Hi everyone! My name is Whitney and I'm new here at the forums. I've loved Pokemon ever since I was a little girl and writing just as long. I have some works posted on FFN but I thought I would share the chaptered story I'm working on here as well 
It has six chapters at the moment but I'll only post the prologue and first chapter right now. I hope you enjoy and I would love to hear your feedback
"KAREN!"
The teenager jumped at the sound of her name bouncing off the walls. It wasn't unusual for her stepmother to be screeching for her. In fact, Ariana had exactly two speaking styles when it came to Karen: yelling and talking very, very loudly. Whatever it was this time, apparently it was deserving of the first. Karen was pretty sure that was a new note for Ariana's high voice.
Whatever, she thought, It can wait. I have a battle to win.
"Use Double Kick, Reina!" Karen cried out loud. Her Nidorina bounded several feet forward then volleyed into the air. Her pale blue body did a corkscrew; her outstretched feet connected once between the curve of the boulders that bound the opposing Onix's head to its body, then struck the same spot again. The great snake roared as pain surged through its body. The Nidorina landed on all fours and threw her head back in celebration. Just like her trainer, Reina was just getting started.
"Good job!" Karen couldn't keep from laughing at her Pokémon's little display of confidence. "Now, use Crunch!"
A smile tugged at her lips as she watched her Nidorina's mouth gape open. She charged at one of the spaces in between the Onix's segmented body, fangs bared.
Dark-type moves intrigued her, but not as much as the Pokémon of that type. When she was younger, she filled up her notebooks with doodles of Sneasel and Murkrow; now she studied them in the spare time she could find. She had only one dark-type of her own: Salem, the Houndour that ignited her passion like the embers her Pokémon brewed in her mouth. The Houndour stood beside her now, the skull-shaped crest of her head brushing the tips of Karen's fingers. They were inseparable—they had been since the day Silver helped her catch the Pokémon some twelve years before.
Dark-types like Salem reminded Karen of the beauty of night itself. She'd always favored it: the sinking of the sun and the slow climb of the moon, the stars that sprinkled the sky, the sense of calm that settled over the world. It was her sanctuary, a place of comfort and...
The sound of Onix crying out wrested Karen from her reverie. The massive Pokémon swayed fitfully, and for a second the trainer thought her battle was won. Then, just before certain victory, it barely managed to right itself. Not a problem.
"All right, Reina, now use—"
"Enough!" Ariana's boot heels clicked angrily against the floor as she stormed toward the teenager. She'd been watching the fight from the doorway, and the little patience she had had finally worn thin. "The battle is over," she said, flicking her hand in dismissal at the grunt her stepdaughter had challenged. He bristled under the executive's harsh gaze and recalled his Pokémon quickly, then left the training area with as much haste.
Ariana's eyes followed him until the metal doors swooshed to a close behind him. Then, she rounded on the girl.
"What the hell were you thinking? That was pathetic!"
The rush of battle faded fast from Karen's face. "What are you talking about? I was winning!"
Ariana scoffed. That was the other sound Karen was accustomed to hearing when her stepmother spoke to her. "Winning," she echoed as if it were a joke worthy of repetition. "Your Nidorina easily could have finished that Onix with another Double Kick, but you used Crunch. Why?"
"We were just having fun."
She couldn't determine if it was anger or bewilderment that made her stepmother's face crinkle. "Pokémon battles aren't for fun, you foolish girl."
Karen closed her eyes for a second, willing the momentary blackness to grant her some sense of patience for this woman. She hated the word 'stepmother,' because it implied that she and Ariana shared some kind of maternal bond. 'Drill sergeant' would have been more accurate.
She wondered, distantly, if her real mother would have treated her this way. More than once, she'd dreamed about the sound of her voice, the blue of her hair, the shape of her smile, the lull of her voice. It was always calm and gentle, nothing like the way that Ariana snarled. Karen liked to imagine she would have loved her. But then Ariana's voice rang in the back of her mind, mocking the very thought. She was just the bastard child, the product of lies and blackmail left on the front steps of the Viridian Gym.
All she ever felt from Ariana was contempt. Karen couldn't remember exactly when she made the distinction that she wasn't Ariana's by blood, but it was early. Her stepmother didn't much relish protecting the innocence of childhood. In Karen's most forgiving moments she tried to reason that having a visible reminder of your husband's affair living in your house wasn't the easiest thing to deal with, but it was hard to extend sympathy to the devil. She felt daily the need to remind Karen in some way or another that she wasn't Ariana's child. As if she would ever want to be!
Silver made everything worth it, though. He was her brother, her best friend, her protector. He was the one who always made her feel worthy, the one that helped her cause trouble and taught her how to be the trainer she was today. Since childhood she'd been able to defeat adults in battle, and she had his guiding hand to thank for that.
