The Leader's Origin
Prologue
Welcome to the Shadows
The flat screen TV was a nice addition, I think to myself, as I sink into a large recliner. I point the remote at the TV and it blinks to life in perfect high definition.
"Tonight," the anchorman says, "we have the Special Report on Champion Volkner Parley, the Prodigy of Sinnoh, the Phenomenon of The Ages, the only trainer to ever beat all eight gyms, the Elites, and become the Champion in a week – and right out of Trainer School, no less!"
"Yes, he truly is the greatest trainer of all time. And his trusty companion is the strongest Pikachu in existence – he didn't even need another Pokémon! This Volkner has really taken the world by storm, and we all think he is the best – and most handsome – Champion we could ever have."
My mind snapped back into reality. Unfortunately.
Alas, I'm not sitting in the Sinnoh League Building watching a report on my awesome Champion abilities. Instead, I'm sitting in a hard desk that seemed too small for me, and wishing that I was literally anywhere else.
Birdbrain, as I so lovingly called my teacher, squawked at the front of the classroom. I had been stuck with her for about three years longer than I should have been, and that made me her favorite pupil. Just kidding, that made me her least favorite and I constantly regret my existence because of it. Nevertheless, this will be my final year under her ghastly, old wing. I was tired of repeating my graduating year and quickly becoming the oldest in Trainer School – oldest by a lot, actually – and this time, I had gotten it right. I was passing my exams with flying colors and was right on track to receive my official certificate and then I, in the eyes of Sunyshore law, can practice Pokémon battling and training.
However, that was still a few weeks away, and for now, I was seated next to my younger brother in a class filled with ten-through-thirteen-year-olds learning about Type Abilities. And I, being the mature age of fifteen, sat up in my chair and focused on the chalkboard ahead, ready to fill my brain with knowledge and ultimately get out of this school for good.
"…That's compatible with most Flying Types, but not all." Birdbrain wrote 'Flying' under 'Egg Type.' "Tangled Feet is a rare ability, however. This was originally found in a Pidgey and then found in a Chatot." She wrote 'Tangled Feet' under 'Ability.' "Keen Eye is a common ability, it's found in large hunting Flying Types as well as a few very smart small hunters. Hoothoot, for example."
Okay, that was enough of that. I cracked my knuckles on the desk in front of me and looked around. The classroom hadn't changed in the three years that I've repeated this class. Everything was bland-toned, the posters on the walls were covered in so much dust that I couldn't tell which Pokémon was on it, and of course Birdbrain was still the same, down to the clothing, hairstyle and everything. Although, somehow, she had aged about twelve years in a three-year timespan. It was remarkable, really. She gained wrinkles and lost hair overnight. I imagine scientists are looking deeply into it.
Realizing I was staring directly into her deep face crevices, I looked away and out the window. It was raining, I noticed. Rain was usual for Sunyshore. The storms were quick and painless, only rarely we get a hurricane, and when we do we're well-prepared for it. From here, I could see the shoreline and the ocean. The waves were big due to the storm. They were splashing and breaking upon the large boulders that cased the east side of Sunyshore. The blue, foamy waves looked like giant mouths trying to devour the boulders. In the distance, I saw a lone fishing boat lingering out at sea, seemingly caught in the middle of the storm. Luckily, this boat was safe from the hungry-looking waves.
"Volkner, are you even paying attention?" Birdbrain asked.
Attempting to appear appalled that she would even question me, I looked at her and said, in the sweetest voice I could, "Why yes, Miss Karp."
Birdbrain pursed her lips and gave me her famous death glare, clearly not buying it. "You disrupt the class when you don't pay attention."
"It seems to me like you're the one disrupting the class now, Miss Karp, for I am paying attention," I replied, again, in my nicest and least sarcastic voice.
Birdbrain scowled and huffed, she couldn't deny what I said. A few of my classmates giggled, and she glared at me harder. "You better be paying attention. Exams are coming up," she said through gritted teeth. She turned back to the chalkboard and continued her squawking.
My brother, Fyn, elbowed my side and leaned closer to me. "Do you have to make Miss Karp mad every day?" he asked.
