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Intro Mission:

The towering skyscrapers of Goldenrod City shined dazzlingly in the mid morning light, making for quite the pretty skyline view, provided the viewer didn't know grime and filth below. Isaac Hawking shook his head at the thought as he walked. The pretty skyscrapers, bustling shops, and clean streets only extended for a few blocks past main street, before the signs of poverty began to be visible. Graffiti and broken glass were more common in that part of town than any form of polish, and thugs and thieves roamed the streets rather than tourists. All in all, it made for a dangerous place for those who didn't know how to navigate Goldenrod's back streets.

Isaac, however, had been navigating these streets since his teens. Now, at age 24, he was deft enough to avoid trouble in his path. His grey pants held no cash, cards, or I.D. his black hoodie, with its lightning bolt design, over a white t-shirt, also held nothing of real value in its pockets. Right now they were mostly occupied by his hands, hiding them from the morning breeze. scuffed and worn shoes completing the outfit, he made a rather unimpressive figure, unlikely to be a promising target for thieves.

The look and lack of valuables was as much dictated by circumstance as by choice. With no job or other source of steady income, Isaac was most commonly found hanging out at the Game Corner, trying to earn enough money to put away for rent. If he was particularly lucky, with either cards, slots, or picking up other people's coin cases, he might actually have enough for this month's rent. if he wasn't lucky, he would have to use the money he saved for food to keep a roof over his head. On those nights, he went hungry.

Telling himself that this would not be one of those nights, and trying to be convinced by his own words, Isaac rounded to last corner of poverty, and stepped into the "other" Goldenrod City, the one he referred to as the "tourist trap". The shops and other attractions had been set up to attract as much out-of-town business as possible. Isaac suspected that if the visitors knew about the slums, they would never have considered coming in the first place. As he approached the train station, he noticed the police officer standing guard outside. 'Typical,' he thought, 'the cops only care about preventing crime in the shiny part of the city, not reducing it in the part that needs them the most.'

Still shaking his head in disgust, Isaac made his way over to the lockers that lined the far wall of the station's interior. Arriving at locker 085, he pulled off his right shoe and sock, dumping the locker key into his hand. Since carrying valuables of any sort in the wrong parts of the city was tantamount to asking to be mugged, many residents found these storage lockers to be ideal for stashing anything they would mind being taken. In Isaac's case, his locker held the end result of the month's efforts to raise rent money, and yet it was still only about half of what he owed his tyrant of a landlord. With rent due in a scant few days, he would need some good luck to be with him, if he were to make rent on time this month.

"Hey there!"

Slamming the locker shut, Isaac whirled about, finding himself facing a short, sandy blonde boy smiling up at him with bright blue eyes.

"Excuse me," the boy asked, " Can you help me out? I need directions to somewhere and you look like you know your way around here."

The moments seemed to stretch on, as the pair stared at each other, interrupted only by the clamor of the station. With a sigh, Isaac shook his head. "Kid, where are your parents?"

"My wha-?"

"Didn't they ever tell you not to wander off, or to talk to strangers for that matter," Isaac chided, craning his neck as he searched for any adults who might be looking for their lost child.

"I'm not lost, and I'm NOT a child!" the boy declared.

Isaac turned back to get a closer look at the boy. He certainly seemed to be a young boy, at least. His youthful face seemed fit for one not yet past his thirteenth or fourteenth birthday, and the way he had puffed out his cheeks and his face turned red was serving to reinforce that impression. His light blue shirt with light khaki pants and white sneakers contrasted with Isaac's darker and worn attire. Then there was his height, or rather, the lack thereof. The boy couldn't be taller than 5 foot, if even that. Isaac seemed to tower over him despite being of only average height himself.

"Good one kid, you almost had me goin' there for a moment. But seriously, where are your parents?"

"I'm not a child!"

"You know, jokes usually work best if you don't wait too long for the punch line."

"I'm seventeen," the boy protested.

"Yah," Isaac laughed, "And I'm the king of all Londinia and wear a shiny hat."