Her relationship with her father wasn't as bad as it could have been, either. Giovanni was a very powerful, very busy man. It wasn't that he was a terrible father as much as it was that he didn't know how to be one. Karen knew he loved her, just as he loved Silver. It wasn't a boastful love, and it wasn't one that she could feel all the time—but she knew it was there. And as much as Ariana hated it, there was no denying that she was his child.
Physically, she recalled him poorly. Karen was short and pale where her father was tall and tan. Her eyes and her hair were colored like the springtime sky, his both the blackness of a cold winter night. She was definitely Giovanni's, though. Her stature was not reflective of her intimidation tactics; Karen could render a noisy room mute with little more than her presence, and a taste of her anger could clear it. There was an air of arrogance about her, in everything from the self-assurance that gleamed in her eyes to the way she carried herself, her head held high and her long hair tossed over her shoulders. She was prideful, self-centered, and why wouldn't she be? She was the heiress to an empire, the princess of crime.
Truthfully, she was more like the red-headed woman standing before her than either would ever care to admit.
"Are you even listening to me?" Ariana snapped. She'd been prattling on about how Giovanni didn't give a damn about how much fun she was having, but Karen only heard a couple of words here and there.
"Nope," Karen chimed. She reveled in the way Ariana contorted her face, the way her fingers formed little fists.
"You're going to training academy with the rest of the grunts."
"Excuse me?"
"You obviously don't know the first thing about being a Pokémon trainer, much less a capable member of Team Rocket."
Karen felt angry tears start to sting her eyes. "I win every battle. My Pokémon are stronger than any of the others, I—"
"You haven't even evolved your Nidorina yet!" Ariana snapped.
Reina gave a disapproving grunt and Karen, blinking madly, fumbled for her Poké Ball and returned her into it. She did have a Moon Stone; her father had given one to her and one to Silver when he gave them their twin Nidoran for Christmas. But she kept it in the drawer of her bedside table, carefully folded between some pieces of fabric. She didn't believe in evolving a Pokémon just because its body was capable. She waited until what she felt was the right moment, until its heart and soul were ready, too. She didn't expect someone as ruthless as Ariana to understand that. "I want to strengthen our bonds first," Karen said, her voice quiet but firm.
"Your bonds? You idiot girl, this is Team Rocket! You aren't training to become friends with your Pokémon, you should be using them as weapons!"
"My Pokémon are strong because I trust them!" Karen shot back. "And they trust me. They aren't just tools. They're my partners."
A smug look settled on Ariana's face, as if Karen had answered a question that she'd never asked aloud. "And that's precisely why you're going to Rocket Academy."
--------------------
The walk home wasn't a long one. Karen waded through the crowded streets of Celadon City without once looking up, Salem padding faithfully beside her. She had never strayed far from this place, her parents made sure of that. It might have been been born out of some genuine concern on Giovanni's part, but for Ariana, it was more about keeping the identity of Team Rocket safe. Karen and Silver were breathing liabilities, living threats to the organization's secrecy. If the wrong person knew Giovanni had children, they would be made targets for kidnapping, ransom, maybe worse. That was why Silver taught her to be so strong. He couldn't always be there to keep his baby sister safe, and he needed to know that she could hold her own when he wasn't.
Karen heaved a sigh and shoved her hands deeper in the pockets of her long, black coat. She didn't know what she would do without him. Silver never attended Rocket Academy, so the longest she'd ever been apart from him was a couple of days. Leaving home, if only for a few months, was a terrifying idea. She barely knew the outside world. Anything apart from the base, the gym, and the Celadon mansion they called home was completely foreign to her.
In the richest city in all of Kanto, mansions weren't too hard to come by. Theirs was made distinct by the large, marble Persian statues that guarded the front gate, security cameras hiding beneath their ruby eyes. Karen hesitated long enough for the stone guardians to recognize her, then slid between the gates and made her way inside.
She was greeted by the faint hum of the television and a soft, feminine voice emanating from it; she recognized it quickly as that of DJ Mary, the Johto radio host her brother had a deep fondness for. Karen rolled her eyes and rounded the corner of the living room. Sure enough, Silver was on the couch sipping a soda pop, entranced by an interview on the big screen.
"Hey, Romeo. Is Dad here?"
"What? Oh—no. He's checking up on the game corner in Goldenrod. Profits have been down, even though business is up. I'm pretty sure some poor chump is about to get his ass beat." He looked surprised when Karen didn't laugh, or even crack a smile. "You look blue, Blue."
Karen smiled a small smile. "Clever, Red," she murmured, sinking into the couch next to her brother.
"What's up?"
"Your mother is sending me to Rocket Academy so I can be a better agent," she said bitterly. Her head was spinning still, and the details Ariana had rattled off to her were a blur of words that didn't all make sense. Karen knew she'd be partnered with some other kid, depending on how well she performed. Academy courses lasted anywhere from a few months to a year or more, depending on how quickly and how adeptly they were completed. And she would be leaving at the end of the week.
Silver frowned, his thumb brushing over the power button of the remote control. "You don't need to go through the academy, though. You're a damn good trainer. You're as good as any of the agents we have now—hell, you're better!"