"I consider it my daily mission. It makes school a little more fun, since she's so easy to pick on," I winked and grinned at him as he shook his head and suppressed a smile. Although it was embarrassing to be in class with my younger brother, it was fun to make him laugh in class.
The dismissal bell rang, and I sprang up out of my desk. Thankfully, this was the last class of the day and I was free from the prison called school. Ignoring Birdbrain, I grabbed my mostly empty backpack and scurried for the door. She was still giving out the homework assignment, and her voice went up to a yell as I passed her, a failed attempt at getting me to listen. Her mistake was the fact she wasn't yelling a threat to me, only the homework. Why would I listen to that?
Barging through the classroom door, sprinting down the hallway, and opening the double-doors that lead to the happy sunbeams welcoming me back to the outside world was my semi-daily routine. And, despite what it may seem like, it was rewarding. Beach weather, even though it's all I've ever known, made me happy. Since I lived in Sinnoh's biggest and most popular beach town and had no choice but to stay put (for now), that was a good thing.
Pretty much the only downside of Shore was the tourists, and for us, it was tourist season year-round. Wintertime meant seventy degrees at least, apart from about two weeks of fifty degree nights' midwinter. It was cold to us natives, and we wouldn't be caught dead in the water, yet others from all-throughout Sinnoh would come and relax in the sunshine and swim in the ocean even when we were convinced it was freezing. Thus, the beaches were always full and the city busy with life. This wasn't such a bad thing, however, it allowed for a lot to do on a boring day. The city was full of shops, restaurants, museums, and a big movie theater. And of course, the beaches were nice, and you can always bet that someone you know is at the beach. And that was only First Level, of course.
Sunyshore is made up of two levels. First Level, the ground level, consisted of the beaches, schools, marketplace, and all the things to go and do. Second Level was made up of glass pathways that provided easy access to the mountainside of Shore that stood on the west side. The mountainside had large flat areas where most of the houses were built to protect from possible hurricanes. Along the glass pathways were smaller shops, vendors, the gym, and it also lead to the lighthouse.
This was my home. I caused trouble here my entire life, except for family getaways to Pastoria. Otherwise, I've been stuck to Sunyshore. I'm not complaining though, since everyone dreams of living in Shore. Of course, if you've lived here your whole life, the beaches seem to lose its luster and the bustling city becomes rather bland. These beaches are the most beautiful in Sinnoh—because the sand is perfectly creamy, the seashells don't break easily, the ocean is blue as opposed to green—but I don't care too much for that. People describe these beaches as the most breathtaking thing in the world, but if you look at the same thing for so long, it doesn't appear that way anymore. The heat here is nice, I admit, and I like swimming and the sand, but that's not what keeps me here. Not at all.
As I wandered down Main Street towards Long Beach, a gust of wind blew by. It reminded everyone that a nasty storm had just blown through, even though you couldn't see the remains anywhere in the sky. It was a mystery how that happened so quickly.
I made it to the beach, and walked to my familiar volball net, and a group of my friends playing a game. Volball was a sport that involved a net and a Voltorb. The Voltorb would be the ball. Your object is to get the Voltorb on the other side of the net, hoping it would hit the ground. Sometimes the opposing team would hit the Pokémon back over to your side, and your goal was to make sure it didn't touch the ground and to get it back over the net. It sounds a bit repetitive, I know, and it is…But what makes it exciting is that sometimes Voltorb will use Spark and shock the crap out of you. Yes, it's just as hilarious as it sounds.
"Volkner!" My friend Trifler waved at me from the other side of the net. I returned the wave and grinned. Calling a timeout, he ran off the court and up to me. "Hey, joining the game?"
"Of course, give me a second." He nodded and went back to the net. I shed my tee-shirt and kicked off my old sneakers along with my socks. Sighing, I looked towards the group of volball players. They had graduated the year I was supposed to, but luckily, they weren't quick to judgement and were supportive when I was held back again and again. They understood my inability to do well in a test, study, or anything. Especially because my original graduation date was the first year my mom began to get sick. But we remained great friends throughout all the trials, and I was thankful for that.
