Darkened Heart (Part A) by Michael Keens/ Exodus  

A rusty van bounced and rumbled as it drove along the rocky roads of Mount 
Lead, it belonged to Team Rocket.  
The Lunar Crew, one of the Boss’s more successful groups, were on a mission to 
reclaim a troublemaker and present him to their boss.  
He had ruined a very special project of theirs and the Boss wanted vengeance.  

Veronica, known to the world as Vertigo, sighed.  
She wondered what she was doing here, some recent events had changed her mind 
about how to live her life.  
She remembered Ricky Zane, the kid from a few days ago, the one she had let 
free without permission, and the one that had caused a lot of trouble for the 
company’s latest scheme, she hoped there was someone worse than him, it was too 
soon to face him again.  
No one had questioned her about that incident, about how he escaped, they 
appeared to need her skills that much, but was she prepared to use them for 
their dirty deeds now that her old friend had come back into her life?...  

Vertigo thought back to several years ago, she was ten and Ricky was nine, they 
were the best of friends and did everything together, she was fascinated by the 
way his mother’s Pokémon worked around the house and helped to raise Ricky due 
to a condition that was rapidly draining her strength, but she was the sweetest 
lady that Veronica had ever met.  
Veronica’s parents were forced to move away for better things, or so they said 
at the time.  
Veronica’s father was where she’d gained the night black hair of hers, he was 
an alcoholic and caused the most problems for her, giving her abuse and making 
her feel bad about herself.  
Her mother was blonde and constantly caved in under the pressures of life, she 
barely gave Veronica any attention.  
Veronica was heartbroken to leave Ricky, and was given the news quite 
suddenly.  

She reacted quite strangely and convinced Ricky to run away with her, he loved 
his home but went along and tried every step of the way to get her to go back, 
but Veronica could be very persuasive.  

They eventually ran into an Electrode and were unfamiliar with them, Veronica’s 
kicking of it really didn’t help, and the resulting explosion threw them both 
into a small chasm.  

Veronica cried and cried as Ricky lay unconscious for hours and she blamed 
herself, he eventually woke up but was badly hurt and one of his arms was out 
of place.  
Veronica apologised constantly while Ricky accepted it, yet was unable to stop 
her from apologising further.  
Veronica went out of her way to make it up to him by climbing back up while 
supporting Ricky on her back.  

It took a fair few hours since she was treating Ricky as extremely fragile.  

Veronica didn’t want to go back to Saffron City, but Ricky’s condition wasn’t 
leaving her with much choice.  
Ricky told her that she shouldn’t be running away from her problems and that 
she should stand up to her parents, he wouldn’t always be around for her but he 
promised that he’d see her again, and that they’d always be the best of 
friends.  
Ricky was immediately rushed to hospital, his parents were able to accept it 
was an accident, but not Veronica’s drunken father and stressed mother, she 
hated him for his habits and the ways he constantly put her down, and her 
mother for only taking notice of the bad things Veronica had done.  
She spent as much time as she could with Ricky’s family, they treated her 
right, his father was caring and supportive while her father was distracted and 
insulting, Ricky’s mother was sweet and gentle while Veronica’s mother was a 
wreck, obsessed with petty problems and always arguing with her husband.  
Her home was unbearable to live in and the environment was depressing.  
She tried everything to stay in Saffron City, but she ended up being dragged 
away from the only real joy in her life.  
The next few years didn’t get any better, Veronica felt out of place in her new 
home, she purposefully did bad in school and didn’t care for anything, because 
she was heartbroken at being forced away from her friend for some job that her 
mother craved, not that it made her any happier with life.  
And because her ice cold ways turned everyone away from her, she didn’t make 
any new friends.  
She had tried to stand up to her parents but never succeeded, and only felt 
worse after talking with them, she soon learned to ignore them completely, but 
she started to ignore the whole world as well.  
She had no future plans, not any more, her only dreams of training Pokémon 
alongside Ricky would not come to pass, and she sunk into a depressive and 
hateful state, blaming everyone for her sadness.  

