We rented two rooms and headed upstairs to sleep. But it was still early, and the sun hadn’t even finished setting, so I decided to drop my stuff off and go for a walk. Luna went to her room, saying she wanted to read a book her brother had sent her. I wonder what kind of book Falkner would send me. Maybe 101 Ways to Die.

            I tossed my bag onto the bed after getting Gigi’s Pokéball from it in case she got hurt. I knew she wouldn’t want to be left in the room without me, and since being healed, she hadn’t moved from her spot on my head. I think she considered me her personal transportation machine.

            “Romeo, are you coming?” I turned to see my Smeargle painting the walls with his green-tipped tail. “Guess not.” I walked out of the room and locked the room, hoping that the paint was washable. Gigi seemed happy to be going on an adventure, and she bounced joyfully on my head as I walked out of the building into the crisp fall air. The light from sunset was slowly dimming, so I hurried the pace. I had less than an hour before dark, and I didn’t want to be taken away by a Pokémon for real.

            I debated going to Ilex Forest, but decided against it. I probably shouldn’t go into the woods right before dark. So instead, I headed back towards the Slowpoke Well, where Luna dragged me after I was bitten.

            No Slowpoke were lounging around the well right now. I guessed that they must go inside the well or something at nighttime. Gigi seemed cautious at first for some reason, but when nothing happened she calmed down and made squealing noises at the chirping of Kricketot. I spotted a big tree near the well, and leaned against it. For a tree, it was surprisingly comfortable. I put a leg up on the trunk and shoved my hands in pockets, resting blissfully in the silence. Leaves drifted down from the tree and other trees surrounding it, reminding me that it would soon be fall, and then winter. I shivered at the thought of traveling in the cold.

            I stayed there a long time, nearly a half hour, just listening to the sounds of the darkening forest, with Gigi falling asleep on my head. It was peaceful. I didn’t usually just look and listen; I was always on the move, even at home. I used to hike around the woods, or go to the Ruins nearly every day to keep myself occupied until I got my first Pokémon. It became increasingly harder to be patient in more recent years, and…well, you know what happened next. But now I was happy that I’d done such a stupid thing. I had Gigi and Romeo, and two new human friends as well. I never would’ve dreamed that I’d make friends this easily before. But I guess the whole fake identity thing was changing my personality as well- in a good way. I’m usually closed off and unfriendly, and quite frankly pretty rude. I only had one good friend- Reid, a boy I grew up with. And he’d left two years ago on his journey. That was when I really started to crack. I stopped being the sweet little boy my parents knew so well, and became a scowling, arrogant jerk. At the time, I hadn’t even felt guilty for stealing a Pokémon. Now I don’t really feel that bad anyways, but mostly because no one seemed to care that she went missing as well as I did.

            A scuffle, and the sound of a curse, brought me out of my thoughts. I opened my eyes and looked around, hearing more sounds. I think the noises were coming from…the well? Abruptly, the noises stopped. Then a few seconds later, a pair of feet broke into a run, and I stepped away from the tree. I had been leaning on the tree, facing away from the well. Now I looked around the side of the tree, towards the well. It had become almost completely dark in the time that I’d been thinking, and it was hard to make out the shape of the stones in the dip in the ground.

            I didn’t see anything at first, but then I thought I saw something to the right of the well, creeping along the edge of the tree line. Then it disappeared into the trees, and I blinked. Wondering if it had been my imagination, I made a move towards the well, only to hear more noises- twigs snapping. This time the sounds were coming from somewhere behind the tree; behind me.

            I whirled around, hearing Gigi cry out in fear. A shadow was racing towards me- no, a person. They were nothing but a black blur in the dark of the evening, and I screamed like a girl at the sight of something coming at me. I stumbled backwards, realizing as it came closer that it was a human. But by the time I came to that brilliant conclusion, they were already tackling me to the ground.

            “Hey!” I screeched, feeling myself be slammed roughly into the ground. “Who are you? What do you want? I don’t have any money!” Well, that was half true. I’d left all my savings in the room.

