Five Years pt 1: Heir to the "R" [notes n stuff: Rated PG. This is highlights Lorne's life up to his final badge battle with Giovanni where he finds out... well the title is rather suggestive, isn't it? Stuff: Giovanni, Team Rocket and Pokemon stuff are all property of Nintendo (duh) Lorne and Raven are MINE, which means property of Ratbite Productions.] He was born into wealth and lived like it for the first year of his life. Then, his father ran out on him and his mother. His mother held three jobs to make ends meet for her and her son. She wished he could've attended Pokemon Tech, but beacuse of finacial reasons, he couldn't. He had no friends. Nobody wanted to play with him, so he pretty much grew up on his own. He had no one to rely on, except his mother, who, even though she was hardly there, he loved. She was his only family. When he was ten, sadly, his mother passed away. Our story begins at the graveyard. The young boy kneeled at the tombstone. "Mom? It's me. Things aren't the same without you. I can't pay attention in school. I'm ten now. That's old enought to get me Pokemon Trainer's licence. I'm going out on my own now. To be a Pokemon trainer, like you always wanted me to be. I love you, Mom. Goodbye." As the left, a sudden wind whipped through is hair. 2 months later. "How'd I get to seafoam?" He asked himslef looking at his map. "Uck," he said. "I don't want to go through that cave. I'll climb over... but then how will I get off? I don't even know how I got here." All he remembered was a very crazed fearow picking him up by his shoulders when he was in the safari zone trying to catch his first Pokemon and then he was dropped. He was bleeding all over from the fall. Some loose rocks fell beneath him and he fell in the cave. He landed with a splash into the icy cold water. The current dragged him to a shore. He coughed a spit the salt water out of his mouth. He was soaking wet aand cold. How was he going to get out? He looked up to be faced with a wall of ice. Wonder what's behind it, he thought. He touched the wall with his hand. It started to melt! Lorne fell back, shocked to be face to face with an Articuno, one of the legendary bird Pokemon. "Articuno?" he whispered. He was scared. This Pokemon was one of the most, if not, the most powerful Ice Pokemon. He approached the bird and slowly, he took off his glove and held out his hand to the Pokemon. Articuno moved his head to look at the boy more closley. Lorne touched the Pokemon. He felt the feathers. "You're cold," he said, stating the obvious. He petted the bird more and once again whispered, "Articuno." He knew that some trainers had looked their whole lives and had never even come close to seeing Articuno. Lorne slowly pulled out a Pokeball. If he could only catch it.... A loud scream echoed throughout the cave. Articuno flew away. Lorne turned his head in the direction of the scream. Someone needed help. Lorne dived into the icy cold water and swam to another shore. There was a huge Kingler standing in front of a girl who looked to be about Lorne's age. She looked scared. She had fallen and the Pokemon was glaring down on her, waiting to attack. Lorne picked up a rock and threw it at the Kingler. "Hey! Pick on someone your own size!" It turned around. It WAS about Lorne's size. "Like me..." Lorne said, helplessly. Now what was he going to do. That girl was still sitting there, terrified. Lorne could think of only one thingto say as the Kingler inched closer. "ARTICUNO!?" As if the bird was responding to a master, it flew down and landed on the ground right in front of the Kingler. "Articuno?" Lorne whispered. He hadn't expected for the bird to actually show up. The legendary bird of ice looked at the boy as if to say "well, come on! What am I supposed to do?" "Umm..." Lorne said. "Ice Beam! Do you know Ice Beam?" The Pokemon attacked and the Krabby was frozen solid. "You won?" Lorne let it sink in. He grinned, "YOU WON!! WE WON!!! YEAH, ALLRIGHT!! Arty, you are one cool bird." He walked up to the Pokemon. He whispered. "Would you get in the Pokeball and come with me on my journey?" Lorne held out the pokeball, pressed the button and Articuno went inside. "YEAH!! I GOT ARTICUNO!!" He then remembered the girl they had rescued. He walked over to her. "Are you okay?" he asked. She looked at him. Something