I hurried over to the net and someone tossed me the Voltorb to serve. The Voltorb, appropriately named Spike, made a noise of excitement. I slid on my protective gloves from my pocket and looked around at my teammates and opponents. "Let's do this!" I yelled, and proceeded to serve Spike.
After our riveting game, we all sat where the tide gently rolls in and out. We laughed and made small group talk until, one by one, the group left off to go home. Soon it was just Trifler and I, so I began to gather my things and start back towards town.
"Going to see Rayne?" Trifler questioned. I turned towards him, he was grinning and raising his eyebrows, making them appear to be waving.
"First of all, you look stupid. Second of all, I see Rayne every day, yet it's somehow always a surprise to you."
"It's not a surprise, in fact, it's the opposite of that! Not surprising at all. But it's just exciting."
"How is it so exciting?" I asked, as we started to walk down the coast.
"Because, one of these days, you're going to bang her." He grinned again.
"Ew?" I responded, making a face of disgust, "You know it's not like that, have some respect man."
"I know I know, she's your best friend, I get it. But give her a kiss for me, will you?"
I looked at him and pushed him over, causing him to fall to the ground. "And you're eating sand, I get it." I mocked and smirked at him. At first he glared at me, but then I helped him up and we started laughing.
"Whatever, man," he chuckled, "just tell Rayne I said hi, okay? And tell her she needs to come hang out. She's been such a loner."
"Well, her dad died, what do you expect?" I asked, becoming mildly agitated.
"Yeah, a year ago. She's had her time to grieve and whatever, and now she needs to get back to normal."
Nodding, I said: "I agree, but I'll let her do that on her own. She needs to do what she needs to do. Especially with the stress her mom's giving her about contests and stuff. I try to be sensitive with her, and you should try that too."
"Yeah, definitely. I just miss her. Hell, we all do." Trifler sighed as we entered town. "Alright well, I'll catch you later." He waved and continued down Main. I went straight down the center of town towards Rock Beach, the smallest most secluded beach in Shore. No one ever went there, except when someone wanted to throw an alcohol-filled, teenage beach party that I never would attend. So, it was nicknamed Dirty Beach, Black Beach, No Man's Beach, or simply and most popularly, Rock Beach since boulders from the mountainside filled the shore.
The boulders were a plus, though. Or at least I thought so. The girl currently perched on one, drawing away on her notepad—sketchpad, as she would correct me—agreed that boulders were, in fact, a plus. That girl was Rayne, one of the only brunettes in Sunyshore, and my best friend. And by best friend, I mean the only person who kept me sane.
"Hey," I greeted as I hopped up on the boulder next to her.
"Hey," she replied quickly, too transfixed on her sketchpad and piece of charcoal to speak to me, apparently. She was sketching the sunset.
"Another sunset? Don't you think you have enough of those?" I smirked.
"It's different every day, Volkner," annoyance filled her tone, "and do you know how hard it is to draw the sunset with only a piece of charcoal? Extremely. That's how hard." I laughed and smirked larger as I stared at her face. Her dark eyes took everything in carefully as she drew and her lips meshed together as she focused. Freckles dotted her cheeks; she hated them, but I loved them. It made her different. "You're staring again," she muttered.
"I just can't help it."
"Oh, shut up, you flirt," she rolled her eyes dramatically and then cut them at me.
She picked her sketchpad up and cocked her head at it, examining her work. The picture was expertly shaded to look like a sunset nearing the ocean, she had this way of drawing that, even though she just used charcoal, everything looked just as it should. It was mesmerizing. Drawing was Rayne's thing, to say the least. Sometimes she would paint, but drawing was what she did day in and day out. She had sketchpads upon sketchpads scattered about her room, and had filled every margin of every book she ever owned with doodles. She explained it as a tick. She had to do it, or she'd go crazy. And I believed her, especially because I've hardly ever seen her not drawing.
"You like it?" she asked, holding up her drawing proudly. Whenever she spoke of her work, a new, refining tone came about her. It was like a different Rayne was speaking, the real Rayne, one filled with creativity and passion and pure talent.
"Eh, it's okay," I grimaced, and then she shoved me so hard I fell off the boulder, nearly hitting my head. "Hey! I'm kidding!" I jumped up and laughed.