"I am too," the boy proclaimed, shoving his hands into his backpack. After a moment of digging he retrieved his ID card and proudly thrust it forth for Isaac to see.

"Well s**t!" Now it was Isaac's turn to be taken aback. The ID proclaimed its owner to be named Alex. It also confirmed that he was in fact seventeen years old.

"I told you so," Alex puffed out his chest triumphantly. For his part, all Isaac was able to do at this point was stare at the ID card.

"So then," Alex grinned, "If you're a king, does that mean you can buy me lunch?"
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A few minutes later would find the pair sitting at one of the outdoor cafes, Alex having dragged Isaac along and into having lunch with him. Isaac, for his part, was looking around wondering how he had gotten dragged into this.

"So," Alex began after the waitress collected their menus, "Tell me about yourself."

Isaac just looked at Alex for a bit before shaking his head. "Look, I thought I was just supposed to help you find some place, so why are you interested in who I am?"
"I just want to know more about you," Alex responded earnestly. With a sigh, Isaac leaned back in his chair and delved into his memories of the past.

"Back when I was still in school, my dad owned a repair shop in the good part of town. If it was mechanical, he could fix it; cars televisions, hell he even fixed a trainer's old Pokegear back in the day. It was a small shop, and he was the only one working there, but every day after school I would go there and help him fix whatever he was working on that day. I got pretty good at it too." Isaac smiled as the memories came pouring back. The smile fell as he continued.

"Then.... he got sick. The doctors tried everything they could, but in the end they couldn't figure out what was wrong with him... he was the only family I had... and then he was gone," he closed his eyes and fought back the tears that threatened to well up in his eyes.

"I-I'm sorry," Alex stammered out, " I-I didn't know... you don't ... you don't need to go on.."

"It's fine," Isaac cut him off. Successfully holding back the tears, he continued, "After he died, the city refused to transfer ownership of his shop to me due to my age. They repossessed the building and tore it down to make room for some tourist attraction that isn't even here anymore," he spat bitterly. "The city also wanted to put me in foster care since I was only sixteen at the time, but I took off before anything could be done about that. After that, they stopped caring about me. For the past six years I have had to gamble, or ... steal money in order to have enough money to keep living here. Which brings me to today. So there it is, my life story in a nutshell for you, kid. Is that what you wanted?"

"I-I'm sorry," Alex apologized, "I didn't mean to bring up such bad memories."

"It's alright," Isaac sighed, as the waitress brought their lunch, "The memories of my dad are of happier times. I don't mind remembering those."

Despite that, the pair would begin to eat in silence. It wouldn't be until they had almost finished that Alex spoke up, " So, if you liked fixing things with your dad, why aren't you doing those kinds of things for money instead?"

Isaac raised an eyebrow, "A lack of prior job experience and dropping out of high school don't exactly make most people want to hire me."

"So why don't you leave?"

"Leave?" Isaac was shocked at the casual question.

"You seem to hate this city enough to have it be a reasonable option," Alex stated in a matter of fact way. "You could go off and find something else for yourself somewhere else."

"Is that what you are doing here then," Isaac riposted, "Finding something else for yourself? Because there is nothing here but shattered dreams."

"No," Alex grinned, "I've found something already. I'm here to become a part of Team Snagem."

"Team ..... what?"

"Team Snagem. We are a group of trainers dedicated to protecting Pokemon from those who would misuse them."

".... Really." Isaac deadpanned.

"Yah," Alex responded proudly. "I'm here to deal with the remnants of Team Rocket."

"I thought Team Rocket disbanded after their takeover of Radio Tower was thwarted a while back." Isaac remembered how the news stations had exploded with coverage of the event, both while it was happening and for the month after.

"They are no longer a single organization, but many of their members escaped the police and continue hurt and steal innocent Pokemon." Alex leaned forward, his eagerness plastered all over his face, "There is a group of them here in Goldenrod City, and I'm gonna bring them to justice."

"And what, do you think they are just going to come along quietly?"