"Yeah well, tell Ariana that, because she won't listen to me." Silver tried to speak again but Karen just shook her head. Sitting just made her stomach feel tighter, so she stood up and wandered to the opposite end of the living room, where a wall-length aquarium stretched from one side of the room to the other.
Giovanni kept the aquarium stocked with rare and brightly-colored water Pokémon: a trio of Feebas, some Corsola, and a particularly mischievous Horsea that Karen had once trained to squirt ink all over her stepmother's pretty white dress. Most of them were prized trophies from successful heists. A few were precious gifts from individuals trying to gain favor with the man behind the red 'R.' Never had anyone actually bribed their way into Giovanni's trust, but he made use of their attempts all the same. Then, there were the Magikarp, ever common and dull, utterly out of place in the miniature sea of rare water-types.
They were only there because Silver and Karen once "saved" two of the fish Pokémon from a street vendor. They came in Poké Balls plated in gold-colored plastic, and Ariana very nearly hurled them into the nearest puddle when the children toted them home in chalk pails. But Giovanni entertained their rescue efforts and allowed the Magikarp to be placed in the tank alongside his more showy water-types, much to Ariana's displeasure. They'd grown and mated over the years, and though the original two Magikarp had long since outgrown their living room enclosure, generations of their descendants still thrived in the living room aquarium.
Karen pressed her face against the tank and smiled, just like she did when she was little. The glass was cool and comforting, a welcome reprieve to her flushed cheeks. The smallest of the Magikarp swam up to her, its mouth moving rapidly in hopes of some food pellets.
"Tell me something," Silver said. He walked to where his sister stood and placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it lightly. "Do you see the potential in that Magikarp?"
"Everyone can see the potential in a Magikarp, Silver," Karen sighed, Her fingers curled into her palm and she rested her knuckles against the glass. "Even a novice trainer knows how powerful a Gyarados is."
"But power isn't what matters the most to you," Silver said. "You could have evolved Reina as soon as she evolved into a Nidorina. Why didn't you?"
"You sound like your mother."
"Come on. I'm being serious."
Karen shrugged. "A Pokémon's strength goes deeper than that. Strength and weakness, that's just sentiment. Forming a bond with your Pokémon and trusting them, that's what creates real strength. If you just evolve your Pokémon and there's no substance to your relationship with them, what does it matter?"
Silver laughed. It was astounding to him that she didn't realize how extraordinary she was, that she got through her spiel as if it were common knowledge. "That's why you're special, Blue. You get that when no one else does."
"But this is Team Rocket. All Pokémon exist for our glory." The sound of those words on her lips made Karen feel sick. She closed her eyes for a moment and drew in a deep breath. "We would be so much stronger if we just worked together."
"Maybe things will change someday." Silver spoke out of comfort, but his heart knew his words to be lies. It would never change. If it weren't for Karen, he would have left this place years before. Giovanni planned him to be his successor and truly, he wanted no part of it. But he couldn't leave, not without her. She was the burden he was all too willing to bear, the beautiful shackle that bound him to this life. He sighed and pressed a kiss to the crown of his sister's head. "A few months from now, you'll be home and everyone will know how special you are. Dad will be so impressed, he'll retire and leave us in charge. I'll yell at the grunts and you can sit in Dad's chair and intimidate people."
Karen laughed for what must have been the first time that day. "Do I get a Persian? Actually, I want a Meowth."
Silver snorted. He would never understand this obsession with cat Pokémon she shared with her father. Giovanni's snooty Persian couldn't stand Silver, but he slept at the edge of Karen's bed every night. He thought about it for a moment, and a smile crossed his lips. "As soon as you're home, I'll get you something even better. Promise."
It has six chapters at the moment but I'll only post the prologue and first chapter right now. I hope you enjoy and I would love to hear your feedback It's Not Rocket Science!
Summary: Karen is the illegitimate daughter of Giovanni—a criminal heiress set to make her mark in the ranks of Team Rocket. Will is just another weapon meant to bring glory to the team. When the two teenagers are assigned as partners at Rocket Academy, they quickly find themselves bound by something deeper than the villainous ties they share.
Rating: T
Pairings: MasakudoShipping (Will/Karen), ChoosenShipping (Silver/Blue), SnazzyShipping (Cynthia/Lucian)
Prologue
17 years ago...
Summary: Karen is the illegitimate daughter of Giovanni—a criminal heiress set to make her mark in the ranks of Team Rocket. Will is just another weapon meant to bring glory to the team. When the two teenagers are assigned as partners at Rocket Academy, they quickly find themselves bound by something deeper than the villainous ties they share.
Rating: T
Pairings: MasakudoShipping (Will/Karen), ChoosenShipping (Silver/Blue), SnazzyShipping (Cynthia/Lucian)
Prologue
17 years ago...
