Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Only my characters.
Chapter One- A Sticky Situation
That morning was bright with the promise of future as Elizabeth Brooke stepped out onto her front porch and into the welcoming breeze, the warm sunlight of a summer day painting the oak door behind her ruby. Elizabeth, or 'Effy' to her friends, was fourteen barely four days ago and as a graduate of Pallet Preparatory School had been awarded a graduation letter that meant she could become a trainer, and that she had been top of her school.
Like every other kid in her class Effy had jumped at the chance and now stood with her blue backpack snug on her shoulders and durable, tan hiking boots strapped to her feet, all supplied by her dad, Neil Brooke. He had left a breakfast of cold pasta from the night before on the table for her. It had made her smile; Neil Brooke couldn't cook and Effy knew he wouldn't want to be around to see his little girl leave, so the small token meant a lot.
Because it was still early, and a chill hung in the air, she had pinched one of her dad's shirts from his old lumberjack days. She now wore it over her white vest, and black denim shorts. The thick, dark red material would be a comfort later on in her journey when she missed her single parent but, for now, it was just another thing to carry on top of her rock heavy pack.
While it was a heavy backpack, it was just her dad trying to help again, with instant porridge pots, ramen noodles, and a few sandwiches he had balled up in plastic wrap on top of the second-hand equipment he'd rushed out to get for her last week; a beaten-up pokedex, xtranceiver, pokeballs and potions. You had to be fit and strong when you came from a town like Pallet, where the farmland stretched wide, and neighbors weren't just a few steps left, so her dad had insisted on a lot of the porridge and even a few protein bars. Did he want her to get fat?
Starting up the road towards Oak's Lab, Effy dawdled, watching the happy clouds roll by above, and the cheerful pidgey swooping through the skies, smiling about her Dad. It would be a long time 'til she was home again... especially if she and her new charmander partner were as great as she thought they'd be!
Effy had planned all of her life to travel with a charmander... she could see herself in her mind's eye streaking through the sky on the back of a charizard, or fighting side-by-side with a charmeleon, or even just cuddling with a charmander on a quiet night in the woods. What happened next, however, would change all likelihood of it ever happening. When Effy thought back on it later at weaker times in her life -like a lost battle, or a moment where they had been snubbed- she would curse herself for being caught up with her thoughts on that particular morning ... but she knew, truly, that fate and destiny couldn't be argued with.
The SCRAW! was loud and came unexpectedly from low down by her shins and made her jump. At first it just looked like a scruffy little spearow trotting along through the grass at the side of the path but then Effy saw the shaking and rustling of the grass; a little bug was managing to just about evade its nasty-looking talons. The bird cawed even louder and two more descended from the tree Effy had somehow come to a stop under. The three mean Pokemon started pecking and squabbling over the little creature who now cowered beneath the shelter of a pile of rocks.
Effy gasped and, without thinking, charged into the fray; swinging her heavy bag like a mad woman, almost throwing herself off balance, and wailing in what she hoped was a threatening manner. The scene, if it had been chanced upon, was absolutely ridiculous; Effy had her eyes tight shut, swinging with all her might, and yelling heroically, while spearow squawked in sheer shock and surprise before flapping awkwardly up and out of the lunatic's swinging appendage. No snack was worth a beating from a crazy, pale, lanky girl. Effy, upon the dying sounds of offensive shrills, let out a huff in relief. However, when she opened them, it was to be met by the stare of the tiny thing she had saved; a weedle.
"Err.." She hesitated. "Are you okay, little guy?"
"Weeeeee dull!" The little bug beamed, emerging completely from its pebble sanctuary to greet her warmly. "Weeweedlwee!"
"Good to know...?" Effy hazarded, backing away, and grinning nervously. She was very, very aware of what a weedle turned into and, ever since seeing the little stinger atop its head as it emerged, Effy had braced herself for the inevitable buzzing sound it's hive mates made.
It never came.
The weedle merely looked up at her, happy as could be, and she found herself wondering if he had become lost, or if there was a hive at one of the nearby plots of land. Why am I worrying about a bug? She asked herself. Bugs aren't exactly the top of the food chain. Almost everything eats them...
The weedle had quite a big stinger which, if she remembered her text book right, meant it was a 'he', and 'he' was inching closer to her boots, his tiny feet patting the dusty path and rolling his body forward in a slinky pattern.
"Wee...wee...wee," He huffed, getting closer and closer.
Effy watched him, bemused and fascinated, as he finally reached the toe of her boot and heaved himself up. This went on for a good few minutes as he leisurely made his way up her body and she, for reasons she couldn't quite name, let him. The feel of his tickly body and feet on her legs made her squirm a little, but it wasn't an unpleasant feeling and Effy merely stared as he, finally, reached her shoulder.
It was then that she cried out in alarm.
He was oozing white goop from his mouth and effectively sticking himself to the shoulder of her dad's shirt!
"Oi!" She squeaked, flapping about, unsure what to do. "What are you doing?"
"Weeweedldleewee!" He told her happily, fusing his feet to the shirt.
It was in this state that she arrived at Oak's lab, half an hour later than her peers.
"Professor!" She growled, scowling at his doubled-over, laughing form. He had opened the door, ready to welcome her, but upon seeing the snoozing weedle, he couldn't help but laugh.
"I-I'm sorry, Elizabeth," He choked out; face a healthy red from laughing. He wiped a few stray tears from his eyes as he led her inside. "But it's not every day that you see a weedle like that."
"Tell me about it!" Effy sighed.