            The person- I think it was a man- hit me across the face. “Silence!” They shouted. Now I could tell it was a male. Not that it mattered; regardless I was pretty much as good as dead. I reflexively brought my hands up to my face to shield myself from further harm, but the man no longer seemed interested in me. He shoved me to the side and reached for Gigi, who had fallen off my head when I’d be tackled. That was when I noticed the huge red R on his shirt.

            “No!” I cried, scrambling to my feet and grabbing the man’s leg. I knew now what was happening. This guy didn’t care about money or valuables. He wanted my Pokémon.

            He hissed and kicked his leg, trying to shake me off. “Quit it, kid! You’re not worth my time or effort.” I clutched his leg desperately as he grabbed hold of Gigi. If he got up now, he’d take off and I’d never catch him.

            “Let her go!” I shouted, holding him down by his foot. I was still on the ground myself; but not for long. I stood up and accidentally let go of his leg. The man started to struggle to his feet, but I tackled him from behind, effectively pushing him back to the ground. Now I had the upper hand, and I made a grab at Gigi, only for the man to push me off and stand up. I stumbled to my feet, panic flaring in my chest as he stooped to pick up Gigi. I ran at him, but he was prepared. He abandoned my Igglybuff and whirled around, ready to face me.

            I swung at him, but he ducked to avoid the punch and locked his hands around my neck. I shrieked, but the sound was cut off as he squeezed my throat and slammed me back against the tree. I struggled to get free, clawing at his arms as he held me against the trunk of the oak. A sneer appeared on his lips as my vision began to fade. Every passing second it hurt more and more. I could tell I needed to get air soon, or I would die. Gigi shrieked worriedly, and everything started to dim. It was like the Zubat bite, but this time I couldn’t get any oxygen at all. I stopped struggling and closed my eyes.

            Suddenly the man shouted in pain, and dropped me. I felt cool air rush into my lungs as a lay weakly on the ground next to the tree. “You little monster!” He was shouting at Gigi. “Using pound on me. I’ll show you! Just wait until the boss hears about this…” Vaguely, I heard Gigi wail, and the man scowled. “He’s dead…won’t be any trouble from that one.” He must’ve picked up Gigi, because I heard her crying slowly fade. I cracked open my eyes in time to see the Team Rocket person disappear into the Slowpoke Well with Gigi.

            I whimpered, and held back a scream. My throat hurt, and I was weak all around, but mostly I felt utterly hopeless. Team Rocket had stolen my Igglybuff! Gigi…what would they do to her? Would they torture her, or kill her? Force her to battle for them? I felt a tear trickle down my cheek. Why did I have to be such a weak fool? She was gone and it was all my fault! I should’ve been able to stop the man, but I couldn’t. And now she’d be the one to pay the price.

            I took deep breaths and tried not to panic as I stumbled to my feet. I had to save her- but I couldn’t on my own. I would need help.

            “Luna!” I shouted, my voice hoarse. “Luna, wake up! Help me, please!” I pounded on the door to her room desperately. I heard shouts of complaint from other Trainers in the building that were trying to sleep. It seemed like I was attracting attention from everyone except Luna. “Come on, I know you have a tendency to lock me out, but I really need you to open the door this time!” I pleaded.

            “Oh, I’ll open up alright!” Someone shouted. A door down the hall was flung open, and someone threw a shoe at my head before slamming the door shut. It hit my temple hard and I cried out, falling to the ground. I still felt like crap from nearly being choked to death. I sat on the floor and cried silently, leaning against the door to Luna’s room.

            A few moments later, the door disappeared I fell into Luna’s room. She stood over me in the doorway, scowling. “What do you want, Jack? It’s nine at night, and we have to be on the road early tomorrow if we’re going to make it through Ilex Forest by nightfall!” Luna snapped.

            “Luna, you have to help me.” I begged, grabbing at her ankle in desperation. “Please!” I was sprawled on the ground, half in Luna’s room, and half in the hallway. She started to kick me off of her, but stopped when she noticed the tears on my face.

            “What happened?” She asked, in a much softer tone. “Did you get yourself hurt again? Jack, you shouldn’t be prancing around carelessly-”

            “No, it’s nothing like that.” I said, sitting up and wiping the tears from face. “It’s Gigi. She-she’s been stolen.”