Some called it the eternally green paradise, a town walled by forests and trees. Viridian City really wasn't much of a city at all, just a small community nestled into the eastern edge of Mount Silver. It was a safe haven in an uncertain world, a quiet place where time seemed to move at a slower rate. Even the Viridian Gym wasn't heavily trafficked. Few trainers ever stepped through its doors, though plenty of other bodies came and went. They were surely friends of the leader, a quiet man that never caused any trouble. At least, that's what the people of Viridian City thought.
Their ignorance made Giovanni chuckle.
He made his way through the familiar streets, his dark hat tipped over the tops of his eyes. His wife, Ariana, followed closely on his boot heels, their young son in tow. An eerie calm settled over Viridian: It was long past dusk, and theirs seemed to be the only movement in town. Giovanni wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary tonight. This was just a quick trip, a passing stop to check on the Pokémon he kept housed at the gym before they returned to headquarters for the evening.
He'd just started to walk up the stairs that led up to his gym when he caught sight of it. There was something there, an object in the shadow of the gym's high arching entryway. Giovanni halted his wife with an extended hand and gingerly ascended the steps. His fingers closed around one of the six Poké Balls he kept tucked in the lining of his jacket pocket. If this thing was of any concern, his Nidoking could crush it quickly.
"Dad?" Silver called after his father, his little voice barely a whisper. Ariana shushed him, and he hid his face against the side of her leg.
It looked like a basket, though the blanket thrown over the top of it made it hard to tell much more than that. There was definitely something in it—the fabric moved slightly, and it wasn't from the cool breeze that floated through the air. As he drew nearer to it, he could hear a soft sound coming from under the material. It sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why. There was only one way to find out.
Giovanni grabbed the soft fabric by one of its corners and yanked it away, revealing a small baby underneath the covering. She looked to be a newborn, no more than a few weeks old. Her pale skin and sky-colored hair reminded him of winter, his favorite of the seasons. His expression softened, and he released the grip he'd kept on his Poké Ball.
"Giovanni?" Ariana's voice rang out from behind him, a sudden reminder that he wasn't alone. "What is it?"
"A child," Giovanni said, crouching down on level with the basket. There was something else there, a note tucked beneath the blankets that wrapped the baby's body. He slipped a hand behind her head and claimed the piece of paper. She reached for him, but he disregarded her as his eyes scanned the elegant handwriting. He read it once over, twice, and then a third, willing the letters to rearrange themselves, to make different words, to write a different story. Giovanni squeezed his eyes shut in frustration and his fingers curled into balls, crushing the letter and the memories that came with it.
"What the hell is going on? What do you mean?" Ariana's voice rose along the stairs with her. She stopped at the top, her breath catching in her throat. Silver gasped excitedly and lurched forward, wanting to run to the child; Ariana gripped her son's hand even tighter, as if keeping him from something dangerous. "Giovanni?"
"She's my child, Ariana."
She scoffed. There was no reality to his words at all, no semblance of a chance that it could be true. This was a trick, obviously, a play to swindle money out of the region's wealthiest couple. "That's impossible," Ariana said, but her husband's expression told her otherwise. Her chest felt tight. "That's impossible, isn't it? Isn't it?"
"No."
She made a choking sound. Angry tears flooded her eyes, but she wouldn't dare let them fall, not here, not in front of her child. The screaming and the sobbing would come later. Now, she just needed an escape. "We're leaving," Ariana hissed, "Now."
Giovanni didn't acknowledge her. The wrinkled paper in his hand fell to the ground and he took the baby in its stead, raising to his full height with her in his arms. She squirmed at first, but settled quickly in the curve of his arms. She felt practically weightless, fragile like the little princess dolls displayed during Girls' Day every year. He felt something strange swell in his gut, an urge to protect this little thing that could never fathom the storm her mere existence brewed.
"What are you doing?" Ariana's voice came out in a snarl.
"I can't just leave her."
"You can't just keep her!"
"What would you have me do, Ariana?"
"Dump her off at an orphanage! Leave her here, I don't care! I'm not raising some whore's little—"
"Take care how you speak of my daughter." Daughter. The word sounded so strange in his mind. He hardly knew what he was doing with Silver half the time, but he was his son, his heir, his miniature. He didn't come with instructions, but thank Arceus he didn't really need them. A little girl, though? How could he possibly raise her?
It wasn't uncommon for Silver to hear his parents' voices raised with anger. If they weren't yelling at each other, it was at someone else, some grunt who'd screwed up a mission or a scientist whose experiments came short of spectacular. The noise still frightened him, though, and he shrunk behind his mother's legs.
The little bundle in his father's arms squirmed and whimpered, then broke into a sob. It was more of a scream, actually, and for a moment Silver wished his parents really would leave the baby there on the doorstep. Then he wondered if she was scared, just like he was, and he decided to try being brave instead.
He wriggled his little hand out of his mother's grasp and scampered to where his father stood. He teetered on the tips of his toes, as if the extra inches could account for the several feet that separated him from his father.