"That's what these are for. " Alex's grin grew even broader as he unzipped his backpack on the ground, and opened it to display its contents: a multitude of Pokeballs, a single Ultraball, several Super Potions, and what seemed to be a very strange glove.

"You're serious about this aren't you?" It was finally dawning on Isaac that this kid had meant everything he said.

"Absolutely." Alex replied as he zipped up the bag, and produced a piece of paper with an address written on it. "I just need to know how to get here."

Isaac recognized the address as an abandoned warehouse about halfway back to his apartment. Upon relaying the directions, Alex's eyes brightened. "Thank you! I knew you were a good person when I saw you!" As he gathered his backpack and stood up to leave, he turned around, "You know, you could come with me when I'm done, back to Team Snagem."

"Me?" Now Isaac was truly shocked. "I'm not a trainer!"

"Neither was I until I went there." He fixed Isaac with a warming smile, "This is my first mission, and it's kind of lonely traveling by myself. It would be nice to have a friend come with me."

Isaac was lost for words. Without realizing what he was saying, he stammered out, "I-I guess .... okay?"

"Great!" Alex's level of excitement hit a new high. "I'll meet you here tomorrow, okay! Cya!" He dashed off, waving back fervently, until he was swallowed up by the crowd of pedestrians.
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The rest of the day Isaac was stuck in a daze. A friend. He hadn't had a real friend since his life had gone to hell six years ago. And now, some boy that he had only met earlier today was wanting him to leave everything behind, to run off and be a Pokemon trainer. It was true that he had no love for Goldenrod anymore, his years of living below the poverty line had stripped that away. However, it was still quite the shock.

He briefly attempted to earn some more money at the Game Corner, but couldn't maintain his focus. Eventually he left, with a little less cash then he entered with, and found himself sitting on a bench outside of Radio Tower, just staring at the sky. Finally, with the sun beginning its decent into late afternoon, Isaac picked himself up and started heading for his apartment.

He was about halfway there, when the unmistakable sound of violence finally snapped him out of his daze. As he started to turn around and go another direction, away from the sounds of trouble, he suddenly realized that they were coming from an alleyway next to the warehouse he had directed Alex to.

Feeling his heart sink into the pit of his stomach, he hurried to the mouth of the alleyway, every fiber of his being screaming against doing this. Trying to stay hidden from those in the alley, he chanced a look into it.

Three men in dirty, torn team Rocket uniforms had surrounded a prone form on the ground. Two of them were standing in the way, preventing Isaac from seeing exactly who it was on the ground, but the backpack held by one of them told Isaac exactly who it was. The lead Rocket, if a hat and slightly cleaner uniform were good indicators of leadership, was in the process of kicking the fallen teenager, laughing the entire time. With some final words that Isaac couldn't make out, and one last kick, the Rockets turned and walked back into the warehouse's side door.

As soon as the door slammed shut, Isaac dashed over to his fallen friend. Alex was a mess; dark, ugly bruises covered his chest and arms, his lips were split and bleeding, and one of his eyes was swollen shut. Lifting the injured teen as delicately as he could, Isaac draped one of Alex's arms over his shoulders and started carrying his friend out of the alley as fast as he could.

When they had made it out of the alley, Isaac finally dared to speak. "Hey, you awake? Hang in there, please be alright."

With a groan, Alex finally showed signs of consciousness by turning his head. "I...saac?"

"Hey there." Relief flooded through Isaac. "Try not to move, I'm gonna get you to a hospital."

"No... Gotta stop... Rocket." Alex's words were pained and obviously taking an effort to get out. "Gotta... save... Pokemon."

"You are in no condition to be saving anything. We gotta get you to a doctor."

"Then... You go," Alex managed to get out. "Fight... Rocket."

"With what? I'm not a trainer, and they took all your stuff."

"Not... all..." Alex, with considerable and pained effort, reached into his pocket and produced the Ultra Ball, one Pokeball, and the strange grey and black glove. Placing them in Isaac's hand that wasn't trying to hold him, Alex looked Isaac in the eyes. "Stop... Rocket. Go to... Snagem... Mt. Silver. Please.. friend." Alex's eyes closed and he sagged forward, and Isaac lurched to catch him.