            “Stolen?” Luna asked incredulously. “How?”

            I glanced around to make sure that everyone had gone back to their rooms. “Team Rocket,” I whispered.

            Luna gasped. “You’re kidding me, right? You can’t be serious.” She looked really concerned, which I took as a bad sign.

            “No.” I said sadly. “I-I went for a walk, and someone with a Team Rocket outfit tackled me and stole Gigi.” I touched my neck carefully, and Luna’s gaze flicked to my throat. Her eyes widened.

            “Jack! Were you…did the person choke you?”

            I nodded, and Luna pried my hands away to inspect the marks. “You could’ve died,” She whispered. I looked at my feet. “Your neck is going to be permanently damaged if you keep this up,” Luna said, dropping her hands. I only sighed.

            She walked over to her bed and nudged her Umbreon, which was curled up on her pillow, asleep. “Wake up, Darky.” She mumbled, grabbing her backpack off of the nightstand provided for the room. The Umbreon stretched, slowly waking up. Meanwhile, Luna pulled another Pokéball from her bag and tossed it. A Vulpix came out, and she picked her up. I watched quietly, and Luna turned back to me with her Umbreon, Darky, on her shoulder. My head felt bare without Gigi on it…

            “Jack, if you want any chance of getting her back, don’t dawdle.” Luna chided softly. I nodded and stumbled to my room, Luna trailing behind. When I arrived and unlocked the door, one entire wall was covered in green paint. Luna groaned, but I hardly cared.

            “Romeo!” I croaked, grasping my throat. “Where are you?” My Smeargle poked his head out from the closet. I didn’t even want to know what he was doing in there. I ran forward and picked him up, grateful that he was still there. Romeo looked around in confusion, searching for Gigi.

            “She’s not here,” I told him quietly, as he settled himself on my shoulder. I crossed the room and picked up my backpack- I doubted I’d need it, but it’s always good to be prepared.

            Romeo still seemed confused, but I didn’t dwell on it. Luna was right- I’d have to hurry. They might be killing Gigi right now! The thought made me panic, and I knocked over a wooden chair in my haste to get out of the room.“Let’s go,” Luna said. I nodded, and we raced out of the building.

            I rushed through the streets of Azalea Town, grateful that the citizens were mostly asleep. Two teenagers running full speed in the middle of the night might raise a few questions if we’d been seen. “So,” Luna said, holding tightly to her Vulpix as she ran. “Do you have any clue where the guy went?”

            “Yeah,” I replied, feeling Romeo cling to my head so he wouldn’t fall off. “It’s going to sound weird, but…he went into the Slowpoke Well.”

            “What?” Luna asked, slowing slightly as she glanced at me. “Why would he do that? I can’t imagine what Team Rocket would want with Slowpoke Well.” Her Umbreon looked at me, sitting calmly on Luna’s shoulder despite the fact that she was running as fast as she could.

            “I don’t know either,” I sighed. “But at least I have a lead.” She nodded in agreement as we left the town behind.

            We reached Slowpoke Well quickly, and I gazed down into the depths of the dark hole. “Creepy,” Luna muttered, echoing my thoughts. Romeo sniffed the air and made a sound. I think he smelled Gigi, or something like that. At least it meant we were going in the right direction. I spotted a dangerous-looking ladder leading down into the bottom of the dried well. I glanced at Luna worriedly and stepped onto the first rung. “Careful!” She said, eyeing the rickety ladder nervously.

            “I will be,” I mumbled, risking a glance downwards. I immediately returned my gaze to my hands and took a deep breath, focusing on moving one rung at a time. It was a really long fall- I couldn’t even see the bottom of the well. Part of that might’ve been the shadows' doing, but still.

            Once I was down a little ways, with Romeo clinging to my back, I saw Luna put her Vulpix in her bag and start to climb down after me. Darky still balanced on her shoulder easily. I seemed like a very long time before my feet hit the bottom rung, and I stepped off the ladder. While I waited for Luna to reach the bottom, I looked around. Stone tunnels led off in multiple directions, yet not a single Slowpoke was in sight. Which brought about another question- how did the pink Pokémon get down here in the first place?

