Note: I plan on making this fairly long, so please be patient! Also, I have exams coming up so be prepared for irregular updates ;P That said (typed?), enjoy the first chapter of my new story!

An Adventure Begins

Steal Pokémon for profit. Exploit Pokémon for profit. All Pokémon exist for the glory of Team Rocket.

It wasn't the most motivational slogan, or a clever one at that. Daphne liked that it was honest and didn't try to make the organisation seem like something it wasn't. It was written on shiny white plastic above a desk in a building civilians weren't normally allowed to be in. Daphne had had to bribe the security guard at the front entrance into letting her into the building, using a box of six doughnuts. After much deliberating, the guard had agreed.

Now she was inside, Daphne's eyes surveyed everything: the spotlessly waxed floor; the pale blue walls with framed pictures of various Pokémon in captivity; the elevator at the far end of the waiting area that advertised its seventeen floors. Daphne sniffed and she was almost certain she could smell the strong scent of Moomoo Milk, which she found weird.

A woman who looked to be in her early forties was sitting behind the front desk, chatting easily on the telephone. Daphne went over to her and leaned on the desk, attempting to intimidate the woman into hanging up the phone. Much to Daphne's annoyance, the woman rolled her eyes and swivelled around on her chair, so her back was to Daphne. Irritated – but not surprised – by the woman's rudeness, Daphne very immaturely stuck her tongue out at the woman's back. Daphne's eyes drifted up towards the clock on the wall near the woman. She couldn't take too long with her phone call, could she?

Twenty minutes later, Daphne had had enough of waiting around. She took matters into her own hands and quietly slipped off to the elevator. Daphne pushed the button to call the lift and it lit up red. While she waited for it to arrive, Daphne kept a wary eye on the woman behind the desk: she didn't want to get caught in the act.

The lift arrived with a loud and cheery 'ding!' which the woman was oblivious to. As quick as she could, Daphne jumped inside and selected a floor. The doors closed just as the woman was getting off the phone and she didn't quite manage to see Daphne hitching a ride in the lift. Daphne's stomach lurched dangerously as the elevator shot upwards, surprising Daphne with the sheer speed of it. It stopped on the seventeenth floor and Daphne fell out, woozy from her ride. She clutched her stomach and waited until her head stopped spinning before she looked around her. Daphne gasped; she was in Giovanni's office. He appeared startled by her arrival but maintained his superior composure. Daphne straightened the black hat on her head and stepped forward bravely. In Giovanni's office, everything looked like it had been bought that very day. The carpet was lush and looked like no-one had walked on it before, books appeared to be un-opened. A Persian lay peacefully in a basket near Giovanni's desk.

"How can I help you, child?" sneered Giovanni. Daphne wasn't intimidated by his attitude; she was well aware that she was only fourteen. She didn't expect him to be any nicer to her than that. Daphne cleared her throat loudly.

"I want to join Team Rocket." It took Giovanni a few seconds to react. Then he stared Daphne straight in her eyes and chuckled. Daphne hadn't anticipated that sort of reaction.

"You, join Team Rocket? Don't make me laugh kid. Get out of my office before I tell security to call your parents," said Giovanni coldly. Daphne narrowed her eyes at him.

"I know you let people as young as me join your organisation and I think–"

"That was last month," Giovanni cut her off. "There was a chance for you to sign up then and I guess it's your loss you missed the deadline. I'm a busy man so if you wouldn't mind seeing yourself out..." Giovanni gestured for Daphne to leave. It was too bad for him that she was a stubborn girl. Daphne banged her palms down on his wooden desk and glared at him.

"Let me join Team Rocket," said Daphne, slowly and deliberately.

"You're beginning to irritate me," stated Giovanni.

"I won't leave until you let me join," said Daphne, standing up straight once more. Giovanni didn't much like giving in to other peoples demands – especially a little girl's – so he twisted it in his favour. That way, he reasoned, it's not as if I lost. He forced a heavy sigh.

"I'll allow you to join our peewee training team, how's that?" Giovanni smiled nastily. Daphne agreed to it, although she thought 'peewee' didn't sound as if it was taken seriously among the Team Rocket members. She was just glad to have gotten somewhere. Giovanni made a phone call and ordered a Rocket grunt to get to his office instantly. Three seconds later, a young man burst through a side door in the office, panting heavily. Daphne took in the stairs behind him and realized he had run up them. She wondered what floor he had come from.

"Take this child to the peewee training department. I also want a hot cup of black coffee, a full report of our progress in Vermillion City and five Dragonites." Giovanni waved his hand, dismissing them both. The Rocket grunt began to bow, thought better of it, and tried to make out he had dropped something on the floor. His Pokéballs spilled out of his open bag and on to the floor and he gathered them back up as fast as he could. Daphne met Giovanni's eyes and it was as if they were thinking the same thing. What an idiot.

When the grunt had finally pulled him self together, he lead Daphne through the door he had just entered and they descended the stairs in silence. Their footsteps echoed around them, the sound bouncing off the stone walls. After walking down four flights of stairs, the Rocket grunt opened a door and went through it. Daphne followed, now decidedly bored. They walked through a back room that had nothing interesting in it expect for a few cardboard boxes and empty Pokéballs. The door at the end of the room led to an open platform on the side of the building. The wind whipped around them, causing Daphne's long green hair to fly in her face. The Rocket grunt's hat flew off before he could catch it and Daphne tried not to laugh. The grunt turned to her and pointed to a Charizard sleeping against the side of the building.

