“Yes. No. I didn’t want to, but I’ve waited so long…yeah, it was wrong, but- hey, watch it! I got held back once because of you!” I growled into my Pokégear. When I’d discovered the Team Rocket base, I decided that it would be best to call someone and let them know. But obviously I couldn’t contact the police or they’d arrest me, and if I told my parents they’d probably hand me in as well. Falkner was a lost cause too, but that goes without saying. So I called the only person I could think of- my little sister, Samantha. Unfortunately, she had heard about my little incident, and I with all her complaining I hadn’t even been able to tell her about Team Rocket yet.

            “Don’t you pull that crap with me, Jared Skylar Wilson,” Sammy snorted from the other line. “It was your decision to stay and help me study.”

            “You would have failed Trainer’s School without my help!” I protested, becoming cross. I heard her laugh on the other end.

            “So you say. But what about Falkner? He would’ve been a great teacher, if you’d given him a chance.” There was a shadow of doubt in her voice.

            “Uh…no. You know that he was too busy being the fabulous new gym leader that year. In fact, he’s always busy. Challengers, parties, ceremonies…blah, blah, blah. That kind of boring stuff.” I replied.

            I could imagine Sammy rolling her eyes. “Please. He would’ve tried to make time for me, between all his ‘boring’ activities. I know you’re just jealous that he was chosen instead of you.” She sighed. In case you haven’t noticed, Sammy was the neutral in the family. Being the youngest at eleven years old, she hated watching Falkner and I get into fights, so she sided with both of us at once. Falkner was twenty-two, so there was a larger age gap between us than between Samantha and I. Therefore, I had a better bond with my sister, because we grew up together.

            “Salt in the wounds, Sammy, salt in the wounds.”

            “Oh, quit it. Salt in the wounds…ha! You haven’t heard half my comebacks, Jar-Bear. If this is salt, then I’ve got battery acid ready to pour in your eyes.” Samantha snorted.

            I winced at the disturbing analogy. “Um…no, the salt was plenty enough. But thanks anyway. Continuing on, as much as I enjoy chatting with my little sis, I did call you for a reason.”

            “Well, wait to be blunt about it,” She responded, but gave a resigned sigh. “Okay then, shoot.” So I begin telling her the story.

            “You…you wh-what? You were…how? I c-can’t believe that…how did it h-happen?” Samantha was noticeably choking back laughter, and she started coughing in her attempts to remain serious. “How big is it? L-like a foot tall…? Oh, forget it. Jared, you’re so brave!” Then she burst out laughing.

            I rolled my eyes. “Can you be serious, please? I just told you that I’m like, five miles away from a jackpot of criminal activity!” I said in exasperation.

            “Yeah, but th-then you made the mistake of t-telling me that an Ig-Igglybuff managed to b-beat you up!” Sammy giggled, hiccupping.

            “Only because you wanted to know why I said I couldn’t run very far.” I protested, becoming agitated.

            She cleared her throat and slowly calmed down. “Yeah…but still. You could’ve made an excuse.”

            I snorted. “I already stole a Pokémon; I don’t want to feel guilty about lying to my own sister, too…”

            “Those two things aren’t even on the same scale,” She retorted. “Now, tell me what you plan to do about this whole Team Rocket thing.”

            I opened, and then closed my mouth. To tell the truth, I didn’t know what I was going to do. I had not even the vaguest clue as to my next course of action. There was moment on silence, and then I sighed. “I…don’t know.” I admitted.  “I can’t call the police or they’ll arrest me, and I have no friends. I’m on my own.” The last sentence left my mouth without permission, and as I said it I knew it was true. Sammy was way too young to be involved in this kind of dangerous stuff, and I’d sooner jump off Mt.Silver than ask Falkner or my parents for help.

            “Well, aren’t you well prepared to be flouncing through Johto!” Samantha said sarcastically. Then she quieted down. “But honestly, if you knew what you’d be getting into when you stole a Pokémon, then you probably should have thought about these kinds of situations.” She pointed out.

            “Yeah, I know,” I replied tiredly, running a hand through my black hair and leaning back against yet another tree. “It was a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. But that’s getting off topic- can you please tell dad or mom what’s going on, without letting them know that I’m the one who discovered it?” I pleaded.

            I heard Sammy hesitate on the other end. “I’ll try,” She said at last. “But no promises. It may sound a bit suspicious unless I actually go to Newbark Town, and I’m definitely not doing that. Sorry bro, but risking my life was not part of the deal with I was born with an older brother.”

            “Older brothers, plural.” I corrected her. “Although if you mean that you’re disowning Falkner, by all means use the singular tense.”