            Luna landed next to me and her Vulpix popped it’s head out of the bag. “You ready?” Luna asked.

            I nodded. “Might as well be.” I chose a random tunnel and headed into it. At first, we walked through a plain stone hallway that got darker and darker as we continued down it. But after a while, a light shone at the end of the tunnel, and we crept more slowly and quietly. No one had noticed yet, but what if there were people in the chamber ahead?

            Cautiously, we entered the room the light was emitting from. There was no door, so we walked right in, and gasped. It was high tech- filled with equipment and white washed walls. It looked like a normal room in a laboratory, or research facility. Stone had been replaced with metal and tile, and computers lined the walls. My stomach clenched as I gazed around the room. It was void of life for now, but it was clear that this place had been years in the making. No wonder the man who’d taken Gigi had gone here- this was a base.

            “Whoa,” Luna whispered. “This is…”

            “Impressive,” I finished, gawking. Now I knew I was in trouble. How many people were here? Surely they wouldn’t leave a place like this unattended. There were other rooms leading off from this one. They could hold anything from people to Pokémon to weapons of mass destruction, knowing Team Rocket. I shuddered.

            “Help!” I heard a vaguely familiar voice cry. Luna and I looked at each other, eyes wide. Team Rocket was capturing people now, too? That’s what it sounded like. I listened carefully, and heard the plea again. It was coming from another hallway off to my left. Without waiting for Luna, I took off.

            “Wait for me!” She exclaimed, running after me. I was surprised we hadn’t alerted anyone that we were here yet, which was what worried me. It seemed almost too quiet- like we had already been spotted, and they were just waiting for our guard to be down.

            I ran down the hallway. This one hadn’t been left alone, disguised as an ordinary tunnel. This one had metals walls like I’d seen in the previous room, and the base in the woods near Cherrygrove. My backpack swung back and forth, occasionally clanging against the walls as I ran. Romeo clung to my back for dear life as I thundered down the hallway. Luna and I shared a glance, and put our Pokémon into their Pokéballs. Team Rocket could be pretty ruthless when it came to hurting Pokémon, and we didn't want to use them unless absolutely necessary. The cries of help were getting louder, and as I burst into a room I recognized the sound.

            Shackled, deprived of his Pokémon, and hunched over in defeat, was none other than my brother Falkner. He looked up hopefully from his spot on the stone and gasped when he saw me. I stuttered to say something, or even move, but it was like I was paralyzed.

            His blue hair was dirty and knotted, proving he’d either been beaten up or stuck in this place for a while. But a black eye rather than prominent ribs pointed to the former.

            “Leave.” He whispered. “They’re coming. Leave!”

            I didn’t understand. Did Falkner just put my welfare above his? Luna glanced between us in confusion, but I stayed rooted in place, staring at the man who’d ruined my life.

            “Didn’t you hear me? I said get out of here!” Falkner was shrieking now. “Hurry up, go! You’ll be caught!”

            I opened my mouth to say something, but laughter interrupted me, and Falkner’s eyes dilated in fear. I turned slowly to see a somewhat familiar man with his hand covering Luna’s mouth. “Trying to play hero, child?” He looked me up and down. “You’re in no condition to rescue anyone, not even yourself.” His eyes lingered on my throat, where finger and bite marks decorated my skin.

            Luna struggled to get out of his grasp, her eyes narrowed as she tried to scream at her captor. Her voice was muffled, and he hit her over head with his free hand. I growled, clenching a fist. “Let her go!” I demanded. The man laughed, and I struggled to remember him. Who was he? The one that took Gigi?

            “Are you going to stop me, boy?” He challenged. I rolled up my already short sleeve, fully prepared to go at him. He sneered. “Good luck, then. I have an entire organization on my side.” An entire organization? I paused, unclenching my fist as the realization sunk in. Now I knew why he was so familiar- I’d seen him on TV many times. The man that had captured my brother and restrained Luna was Giovanni, leader of the evil Team Rocket.

            Dear Arceus, I am totally screwed.