"Alex? Alex!"

Tears streaming down his face, Isaac shifted into a better position, and started to carry his unconscious friend to a hospital.
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After what seemed like an eternity, Isaac managed to carry Alex into Goldenrod General Hospital. The nurses there managed to quickly get Alex onto a cart and into the emergency room, so he could finally let his exhausted legs give out. For the time being, all he could do was wait and fidget nervously. After the second eternity of the night, though each only took a couple of hours, a doctor emerged from the operating room.

Two broken ribs, a shattered Tibula and Fibula, massive internal bleeding, a fractured skull. Worst of all, a persistent vegetative state.

The words echoed in his head, unwilling to leave. He sat there, dumbstruck, until a nurse informed him that he would have to leave.

With nowhere else to go, Isaac began the slow walk back to his apartment. The whole while, his brain was a jumble of confused thoughts. 'My first friend in years is in a coma. My life had a direction for once. Where do I go now? Do I go to Team Snagem without him? I need to get those Rockets back for this. But what am I supposed to do? He gave me these Pokeballs, but I don't even know what's in them!'

As he neared the Rocket's warehouse, the sounds of fighting drew his attention away from his thoughts. This time, however, the sounds were much more intense and accompanied by red and blue flashing lights. Somehow, the police had learned of the Rockets' location, and were in the midst of an intense battle with two of the members out in the front of the building.

'Well,' Isaac thought, 'it seems like my decision's been made for me.' He began to continue on when movement in the corner of his eye grabbed his attention; the lead Rocket, the one who had beaten Alex had slipped out a side door into an alley, away from and unnoticed by the police. As the Rocket turned to run, Isaac's mind cleared, having made his decision. Reaching into his hoodie pocket, he grabbed three of the four items there. As he ran after the fleeing Rocket, he slipped on the glove and steeled his resolve with two words: "For Alex."

"Hey!" Alex yelled after the fleeing Rocket. The Rocket glanced over his shoulder before doing a double take.

"Another kid," he stated incredulously, before glancing back to the mouth of the alley. "Tch," he spat, "be glad I don't have time to beat your a**." With that, he spun around headed down a different alley.

Isaac smirked as he slowed to a stop at the mouth of the dead end alleyway. "Well, it seems you're out of other options now."

At that, the Rocket member, previously looking desperately for another way out, turned back. "Big mistake, kiddo," cracking his knuckles as he advanced on Isaac.

"Oh yeah?" Isaac drew the Ultra Ball. "Bring it." Depressing the button on the front, he hurled it at the ground in front of him.

There was a flash of red light, which dissipated to reveal a white furred Pokémon, canine in appearance except for its curved horn sprouting from the side of its head, and the black spike of a tail. "Ab-sol," it growled.

'OK,' thought Isaac, 'I guess I'm working with an Absol. Now if only I knew what moves it knew.'

"If that's how you want it, fine," the Rocket snarled, grabbing the Pokeball off his belt. "Magnemite, get out here!" With another red flash, the magnet Pokémon appeared, hovering several feet off the ground. "Now, start things off with Supersonic!" The screws on the Magnemite's central orb body began to rotate and the Pokémon shake in the air as it emitted a horrifying, shrill hypersonic pitch, irritating the ear canals of Isaac and the Absol, causing the Absol to stumble around in confusion and Isaac to drop to his knees.

"Ugh, " Isaac groaned as the sound waves subsided. Looking over at the Absol, he asked, "You alright over there?"Absol staggered, barely managing to stay upright. "Do you still have the fire in you to fight?"

Misinterpreting his words, the Absol inhaled deeply, readying a Flamethrower. Unfortunately, it stumbled again, losing its footing and falling on its face, releasing the building flames onto the ground beneath it.

