Velvet

**PotofAwesome** · 04-15-12

The blast roared in Velvet's ears, and she hurtled into space. She wanted to
stay on the ground, but she knew she must keep moving. So she did. Pushing
herself up, she staggered to her feet. Soot was smeared on her face, and her
hair was bedraggled. She grinned wolfishly as she sped away. Perfect.

She didn't even look back at the ruined Pokemon Center. She smelled the
smoke, and she felt the heat in the air. It was a glorious night. She felt
the singed Poke Balls clipped to her belt. The boss would certainly
appreciate this. Her smile deepened, and her narrow red eyes flashed. She
disappeared into the shadows.

Saffron City 8:00 A.M.

It was all over television. The smoking ruins of the Saffron City Pokemon
Center. Blown to bits by a massive explosion. Every channel. Nurse Joy, two
Chansey nurses, fifty Pokemon, killed. Five Pokemon trainers, seriously
injured. Six Pokemon missing. No trace of the perpetrator. City in an
uproar.

Raine stared at the television in disbelief. She had just left the city
three days ago; she was staying in neighboring Celadon City, where she
thought she'd get her next gym badge. “It's a good thing I'm staying here in
the hotel, and not the Pokemon Center. Who KNOWS where they'll strike next!”

“Talking to yourself again?” a voice said from the doorway. Raine glanced
over.

“Yeah, have you seen the news?” she replied.

The young man smiled at her. The intensity of it almost made Raine blush.
“Yes, I saw what happened with the Pokemon Center. You're worried about it,
aren't you?”

Raine frowned. “Well, aren't you?”

“I don't worry about much,” he sighed. “It is really sad, though. Who could
do something like that?”

“Maybe...it was Team Rocket!” Raine speculated.

The man shook his head. “No, they haven't been seen in a long time. I don't
think they even exist anymore.”

Raine fell silent. 'Of course! Everybody says that!' she thought. 'I can't
believe I said something so stupid! He probably thinks I'm a moron...' she
thought. She glanced over at him, and she saw that he wasn't even looking at
her anymore. 'Look at him! All that dark hair, and those blue eyes...' she
thought dreamily.

Suddenly, he turned and looked at her. He looked self conscious. “What?”

Raine's heart started pounding in her chest. “Huh? It's nothing, Robert!
Don't worry about it, okay?”

Robert still had that self conscious look, but he said, “Okay, so...am I
still going with you to the gym?”

Raine nodded. 'THAT was sooo awkward' she thought.

**PotofAwesome** · 04-15-12

Velvet smiled to herself. It was amazing to see her work on the news. She
knew she was the best Team Rocket Executive that Giovanni had ever had.
Everything had gone incredibly smoothly, and still no one knew that Team
Rocket had revived. As long as she kept this up, she knew she was in no
danger of losing her coveted status in the organization. Her newest orders
had been given to her now, and she was ready to pull off this new job; it
would be the most challenging yet, and it excited her.

“Are you alright?” her thoughts were interrupted by her friend, Danielle, who
was eating breakfast with her at Celadon Cafe.

Velvet looked up at Danielle, a sparkle in her shocking red eyes. She smiled,
and her face became the picture of a fox. Her gold-white mane fell about her
face, making her appear even more unsettling. “Why, whatever do you mean,
Danielle?”

“Sometimes you freak me out!” Danielle whined.

Velvet laughed sonorously. “That's why you love me, isn't it? I have to go.”

“Ooookay, whatever! You owe me like eleven dollars, though!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know Danielle,” Velvet said, brushing her off as she got up.

Velvet's mind was already calculating her next move. Her orders were clear,
but the way the job was carried out was completely up to her. She slipped
into the Pokemon Center and into the restroom. She pulled off her over shirt,
and underneath was her executive rocket uniform shirt. Then, she slipped on
her gloves. Then, she put her hair up so that it wouldn't get in the way. She
was already wearing her uniform pants and boots. She admired herself in the
restroom for a few fleeting moments, and then she slipped out the back
window. 'The security sucks in these Pokemon Centers' she thought laughingly
to herself.

As quiet as a shadow, she made her way to the Celadon City Pokemon Gym.
'Hello, Erika!' she thought.
Raine gasped as the boom shook the ground. She saw the building go up in
flames, but she barely believed her eyes. Suddenly, she felt faint, and
before she knew it Robert was holding her up. In the roar of chaos, she
thought she was dreaming about the shadowy figure slipping away from the
scene. It looked like two people, but Raine couldn't really be sure. In the
hum of people rushing about, the sirens blaring, the reporters swarming, she
couldn't tell what was real. She found herself pulling away from Robert, and
wandering toward the shape. Robert tried to keep up, but he was lost in the
swarm of people. Raine pressed forward, until she was almost certain she was
headed in the direction of the shadow.
Then she felt it.
There was a familiar connection in the air, a mental link that Raine would
never forget, nor let go of. With everything inside of her, she reached out,
she screamed out. Desperately she followed her feeling until she came upon a
tunnel. Blindly she ran, deeper and deeper into the cold darkness she flew.
She knew nothing of her surroundings, the only thing in Raine's existence was
that feeling, that inexplicable connection from the past, beckoning her ever
forward. Finally, she could run no more, and she fell to her knees.
“Velvet!” she gasped. “Here you are...finally...”

**PotofAwesome** · 04-15-12

And there she was, standing with two executive Rockets, hair singed, Erika
lying unconscious at her feet, a horrified expression on her fox like face.
She stared at her assistants in confusion.
“I...I don't know who she is!” she claimed. “What...?”

Raine looked up, and stared balefully at Velvet. “You don't know me, Velvet?
It's no surprise. But, I do know you. Look at me!”