            Sammy snorted. “Sorry, but keep dreaming. You may not like him but I’d rather not be kicked out of the house.” I heard voices in the background and Samantha gasped. “I’ve got to go, mom and dad are home. I’ll try to tell them…bye! And good luck!” There was a click, and she hung up. I sighed and tossed the Pokégear onto my backpack, which rested on the ground near the tree.

            Glancing down at the Igglybuff in my lap, I began to think. She needed a name. If I was stuck with the little devil, I at least wanted something to call her. What if I got in a battle with another Trainer’s Igglybuff? That could get confusing without nicknames. Or…people might think badly of me because I didn’t give her a name.

            Yeah, no. I was trying to make rational excuses, but truthfully I kind of liked the Igglybuff when she wasn’t trying to kill me.

            “Igglybuff…” She murmured in her sleep. I sighed and looked down at her. I was not going to even attempt to get up until she was awake. This thing was a ticking bomb, and I didn’t want to set it off. So instead I began brainstorming names for my new companion.

            After making a list of stupid girly pink names in my head, I mentally crumpled it up and tossed it into the garbage bin. Igglybuff, Jigglypuff, Wigglytuff. Those were the evolutions she would go through. What did all of them have in common? I squeezed my eyes shut and thought hard. Casting aside physical features, I realized that all of them had double Gs in them. Gg…Gigi!

            Still girly and stupid, but probably my best option. I sighed and made a mental note to start calling her that. But, in the meantime, I needed to decide where to go next.

            Cherrygrove? Out of the question. Back to Newbark Town? Not the best idea. Violet City? If it’s Falkner’s day off when I get there. But I couldn’t just travel in the woods until the media forgot about the ‘hooligan Pokémon stealer.’ I was already running low on food and I really, really didn’t want to get beaten up again. So what could I do?

            Suddenly, an idea came over me and I smirked. Perfect. Gigi yawned and began to wake up. Good, I thought. Right on time.

            “Ig, Ig, Iggy!” Gigi sang happily. Once again, she was riding on my head. I didn’t want to try putting her in the Pokéball- I wasn’t sure how she’d react. So she just sat and tugged on my hair while I walked. At some point between all the running, I’d gotten closer to the paths, and far to my left I could see the lights lining the trail, though it was hard to make them out because of the sunlight. Keeping an eye on them, I snuck through the woods towards Cherrygrove. I was getting close now- there were more lights and I could vaguely hear the din of people going on with their daily lives.

            I glanced up at Gigi and smirked. “Do you like cookies? Those yummy things you ate this morning?” Gigi stopped singing and nodded fiercely, her eyes growing wide. I grinned even wider. “Well, I know a place where you can get cookies and other yummy things too. Do you want to go there?”

            “Igglybuff!” She squealed.

            “Well, you can go and get lots of food. But you have to go alone, and run fast, okay?” I asked. Gigi nodded once more.

            “Iggy-buff.”

            I walked for another ten minutes before coming to Cherrygrove. I hid in the tree line around the city for a few minutes, and slowly made my way around so that if I left the forest I’d be close to the Pokémart. I crouched on the ground and, taking Gigi off my head, I began to talk to her. “See that building with the blue roof? There is a lot of food and yummy stuff in there. If you get a bunch of food and some circular red and white things, you can have as many cookies as you want.”

            “Ig, Igglybuff!” Gigi exclaimed, bouncing up and down excitedly. I patted her on the head.

            “Alright, have fun!” I said, and nudged her forward. She immediately raced out the trees and made a beeline for the Pokémart, shouting happily all the way. I chuckled and climbed a tree to get a better view of the building.

            Through the trees, I saw people jump out of the way as my Igglybuff barreled past them and burst into the open door of the Pokémart. Everything was quiet for a few minutes while Gigi was probably wandering through the Mart. In that time, I mostly watched Pidgeot fly overhead. I was leaning towards one of the bird Pokémon to touch it, when I heard an alarm sound from the town. I jumped backed and had to grip the branch to keep from falling, while the Pidgeot let out a warning call and took wing. I blinked in shock, my heart racing. Still clinging to the branch, I managed to turn around and watched scene unfolding in the town below.

            I heard shouting and the sounds of glass breaking coming from the Pokémart, and saw some people give confused glances at it before dragging their children away. Other people stopped and stared. Within moments, Gigi crashed through the glass door and ran through the streets, carrying a few boxes of food- presumably cookies- and Pokéballs. I did a fist pump in the air. My Pokémon was insane, but very smart.