Then things got even worse, her father had too much to drink one night (though 
a normal amount for his lifestyle) and her mother had become hurt by his words 
and started to drink a little too much herself, she then acted irrationally and 
dragged Veronica away in fear of her father hurting them, this much was true, 
he had been getting very violent recently, Veronica had a couple of scars and 
bruises but felt no trust in others to tell of it.  
It was foolish of her to get in the car but her mother was very forceful and 
Veronica was past caring, perhaps they’d be happier without her wreck of a 
father.  
Unfortunately, he caught up with them and entered the car as it was leaving, 
Veronica tried hard to make them stop the arguing and driving but they were in 
too much of a mess to listen, and poor Veronica was knocked unconscious by her 
father...  
When she woke, she simply stared in shock at the sight ahead of her, no one 
should have to witness what she did, the car was a wreck after falling off a 
mountain road and it was a miracle that Veronica had survived without any major 
damage, her parents were nowhere near as lucky.  
What lied outside wasn’t very pleasing either, and some men in black discovered 
Veronica and took her to a place she was unfamiliar with.  

She sat in a holding cell, it was strange, her parents were gone and she hadn’t 
shed a tear, nor felt any sadness in losing them, she had lost her positive 
emotions some time ago, neither had she cared about anyone, apart from Ricky, 
but he had probably forgotten her by now...  
She heard voices, one, a snivelling man, the other, a posh voice.  
“We found her in the car that crashed into our testing site, I think she saw 
what we were doing, she knows too much!”  
“I’ll be the judge of that, and of her fate.”  
A man with short black hair and a red suit with a Persian close behind him 
entered the cell and sat next to her.  
“I... am sorry about your parents’ sudden departure from this world.”  
“I’m not.” she replied darkly.  
“That’s very strange, I’m afraid you saw some things that you shouldn’t have, 
and that means I can’t let you leave.”  
“I wouldn’t tell...  No one cares what I think.” she replied, blank of 
emotions, “You were experimenting on a Sandslash very harshly, like I give a 
damn.”  
“Hmmmm...” said the Boss stroking the Persian which purred happily.  
“Obviously fate has dealt you a losing hand, this might sound strange, but I 
know where you’d be treated with dignity and where people would listen to your 
opinions, by the way you speak, it seems the world has turned its back on you.” 
said the Boss confidently, a lot of Rockets came from poor or cruel 
upbringings, and sooner or later, a clear winner would be found to lead Team 
Rocket’s higher operations and perhaps inherit the company, the Boss had no 
heirs that would be willing to do that.  
“Really?...” she asked, curious yet not seeming too interested.  
“Its better than living rough, you have a lot of hatred for the world, don’t 
you? You could find your place here and earn a living on a slightly different 
route than the cruel world out there.”  
“... How?” asked Veronica, showing interest.  
“I’m sure you’d make a good Pokémon Trainer, most people here have been 
forsaken by the world and its inhabitants, its taken a lot from us, so why 
can’t we return the favour?...” questioned the Boss.  
“That sounds valid.” she replied simply, “But me?...  A Pokémon Trainer?...”  
“Of course, you could have whatever Pokémon you wanted...  Are you 
listening?...”  
“One hundred percent, get on with it...”  

Team Rocket was a great place to live, better than her home anyway, people 
listened to her and respected her, and all she had to do was set aside the 
morals she had thought to be right, and to steal other people’s Pokémon, she 
didn’t have a guilty conscience either, she had become cold as ice since taking 
so much abuse from her parents.  
The Boss became a better father-figure than her real father ever was.  
She became a competent trainer and her dark interior helped her to outsmart and 
overpower the weak, and take away their Pokémon so that the creatures could 
move onto greater things, but profit the Rockets of course, she didn’t show any 
particular happiness with what she did for a living but it was better than 
having nothing at all.  
She closed her heart and set aside her conscience many times in the name of 
Team Rocket.  