After realizing what it was doing, Effy had known there was no way she could get the weedle off without the professor's help. A string shot isn't clothing-friendly, Effy knew- it was a long story, but let's just say that Effy's father had tried rearing paras one spring. Her entire wardrobe had to be stripped bare. Needless to say, his new hobby didn't last long. The weedle was now disconnected from her shirt and sleeping in her arms with a snot bubble huffing from its nose.
"I'd like to know where it came from..." Professor Oak continued, leading her into his main office, which surprised Effy as she'd never been invited in before. "I've never seen such a sociable, little weedle before."
"You could watch it here, I guess," She shrugged, jostling the weedle who slept on, regardless, and taking in the Professor's office- it was dim, cluttered and dusty, making her sneeze, but it had a strange charm. "Like, get one of your assistants to watch it, or something."
The professor made a sound in his throat, tapping the pokedex in his hands as he pulled the curtains open, revealing the bright white light of the sun. He stood by the window that looked out onto the road below his lab.
"Actually, I think I'll let you take care of him," He smiled, turning back to face her.
She was silent a moment, before nodding.
"Okay, I'll look after the weedle and a charmander... it'll be a lot of work, though... I might have to send the weedle back sometimes... like when I get six pokemon..." Effy stopped, watching Oak shake his head slowly.
"No... You would only be taking care of the weedle."
"But-!"
"That weedle has really taken a shine to you, Elizabeth," Oak sounded reprimanding and Effy shriveled somewhat. "It would be unwise of me to give you another Pokemon to bond with, when that weedle has already made the decision. It wouldn't be fair on the poor, little creature."
Effy felt near tears. She'd been telling everyone that she was getting a charmander... her friends, her not-friends, her family... her brother! It wasn't fair on HER, either!
"But-! I didn't choose a bug!" She shouted, feeling very childish and stupid. "I finished First! I got to choose a Charmander!"
It was then that the weedle stirred and she felt his feet tighten, then loosen, on her shirt before he piped up.
"Weewee?"
"He's worried," Oak told her, watching her with a look in his eyes that Effy couldn't determine.
Disappointment? Elizabeth Brooke sighed, hanging her head for a moment. As a trainer, she would be dealt far worse cards than these, and she had to deal with them.
A weedle would be the least of her problems soon enough.
She lifted her pale, heart-shaped face and let her brown eyes fall onto the tiny, black orbs of the bug that rested so close to her.
"Want to come with me?" Effy said finally, resignedly, with a half-smile.
"Weeweedldldleeee! Weeeeeeeweeweweeweeeeeddleee!" The bug, beside himself with excitement, cried.
As Effy and her newly caught weedle left the lab, the professor's words echoed in her head.
"Don't take it out on the weedle, Elizabeth," His eyes were strangely dark, and Effy had felt ashamed, knowing he'd not wanted to give her a Pokemon at all at the end. He handed her the red pokedex, and a small pouch of pokeballs. "And despite what you may think, I will be expecting a lot from you."
Aside from that, he had also asked her to note down anything unusual in the weedle's behavior.
"Unusual?" Effy mused bitterly. "You mean like sticking itself to people's clothes?"
The weedle, whom she had called Arthur when Oak had mentioned his links with other arthropods, was happily squirming up and down her arms as she walked. Oak had asked her to keep the little, worm-like Pokemon out as much as possible for observation and Effy felt scolded enough to do exactly that.
With her iPod headphones in, Effy walked straight past the signpost that signified her leaving PalletTown, and missed the calling of her name.
So, when a hand grabbed her wrist, she jumped.
What happened next immediately raised Arthur in her good books. When she span, the first thing she recognized was a smirk and black hair, then Arthur reared up and sprayed the taller person.
All over their face, chest, and neck.
Immediately, Effy burst into laughter, as the boy fell back in shock. Arthur made an odd, squeak-hiss that Effy found decidedly freaky, and she jotted it down on the small flip-pad the professor had armed her with.
"What the hell-?" The familiar voice griped, and Effy looked up into the grey eyes of Ricky, her bully, scowling at her.
"Errr..." She faltered, ushering Arthur back up her arm and off of her forearm where Ricky might squash him. "Well, it was your fault for scaring us!"
Ricky growled, his cheeks briefly heating, before he recovered.
"'Us'? You mean that worm is yours?" He laughed venomously, wiping the gluey string shot from his neck. "And here I thought you might actually have been going to Professor Oak for a Pokemon today! What a joke!"
Effy looked away from him in embarrassment, having known she should have expected this sort of treatment from her classmates... not to mention trainers from other cities.
He looked down at her in surprise. She never normally let him get away with ragging on her. That's why it was so fun to bicker with Effy. He was taller than her by about a head, with messy, spiky black hair, and grey eyes. His eyebrows were striking and arched, and his face was handsome. His body, now that he was growing up, had started to mature. His torso was triangular, and he had narrow hips. He wore a black, long-sleeved polo shirt, and light blue, faded, jeans. A few paces behind him stood a curious squirtle holding toast… Effy thought then that Ricky must have gone home first to show his mum. Effy remembered when Ricky used to talk to her about things like that.
Finally, Effy just sighed and turned away from him, continuing out of Pallet.
Frowning, he quickly piped up.
"What? No comeback?" He jeered, not as harshly as he might have normally. "You know why? It's because you know I'm right! You know you'll never be as good as me or anyone else!"
As she got farther away, he saw her calmly put her headphones in once more.
Want me to continue?
Love~