Giovanni shifted the infant to the crook of one arm and easily hoisted Silver up with his other. The little boy peered at his new sister curiously and she stared back at him with big, watery blue eyes. A gurgling sound replaced the tears, and she reached out to touch her big brother's face. Silver smiled at her and she tried to smile back—at least, that's what he thought she was trying to do. It was a toothless, lopsided kind of grin, and she spit up on herself in the process. He laughed.
"She's cool, dad. I like her. What's her name?"
Sometimes Giovanni mourned that Silver would one day lose that innocence. A name was the last thing on his troubled mind, but he supposed she did need one. A few possibilities danced in and out of his mind, but none of them sounded right. There was one, though, one he disregarded over and over but found himself coming right back to again.
Even in her dying hours, the relationship between Giovanni and his mother was hostile at best. But she possessed every characteristic he would ever want for his daughter, every value he was taught to hold high. She was intelligent, driven, a confident and capable leader. Her name ghosted his lips, then he cleared his throat and uttered it aloud.
"Karen."
Their ignorance made Giovanni chuckle.
He made his way through the familiar streets, his dark hat tipped over the tops of his eyes. His wife, Ariana, followed closely on his boot heels, their young son in tow. An eerie calm settled over Viridian: It was long past dusk, and theirs seemed to be the only movement in town. Giovanni wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary tonight. This was just a quick trip, a passing stop to check on the Pokémon he kept housed at the gym before they returned to headquarters for the evening.
He'd just started to walk up the stairs that led up to his gym when he caught sight of it. There was something there, an object in the shadow of the gym's high arching entryway. Giovanni halted his wife with an extended hand and gingerly ascended the steps. His fingers closed around one of the six Poké Balls he kept tucked in the lining of his jacket pocket. If this thing was of any concern, his Nidoking could crush it quickly.
"Dad?" Silver called after his father, his little voice barely a whisper. Ariana shushed him, and he hid his face against the side of her leg.
It looked like a basket, though the blanket thrown over the top of it made it hard to tell much more than that. There was definitely something in it—the fabric moved slightly, and it wasn't from the cool breeze that floated through the air. As he drew nearer to it, he could hear a soft sound coming from under the material. It sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why. There was only one way to find out.
Giovanni grabbed the soft fabric by one of its corners and yanked it away, revealing a small baby underneath the covering. She looked to be a newborn, no more than a few weeks old. Her pale skin and sky-colored hair reminded him of winter, his favorite of the seasons. His expression softened, and he released the grip he'd kept on his Poké Ball.
"Giovanni?" Ariana's voice rang out from behind him, a sudden reminder that he wasn't alone. "What is it?"
"A child," Giovanni said, crouching down on level with the basket. There was something else there, a note tucked beneath the blankets that wrapped the baby's body. He slipped a hand behind her head and claimed the piece of paper. She reached for him, but he disregarded her as his eyes scanned the elegant handwriting. He read it once over, twice, and then a third, willing the letters to rearrange themselves, to make different words, to write a different story. Giovanni squeezed his eyes shut in frustration and his fingers curled into balls, crushing the letter and the memories that came with it.
"What the hell is going on? What do you mean?" Ariana's voice rose along the stairs with her. She stopped at the top, her breath catching in her throat. Silver gasped excitedly and lurched forward, wanting to run to the child; Ariana gripped her son's hand even tighter, as if keeping him from something dangerous. "Giovanni?"
"She's my child, Ariana."
She scoffed. There was no reality to his words at all, no semblance of a chance that it could be true. This was a trick, obviously, a play to swindle money out of the region's wealthiest couple. "That's impossible," Ariana said, but her husband's expression told her otherwise. Her chest felt tight. "That's impossible, isn't it? Isn't it?"
"No."
She made a choking sound. Angry tears flooded her eyes, but she wouldn't dare let them fall, not here, not in front of her child. The screaming and the sobbing would come later. Now, she just needed an escape. "We're leaving," Ariana hissed, "Now."
Giovanni didn't acknowledge her. The wrinkled paper in his hand fell to the ground and he took the baby in its stead, raising to his full height with her in his arms. She squirmed at first, but settled quickly in the curve of his arms. She felt practically weightless, fragile like the little princess dolls displayed during Girls' Day every year. He felt something strange swell in his gut, an urge to protect this little thing that could never fathom the storm her mere existence brewed.
"What are you doing?" Ariana's voice came out in a snarl.
"I can't just leave her."
"You can't just keep her!"
"What would you have me do, Ariana?"
"Dump her off at an orphanage! Leave her here, I don't care! I'm not raising some whore's little—"
"Take care how you speak of my daughter." Daughter. The word sounded so strange in his mind. He hardly knew what he was doing with Silver half the time, but he was his son, his heir, his miniature. He didn't come with instructions, but thank Arceus he didn't really need them. A little girl, though? How could he possibly raise her?
It wasn't uncommon for Silver to hear his parents' voices raised with anger. If they weren't yelling at each other, it was at someone else, some grunt who'd screwed up a mission or a scientist whose experiments came short of spectacular. The noise still frightened him, though, and he shrunk behind his mother's legs.
