Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Talk of the Weather ❯ Introduction ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I'm only writing my Pokemon-based fics using the Johto and Kanto regions, namely, only the first 251 Pokemon tops. My Pokemon are creatures, not robots, dammit!. Anyways, Pokemon is Copyright© Nintendo blah blah. I don't own it.

 

-I DO own my OC characters that will be taking place in this fic. If you steal her, I will hunt you down and eat your liver. Or something drastic like so.

 

Yeah. Feck off. TO THE FIC!.

[Chapter One]

 

8 AM. Any other teenaged boy would be sound asleep in his bed, snuggling up with his pillow in the most intimate way and dreaming of good things to come whenever he finally got out into the real world. But no, not me. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I had been sitting up in my bed, the pillow, yes, intimately held, in a vicegrip between my arms, my eyes wide open staring out my window as the sun began to break the horizon. I felt like an insomniac, being up all night. Of course, there were piles of energy drinks just below my bed if anyone cared to look. Then again, if you had tried to look under there, some unknown dust bunny from hell might have lunged out at you and eaten your face, or some other tragic fate would await you had you lifted the skirt of my bed. My alarm had been going off for about ten minutes now. Which was very surprising, as the box that it came in, that fateful day on Christmas, said it should only buzz for a minute. But no, it was still squawking on ward. A hand slid from my guillotine grip and pressed the button calmly. It was 8:10 now, and I should probably start getting ready.

 

You see, today was my first day to start as a Pokemon Trainer. But, unlike any other stories you'd heard, I'm not ten. I'm 14, just about. Well, 13 and three quarters if you wanna be all technical and shit. For some reason, after some freak accident in the Kanto region, they bumped the Pokemon licensing age up three years, I guess to provide for the safety of the trainers. It did seem a bit farfetched to me, ten year olds wandering all over a, dare I say, small country. Yes, I did use the actual word farfetched, go ahead and look back and laugh. Back to the story, shall we?

 

Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, the pillow fell from my arms and I made my way out of my room and down the hall. The first stop was the bathroom, which was on the other side of the house. I swear, I need a hiking stick and bottle of water just to get there alive. I pass three bedrooms on my way. Those of my two younger sisters and one older brother. He used to be a trainer too. But as soon as the `accident' happened in Kanto he got so spooked he came straight home. I think he got a record of 30 different Pokemon total. Not that bad, but he could have manned up and stayed a lot longer out there. It was kind of suspicious, though. A freak accident to a kid, but they didn't have it in any newspapers, or on any TVs or websites. Almost like a nuclear powerplant exploded or something and they just won't tell us until we grow third arms or our babies have six toes or something. Having made it to the bathroom by the time my soliloquy was finished, the door slid closed behind me with a solid click. First thing first, I took care of business, then I hopped into the shower.

 

A brief ten minutes later I was out again. A towel wrapped around my waist, threatening to give way at the slightest breeze, I stood for a moment and gazed at my reflection. A mat of messy brown was my hair, and the bangs fell into my eyes, though I could still see. Just plain blue eyes, nothing fancy. It was odd though, everyone else in my family had hazel or brown. But not blue. I was the odd one out in the family, though it was nothing new. Pushing past the sudden feeling of lonliness, I continued to brush my teeth, though my eyes couldn't leave their own reflections. I was an odd teen, I admit. I was taller, and looked older than most of the teens my age. A gangly 5'10” was my height, and my arms and legs looked all goofy, like someone just stuck them to me with toothpicks. If I outstretch my arms it looks like they go on forever. I have a short torso but long spindley legs like a spider. Mom often makes fun of me, but it's all harmless to her. Don't get me wrong, I'm not some angtsy teenager, I'm perfectly happy with my life. But just like everyone else, we kinda wish that some things were just, better.

