[ wp ] Times are tough and the world is not what it used to be . You have no choice but to become an illegal pokemon trader .

`` Well, kid, what's it gon na be?'' 
 
 Ash hesitated, his hand clasping the smooth ball in his messenger bag. It was the last one he had left, and also his first. 
 
 `` I have n't got all day. You want the shit or not?'' He started to close the trunk of the car. 
 
 `` Wait! Wait.'' Ash looked at the ball in his hand. He could n't look, turning his head as he held it out to the man in the trenchcoat with the purple hair. 
 
 A pang of regret wracked his body as the ball was snatched from his grasp. 
 
 `` Nice doing business with you,'' the man said. 
 
 A small plastic baggy hit the ground at Ash's feet. He stared at it, tears welling in his eyes, as he heard the car door slam shut. Tires screeched as the car blasted off at the speed of light. 
 
 `` No. Wait. I've changed my mind,'' said Ash, running after the car. 
 
 But in the seconds it took him to reach the mouth of the alley, the car was gone. 
 
 `` No, no, no. What have I done?'' 
 
 Ash collapsed to his knees in a puddle that he hoped was n't human urine. 
 
 `` I'm sorry,'' he sobbed. `` I'm sorry.'' 
 
 He walked back to where he'd left the little baggy on the pavement. Head down, tears rolling down his face, he just stared at it for a long time. 
 
 `` I guess I chose you after all,'' he said, scooping up the baggy of white powder. 
 
 Ash found a quiet spot behind a dumpster, slumping to the ground. He unfolded the small, felt-wrapped kit from his bag. 
 
 The needle did n't make him forget, but it helped. 
 
 `` I'm sorry,'' he whispered as the pain began draining away. `` I'm sorry, Pikachu.''
