‘What's going on?’ A young man thought, feeling himself walk. ‘Where am I heading?’ Looking around he saw nothing but darkness, but felt something over his eyes. ‘Why can't I move my arms?’ Only now noticing his arm were bound behind him.
"Here he is, as agreed." A voice said, shoving the young man to the ground, with a thud.
"That's him alright. The infamous criminal, Jax Goldheart." Another voice said. "Your crime spree finally ends."
"Of what ‘crimes’ am I being charged?" Jax coldly asked. Judging from the one's voice, he was fairly certain that it was from an officer, since he was still blindfolded.
"Pokephilia, multiple accounts of evading arrest, assaulting an officer, assault of private citizens, aiding and abetting known criminals, as well as destruction of public and private property. Just to name a few." The officer arrogantly said, reaching down and pulling the blindfold off.
"First off, I would never touch my family that way. Second, I was defending myself, my family, and others from ‘officers’ like you and criminals like Team Rocket. Third, I only destroyed Team Rocket’s, and similar organizations property.” Jax calmly stated, recalling his past actions.
"Don't be so sure, we’ve got witnesses and evidence." The officer stated, with a devious grin as he looked at the man that had knocked Jax down.
Confused by the officer's statement, Jax quickly looked at the officer then over his shoulder towards the other man standing behind him. To his dismay, the Team Rocket Executive and master of disguise, Petrel stood behind him.
"Only on two conditions. Remember them?" Petrel asked, crossing his arms as he sneered at Jax.
"Of course. The first is to stall any new development on team rocket's status." The officer said, "The second is to receive the team of Jax Goldheart." Reaching over Jax to pull the pokeballs off his belt.
"No!! You won’t!!!!" Jax yelled, as he immediately started thrashing about to get away. Unfortunately, he was quickly pinned by his captors. "Do what you want with me, but please leave my family alone." He pleaded in horror as he watch the pokeballs being pulled from his belt.
"So… Do we have a deal?" The officer asked, looking at Petrel as he removed the pokeballs.
"We sure do." Petrel said with an evil grin.
"You'll regret this!!! Both of you!" Jax screamed with contempt.
"I doubt it you'll be put away for the rest of your life with all those charges." The officer huffed, trying to drag Jax away.
"Don't worry guys, I'll come for you!" Jax screamed, struggling against the officer. "They won't be able to hold me! We'll be together sooner than you know! They'll pay for this. They will." He yelled as everything went black.
~~~
(Secret Base)
"They'll Pay!!!" Jax yelled, practically flying off his bed. His body was drenched from a cold sweat, all his muscles were tense and his breath was winded. Despite being asleep moments ago, he looked haggard. After a moment of glaring at a stone wall, he finally started to realize where he was.
"Jax, are you ok?" A female voice asked with concern.
Taking a moment to calm his breathing and collect himself, he looked at the young floatzel. "It's nothing Nami, just a bad dream." He said with a smile, relieved that's all it was.
"Looked more than that." Nami said with a perplexed look, as she walk to the side of Jax’s bed. "Need some help forgetting it?" She purred, with a seductive look on her face.
"Thanks Nami, but you know where I stand on that." Jax said, as he petted Nami's head.
"Can't blame a girl for trying." She said with a shrug and a smile.
"Guess not." He said with chuckle, "By the way, seen anything suspicious happening around the island?" quickly changing the subject.
"Nothing so far, even Leviathan said he hasn't seen anything yet." She said, a little upset, but use to him changing the subject after her advances all the same.
"That's good to hear, how's Paulla’s and Solaris’ foraging trip going? Have you heard from them?" He asked, getting out of bed.
"Nothing new there either. Once they landed on the mainland; they split up, forage for a time, then they met up again later to come home. They relieved Leviathan of patrol for today, and he decided to take a relaxing swim." She said, "Though a trainer did try to catch Solaris while he was out yesterday." remembering Solaris mentioning it last night.
Jax froze at what he just heard, "Did he mention anything else?" his body tense as he asked. "Was he followed?"
"Nothing particular after that, it sounded like a typical trainer run in, and Paulla didn't mention anything about being followed." She said.
"We better find Leviathan." He said, quickly packing up his loose clothing, sleeping bag and other necessities.
"Your being a little paranoid, aren't you?" She asked with a perplexed look. "Leviathan, Solaris and myself aren't native to the Hoenn region. So trainers trying to catch us is a given."
"I know, but poachers and organizations like Team Rocket wouldn't be deterred." He said, sighing heavily as he finished packing. "Being wanted isn't helpful either." Picking up his bags as he stood, he started walking to the cave entrance, with Nami close behind.
~~~
(Hidden Meadow)
Shortly after exiting the cave, he heard the distinct sound of something flying through the air. “Get back!” He yelled, instinctively throwing his bags in front of himself and Nami, intercepting a swift.
“Your reputation precedes you, Jax Goldheart,” A voice said, full of arrogance.“To bad your name doesn’t.” As smoke settled around Jax and Nami.
“Depends on who you ask.” Jax replied,“Other than your fellow officers.” trying to buy some time.
“Looks like you were right. What do we do?” Nami asked, stunned that Jax was right.
“Use Dig to escape, then find everyone.” Jax whispered back.
“But I just cleaned my fur and I’m not leaving you. I can rocket us out”
“We’ll be shot down before we can escape and a tunnel big enough for both of us will take too long.” Jax hushed, “I would rather go down, knowing my family is safe with each other, rather than trapped god knows where.” trying to convince Nami to run.
“I’m not leaving!”
“Then you leave me no choice.... Return.” He said, a sense of dread growing in his heart as he sent Nami back into her poke’ball. Not wasting a moment, he removed the strap that held his team's pokeballs, reattached Nami’s to it and threw the strap as hard as he could before the smoke cleared. “Sorry Nami, but I’m not willing to drag anyone down with me. Hope everyone can forgive me, someday.” lowering his head with shame. ‘What’s... going... on?’ He thought as an odd sense of sleepiness hit him, ‘This... doesn’t.... feel like...... a....... move...’ just before collapsing to the ground asleep.
"Rest now my children, for when you wake, a whole new world shall be your home."