 

I was back in my room now, pulling blue jeans over my never-ending legs. With a blue t-shirt pulled over my head, I was ready. There was a full body mirror in my room for some odd reason. Mom had stuck it there and not really known where else to put it. I stood looking at myself in it for a while. My reflection sucked. Exhaling, my eyes swiveled to the clock. 8:45 AM. I had 15 minutes to get to Elm's lab to do all that lovely Poke-crap so I could get started. Throwing my jacket over my shoulder and a cap over my head, I descended the stairs into the main living and kitchen rooms. She was already down there, packing up a lunch for me for the day, apparently. Two pieces of toast, buttered and still steaming, sat on the counter for me. I eagerly brought them to my lips and sunk my teeth into it, the butter filling my mouth and being delicious as usual. She turned around and smiled at me, placing the folded lunch next to the plate.

 

“Here you go, Hero,” she chided. No, Hero isn't my name. When I was a little kid, I had always run around shouting some nonesense about how I was a superhero and one day, I would save everyone from the brink of destruction. I had yet to fufill that promise from so long ago, but my mom still insisted on calling me her Hero. My real name was Speil, but no one around the house called me that anymore. Told me it sounded too much like Spill, and that I would tell all their secrets. Yeah, it would seem that I had a dysfunctional upbringing, but the scars weren't too bad.

 

“I want you to be careful, alright? After today I probably won't see you for a very long time.” She nodded solemnly at me, and I returned her gaze. I don't mean to seem like a freak, but my mom really was a beautiful person. She had brown hair, like mine, though it was a lot darker, and she always kept it up swept on the top of her head in a messy bun. Her eyes were hazel, and you could tell just by the looks that she was a powerful woman. I nodded in response to her words. I couldn't help but admire her. She was strong and ferocious. Her arms wrapped around me in a tight hug, which I returned gratefully. I already towered over her by two inches, but by the looks of it she didn't mind so much.

 

She brought me back at arms length and gaze up at me, only moving to dust a small piece of lint from the shoulder of my shirt. “Be safe,” she murmured, her eyes cast down at my chest. I leaned forward and gave her a hug again, this time lifting her into the air playfully.

 

“Don't worry,” was my subtle reply, “I'll come visit and all that jazz. Don't let me see the house all up in smoke when I do come back.” And with a final playful salute, I was out of the house. But the moment I stepped from that cheerful and motivational atmosphere to the foggy warmth of morning in New Bark Town, it seemed the leisure had been sapped out of me. I was suddenly dreary. Dragging my feet, I began to make my way to Prof. Elm's Lab, where the next couple years of my life were going to begin. Why the hell had mom signed me up to be a trainer? I would have been satisfied being a radio host at Goldenrod City, or a gambler in Celadon. The thoughts pushed past my head as the looming building of the Lab came into view. I sucked in air sharply through clenched teeth, and the path seemed to last forever.

 

But as I finally arrived at the entrance, it seemed another early bird had already beaten me there. She leaned against the brick wall, covering the sign with her back, and to my surprise, a cigarette was pressed between her lips. I blinked at her, slightly from wondering how a girl my age could even think of ruining her lungs at such a tender stage in her life, and partially because she was in my way. I didn't say anything though, instead, just stood there awkwardly as she filled her lungs with cancer and exhaled. The stench became overwhelming, and I opened my mouth to speak. In an instant, she had read my thoughts and her narrowed eyes zoomed to where I stood, rooting me to the spot.

 

“Got a problem, princess?” She spat at me. Her voice seemed like my mom's, powerful yet sweet. But her words were laced with venom, and I knew to hold my tongue. I shook my head and pushed my way past her, praying to every heavenly being I knew that she wouldn't whirl around and stick the cherry of that cancer stick into my arm. When the door gave way beneath my hand, I felt like I ran inside, slamming it closed behind me. This caused the alarm of a man hunched over his desk, the white lab coat falling from his shoulders to beneath the chair and dusting the floor. The bottle-cap glasses and funky hair were a dead giveaway that this was Prof. Elm, the `genius' of the town if you liked Pokemon. If you didn't, he was an insomniatic freak who had a strange love for creatures, so much so that it would seem illegal in other parts of the world. He greeted me with a big smile and a friendly gesture, his arm raising up to wave to me.

 

I smiled back and made my way to him, my tennis shoes making that annoying rubber-on-rubber noise against the linolium. Even some of Elm's coworkers weren't here yet. It was freakishly early, apparently. I stood behind Elm, watching as he finished up whatever he was doing. I even took the liberty of leaning over his shoulder and watching. He was working on what looked like a PokeDex, though it was all modernly decked out to accompany a new age, I guess. I'd no idea, so I stood quietly, letting my eyes travel around the place Elm called home.