The little bundle in his father's arms squirmed and whimpered, then broke into a sob. It was more of a scream, actually, and for a moment Silver wished his parents really would leave the baby there on the doorstep. Then he wondered if she was scared, just like he was, and he decided to try being brave instead.
He wriggled his little hand out of his mother's grasp and scampered to where his father stood. He teetered on the tips of his toes, as if the extra inches could account for the several feet that separated him from his father.
Giovanni shifted the infant to the crook of one arm and easily hoisted Silver up with his other. The little boy peered at his new sister curiously and she stared back at him with big, watery blue eyes. A gurgling sound replaced the tears, and she reached out to touch her big brother's face. Silver smiled at her and she tried to smile back—at least, that's what he thought she was trying to do. It was a toothless, lopsided kind of grin, and she spit up on herself in the process. He laughed.
"She's cool, dad. I like her. What's her name?"
Sometimes Giovanni mourned that Silver would one day lose that innocence. A name was the last thing on his troubled mind, but he supposed she did need one. A few possibilities danced in and out of his mind, but none of them sounded right. There was one, though, one he disregarded over and over but found himself coming right back to again.
Even in her dying hours, the relationship between Giovanni and his mother was hostile at best. But she possessed every characteristic he would ever want for his daughter, every value he was taught to hold high. She was intelligent, driven, a confident and capable leader. Her name ghosted his lips, then he cleared his throat and uttered it aloud.
"Karen."
Chapter One: Situations Change
Present Day
"KAREN!"
The teenager jumped at the sound of her name bouncing off the walls. It wasn't unusual for her stepmother to be screeching for her. In fact, Ariana had exactly two speaking styles when it came to Karen: yelling and talking very, very loudly. Whatever it was this time, apparently it was deserving of the first. Karen was pretty sure that was a new note for Ariana's high voice.
Whatever, she thought, It can wait. I have a battle to win.
"Use Double Kick, Reina!" Karen cried out loud. Her Nidorina bounded several feet forward then volleyed into the air. Her pale blue body did a corkscrew; her outstretched feet connected once between the curve of the boulders that bound the opposing Onix's head to its body, then struck the same spot again. The great snake roared as pain surged through its body. The Nidorina landed on all fours and threw her head back in celebration. Just like her trainer, Reina was just getting started.
"Good job!" Karen couldn't keep from laughing at her Pokémon's little display of confidence. "Now, use Crunch!"
A smile tugged at her lips as she watched her Nidorina's mouth gape open. She charged at one of the spaces in between the Onix's segmented body, fangs bared.
Dark-type moves intrigued her, but not as much as the Pokémon of that type. When she was younger, she filled up her notebooks with doodles of Sneasel and Murkrow; now she studied them in the spare time she could find. She had only one dark-type of her own: Salem, the Houndour that ignited her passion like the embers her Pokémon brewed in her mouth. The Houndour stood beside her now, the skull-shaped crest of her head brushing the tips of Karen's fingers. They were inseparable—they had been since the day Silver helped her catch the Pokémon some twelve years before.
Dark-types like Salem reminded Karen of the beauty of night itself. She'd always favored it: the sinking of the sun and the slow climb of the moon, the stars that sprinkled the sky, the sense of calm that settled over the world. It was her sanctuary, a place of comfort and...
The sound of Onix crying out wrested Karen from her reverie. The massive Pokémon swayed fitfully, and for a second the trainer thought her battle was won. Then, just before certain victory, it barely managed to right itself. Not a problem.
"All right, Reina, now use—"
"Enough!" Ariana's boot heels clicked angrily against the floor as she stormed toward the teenager. She'd been watching the fight from the doorway, and the little patience she had had finally worn thin. "The battle is over," she said, flicking her hand in dismissal at the grunt her stepdaughter had challenged. He bristled under the executive's harsh gaze and recalled his Pokémon quickly, then left the training area with as much haste.
Ariana's eyes followed him until the metal doors swooshed to a close behind him. Then, she rounded on the girl.
"What the hell were you thinking? That was pathetic!"
The rush of battle faded fast from Karen's face. "What are you talking about? I was winning!"
Ariana scoffed. That was the other sound Karen was accustomed to hearing when her stepmother spoke to her. "Winning," she echoed as if it were a joke worthy of repetition. "Your Nidorina easily could have finished that Onix with another Double Kick, but you used Crunch. Why?"
"We were just having fun."
She couldn't determine if it was anger or bewilderment that made her stepmother's face crinkle. "Pokémon battles aren't for fun, you foolish girl."
Karen closed her eyes for a second, willing the momentary blackness to grant her some sense of patience for this woman. She hated the word 'stepmother,' because it implied that she and Ariana shared some kind of maternal bond. 'Drill sergeant' would have been more accurate.