She was promoted often, as many others had failed Giovanni, the Boss’s real 
name, a name that only the most trusted of Rockets ever came to know, a success 
for him was rewarded greatly, but those that failed were in trouble.  
She was eventually moved into a top thief group for Team Rocket, known as the 
Lunar Crew, her skills as a trainer were unmatched and the group considered her 
a leader, she was very strategic and did her job without thinking of 
consequences, you had to for this line of work, if you cared for your victims, 
you’d fail.  
She became known as Vertigo, as the group all had codenames, not that anyone 
cared about Veronica being a Rocket, well, only one person in the world might 
care, but she’d never she him again.  
There were five other members in the group who were all competent trainers.  
Nebula:  A hasty female that used Electric and Psychic-type Pokémon, she was 
calm and collected, and an obedient member, but had a short temper.  
Form:  A strange male with Grass and Fighting Pokémon who seemed to have a 
thing for her.  
Crater:  A big muscular male with Fire and Ground Pokémon, he constantly 
questioned Vertigo’s orders.  
Depth:  A mysterious female with Water and Rock Pokémon.  
And Phase:  A Bug, Poison and Ghost-type user, a girl that was just plain 
fickle, she was smart and calm half the time, and psychotic the other, hence 
her nickname.  
Vertigo led the team to success many times, she was decisive and firm towards 
the group, and they surprisingly successfully stole Pokémon from unfortunate 
weak trainers.  
Vertigo had no problem since she didn’t dwell on the consequences, until one 
day.  

It happened a few months ago, they were sent to steal Pokémon from a master 
champion trainer that had won the Pokémon League some time ago.  
The others were eager to do wrong, Form was hitting on her again and Crater was 
boasting a new weapon.  
A gun which fired poisonous darts that drained a Pokémon’s health to the bare 
minimum, so that they wouldn’t struggle upon capture, it was almost certainly 
lethal to humans as Pokémon could take far more damage than humans could, and 
their insides were also stronger.  
Vertigo may have been a thief but she never wanted people to get hurt, that was 
the only part of her that seemed to have any good.  She argued with Crater 
about the consequences, which was a first for her and he promised not to use 
the gun.  

On the way, Vertigo had had enough of Form pestering her for a date, she 
couldn’t stand him, so she sent Form on an impossible mission, to get her an 
expensive present, and then maybe she’d consider his proposal, though 
theoretically, he’d never get her anything worthwhile, he owed money to the 
Boss for accidental damages to his property.  

They arrived at night, when it was too dark to detect the group, but they 
nearly failed on account of not knowing where their target was right away.  

Crater drew out his secret weapon, the one Vertigo had ordered him not to use, 
but Crater was becoming difficult, before she could stop him he took out three 
Pokémon guarding the garden and house:  A Marowak, a Primeape and a Vileplume, 
Crater had used some interesting sniper skills and caught them all.  
Depth, Nebula and Phase carried them back to the truck that would escort them 
to the base while Vertigo, Crater and Form snuck into the house.  

Crater edged his head around the corner, he saw a nice bright living room with 
a warm fireplace, and a sleeping Ninetales, it nearly woke up and attacked 
them, but Crater was quick and it was put to sleep like the others.  
“Leave it there for now, I may need your help in case the remaining Pokémon are 
stronger than Giovanni anticipated.” ordered Crater, Vertigo knew he was right 
but was annoyed at how he was taking every opportunity to prove himself a 
leader.  
The final room was a small bedroom, a Scyther was screaming at someone, it must 
have zipped past them without them seeing it and it was warning another 
Pokémon.  
“I’ll get it soon enough!” shouted Crater firing, it hit but didn’t look like 
the poison was registering quickly enough.  
“Just faint!” he shouted annoyed.  
Vertigo peered into the room and her eyes widened, this place had seemed so 
familiar and the person inside, was Marisa Zane, Ricky’s mother.  
“’e said there wouldn’t be anyone ‘ere!” shouted Form.  
Crater aimed his gun forward and Vertigo panicked.  
“Don’t touch her!” she screamed, pushing the gun away, it fired, and the woman 
looked into Vertigo’s eyes, as if upset, as if questioning her and only her and 
no one else of the group, and then she collapsed onto the floor.  
“We can’t leave her!” Vertigo shouted.  
“We have to!” replied Crater, “Just grab the Scyther and get the Ninetales as 
well!”  
A Jynx remained but it wasn’t attacking them, only trying to help its trainer.  
“I...  I...” muttered Vertigo in a shocked state.  
“Come on luv!” said Form gripping her arm and pulling her out, “Before she can 
identify ya!”  
Crater took the Scyther and Form then took the Ninetales, five out of six 
Pokémon would be enough for Giovanni.  

