"Hey!! Come back here with that loaf of bread, you brat!!", A woman yelled at a small blonde haired girl and her Pikachu as they ran flat out.

"Too bad, old bag! I need it more than you do!!", The girl yelled back, pulling her right eyelid down and sticking her tongue out at the woman as the two ran out of site.

"Chaaaaaa.....", The yellow mouse Pokemon sighed as the two hid underneath a small bridge. The girl covered the Pikachu's mouth and heald her breath as she felt foot steps above. The police officers (including the Vermillion Jenny) ran across it, hoping to find the culprit's tracks. The girl's green eyes rested upon the Pikachu after she was certian they were gone.

"Thank god....", She breathed for the first time, breaking the loaf of bread and handing one piece to the Pikachu.

"Kachu!!", He said, feeling his stomach rummble. She chuckled, fixed the orange headband that she was wearing, and devowered her half. It had been 2 days since they had eaten last, and even that wasn't enough to stop their hunger. The Pokemon looked up at his trainer with mildly angry eyes.

"I know it's wrong, Pikachu, but we don't have any other choice....", She sighed, slumping down on the damp grass. She had no idea who her parents were, and found herself roaming from orphanage to orphanage with her only friend: A Pikachu. She was now 14 years old: still without a family, and still broke. The two stole what they needed: clothes, food, etc. after that. They kept barely escaping from the Jennys, or from the local police. The mouse hoped onto her shoulder as she got up and wiped the dirt off from her ripped jeans and light blue t-shirt with the symbol for water pokemon on it. She wished she could be just a normal kid and pick Squirtle for her first pokemon since she loved water, but the orphanages wanted to take away her Pikachu from her.

And she was not going to let that happen!!

She never regreted her decision to become a bandit like that guy who used bows and arrows and always wore tights. The stories she heard about him stealing from the rich and giving to the poor made her eyes sparkle with excitement.

"I wonder what life would be like if I had a family...", She mused as they continued their journey. They headed for the pokemon center in a small, far out village where they saw a wanted poster with a badly drawn picture on it. It looked as if the artist was a three year who was using those jumbo sized crayons. It read: Thieves Wanted Alive. Rina Catun and Pikachu. 3000 dollar reward....

"That doesn't even look like me!!", She smiled to herself, sat down at a table, and looked around. She felt slightly uneasy, as she spied four pairs of eyes watching her. The Pikachu sat opposite from her, watching the two with an instinctive suspicion. The eyes belonged to a young boy with a short hair (dark blue was the color of the hair) cut, and a young orange haired girl with pigtails. The two kids were about Rina's age, and ooked like they blended in, in fact Rina thought that they might be locals having some hot chocolate. She blushed as the two people suddenly turned their faces away from the girl and pokemon duel.

"Wow. Who IS that guy?", She whispered, being fasinated by the boy's blue hair (she had a thing for blue haired men), his purple eyes, and his laid back attitude. She watched the man look at his companion..

and walk towards her table.

Her face turned an even brighter shade of red as he stopped at the edge of her table. The Pikachu's cheeks started to spark with electricity. It didn't bother the Chu that his trainer was interested in someone besides her life long companion, but the guy seemed so weird to him...

"Pikachu....", She growled at her battle ready pokemon. The Pikachu grummbled something and stopped. The man only smiled at the Pikachu and started to speak. The Pikachu, in turn hid under the table.

"Howday!! I'm John. John Doe, and that there's mah sister Jane." He said, extending his hand and giving Rina his best warm smile. She smiled back, glad to here that the woman over there was his sister. She was too busy with her crush to hear her Pikachu make a few cracks about the boy's voice.

"I'm...." She paused, trying to think of a fake name. She didn't want to scare the man away. "Anne Nonymous. I'm pleased to meet you." She slowly extended her own shaking hand. The boy instantly shoke it.

"Pleased ta make yer aquiantance, ma'mam!", He said. The Pikachu frowned. The man just seemed so fake to him.

"Y'all must be new in these here parts! Why doncha come over ta our place and have some dinnah!", He continued, looking out the corner of his eye to see his "sister" watching with a sad eye. Rina never noticed it though.

"How does 7:00 sound to y'all?", The boy asked in his normally deep voice. "It's over at that there house over yonger." She pointed to a rickity shack nearby. Rina turned to her Pikachu. The girl looked like she was going to shake her head "no", but the boy frowned at the orange haired girl.

"Pi!", The Pikachu turned his head away. She wasn't going to listen to his advice anyway, so why even bother?

"Sounds great! We'll be there!", She said, letting her stomach speack for itself.

"Untill then, y'all!!", They answered, and ran off. The Pikachu glared at Rina.

"Well, at least we'll be getting a free meal even if it doesn't work out between us...", She said, trying to put a positive spin on their sitation. The Pikachu sighed, feeling his own stomach growl. Hours slowly ticked by as a middle aged woman walked up to Rina with tears in her eyes.

"You have Pokemon, right?", She asked. Rina only nodded, feeling dizzy from the lack of food.

"Please help me find my Seaking. She was missing a few days ago, and I haven't found him since...", She said, her voice on the verge of crying. Rina couldn't help but to feel sorry for the woman.

"I will. I promise.", She said quietly. She didn't know if she would get a reward for the Pokemon, but at least it would get her mind off of her all consuming hunger. The woman sniffed, took out a tissue, and wiped her nose.