She wondered, distantly, if her real mother would have treated her this way. More than once, she'd dreamed about the sound of her voice, the blue of her hair, the shape of her smile, the lull of her voice. It was always calm and gentle, nothing like the way that Ariana snarled. Karen liked to imagine she would have loved her. But then Ariana's voice rang in the back of her mind, mocking the very thought. She was just the bastard child, the product of lies and blackmail left on the front steps of the Viridian Gym.
All she ever felt from Ariana was contempt. Karen couldn't remember exactly when she made the distinction that she wasn't Ariana's by blood, but it was early. Her stepmother didn't much relish protecting the innocence of childhood. In Karen's most forgiving moments she tried to reason that having a visible reminder of your husband's affair living in your house wasn't the easiest thing to deal with, but it was hard to extend sympathy to the devil. She felt daily the need to remind Karen in some way or another that she wasn't Ariana's child. As if she would ever want to be!
Silver made everything worth it, though. He was her brother, her best friend, her protector. He was the one who always made her feel worthy, the one that helped her cause trouble and taught her how to be the trainer she was today. Since childhood she'd been able to defeat adults in battle, and she had his guiding hand to thank for that.
Her relationship with her father wasn't as bad as it could have been, either. Giovanni was a very powerful, very busy man. It wasn't that he was a terrible father as much as it was that he didn't know how to be one. Karen knew he loved her, just as he loved Silver. It wasn't a boastful love, and it wasn't one that she could feel all the time—but she knew it was there. And as much as Ariana hated it, there was no denying that she was his child.
Physically, she recalled him poorly. Karen was short and pale where her father was tall and tan. Her eyes and her hair were colored like the springtime sky, his both the blackness of a cold winter night. She was definitely Giovanni's, though. Her stature was not reflective of her intimidation tactics; Karen could render a noisy room mute with little more than her presence, and a taste of her anger could clear it. There was an air of arrogance about her, in everything from the self-assurance that gleamed in her eyes to the way she carried herself, her head held high and her long hair tossed over her shoulders. She was prideful, self-centered, and why wouldn't she be? She was the heiress to an empire, the princess of crime.
Truthfully, she was more like the red-headed woman standing before her than either would ever care to admit.
"Are you even listening to me?" Ariana snapped. She'd been prattling on about how Giovanni didn't give a damn about how much fun she was having, but Karen only heard a couple of words here and there.
"Nope," Karen chimed. She reveled in the way Ariana contorted her face, the way her fingers formed little fists.
"You're going to training academy with the rest of the grunts."
"Excuse me?"
"You obviously don't know the first thing about being a Pokémon trainer, much less a capable member of Team Rocket."
Karen felt angry tears start to sting her eyes. "I win every battle. My Pokémon are stronger than any of the others, I—"
"You haven't even evolved your Nidorina yet!" Ariana snapped.
Reina gave a disapproving grunt and Karen, blinking madly, fumbled for her Poké Ball and returned her into it. She did have a Moon Stone; her father had given one to her and one to Silver when he gave them their twin Nidoran for Christmas. But she kept it in the drawer of her bedside table, carefully folded between some pieces of fabric. She didn't believe in evolving a Pokémon just because its body was capable. She waited until what she felt was the right moment, until its heart and soul were ready, too. She didn't expect someone as ruthless as Ariana to understand that. "I want to strengthen our bonds first," Karen said, her voice quiet but firm.
"Your bonds? You idiot girl, this is Team Rocket! You aren't training to become friends with your Pokémon, you should be using them as weapons!"
"My Pokémon are strong because I trust them!" Karen shot back. "And they trust me. They aren't just tools. They're my partners."
A smug look settled on Ariana's face, as if Karen had answered a question that she'd never asked aloud. "And that's precisely why you're going to Rocket Academy."
--------------------
The walk home wasn't a long one. Karen waded through the crowded streets of Celadon City without once looking up, Salem padding faithfully beside her. She had never strayed far from this place, her parents made sure of that. It might have been been born out of some genuine concern on Giovanni's part, but for Ariana, it was more about keeping the identity of Team Rocket safe. Karen and Silver were breathing liabilities, living threats to the organization's secrecy. If the wrong person knew Giovanni had children, they would be made targets for kidnapping, ransom, maybe worse. That was why Silver taught her to be so strong. He couldn't always be there to keep his baby sister safe, and he needed to know that she could hold her own when he wasn't.
Karen heaved a sigh and shoved her hands deeper in the pockets of her long, black coat. She didn't know what she would do without him. Silver never attended Rocket Academy, so the longest she'd ever been apart from him was a couple of days. Leaving home, if only for a few months, was a terrifying idea. She barely knew the outside world. Anything apart from the base, the gym, and the Celadon mansion they called home was completely foreign to her.
In the richest city in all of Kanto, mansions weren't too hard to come by. Theirs was made distinct by the large, marble Persian statues that guarded the front gate, security cameras hiding beneath their ruby eyes. Karen hesitated long enough for the stone guardians to recognize her, then slid between the gates and made her way inside.