about those blue eyes. Like she had seen them before. She then smiled. "Yeah. I'm fine." "My name's Lorne. And this," he twirled the Pokeball on his finger, "Is the very first Pokemon I ever caught." She giggled. "Proud, aren't you? My name's Raven and I've got three." "Three," Lorne groaned. "Yep! A Charmander, a Vulpix and an Eevee!" "I want an Eevee," Lorne mumbled. "Got it for my birthday." "I got a pokeball and fifty bucks," Lorne mumbled kicking the dirt. "Well, what did your dad get you?" "My dad ran out. I don't have one." "Oh. What about your friends?" "Don't have any." "Oh. I'm sorry, Lorne." "Don't mention it. I'm used to it now." "Do you want a friend?" "Yeah, sort of. Now that mom's dead..." "You mother is dead?! Oh, Lorne, how awful. If it makes you feel any better, I want to be your friend." Lorne smiled. "Thanks." "Can I come with you on your journey?" "Yeah, sure!" During the next seven years, they had many adventures together. They went around the world meeting people and catching Pokemon. Soon, Lorne started batlling for badges. It is now Christmas and Lorne and Raven share an apartment. "Ok, Raven. You open your's first." She smiled at him. He had goten cuter and sweeter over the years. She hadn't told him,but she kind of liked him. "OK," she said. She opened the gift wrapped box. Inside were two Fire Stones. Tears swelled up as she smiled. "Oh, Lorne! You remembered!" She hugged him. "Now I can evolve Vulpix and Eevee. Thank you so much!" "You're welcome, Raven." He smiled. She was happy. Good. He always liked being around her when she was happy. "Okay, now open yours," she said, thrusting two boxes in his hands. She pointed to one. "Open this first." He did. Inside was a Pokeball. "A Pokeball?" he asked. "Open it," she pleaded. He pushed the button. Out came an Eevee. He gasped. "An Eevee! Raven you didn't..." She smiled. "I did." She giggled. "I've been raising it for you for years. I remember you said how you wanted one so bad. It's a pretty high level." "Wow. Thank you!" "Okay, now open the other one." He did. He took the round blue stone and held it in his hand. "Oh, Raven. I can't beleive you did this! A water stone!" "For your Eevee. That's why I raised it for you, so you can evolve it into Vaporeon right away." "Raven... I... I don't know what to say. This is the nicest thing anyone's ever given to me." "Oh, you're welcome." Suddenly, he kissed her. They both backed off with shock. "You kissed me..." Raven said. "You kissed me back..." Lorne said. "I kind of liked it..." "Me too..." The two looked at each other and kissed again. After the kiss, Raven wrapped her arms around Lorne and said, "I love you." This was the first time anyone had ever told him this. He didn't know what to say to her. The feelings he had for Raven... for the first time he realized that maybe he didn't really love his mother. He never knew his mom that well and she was never there for him. But Raven he had known for years. He felt an incredible feeling for her. Maybe that was love. "I love you too," he said at last. "You're so..." "So what?" "This isn't the right word but... beautiful. I've always wanted to say it, but never had the chance." She smiled. "Thanks." "Why do you love me of all people." "Love," she replied, "just can't be explained, Lorne. That's what makes it so mysterious. I love that about love." "Yeah, I guess you're right." "I guess we're more than just friends now." "Yeah. Merry Christmas!" She giggled. It is five years later now, two years after they met their friends Jessie and James. Lorne had seven Badges and had learned from James that Giovanni, the Team Rocket boss who had employed him and Raven many times, was the final gym leader he had to face. He entered the gym. "I did as you asked. I stole from the Saffron City Pokemon Center. I did it. And as payment I will battle you for the Earth badge!" "You think you can beat me, Little Lorne?" Shocked, Lorne asked, "Giovanni, h-how do you know that name?" "What do you mean." His surprize quickly turned to anger. "My mother called me that. She's dead now. I'll fight in her memory now." "Such strong words." "From the strongest Ice Pokemon trainer." Giovanni laughed. "You've never battled Lorelei." "I'll beat her." "She's one of the Eleite Four." "I will win. I swore on Mom's grave the day I left on my journey