>shitfiction v3.0

There was nothing but silence in the air.

	Alex trod onwards,  doing his best to stay somewhat hidden in whatever grass was left in Route 205.  A Butterfree sat on his head, looking wherever he wasn't, keeping still much like its trainer who moved slowly and minimally. He knew this silence couldn't last for long, and was dreading the moment it would break more and more by the minute.
	The grass and trees had grown back since the disaster a year ago, but Pokemon were scarce. Save the occasional Bidoof that fled immediately on sight, everything seemed dead. Even the plants, though clearly alive, felt hollow. Alex resisted stopping to take a closer look at them. Any mistakes and he'd never return from this trip. He hadn't even made it to Eterna City's entrance yet. If he faltered here, how'd he continue from there?

	A small lake sat in the middle of the Route, a wooden pier across being the favoured path of trainers and anglers. This, of course, meant Alex would have to take the path around, where more tall grass would help hide him anyway. He turned towards a narrow path by a cliff's edge and inched his way through the silent waterside path. The lake that would usually be brimming with flopping magikarp had only a few in sight.

	"Feee." He felt his Butterfree tug on his hair.

	"What, Alpha? See something?"

	He didn't get a fast response, as Alpha had leapt off his head and kicked him down, both of them narrowly avoiding a water jet from something in the lake. A figure jumped out, leaping at him with claws ready to do something to Alex he didn't want to imagine.
	"Alpha! Sleep Powd-"

	Before he has even finished his command, one of the Poke balls on his belt opened. A Starmie swooped out and immediately loosed a thunderbolt. Before the Golduck could even begin to land, it was pushed back by the force of the attack and sent tumbling into the water. Alex picked himself up, trembling as he dusted himself off.

	"Thanks, Henriette." Alex held out the Starmie's Poke Ball to recall it, but with a limb it held his arm away. It then slipped into the water, hiding underneath the surface but staying close to him.

	"You'll need to get back in once we're away from the water, of course. But I appreciate the thought." Alex put away the ball and moved on, Butterfree back on his head.  The Starmie followed by his side, though underwater, till they went away from the lake and so it had to return. As they left the grass, dirt road gave way to a paved one. Eterna City, or whatever left of it, was close by.

	"Right, you'll have to turn around now, Alpha. Keep your wings low, sleep powders ready?"

	"Feee."

	He felt his Butterfree shift on his head. He felt as if his heart could burst at any moment with how fast it was beating, but there was no turning back. He didn't know how much longer he could wait, but whatever he might find here would hopefully give him some kind of answer. Clue. Even an indication that there was an answer would be enough.

	He froze as he took his first step into the city limits, half expecting to be attacked immediately. There was nothing, not even wind, and Henriette wasn't responding, so it was safe to say nothing would bother Alex for now. Many of the buildings were badly damaged; some had more conventional damage like charred walls, others had entire chunks missing, missing so neatly it looked like they were cut apart by a giant scalpel and merely separated.  It wasn't his business to go about and ponder events like this, not right now, anyway.

	First of all, he needed to find the Pokemon Centre. There were signs along the roadsides marked in red, weather and poorly maintained. Below them was a sign for a newer place, a 'Rest stop', the R painted bright red over the black background of the sign. Staying close to the sides of the buildings, he crept, burning into his mind the idea that somehow not even walking properly would ruin everything. He kept up this pace along the gray bricks that made up the untouched bits of the city, feeling a bit safer with their shadows blocking out the sun.

	The Pokemon Center would be around the next corner. So far, so good. All that preparation paid off, thought Alex as he peeked around the corner. It was empty like the rest of what he had seen of the city, and for a moment he felt secure enough to break his caution and run straight for those glass doors, not noticing the two figures stepping out until it was almost too late.

	"Who are you?"

	"W-what? Intruder?"

 	The two people dressed in black cut him away from the Center's entrance. The red R on their chests told everything Alex needed to know. Before he could reach for his Poke balls, however, they had already thrown theirs. A Raticate and Golbat burst out, both baring their fangs to strike into him and his Butterfree.

	"Now! The powder!"

	The Butterfree leapt away from his head and scattered a cloud of greenish dust, forcing the opposing Pokemon away as Alex himself rushed backwards to ready another ball.

	"Roy! Take the Golbat! Wing Attack!"

	He aimed and tossed it upwards to release a Murkrow. It quickly slammed its wings into the Golbat, managing to hit the shoulders and almost knocking it out of the air.

	"Now into the wings! Alpha, stun spore instead!"

	Before the grunts could give another order, the Golbat had hit the ground and the Raticate was coated in a cloud of yellow powder, unable to move out.

	"Stun the Golbat, Alpha! Roy, back to me - Peli! Slash the Raticate!"

	In a single motion, Alex recalled his Murkrow and threw out a Gabite. While the Golbat now grounded was prevented from recovering  by another burst of yellow dust from the Butterfree's wings, the Raticate was knocked upwards, large gashes on it made by the Gabite's claws.

	"Raticate! No-"

	"Other one too, Peli! Slash!"

	Just as the spore cloud dissipated to show the Golbat splayed on the ground, the Gabite pounced on it, raking claws over it until it got flung away and laid still.

	"Golbat!"

	There were no more Poke balls on the grunt's belts. Their hands trembled as they recalled their injured pokemon, and both stared at Alex for far too long. He stared back, not sure what he wanted to do, either, very frightened of whatever was coming next. The grunts took slow steps back, then quickly broke into a sprint to get away, but not before Henriette broke out of its ball and shot a blast of water at both of them, knocking them to the ground. Alex hardly even had time to think after that.

	"Alpha! Sleep powder NOW!"

	The Butterfree rushed to them before they could crawl up. Perching right over them, it clouded the grunts with the same green powder as before. Their attempts to get up slowed, then quickly stilled.

	Not so still was Alex's pulse, racing as he slowly approached the two grunts that he had knocked out. Now that he looked closer, they were just a little younger than he was. Twelve? Thirteen? A boy and a girl. He shuddered a little as he thought about how if things had went differently, he might have been in their place.

	"Hmmmm."

	His Starmie let loose a faint hum.

	"No, it's fine. It was the best thing to do. I should have told you to do it, Henriette."

	He hesitated as he was about to open their bags and pockets, but figuring it wasn't worth worrying about, dug through voraciously. A few potions was all that they even had, he couldn't bring himself to take all of them.

	After his Pokemon helped him bring the two grunts into the center, Alex set about working with the Center's PC. By some miracle, it was left largely intact, the only difference being a note pasted on telling Team Rocket Grunts to report to the Galactic Eterna Building for supplies and Pokemon.

...

	"Beep-beep."

	That familiar tone. Not that he had used a Pokemon Center PC a lot himself, but he had seen it done plenty more times.
	"ITEM STORAGED SYSTEM ACCESSED"

	It was worth a try. Alex entered his own login, trying not to fumble too much with the keyboard.

	"WITHDRAW/DEPOSIT?"

	He was struggling to calm himself down now. It was all working. Inside his box were old things he knew he left behind, and some he was certain that he had never touched.

	A map of Sinnoh, with the snowy northern region circled in pen. A small radio with batteries, too. Finally, a small locket with a photograph of two people. Both black haired, the smaller boy in front of the smiling girl.

	"Look, Henriette."

	He turned to his Starmie behind him, breathing heavily.

	"It's big sis. She gave this to me. It's a message from her. I think we can find her now."

	The jewel on the Starmie's core brightened as the boy fell on top of it.

	"After so long, we'll both be seeing her again. It's okay now, It's all okay..."