I looked over at my newest companion. I was still a little surprised at what had just occurred. Not only did that little Absol totally kick Team Rockets ass, but she then actually had asked to join my team, just like that. I rubbed my eyes to see if I was somehow just imagining her but when I reopened my eyes she was still there.

One thing about her seemed a little out of character for an Absol. Even though she was a Pokémon who could foresee disasters, she seemed oddly happy as we walked along. There was a certain bounce in her step, as well as a small smile on her lips, which just seemed to breathe happiness. As I was about to mention something about this to her, and possibly ask why, I realized something. I had never even asked her name before agreeing to take her on our journey, and thought that might be a little more important.

Normally forgetting this or simply not doing it would not have been a problem, seeing as most Pokémon cannot talk, but this was a special case. I decided now was a good a time as ever to ask her, so I did.

"Excuse me, Absol," I said politely, trying to get her attention. She turned her head towards me and bade me to continue with a nod. "I was wondering; do you have a certain name you prefer to be called?" I tried to seem as nonchalant as possible. I really didn't want to make a big deal out of this. What she did next surprised me.

The Absol stopped dead in her tracks. I looked down and saw a small tear form in the corner of her crimson eye, but she had the willpower to hold it back.

"What's wrong?" I asked in a concerned voice, wondering if it was something I had said.

"It's nothing you said." She replied sadly, as if she had read my mind.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I asked in a concerned voice as I dropped down in a crouching position. She nodded and took a deep breath. This seemed to calm her down some before she said her piece. I could see her fight back tears reliving an ancient memory, and for some reason I wished I could help her, even after only knowing her for a half an hour. So I did the only thing I knew I could do. I listened.

"I haven't been called by my true name in many years. It brings back memories too painful to bear by most standards. My first and only master before you christened me with the name 'Rena'. My old master was a strong and kind trainer, going by the Name of Matthew. My fellow Pokémon and I fought willingly by his side, and whether we won or lost, he always found a way to say he was grateful. Thanks to our hard work and dedication, he had gained national recognition. As for us, we had everything we could ever dream of. We had nice beds to sleep in, good partners to train with, and a wonderful and kind trainer who loved us very much. We thought it would last forever... We were fools." She ended this with a bitter tone.

"Would you like to go on or no?" I asked, not wanting her to share if she didn't want to. I wanted to make sure because every word she said seemed to pain her.

She said she would continue and once again became immersed with her story.

"As time went on, a fledgling organization, known as 'Team Rocket', heard of my master's success. They offered him a share of the profits if he would use us to help them capture other trainer's Pokémon. Naturally, my master refused. After that they left, so we thought we had heard the last from them. Boy were we wrong. I was asleep when they snuck into the mansion. I don't know how they got past security, but I presume they killed the guards. The first thing I remember from that night was my masters paw, sorry, hand shaking my shoulder as he urgently whispered into my ear to get up. I got out of bed and, noting his cautious tone, snuck over to where he was to wait for instructions. 'Be VERY quiet,' he breathed to me between his teeth. I was confused but obeyed his instructions. It was then that I heard them. I listened as one by one the doors down the hallway from us were kicked in. Obviously someone was searching for something, but for what? We both didn't want to find out and went to hide ourselves, but just as we had decided to do this, the door was kicked in." She shivered at the memory.

"What happened next?" I asked, genuinely interested now, although I knew what came next would not be pleasant to hear or tell.

"Sorry, I had to catch my breath. I really do want to share this with someone, it's just hard to say, but I will do my best. Anyway, after the door had been kicked down, five armed men wearing stealth black suits with a giant red 'R' emblazoned on the chest burst into the room. 'What do you want!?' I can remember my master saying, as though it were only yesterday when I heard his beautiful voice. One of the men walked over to him and sneered, pointing his gun at my master's chest. 'What do we want? Oh, that's rich! You know what you did. You turned down the Rockets and now, we want our revenge.' He then promptly shoved the gun under my poor master's throat and pulled the trigger. Even now the image of my master haunts me, falling to the floor lifeless. There was only an oozing hole where his once beautiful smile, his gorgeous face should have been. I still see him, in my nightmares. He asks me why I didn't save him, and when I have no answer, he fades away, to leave me in the darkness. At that point everything went black for me. When I woke up I saw the five men dead where they had stood, their blood stale on my claws, and I knew that I had killed. I also knew my beloved master was dead, and nothing in the world would bring him back. I left that day and have been roaming the wilderness ever since, until I met you."

"When I first saw you, I had sensed great danger, so I stayed to watch, but at one point when I had hidden in the bushes, hopeful to see what was wrong, I must have made a sound amongst the leaves, because you crept to where I was and found me. When you saw me, I panicked and ran, not able to say anything because I was afraid you would fear my presence. But when I saw you in that fight the next day with the Rockets, I knew I had to step in. I wasn't about to let them kill another innocent soul. After that I decided maybe this was a sign that I was to travel with you so I asked. I was overjoyed when you accepted, and after that you know the whole story."

I was dumbfounded. At least I knew why she wanted to be my Pokémon so badly, but I never expected such a sad or chilling tale to be spun by this until now energetic and happy Absol. I felt that right then she needed to be comforted, and when I looked in her tearful eyes, I knew this to be true. I did the only thing I could at the moment. I reached forward and pulled her close, dimly aware that Neo had joined in on the group hug as well. We sat there for a long time, letting Rena cry to her heart's content, or rather, ill-contentment.

After a time she broke free of the hug and looked up at me with a shaky smile, as if to thank me. She never got the chance though, as two metallic hands reached down from the sky to pluck her up from the ground along with Neo. I looked up to see a giant zeppelin materialize out of thin air. As I screamed for Neo and Rena to come back and they cried out in response, a small pedestal descended from the base of the flying machine. On it was Cassidy.

"You killed my Butch!" She cried out manically at me. "Now I'm going to take everything that has meaning to you away! I'm going to kill your Pokémon! And when I'm done with their slow, slow death, I'm going to kill your family, and then finally, when you have now one left, I'll kill you. Then Butch can be happy! Isn't that right Butch, heh... Hehheh... Mwahahahahahahahaha!" With that her platform ascended into the zeppelin as my two precious Pokémon cried out in sheer panic.

I quickly ran over to where my nearest Pokémon was held, which happened to be Rena, and grabbed hold of the metallic arm. I was hoisted into the air with her as the zeppelin slowly began to fly away. As we were raised towards the zeppelin, I looked and noticed that the hole the mechanical arm was retracting through was too small for me to fit through. I began to panic, but luckily there was a service ladder next to the hole which I quickly grabbed and clung to for dear life as my poor Rena and Neo were pulled inside. I could only hope that my Pokémon were doing a little better than me inside there with that maniac. They could take her... I think...Chapter End Notes:Hah! Take that society. It pained me to make one of my characters emotionally scarred, but I think it really helped to advance the plot. I also wanted to in some way put some depth to Team Rocket, which for some reason is never done. So, Rio, and I guess anyone else who read and shared Rio's opinion, did I manage to pull off a good ending for once? And I would also like to hear everyone's opinion of the author character dialogue. I felt there really needed to be some comic relief