Vertigo stayed in solitary confinement for days and refused to go on any more 
missions, she spied on her hometown regularly and discovered that Marisa Zane 
had died, if she wasn’t already fighting an illness, she might even have 
survived the poison.  
All this time she had stolen Pokémon without a doubt or care, but now she had 
hurt the only ones she ever loved.  

That’s why, after recognising Ricky the other day, she let him go, out of 
guilt, but she tried to do her mission, she tried to convince him to join her, 
then they’d be together and happy, and he wouldn’t be alone like her, but Ricky 
didn’t recognise her at all and didn’t catch on.  
He was still the same, just like when he convinced her to go back home, he 
tried to convince her to give up being a Rocket but she couldn’t do this for 
him, she’d seen people try to run away, and they had disappeared off the face 
of the planet, they were weak and pathetic but it didn’t matter, Team Rocket 
never left loose ends untied.  
She simply let him go, hoping he would continue to be happy, even after what 
she did.  

If anyone knew she had let him go free, they were being awfully quiet about 
it.  
“Vertigo?...” asked Form strangely.  
“What?!” she shouted.  
“Remember that gift ya wanted months ago?”  
“You what?”  
“Well, it is yer birthday pretty soon, so Oi thought you’d be in the mood fer a 
gift, ya said if Oi brought you an expensive gift, ya’d consider going out with 
me.  So?”  
She didn’t expect him to go through with it, but it didn’t make her feel 
anything for him.  
“I’ll think about it...” she replied.  
She waited for him to leave before opening the box, there was a pair of 
crescent earrings inside.  
She stared in awe, she had always liked that shape, it reminded her of the moon 
she looked at regularly, wondering if Ricky was watching it too.  
Another member of Team Rocket adored the moon too, a strange member, a talking 
Meowth, he never had anyone to care for him and he learned to be more human 
because of a girl, who rejected him anyway, Vertigo was fond of him and 
promised that someday, she’d train a Meowth and give it lots of care to make up 
for Meowth’s lonely past.  
She hadn’t seen that Meowth in a while since he and the other two had broken 
the record for losses.  
Veronica wasn’t sure if the Boss had made them vanish, or if they were doing a 
good job at staying hidden, but she would honour the promise she made to 
Meowth.  
Form looked a little excited, spying on her expressions as she attached the 
offerings to her ears.  
“So, about that-”  
“We’re here.” shouted Depth from the driver’s seat.  
Form snapped his fingers in a disappointed way as Vertigo hastily exited the 
vehicle.  

“Surround the mountain range, I’ll ambush the trainer from above and you guys 
are to block off all escape routes.” ordered Vertigo, Crater looked angry at 
being ordered around.  

Vertigo was soon in position, the troublesome trainer was below, she still 
couldn’t see him clearly, but she had all she needed, she descended the 
mountain, safely secured by ropes and she slowly jumped and lowered herself 
down to meet the trainer.  

“Vertigo!” shouted Rick.  
“I was afraid it would be you, you fool! If you’d have just left when I gave 
you the chance then we wouldn’t be chasing after you!” argued Vertigo.  
“I had a duty to save those people, and I thought you might have left them 
after what I told you.” said Rick.  
“Its not that easy to leave the Rockets, Ricky...” she said sadly.  
“... How did you know my name, I didn’t mention it to you or your boss...” 
spluttered Rick.  
“Of course you didn’t...  You don’t remember me, do you?...”  
“... Oh my god, Veronica?” questioned Rick.  
She simply stared at him as if to confirm this.  
“Ronnie, why are you with the Rockets? How could you?!” accused Rick.  
“A lot has happened, but not for the better, I’m afraid you won’t escape this 
time...”  
“And you’re gonna stop me?” challenged Rick.  
“Not me, the Lunar Crew.  If you’d have just let us be, our boss wouldn’t be 
after you!”  
“I couldn’t turn my back on those people, I have a heart, and so do you, its 
not too late to change.”  
“Ricky...” said Vertigo sadly, brushing her hair to the side, the crescent 
earrings were in sight now.  
“Those earrings...  They’re exactly like...  You did it! You murderer!” shouted 
Rick.  
“What?!” spluttered Vertigo before Rick tackled her in an attempt to remove the 
earrings, she pushed back and the two lost their balance and fell off the cliff 
and into a chasm...  

End of Part A  

Part B
Back to the Side Stories
Back to the Pokézone