            But approximately five seconds later, the store manager skidded out of the Mart and began to chase Gigi. I felt the smile drop from my face and I clawed at the branch. If I go into to the town, I’m totally screwed. I can’t go and help her. But if they catch an Igglybuff stealing, what would they do? Actually, probably nothing. I bet they’ve never had anything like this happen before. They’ll just assume it’s hungry and give it to Professor Elm to find a responsible owner. Elm probably has these things chipped though, and besides that he can piece one and two together. Then I’ll have even more charges added on. Let’s count the list, shall we? Stealing a Pokémon, stealing food, not reporting criminal activity, being irresponsible with my Pokémon. In a place where crime in almost nonexistent, I’m probably going to be the shame of Johto for all my life, which will be spent in jail.

            But while I was starting to panic- admittedly more for my own safety than hers- Gigi didn’t seem to care that, by now, three citizens and the store manager were tailgating her. Though my vision wasn’t great from the tree, and she looked like a pink blob, I could hear her laughing happily, along with her occasional cries of ‘Igglybuff!’ I leaned forward, trying to get a better look, but all I saw was the store manager try to grab her. She just took something she was carrying and chucked it at him. I had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing and alerting my position. Maybe I’d get along with my demonic companion after all.

            The store manager screeched as the item flew at his face and he tripped over his own blue apron. The other people with him stopped short and went to check on him, while Gigi rocketed into the bushes. From the look on their faces, I could tell that they knew they’d never be able to catch up to her. I grinned, but was my glee was cut short when I heard a heart broken cry from below.

            “Iggy…?” Glancing down, I saw Gigi looking around sadly, wondering where I’d gone. Then, she started to cry. My eyes widened as about a thousand different scenarios flashed through my mind. The townspeople might hear her crying and come find her; a wild Pokémon might sense weak prey and attack; I’d get beaten up again unless I calmed her down A.S.A.P.

            I scrambled to the trunk of the tree and reached my foot down to step down onto the next branch, but when I struck out my shoe fell off. “Ah, crap.” I muttered. The shoe fell and landed next to Gigi, who looked up and beamed.

           “Igglybuff!” She exclaimed, bouncing happily. I winced, realizing that her shouts of joy were just as bad as the crying.

            “Shh,” I said nervously. “Quiet down!” But, not heeding my warning, she kept crying happily.

            “Iggly, buff buff!” She squeaked. I sighed and decided I’d just have to climb down before she’d be quiet. So I let go with one arm and stretched my foot out…only to find that I couldn’t reach the branch below me. All the breath left my body. Crap.

            I scrabbled to hang on to the tree, but I had assumed that I would land on a branch, so my arm didn’t have a very good grip. Within seconds, I was free-falling.

            “Iggly?” I heard Gigi say from the ground. I started to scream and desperately tried to grab branches on my way down like in the movies. Of course, that didn’t work, and I crashed into the ground with a sickening thump. My Igglybuff wandered over and whispered, “Igglybuff?” But I ignored her and moaned in pain. I was sore from the beating I’d received, and this was only adding onto my misery. Raising my head, I looked past my worried Pokémon and crawled to the bushes lining the edge of town.            

            People were murmuring and pointing to my area of the forest, and it wasn’t hard to guess that they’d heard my screaming and the sound of the impact. My eyes widened and I scrambled backwards. Uh-oh. I had to get out there before someone decided to check out what the noise was.

            I shakily stood up, but when I put weight on my right ankle, I had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming again. I stumbled on fell over again with a groan. I knew that I couldn’t stay there, though, and stuffed the food in my bag, before starting to claw my way through the forest. Yeah, because that’s totally going to be effective. Oh well, it’s worth a shot. Gigi walked next to me, occasionally prodding my head. But suddenly she turned around and squeaked.

            “Iggy-buff! Iggly!” I craned my neck around to see someone walking towards me, looking around in confusion. Then the man’s gaze landed on me and his eyes widened.

            “Hey, I found what made the noise! It’s that Wilson kid, he’s here!” The man made a move towards me, and I was sent into overdrive. Hauling myself off the ground and grabbing Gigi, I began hop-running the hell away from Cherrygrove. The man was right behind me, and shouting for me to calm down and stop.

            They probably just wanted to help my ankle and persuade me to give Gigi back, and treat me like a confused child, but when you’re panicking you don’t see the good in people. Instead of him crying, ‘Wait! You need medical help, kid!’, I heard ‘Better run, little boy, you don’t want me to catch you!’ And so run I did.

            The man, realizing that going after me would only make me run faster and hurt myself, gave up chase and headed back to town for back-up. I slowed down and began to limp in a random direction, feeling like my life was stuck on repeat. I ran until my ribs started hurting with each step, and I knew that I would have to stop soon. Except this time, I didn’t sit down and calmly wait until I could breathe.

            I passed out.