that I would be the Pokemon Leauge Champion. Now, stop stalling and start battling." "I can get you into the Pokemon Leauge. I have ties with this sort of thing." "Why do you want to help me. Why have you always wanted to help me?" "I knew your mother." "You're trying to butter me up so I won't beat you. Whatever you say, it won't matter." "I can have you in the Pokemon Leauge tonight. Save you a beating." "I won't lose! I want to get into the leauge on my own." "This is your last chance to take the easy way out." "Why. Why would you do that? What's the catch?" "The catch? I guess there's only one... you have to join Team Rocket full time." "I'd have no problem with that, but you still haven't answered why. Before I battle you, I want to know." "Are you sure?" "Yes I'm sure." "I'm your father, Lorne." "My f-father?" His eyes widened with shock again. And like before, he quickly turned to anger. "AND THAT'S SUPPOSED TO MAKE ME LIKE YOU? IF ANYTHING I HATE YOU!! You left me and my mother on our own. You left me! You're why I suffered most of my life. I will beat you! I will be the Champion!" "I usually have six Pokemon... but for you, my son..." "I'm not your son." Giovanni ignored him and continued, "One Pokemon." "Fine." He took out Articuno's Pokeball. "Arty," he whispered. "You're my best friend. Help me." He looked up. "ARTICUNO!!" "An Articuno? I'm impressed." "Caught him on my own. Wish my father could've been there." "MewTwo!" The Pokemon formed in front of Articuno. "What the hell? Articuno, be careful. Ice Beam!" "Psychic." Some of Articuno's attack hit MewTwo, but Articuno fell under the Psy pressure. "Articuno, please hang in there. Blizzard when you're ready." "MewTwo... recover." Articuno, hearing the worry in his master's, no, friend's voice, strengthened up and did the attack. A direct hit on MewTwo, although it didn't do much. "Swift, MewTwo." "Fly out of the way, Arty!" The father looked at his son. he had the determination to be a master. He also had faith in his Pokemon. Instead of encouragement, the words coming out of Giovanni's mouth were, "You actually think you can win like that?" "Yes," his son said, looking him in the eye. "I have before." "No, you can't. MewTwo, Psybeam." "Articuno, try to aviod it again." The bird couldn't. and it fell to the ground. "NOOOOO!" Lorne screamed. He ran to his Pokemon's side. "Arty, are you okay?" The bird tried, but couldn't get up. "Arty, stay down. you're hurt. Don't try." The bird tried again. " No, Articuno," Lorne said, wrapping his arms around the birds neck. "We can't win this one. We will next time. It was my fault. I wasn't thinking." A tear rolled down Lorne's cheek for the first time. That first tear released all the pain and torment Lorne had endured over the years. That single tear was followed by many others as he buried his head in Articuno's feathers. He looked up a his father. "Are you happy now!?" He yelled. "I surrender. Articuno, return." "MewTwo, return." "I'll be back, Giovanni." Lorne said, starting to leave. "No, wait." "What?!" "Here." Giovanni held out the Earth Badge. "Come get this." Lorne timidly walked over to his father. "I can't take..." "Yes you can. You held out longer than any other challenger." "Is this because I'm your son?" Lorne asked as he took the badge and pinned it to his jacket with the others. Hell, he wasn't turning down a badge! "No. I can tell how you handled your Articuno that you'll make it to the top. What I have to say to you now, however, has to do with Family." "What?" "You are my son and there's nothing you can do about that. You have duties and obligations now." "What?" "The first is join Team Rocket." "Part time?" "Full time. When I die, you inherit Team Rocket and this Gym." "You mean, this will all be mine if I join Team Rocket??" "Yes." Lorne sighed. He looked at his father. "I don't mind." Then, to Giovanni's shock, Lorne hugged him. "Thanks... Dad." [Final Note: MewTwo didn't talk and he was tottally under Gio's control. Lemme explain. Lorne had to lose, ok? I thought it would be better, and I don't see Articuno losing to, oh, Rhydon. So, MewTwo was the obvious choice. And hey, Giovanni does use MewTwo to beat Gary in the show, so... ok, my time frame is a little weird but it worked, didn't it? Don't make me beg for e-mail because I WILL stoop that low.]