She laughed hard, and I grabbed her arm and pulled her off the rock, both of us falling on the sand. "Volkner Parley!" she exclaimed, holding back laughter, "Treating a lady in such a way? What would your mother think?"
I shifted up to my feet, "You're right, milady," I bowed and gave her my hand. I yanked her up to her feet, and she giggled. "Better?" She nodded, and we laughed again. She collected her things that had fallen, and then we perched back on the rock.
"I wish I could draw a moving picture," she stated randomly.
"Why?" I chuckled.
"Because…When I finish drawing the sunset, it keeps moving. The colors change, the atmosphere changes, everything. I want my drawing to move like that, I want to continually capture life. A perfectly captured moment, continued. Perfectly drawn piece of art."
"Well, you better start working on that pipe-dream, huh?"
She slightly smiled and gave me a look. "You're just so encouraging. How'd I ever end up with a friend as great as you?" she said, sarcastically.
"I ask myself that every single day. How did you get so dang lucky?"
She rolled her eyes, "Says Mister Messy Hair," she muttered.
"Someone is sassy today!" I touched my messy blonde hair. "And, I consider the un-brushed look a style."
"Lazy style? Afro wannabe style? What kind of style, exactly?"
Fake gasping, I shouted: "Just crush my hopes and dreams, it's all good! And even worse…My hairstyle. What is with the soul-crushing, dream-destroying insults?!"
Rayne laughed and leaned her head on my shoulder. "Whatever, Boulder Brain."
Unfortunately, I had acquired that nickname many years ago when I first encountered Rayne. I had wandered out to Rock Beach on my own as a young, handsome lad, and saw the most beautiful eight-year-old I had ever laid eyes on sitting on a boulder, drawing her little heart out. My curious and young self had trekked over to meet the mystery girl. She said hello as I approached, she was friendly and kind and inviting. She smiled a big, nice smile and suddenly, I was so nervous that I tripped over my own feet and hit my head on the rock she sat on. I had a concussion for four days. But, Rayne and her mom brought me homemade cookies, so I ended up making the best friend I could ever want. Nonetheless, the nickname appeared and has been there ever since.
"Yeah…Can we forget the nickname I acquired when I was a young, handsome lad?" I pleaded.
"Not a chance you're shaking the nickname, young, handsome lad," she mocked.
"Hilarious," I muttered.
"I know," Rayne looked up at me and I grinned at her, wrapped my arm around her shoulders, and then we just sat there for a while, completely silent as we watched the sunset.
Suddenly I was a zombie. I couldn't feel my body. I felt cold wrapping around me like a blanket, and when I tried to breathe, nothing happened. The only thing I could feel was my heart racing, pounding, thrashing, beating out of my chest so hard I could hear it, like a rush of blood through the eardrum. I couldn't feel my face to talk, or sob, or scream. Internally, I felt nothing, like the only organ working was my heart, desperately trying to keep me alive in that moment. My mind was silenced. It was unnervingly silent. No breathing, no thoughts, no movement. I was like a zombie, maybe even less than that in that moment. Maybe I was dead, too, just for a second.
What was life? Not being able to help it, those unwanted thoughts rolled into my mind. I preferred the dreary silence, but I realized: Life was a moving picture, a perfectly captured moment, a perfectly drawn and put together piece of art. That was life.
And like the waves to the boulders on shore, it was trying to devour me.
Authors Note: Welcome to The Leader's Origin, Volkner's origin story pre-gym leader! This story is near and dear to my heart, for this story is actually a reboot/rewrite of my "original" The Leader's Origin. For more information on why I'm rewriting it and starting anew, you can still view the old story on my profile. The only remaining chapter is my explanation, so go give that a read, if you'd like. If you, frankly, don't care, then don't!
Thank you so much for reading. I've been on this site for...Way too long...And I am more than excited to get back into Fanfiction. I've been poking around looking for some good and new Fanfictions to read, so if you have any suggestions shoot me a PM or review right here. Or, if you'd like me to read and review your story, let me know, and I will! Comments and critique are more than welcomed, too. Again, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy this story as much as I do.