The Rocket laughed at the Absol's predicament. "Haha! This is rich! You actually thought you could beat me! Flash Cannon!" Magnemite beeped a curt acknowledgement as the magnets on the Pokemon's sides began to spin rapidly as a glow began to shine from the center of the Magnemite. When it reached peak intensity, it released the building energy in a silver blast of energy, striking Absol squarely in its midsection, knocking it back.

Isaac ran over to the fallen Absol, helping it up onto its feet. "You alright? That must have hurt. Are you still good to fight?"

The Absol steadied itself on its feet and shook its head, clearing away its confusion. "Sol."

"OK then," Isaac said, standing up himself, "let's use that fire of yours and light them up!" The white furred Pokémon inhaled deeply before expelling a roaring torrent of flame, engulfing the Magnemite. As the fire died down, a severely scorched steel Pokémon was revealed, its hovering much less stable and not so far off the ground.

"Damn you," the Rocket cursed , "I'm sick of your s**t. Now, hit them both with Zap Cannon!" The Magnemite, however, hesitated and beeped questioningly.

"I said DO IT! NOW," the Rocket roared at his Pokemon. The Magnet Pokemon turned back, and with a mournful beep, began rotating its magnets. A massive electrical charge began building and focusing between the spinning screws on its body.

Isaac's eyes widened as he watched the electrical charge growing. "Oh crap! Look out!" He called out to the Absol, before doing the same. At the same time, the Magnemite released the gathering charge, sending the arcing ball of electrical energy towards the pair, impacting the ground behind them. The resulting explosion tossed both person and Pokemon as if rag dolls.

When his vision finished swimming, Isaac picked himself off his stomach with a groan. The Absol, its white fur now scorched in several places, attempted to so the same, before collapsing in exhaustion. Isaac grimaced, and recalled the worn out Pokemon back to its Ultra Ball.

The Rocket laughed tauntingly. "That's what you get for pissing me off. Now, get out of my way!"

"No, I'm not done yet," Isaac replied, returning the Ultra Ball to his pocket, drawing out the Pokeball and holding it out defiantly in his gloved right hand. "I've got one surprise left." Upon seeing the glove, the Magnemite started beeping excitedly.

'Alright,' Isaac thought, 'let's see what this ball holds,' tossing the Pokeball. Suddenly, the Magnemite raced forward, bumping into the midair Pokeball. The ball bounced off, and to the shock of both trainers, opened up and captured the magnet Pokemon before bouncing back and rolling over to Isaac. After staring at the source of the shock for a minute, he knelt down and picked up the Pokeball.

"I guess it holds a Magnemite," he laughed to himself.

"You sneaky little snot nosed punk!" Isaac looked up just in time for the punch to connect with his cheek.

"If you think you can steal from me, you're out of your mind!" The Rocket cracked his knuckles as he advanced. "I'll give you the same treatment I gave that other kid," he snarled as he leaned back for another punch, "The beating of your life!"

In desperation, Isaac reached for the final object in his hoodie, drawing and swinging the metal object as hard as he could.

Then, all he could see was Alex's broken form on the alley street, his father lying in his hospital bed as his life slipped away. All he could hear was the doctors breaking the bad news, the lawyers telling him that his father's shop was being taken away, that his life as he knew it was over.

And all he could feel was rage.

When he snapped out of it, he was standing over the Rocket's fallen form. The man's face a smashed wreck, bleeding out onto the ground. Slowly, Isaac raised his hand, still gripping his father's over sized wrench, one of the two items he still had from his father. He stared at the blood that now covered the wrench's head in awe and fear; awe that he won the fight, and fear that he might have killed the man.

Before he could check, shouting voices from outside the alley grabbed his attention. "I think I hear something over here!" Apparently, the cops had finished up out front. With a curse, Isaac grabbed the Pokeballs he had dropped, shoved them and his wrench into his hoodie's pockets, and took off as fast as he could.

Arriving at his apartment, he quickly began packing what few items he owned into the side bags of his father's old motorcycle. For the first time in a long while, determination steadied his movements, his mind having decided the path for his future. Rolling the old bike outside, he fired up the engine, and with one last look back at his prison of the last six years, sped off into the night. Destination: Mt. Silver.