Chap 9

We were almost dead on our feet when we finally entered Samantha's childhood home. Everything about the trip there was a blur. We stumbled into the living room of the house and somehow managed to close the front door behind us. After that we both just lay on the floor breathing heavily and staring up at the plain white ceiling as sunlight poured in through the open blinds on the windows.

"So, welcome to my humble abode." Samantha said and tried to gesture with her arms.

"Where's your mom?" I asked.

"She sometimes travels for work. We must've just missed her.

We took turns getting showers and changing before we both passed out on the large blue couch that sat in the middle of the living room. When I opened my eyes again it was nighttime. Samantha was on my right with her head rested on my shoulder snoring softly. To my surprise there was an adult woman sitting to my left watching tv. When I noticed her, I panicked and moved toward Samantha. The sudden movement woke her up.

"What, what, oh hey ma. When did you get in?" She asked the woman who was now staring directly at me.

"Hi Sammy, I just got back from Johto about an hour ago. Who's this?" She asked without taking her eyes off me.

"I'm sorry, this is Reef. He needs your help." Samantha said and nudged me.

"Yes, I'm Reef. It's nice to meet you." I said and offered my hand.

"Hi Reef, I'm Carol what can I help you with?" She said and shook my hand and smiled a forced smile.

I cleared my throat and tried to think of a way to explain my situation to her without incriminating myself in any way.

"Well, I won a battle against a guy in the Viridian Forest, and he gave me a Pokémon I've never seen before. So, Samantha said we should bring it to you and hopefully you could help us find out." I said trying to sound as believable as I could.

"So, you were gambling in the forest, Sammy?" Her mom said and looked past me at Samantha.

"Get over it ma, we're real trainers it's what we do. Did you hear the part about the mysterious Pokémon that only you can help us with?" She said standing her ground.

"How can I get over it Sammy? I never wanted you training in the first place. Now you show up here talking about a mysterious Pokémon."

After she said Pokémon, her eyes got wide for a split second. She blinked quickly and the look was gone, but I knew what I saw.

"What's so strange about this Pokémon anyway?" she asked in a flat voice.

"Show her," Samantha said and nudged me again.

I hesitated for a few seconds and then let Spike out of its ball. When it appeared, Carol moved away from it, like anyone would. Its heads looked up at me and meowed in unison. I sat on the floor with it and ran my fingers through the spiky black fur. After seeing it wasn't dangerous Carol leaned in for a closer look.

"What an interesting specimen, and you say some kid in the Viridian Forest just had this with him? She asked as her eyes narrowed.

"Yep, just some random trainer punk we never saw before or again." Samantha said and sat next to me. She started petting Spike as well.

"Okay, now I understand why you two came to me. I thought you were just going to show me something from a different region maybe. This though is truly a mystery." She had a hungry look in her eyes. It made me nervous.

"Calm down ma, we don't want it dissected. We just wanna understand it better. No slicey slicey." Samantha said with an eyebrow raised.

"Would you have to hurt it to study it?" I asked cautiously.

"No, not at all. All I need to do is place it in an observation box and have the computer scan its genetic code. The only thing it has to fear is boredom. The process takes about 4 hours to complete." She said. The intense look in her eyes had been replaced by a soft smile.

Samantha looked at me with her eyebrows raised. It was like she was asking me what I wanted to do without actually saying any words.

"Okay, as long as the procedure is safe, I'm on board" I said and recalled Spike into its ball.

"Okay well make yourselves at home, I'll be in my lab if you need anything." She said as I handed her the Pokè ball. She took the ball and hurried off down a flight of stairs.

"Hey, let's take a walk." Samantha said and opened the front door. "Okay, where to" I asked and followed her out of the house.

"Just around the city, we have hours to kill." She said and slipped her hand in mine.

As we walked through the crowded streets, I couldn't help but stare at all the tall buildings. The biggest building in Pallet Town was the lab. Saffron City had buildings twice the size of that place.

"Why do you look so awestruck?" Samantha said. She must have seen the look on my face.

"I'm just not used to seeing buildings this large, or crowds of people actually." I said.

"Wait, I guess you never did tell me where you're from" Samantha said with her head slightly tilted.

"I guess it never came up. I'm from Pallet Town" I said. For some reason admitting that in this massive city slightly embarrassed me.

"Wow, places don't get smaller than Pallet. Don't worry though I'll keep you safe in the big bad city." She said and interlocked her fingers in mine.

"The crazy thing is that I believe you," I said and smiled.

We walked along the busy streets, and she pointed places out to me. While she showed me the sights, we shared stories about our different experiences growing up. It felt so good to be able to open up to her about myself that I slipped up.

"So, Reef, how did you get that egg?" She asked me.

"I.... umm.... I stole it" I said. I regretted admitting it out loud the moment I did it.

"You, what?" She whispered and stopped walking. "Are you being serious right now?"

It was too late to lie about it, and I wanted her to know the truth about me, so I admitted it.

"Yeah, I took it from Professor Oak's Lab." I said, staring at the ground.

I waited for her to slap me or scream at me for not telling her I was a petty thief, but it never happened. Instead, she completely shocked me.

"That is so hott" she said and wrapped her arms around me.

"Are you being serious right now?" I asked, imitating her.

We were standing in front of the Silph Co. Building. It was the largest building I had ever seen, and in that moment, it was only the second most impressive thing in front of me. I moved a strand of hair out of her face and continued to stare into her light brown eyes.

"What if I am being serious right now, what are you gonna do about it? She said. Every word she spoke made me want to kiss her more.

"Obviously, I have to respond, and there is only one proper way to do that" I said.

I felt my face moving toward hers. I also felt my heart pounding in my chest. I had never kissed a girl before. Was this really about to happen? Her nose touched mine and a voice in my head screamed yes this is totally happening. When our faces were so close that I could taste her breath, a familiar voice called out from behind us.

"Aww Jessie don't you just adore young love?"

"Of course, James, it makes me want to just squeeze them both to death." The female responded.

Samantha and I pulled apart and started backing away.

This time the trio was on a tandem bicycle. James was in the front seat. Jessie was behind him and Meowth was on the front in a basket.

"Why is everything about you guys the worst, from your timing to the stupid entrance speeches. Everything you all do is bad, and you should feel bad about yourselves." I said lashing out.

Jessie started to respond but was interrupted by Chinchou suddenly appearing in front of their bike.

"Chinchou use electro ball" Samantha said without any enthusiasm in her voice. I could tell she was just as frustrated as I was.

The ball of electricity hit the metal frame of the bike and the three goons on it lit up like a neon sign. Then the bike shot backwards like it had been propelled by a jet engine. It disappeared into the night sky like it was just another star. Samantha recalled Chinchou and grabbed my hand again. We walked back to her mom's house quickly in case any more of Team Rocket showed up. When we got back inside the house, I was relieved. I quickly closed the door and leaned against it catching my breath. Samantha walked toward the couch to sit but didn't make it. As she approached the couch the bald man walked into the room. He had Machamp on his left and Samantha's mom on his right. He was holding a pokèball in his hand and the vicious grin on his face told me exactly which Pokémon was in it.