She was greeted by the faint hum of the television and a soft, feminine voice emanating from it; she recognized it quickly as that of DJ Mary, the Johto radio host her brother had a deep fondness for. Karen rolled her eyes and rounded the corner of the living room. Sure enough, Silver was on the couch sipping a soda pop, entranced by an interview on the big screen.
"Hey, Romeo. Is Dad here?"
"What? Oh—no. He's checking up on the game corner in Goldenrod. Profits have been down, even though business is up. I'm pretty sure some poor chump is about to get his ass beat." He looked surprised when Karen didn't laugh, or even crack a smile. "You look blue, Blue."
Karen smiled a small smile. "Clever, Red," she murmured, sinking into the couch next to her brother.
"What's up?"
"Your mother is sending me to Rocket Academy so I can be a better agent," she said bitterly. Her head was spinning still, and the details Ariana had rattled off to her were a blur of words that didn't all make sense. Karen knew she'd be partnered with some other kid, depending on how well she performed. Academy courses lasted anywhere from a few months to a year or more, depending on how quickly and how adeptly they were completed. And she would be leaving at the end of the week.
Silver frowned, his thumb brushing over the power button of the remote control. "You don't need to go through the academy, though. You're a damn good trainer. You're as good as any of the agents we have now—hell, you're better!"
"Yeah well, tell Ariana that, because she won't listen to me." Silver tried to speak again but Karen just shook her head. Sitting just made her stomach feel tighter, so she stood up and wandered to the opposite end of the living room, where a wall-length aquarium stretched from one side of the room to the other.
Giovanni kept the aquarium stocked with rare and brightly-colored water Pokémon: a trio of Feebas, some Corsola, and a particularly mischievous Horsea that Karen had once trained to squirt ink all over her stepmother's pretty white dress. Most of them were prized trophies from successful heists. A few were precious gifts from individuals trying to gain favor with the man behind the red 'R.' Never had anyone actually bribed their way into Giovanni's trust, but he made use of their attempts all the same. Then, there were the Magikarp, ever common and dull, utterly out of place in the miniature sea of rare water-types.
They were only there because Silver and Karen once "saved" two of the fish Pokémon from a street vendor. They came in Poké Balls plated in gold-colored plastic, and Ariana very nearly hurled them into the nearest puddle when the children toted them home in chalk pails. But Giovanni entertained their rescue efforts and allowed the Magikarp to be placed in the tank alongside his more showy water-types, much to Ariana's displeasure. They'd grown and mated over the years, and though the original two Magikarp had long since outgrown their living room enclosure, generations of their descendants still thrived in the living room aquarium.
Karen pressed her face against the tank and smiled, just like she did when she was little. The glass was cool and comforting, a welcome reprieve to her flushed cheeks. The smallest of the Magikarp swam up to her, its mouth moving rapidly in hopes of some food pellets.
"Tell me something," Silver said. He walked to where his sister stood and placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it lightly. "Do you see the potential in that Magikarp?"
"Everyone can see the potential in a Magikarp, Silver," Karen sighed, Her fingers curled into her palm and she rested her knuckles against the glass. "Even a novice trainer knows how powerful a Gyarados is."
"But power isn't what matters the most to you," Silver said. "You could have evolved Reina as soon as she evolved into a Nidorina. Why didn't you?"
"You sound like your mother."
"Come on. I'm being serious."
Karen shrugged. "A Pokémon's strength goes deeper than that. Strength and weakness, that's just sentiment. Forming a bond with your Pokémon and trusting them, that's what creates real strength. If you just evolve your Pokémon and there's no substance to your relationship with them, what does it matter?"
Silver laughed. It was astounding to him that she didn't realize how extraordinary she was, that she got through her spiel as if it were common knowledge. "That's why you're special, Blue. You get that when no one else does."
"But this is Team Rocket. All Pokémon exist for our glory." The sound of those words on her lips made Karen feel sick. She closed her eyes for a moment and drew in a deep breath. "We would be so much stronger if we just worked together."
"Maybe things will change someday." Silver spoke out of comfort, but his heart knew his words to be lies. It would never change. If it weren't for Karen, he would have left this place years before. Giovanni planned him to be his successor and truly, he wanted no part of it. But he couldn't leave, not without her. She was the burden he was all too willing to bear, the beautiful shackle that bound him to this life. He sighed and pressed a kiss to the crown of his sister's head. "A few months from now, you'll be home and everyone will know how special you are. Dad will be so impressed, he'll retire and leave us in charge. I'll yell at the grunts and you can sit in Dad's chair and intimidate people."
Karen laughed for what must have been the first time that day. "Do I get a Persian? Actually, I want a Meowth."
Silver snorted. He would never understand this obsession with cat Pokémon she shared with her father. Giovanni's snooty Persian couldn't stand Silver, but he slept at the edge of Karen's bed every night. He thought about it for a moment, and a smile crossed his lips. "As soon as you're home, I'll get you something even better. Promise."