"Wake it up and it will take you to the peewee training school," he said, and promptly left Daphne on the roof. She tried to go after him but found that he had locked the door they had just come through from the inside. Daphne cursed him under her breath. She wasn't stupid; she knew how temperamental Pokémon could get when woken from their sleep before they were ready. However, Daphne couldn't see any other way of getting down from the ledge as she couldn't go back and it was very high up. Gritting her teeth, Daphne cautiously made her way over to the Charizard.

It was a lot bigger this close up. As it snored gently, little puffs of fire emitted from its mouth. It didn't exactly look inviting. This particular Charizard had numerous scars all over its body and was missing part of its right ear – Daphne decided it was most definitely a fighter. It made her all the more nervous. Tentatively, Daphne prodded the Charizard with her finger. It twitched...but otherwise nothing else happened. Daphne poked it harder and the Charizard lifted a hand to sleepily swat her away. Daphne knew she was going to have to take a risk. Summoning all of her strength, Daphne shoved the Charizard in its stomach. The Charizard woke with a start, and its eyes focused on Daphne. It roared angrily at her and got to its feet. Clouds of black smoke billowed out of its nose and mouth. Daphne took a step back.

"You need to take me to the...peewee training school," said Daphne. It embarrassed her to say the word 'peewee', even to a Pokémon. The Charizard looked fiercely at Daphne and she felt compelled to amend herself.

"Uh...please?" To Daphne's absolute astonishment, the Charizard's frown melted to make way for a smile. It bent down so she could climb on its back and she sat with its neck between her legs. She gripped on to its horns and without warning, the Charizard took off.

"!" In some ways, it was worse than the elevator. It was faster, shakier and it wasn't only going in one direction. But once Daphne got used to it and the feeling she was about to throw up passed, she found she quite enjoyed the ride. The Charizard soared through the sky, flying above and below the clouds. Daphne chanced a look at the ground and discovered that she could see the entire island of Kanto. It was amazing. Everything looked so green; she could hardly even see the buildings. After a time she knew they must have passed the house where she had grown up and she muttered 'good riddance'. She never wanted to go back there.

The Charizard flew over Kanto and was soon above the ocean. Having never been away from Kanto before, Daphne immediately had no idea where she was headed to. It gave her a sense of excitement: leaving home and travelling to somewhere she had never been before. It was almost like an adventure. A flock of Wingull eyed the Charizard and Daphne suspiciously but left them alone when the Charizard carelessly blew thick smoke in their direction.

Daphne felt her stomach flip as the Charizard began its hasty descent. She looked over the Charizard's head and panicked when she only saw the sea below them. Daphne yelled at the Charizard to pull up before they both drowned to death but the Charizard ignored her. As they got closer and closer, Daphne came to realize that there was a small island far below and that the Charizard had been planning on landing there. Feeling stupid, Daphne meekly apologised to the Charizard who took no notice of her either way. The ground soon came rushing up to meet them both and the Charizard landed softly and expertly on the grass. Daphne slid off of the Charizard's back and turned to it.

"Thanks for the ride," she said. The Charizard bowed its head slightly before flapping its wings and flying off again, leaving Daphne to fend for herself. Daphne turned around and was face to face with the tallest iron gate she had ever seen. Behind it was a building three times the size of her school back in Kanto, and ten times flashier. Daphne noticed there was a speaker box built into the brick wall next to the gate and she pressed the buzzer. A voice crackled through.

"Yes? Yes? Well, who is it?!" the voice demanded.

"D-Daphne Davies," stuttered Daphne, a little shaken by the aggressive tone of voice. "I'm a new student."

"What took you so long to reply! Jeez, the youth today...Stand back then!" the voice barked. Daphne stumbled backwards as the tall iron gates opened automatically in front of her. A middle-aged short man came scurrying out of the school, a deep frown set on his face.

"Daphne?" Daphne recognised his voice as the one from the speaker, and nodded. He grabbed her wrist and with surprising strength, considering his size, pulled her behind him. He took her on a tour of the school, talking nonstop in a bored voice.

"This is the front office...Over there are the classrooms, but you won't spend a lot of time in there...Through those double doors is out of bounds unless you have written permission from at least two coaches...This is the dining hall...Here's the recreation room...The dojo...Out there is the assault course...And finally, the student dormitories. Since its Sunday everyone is in their rooms at this time. You're very lucky since someone dropped out just this morning...And so here's your room. You'll find some clothes in the drawers and your room mate will explain the rules to you." The short man left quickly, slamming the door behind him. Daphne blinked at her new room. If she was honest, her old one was better in so many ways: it was tidier, the bed sheets actually matched, there wasn't a horrible draft, there was a nice(ish) rug and cheerful posters on the wall. At least they gave me clothes. The room was on the small side with only the basics: two beds, two chests of drawers, one bedside table where a small alarm clock sat and a window above the bedside table. There was a door to the far left that led to the en suite bathroom. Daphne tried to have a look at it but it was locked. She realized her room mate was probably in there. Daphne flopped herself on her bed – she knew it was hers because her room mate's was cluttered with random keepsakes and knick knacks.

Daphne wondered what kind of person her room mate was. Was she stubborn, like Daphne? Did she have long or short hair? What region was she from? Why did she want to join Team Rocket? Daphne sat up when she heard the door for the bathroom being opened. Her questions were about to be answered. The door opened and Daphne saw that her new room mate was...

"Oh!"