Velvet shook her head. “I swear to you, I've never seen her before!” she
shrieked at her two assistants.

Raine's eyes flashed. “Four years ago, I found you Velvet. I was living on
Cinnabar Island with my grandparents. They told me never to go into the old
mansion alone, but...I always wondered why. I loved a mystery, and it grew to
be too much for me. The mansion was so old, and creepy...I almost didn't
explore it. But I decided to press on, and when I did, I found the place was
full of old books. They were mostly research books, and I was fascinated by
them. They talked about a man made Pokemon, called “Mewtwo”. I kept going
back to the old mansion every day, looking for more books about this strange
Pokemon. It wasn't long until I learned that this creature was the product of
Team Rocket, and a monster. Then...I found out the biggest secret I wasn't
supposed to know. I had already searched out every upper floor of the
mansion, so I decided it was time I looked in the basement. There was an
entire laboratory hidden there. It was full of test tubes, creepy creatures
behind glass, all that stuff you see in the movies. And that's where I found
you, Velvet. You were hidden in the very back, in a cage. You looked so sad.
I didn't know what they were doing to you, but I knew you didn't want to be
there. I took you Velvet. You were my first Pokemon. My grandparents had no
idea how I got you, but after no one responded to the lost Pokemon add they
put up, they allowed me to keep you. I loved you, and you helped me in many
battles, but then...you wanted me to use a fire stone to help you evolve. You
were gorgeous! I spent many hours that day brushing your fur. I didn't even
put you back in your Poke Ball that night. I couldn't bring myself to it. You
slept beside me. And then...the next day...you were gone. I searched for you
for so long...heck, I still had hope you would come back to me up until now.
But now I see what they did to you, Velvet. I am so, so sorry...”

Velvet stared at the pitiful girl in front of her. 'She's got to be
insane...?' she thought to herself. 'Right?' Velvet racked her brain,
trying to prove to herself that this kid was lying to her. She searched for
something, anything from her life that she could tell this girl about. But
there was nothing. She could remember nothing but working for Team Rocket, a
criminal gang whose agenda is world domination using Pokemon. Velvet turned
to the two executive Rockets who she had been reporting to.
“Tell this nut to back off!” she shouted at them.

Both of them smirked cruelly. “Hmph. I guess we must tell the boss that his
little experiment is a failure!” one of them said lightly.

“What are you saying? I'm not this girl's Pokemon! I have real friends, you
know, that girl...Danielle!” Velvet said.

One of the Rockets laughed out loud. “Danielle? You mean the boss's niece?”

Raine stood up, her legs shaking. “You know, Velvet. You feel our connection.
You can't help it; you're a Ninetales.”
Velvet did. Deep in her core, she remembered. She saw the crater she grew up
in, she saw her family beside her. She saw the men in black suits appearing,
taking her away from her home. She remembered being forced into that metal
contraption, she remembered the horrible needles they stuck into her body,
and she remembered Raine, and her new found happiness.
She turned toward her assistants, a blue flash in her deep red eyes. “What
have you done to me? What have you done to the others?”

**PotofAwesome** · 04-15-12

The two Rocket's cruel smile returned. “Wouldn't you like to know?” the one
who spoke earlier said. “Too bad neither of you ever will.”

Velvet's face contorted into a snarl. “I have a right to know! I want to know
what you've done to me, to all those other Pokemon! If you don't tell me
right now, I'll kill you both!”

“Don't you understand, Velvet?” Raine said, barely above a whisper. “We're
both dead now. It's all over.”

The Rockets looked at each other. “I'm kind of disappointed you said that
instead of me!” the talkative one said. He shrugged. “Ah well, I can change
the story for the boss. He'll never know.”

Velvet let out an unintelligible yell, and she dove straight for him. He
moved and dodged her easily, and then he pulled his gun.
“Almost too pretty to shoot,” he commented, pulling the trigger.
The gunshot and Raine's scream were almost simultaneous. Velvet fell lifeless
to the floor.
Raine fell to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.
The next gunshot silenced her.

The Rockets slipped away, taking away the bodies and any other sign that they
were ever there.

10 Years Later

Standing alone at a memorial in Celadon City was a middle aged man. He stared
sadly at a stone slab with this inscription written on it:

WE SHALL ALWAYS REMEMBER THOSE LOST IN TRAGEDY
HERE ON THIS VERY GROUND, WHERE ONCE STOOD CELADON CITY GYM
IN THE EXPLOSION WHICH HAPPENED ON THAT TERRIBLE DAY
SEVERAL INNOCENT TRAINERS WERE KILLED, ONE TRAINER DISAPPEARED AND
ERIKA THE GYM LEADER WAS NEVER FOUND
MAY THESE SOULS LIVE ON FOREVER IN OUR MEMORIES AND HEARTS

The man hugged his tattered coat up to his thin frame, and he ran his index
finger along the words of the memorial. His blue eyes misted, and a few tears
ran down his unshaven, weather worn face. Then, wiping a dirty hand across
his cheek, he whispered to himself, “You WERE my heart.” Then, he turned and
walked slowly away. He knew what he was after, but the world would never
understand. Homeless, and ostracized for his continued persistence, he had
no person he could call a friend. Every person had told him that he must move
on, and forget about the past. But in his heart, he knew that he had to find
the truth about what happened to Raine, no matter the cost. The police had
closed the case long ago, but he never would. As long as he lived, this would
be his purpose. He spent the rest of his days in solitude, searching for his
Raine. And maybe in some way he got what he desired, because every new day he
lived was a rainy one for Robert.

'One day, my heart, I promise.'

THE END