Oof another fanfic. It's Pokèmon this time.
But this one is much more serious.
Team Phoenix is a new organization fixated entirely on releasing Pokèmon from captivity. But some know the brutal secret behind them. Ella is a ten-year-old trainer who accidentally stumbled upon their headquarters... with disastrous consequences.
Chapter One[]
"I choose... you," Ella said, picking up one of the three Pokèballs.
"Charmander. A good choice," the professor commented. "I trust you are ready?"
"I was born ready," Ella remarked. She knew it sounded cheesy, but she didn't care. At all. Taking her Pokèball in her hand, she ran her fingers across the smooth lining.
"You may go, then. Be careful out there."
Ella nodded.
She held out the Pokèball, gripping it tightly, and let it open.
Phoenix, Phoenix, she heard something whisper.
Ella sat up, bolt-upright, in her bed, almost knocking over the Bulbasaur figurine she had by her bed. She stared around. Her room was lined with Bulbasaur posters, Bulbasaur decorations, she even had a Bulbasaur lamp, which she promptly turned on. At the foot of her bed was a box that had a (duh) Bulbasaur icon on the top. It read 'Happy Birthday Ella!'.
She opened it. Inside was a pack of 5 Pokèballs and a card with a giant '10' on it. Ella smiled. She would look at it later, but first she had to go pick her first Pokèmon.
All around the world, children started training Pokèmon at age 10. And once they started their journey across the globe, they would accumulate more and more, filling out the Pokèdex and essentially becoming a Pokèmon master. That was, at least, the dream of every child. But Ella was determined to make it reality, one Pokèmon at a time... starting with a Bulbasaur.
She got dressed, quickly loading the Pokèballs onto her belt. She stared at herself in the mirror. Tool belt? Check. Bulbasaur hat? Check. Pollen resistant gloves? Check. She was good to go.
***
"You overslept!" her mother hissed.
Professor Cypress was a tall woman with short, brown hair. Ella had inherited that, but not much else. The professor' face was drawn into a tight scowl 99.9999999999% percent of the time, while Ella was almost always smiling. The proffesor had shallow gray eyes, which only appeared to have a soul behind them in tines of extreme rage. But rage was not a word to describe how she looked right now. Try livid instead.
"Are you kidding me? All the other kids from across town were here to choose their starters. I gave away almost all of them, including Bulbasaur."
"W-wh-what?" Ella stuttered.
"Look," Professor Cypress started. Her face softened. "I know you really wanted Bulbasaur. But, there are three left."
Three Pokèmon entered the room. One, a grass type, turned it's head away immediately.
"Don't mind Servine," Professor Cypress said, flashing a rare smile, "it's extremely grumpy."
"You mean he." Ella had taken careful notes on each of her mother's Pokèmon. She knew, at least, Servine wasn't in her top picks. Elegant and dashing and... just not like her at all. But what about the other starters?
She had two more choices. Second was Piplup, a water type. She splashed around playfully, completely aloof to the fact that she was a choice as a first Pokèmon. That was probably why she was one of the last three. Ella smiled politely and moved along.
She was shocked when she saw the third. "No one chose Charmander?"
"Nope," her mother confirmed. "Have you made up your mind?"
Ella's dream jolted back at her. Phoenix, a voice had whispered in her mind. Pheonix... fire? It made sense and all. Charmander was a Fire type. But why would someone compare a Charmander to a Phoenix?
Ella sighed, curious. She picked up one of the three Pokèballs on the table, and held it out until her arm was nice and rigid.
"I choose... ack!"
A Caterpie wormed around her feet, darting over the cool, smooth floor. Ella must've jumped back three feet.
"Ahhh! Caterpie!"
Proffessor Cypress sighed as Ella skittered around the room, terrified.
"Ack! Bug! Bug! Charmander, go get it!"
Charmander jumped into it's Pokèball, which emitted a hazy red glow just for a second. Ella sighed, before repeating:
"Charmander, get the Caterpie! Out, now."
Charmander slid out of the Pokèball. The glow returned, just for a second, not enough for Ella to notice.
"Charmander, flamethrower! Wait, do you have flamethrower?"
Professor Cypress casually tossed her a Pokèdex. "Good luck. Be careful out there."
"Will do!" Ella called as she rushed after the Caterpie.
Chapter Two[]
Ella sat down in the shade of a tree, exhausted. And all she had to show for her efforts was a Pokèdex with one Pokèmon's data in it.
"The Caterpie was not my fault, it was yours," Ella told Charmander.
Charmander chirped something that sounded suspiciously Ike a retort.
"Maybe I should work on my fear of bug types," she sighed in response. "If you knew Flamethrower, we totally could have caught that Starling. Or that Pidgey. Or that Rattata. Oh well, I guess we better get good with what we've got."
Something rustled in the bushes nearby.
Ella grabbed a Pokèball and stalked over to the shrubbery, finger to her lips. She tore the grass away with a jolt to find a chestnut brown, large-eyed Pokèmon covered in scrapes and bruises. "An Eevee?" Ella whispered. She couldn't believe her good luck.
She almost had Charmander knock it out, but something told her not to. Maybe it was the tears welling up in is eyes, or the way it held it's paw gingerly in the air, but Ella found she couldn't. Instead, she held her hand out and stroked it along the head, marvelling at the soft fur.
"What happened to you?" she asked the Eevee.
It whimpered softly. Ella stroked it again.
"It's okay," she said soothingly. "You're okay. I can help you."
The Eevee whimpered again, nuzzling Ella's arm.
"Aww, you're adorable. Who would hurt a Pokèmon as cute as you?"
In her other hand she had a Pokèball concealed. Whispering words of comfort, she brought her arm up to the Eevee and pressed it slowly against it's chest.
Beep.
The Pokèball swivelled once... twice.. thrice...
With a jolt, the Eevee broke free, and dashed towards the bushes. Ella groaned.
"I am not going to let an opportunity like this pass," she mimbked, seething.
She stormed through the bushes, Charmander at her heels. She stalked slowly and quietly towards where the Eevee was grooming itself next to a patch of flowers.
"Charmander, scratch!" she shouted.
Eevee bolted immediately, hissing. Charmander scratched again, dealing a lot of damage. Ella tossed the Pokèball at the injured Eevee. It hit it's chest head-on, reverberated once, twice, thrice... and stopped.
Ella exhaled, waited, and picked the Pokèball up. She let the Eevee out, sitting down to catch her breath.
"I caught... an Eevee? We, Charmander, sorry."
Eevee was an extremely rare Pokèmon, with a strange gene that let it evolve into onr of many different options, depending on special circumstances. Her mother would be extremely impressed with her so far. Ella took out her Pokèdex and pressed on the call option. (They do that in the undisclosed region this is set in.)
Ella's mother appeared on the screen, looking angry as usual. "What is it?"
"Guess what?"
"You caught a Caterpie. Bravo. Once you're done with it we can add it to the 34 we already have."
"Nope!" Ella picked up her Eevee and held it against the screen. It purred.