"Thank you, kind girl...", She sobbed, gave Rina a pokeball, and walked away. Thoughts of food danced in their heads as they watched Rina's watch slowly tick the minutes anyway. They lept up and raced over to the shack when the hand was closing in on 7:00.

"Chow time!!!", She cheered. The Pikachu was less than happy as he pressed his eye to the door. Sounds of yelling and furture moving could have been heard, but he was too hungry to care. He would eat, and then Thundershock them, despite what his trainer would say. The door swung open to reveal the two locals that they met earlier.

"Glad y'all could make it!", The man said and let them in. The woman was setting a golden chicken on the table. Rina's and the mouse's jaws dropped as they eye balled the table. Food streached out as far as they could see. Two plates filled with corn sat on either side of the chicken. Mashed potatoes, raspberry jam, peas, freshly cooked bread....

They gestured to the seats, but Rina and Pikachu had already took it apon themselves to sit down.

"Let's eat!!", She announced, taking up her fork and knife. The two locals watched with confused look on their faces. It was like they hadn't eaten in months. Which was somewhat true.

Rina shoveled a mouthfull of chicken into her mouthfull, and downed a glassfull of milk. The white liquid dribled down her chin as she wiped it off with the back of her hand. Manners were lost to her. After the two devowered everything on the table, they sat back, satisfied with the meal.

"That was some darn good eaten'!", She commented, smiling contently. The two grinned at eachother.

"Pikachu." The Chu agreed, patting his huge stomach and fell asleep.

"Thank you so much for the meal!!.", She said, walking off to the bathroom to wash her hands. Rina's eyes slowly opened up in alarm as she spied a Seaking flopping around in the bath tumb. "What the....", She gasped.

The pattern of spots on the Seaking's back matched that of the one in picture perfectly!! She called the Seaking into the pokeball that the woman gave her and stomped out of the bathroom, and into the kicthen.

"Alright, you yokels! Noone pulls one over on...", She stopped, seeing that they were out of their disguises and into their usual black Team Rocket uniforms. The boy held the Pikachu, not even flinching from the electrical attacks that the Pikachu was using.. The Pikachu couldn't utter a sound since his mouth was tapped shut. His tiny little hands waved frantically in the air. The girl hung her head in shame as they proceeded to show their true colors. They were Team Rocket members Alkirk and Amber. The boy gave Rina a sly smile and extended his hand.

"The boss told us that your abilities would be most helpfull to Team Rocket. Why don't you join us? You could be one of the greats."

"Now why would I want to do a stupid thing like that...?", Rina asked, clenching her fists. Her mouth curled download to form a sneer as she felt her anger raising. The boy's smile grew larger.

"Then your friend here will suffer the consequences....", He said. The Pikachu panicked, feeling some unknown force crushing his throat.

"NO!!", She screamed, as a tear ran down her face. She didn't want her Pikachu to suffer...

"I...", Her voice was on the verge of cracking. The Pikachu let out an electrical shock that barely missed Alkirk, and hit the gas valuve on the shove. The stench of gasolene filled the air. Alkirk was too surprized by the attack that he let go of the mouse. The girl threw a Pokeball out, motioning for Rina and Pikachu to leave ASAP. Rina only nodded absent-mindedly and turned to exit the house. As the two were running out, she felt the rug beneath her pull out, making her trip. Alkirk looked down at her, his eyes glowing with supernatural power.

"Charmander, go!!", Amber shouted, and commanded the fire lizard to use it's flamethrower attack. The Fire Pokemon looked at the Rocket member, sighed and spat out a wave of fire. Alkirk only turned around to see his partener running away with her charmander. The house exploded, surrounding Rina and Pikachu with an intense heat as they hid behind a large rock nearby. She shielded the Pikachu as the flames nearly met them. She only suffered minor burns, but the Pikachu was much worse.

"C'mon, buddy. Let's get you to the Pokemon Center...", She said, feeling her eyes tear up.

"Don't worry! Your Pikachu is going fine!", A pink haired nurse said with a warm smile as she returned the Pikachu back to her owner.

"Chu!!!", The Pikachu said happlily as he jumped onto Rina's shoulder.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy!", Rina stopped halfway to the exit when she turned around.

"Ummmm.....Where does this road lead to?", She asked. The Pokemon Nurse paused for a minute, trying to think of the answer.

"Sunny Town. It should be just a day's walk from here."

"Ok! Thank you!!", she scratched the Pikachu underneath his chin.

"Excuse me..?" A scratchy voice asked. It came from the woman that they had seen ealier that day. Rina searched frantically for the pokeball.

"Here it is, Ma'mam! I even healed it for you.", She placed the ball carefully into the woman's hands. The woman's eyes lit up with delight.

"Thank you so very much. Here is a little something for your troubles." She handed Rina a 100 dollar bill and a crispy one dollar bill with some writing on it. It was a little hard to make out, but Rina could read it.

"If you ever need assistance of any kind, please dial the following number.."

She looked up with a confused face, only to find that the woman had disappeared.

"Weird lady..." She muttered. "I thikn we're going to be seeing her again, Pikachu...." She said outloud.

"Chuuuuuuu...PikaCHU." The mouse added. He agreed with Rina, and also said that they might be seeing the orange haired girl again. Rina made a face and nodded.

"Well, let's head to Sunny Town and see what we find there....", She suggested, putting the money away in her shoes. They waved bye to Nurse Joy and walked out.