Pokémon: Red for Blood

Read the Creator's Thoughts section, and you will find that your questions may have already been answered.

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My new life started as best as it could before it all went to shit.

I was born on August 3rd at around six p.m., which is not a very good time in a hospital. Maybe that should have been the first hint, but I was wholly unaware and was instead infatuated with a beautiful woman.

She was covered in sweat, and her long black hair stuck to her skin as her eyes twinkled at the little bundle of joy in her arms—me. I had been orphaned pretty early in my previous life and grew up moving from one foster home to another, so it came as no surprise that I would be able to experience the motherly love I had never gotten before.

Leaning over from the left-hand side of the bed, a handsome man with orange hair and deep laugh lines looked at me in wonder. It reminds me of my first kid and the confusing feeling you get as a father: one part wonder and one part trepidation. This was the start of a time of love, peace, and happiness.. but, in the end, happiness can only last so long.

It started as a typical Tuesday. I was three years old and was at the park with my stay-at-home mother. We strolled through the green expanse and admired the domesticated Pokémon as they played in the leaves and hopped from branch to branch. One moment, we were laughing and giggling, and the next, my mother was pinned up against a tree as a man held a knife to her throat. I was caught in between and was pushed roughly into her chest as he cursed and demanded my mother hide him.

I didn't know this then, but apparently, he was a member of Team Rocket and had almost been caught by the league. He managed to escape, but the net closed around him like a noose.

With tears in her eyes, my mom nodded quickly to agree, and he demanded that she give me to him. For assurance, he said. At first, she refused, but after he threatened to stab us both, she relented, and we made our way quickly back to my home, not two blocks from the park. My mom's back was trembling; I remember clearly that she was so scared and afraid. I wanted to reach out and comfort her with all my might, but I knew ZI needed to stay calm so this guy on edge wouldn't lose it.

Reaching our home, he quickly ushered us inside before sweeping the house to close the blinds and lock the doors. Once that was done, I was handed back to my mother, and we sat on the couch in the living room. From there, we anxiously watched him pace back and forth in the space between the living room and kitchen while muttering to himself.

Eventually, after a couple of hours, he calmed down and finally sat on my dad's favorite recliner with a sigh. He asked us to turn on the T.V. so he could watch the news. The first thing reported was that the police were looking for a Team Rocket member matching his description. I could see him tense up again, then relax as he realized he was safe. And so there we sat, my mother and I, in terror as we waited for this psycho to leave. I should have killed him then.