 

The first thing I really noticed were all the books. All the walls were lined with bookshelves, or shelveds that had books on them, each filled and stacked to it's fullest potential. There were a couple lab tables with computers on them, the wires spilling onto the ground and into wall sockets like spaghetti. A single window was to my left, which faced the forest just outside of town. And finally, my eyes came to a delightful rest on the lab table that would be most important to me. A case sat on it, the bottom plastic and the top a clear glass. Inside, on a cushiony type material, rested three pokeballs, a living, breathing Pokemon inside of it, waiting to be chosen by the three trainers picked by the people of New Bark Town. It looked as if I were the first one here, and chances were that the chain-smoking girl outside the office was lucky number two. I wondered who three was, but didn't take much notice to it as Elm rose, holding the now updated Pokedex in his hand. He thrust it toward me at an alarming rate, startling me a bit to where I jumped.

 

He laughed, thankfully. “Take it, it's yours,” he reassured, pressing it into the palm of my hand, “You're going to need it if you're going to do this little experiment for me. I wonder where the other two are…”I kept my lips sealed, in case the girl outside read my mind again, and coincidentally, jumped through the roof and snapped my neck in two. “No idea,” I chided, looking from side to side. By the looks of it she was still outside enjoying the sensation of burning lungs.

 

Elm shrugged easily and gestured for me to follow him. He turned on his heel and walked to the table that I had been gazing at so fondly, the one that would start me on this crazy expedition. After entering some code, the lid popped open, and Elm stood above it, looking almost God-like, and lifted the lid. You know how there is a new-car smell? It seemed like there was a new Pokemon smell, and it filled the room. I stood for a moment, my eyes just resting on the three Pokeballs before me, shifting my gaze from one to the other. Little tags were in front of each one, to clarify which ball held which. Cyndiquil, Totodile and Chikorita. I had been up all night, slaving away at which one I wanted. I had never really come to a final decision, so now I stood with a dilemna at my hands. Obviously, if another trainer new which one they wanted exactly, they could walk right it, Elm would let them pick, and then snag it, and leave me with only two choices, to which I still wouldn't be able to make a decision. I lifted my hand, it at first hovering over Cyndiquil, then Totodile. I was never really one for Chikorita, I don't know why. Grass types always seemed useless to me. Enie-Meenie-Miney Cyndiquil. Wrapping my hand around the Pokeball bearing it's name, I lifted it and held it in my hand. The ball was light, and I was surprised that a whole living being was held inside of this.

 

“Cyndiquil, huh? Good choice,” Elm replied to my silence. “Why don't you take it out and show it the new world, and let him know that you're the boss now?” I gave him a skeptical look, but let the ball fall from my hand. Upon contact with the ground, it burst open, and the form of Cyndiquil took shape. The small eyes were slanted almost to the point to where they look closed, but they gazed up at me. The critter, with it's nubbly little legs, made it's way over to me, and promptly sat on my shoe. I couldn't resist a soft smile.

 

“D'aw, cute lil guy-,” As soon as I leaned over to scratch the top of it's head, it's back burst into flames. Seriously. It scared the crap out of me, and I jumped, launched the poor Cyndiquil across the room. Elm had retrieved some ice for me and tended to my new burn marks as my new partner stood nearby watching me, with a melancholy atmosphere surrounding it. Scowling, I blew a puff of air, making the hair fall out of my face. “So…do they normally catch on fire like that?”

 

“Yes, I'm afraid so. But eventually, if you and the Cyndiquil get accustomed to each other and become friends, then you can even get to the point to where his flames won't hurt you anymore.” I raised an eyebrow but remained silent, an eye trained on the guilty Cyndiquil. It started to make it's way towards me, but I pointed a finger. “Hey!” I scolded, “I haven't forgiven you yet. You need to play fair game until I figure out what our deal is gonna be.” But it looked like time wasn't going to let that happen, as a crashing noise behind Elm and myself's position announced that someone else had different plans for this whole Pokemon thing.