Something in my head told me that this wasn't right. Something told me that there was something going on here that wasn't normal. But my heart said No, go on, it's okay. You don't have to panic. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this Gym. My mind cared to argue with that, though. It said that if there was nothing wrong, there wouldn't have been a much larger door than what a teenage girl required. It also said that there wouldn't be so many other teenage girls here in skimpy outfits that people their age shouldn't be wearing.
I chose to go with my heart on this one.
Worst decision in my life.
But before I even get to my experiences in the Goldenrod Gym that day, I should probably explain that this wasn't the first time that I'd thought that something was wrong in Johto. It had been going on since, well, since I entered the first Gym all the way back in Violet...
My childhood dream had always been to become Champion of Johto. It wasn't really something I talked about much to anyone, and when one of those kids from New Bark Town got his opportunity to do it, I was extremely jealous. Never mind the fact that I was only six at the time, and that no one would give a kid like me a Pokémon.
That all changed when my parents came back from a shopping trip in one of the faraway cities, and with them they had a Mareep. It was cute, it was strong, and it was mine. For five years, I trained that little sheep, until he was stronger than any of the Pokémon in the area. (My parents had also caught some others for me, but I didn't like those as much as I liked my Mareep.)
When I turned eleven, I set out on a journey of my own, armed with my Mareep, my PokéGear, and enough money to last me weeks out in the wilderness. Did I care that I was sweeping every single Trainer's team with one hit? Nope. I just wanted to achieve that dream of mine and become Champion. Easy as that.
The first stop on my journey was the town directly north of mine, Violet City. It was a quiet place, a bit louder than Cherrygrove, but I had been there before with my parents and I knew my way around. This time, there would be no house hunting, no shopping, no chatting with townsfolk, none of it. I had one goal and one goal only in this place: take on the Gym.
Gyms were something that I had only heard of in stories, mysterious places that I knew were the gateway to the Elite Four and the Champion. In order to get anywhere close to where I wanted to go, I needed to acquire the Badges from these Gyms. But all I had heard about them was that there were eight of them, and they were headed by Leaders. A friend of my parents' had been kind enough to bestow upon me a list of the Leaders' names, right before I left on this journey.
Looking at my list when I approached the Violet City Gym, I was stunned to realize that there was no marking of which one was which. Unsure of what to do in that situation, I just took the list's word as correct and believed that, upon entry of the building, I would be fighting some person named Falkner.
That actually proved to be right, and it was there that my handy list of names proved its worth. From the looks of the inside of the building, it was home to all sorts of Flying Pokémon, a breeze for me and my Mareep. But the battle wasn't the first thing on my mind when my eyes first fell on the Leader. No, I was noticing that something wasn't right about this guy.
If he was supposed to be the "head" of this place, shouldn't he have been standing tall, confident and proud? I was looking at a man with tears in his eyes and a wistful expression upon his face. That was not the image of strength I was looking forward too, and if I, an eleven-year-old kid, could pick up on this problem, then how long was it until someone with the intention to tear this place down did?
"What are you doing there, just staring at me, kid?" the man asked, and I jumped back at the sound of his rough voice. It was really obvious at this point that he had just finished crying over something. "It's rude to watch people, you know."
"S-sorry, sir. I was just looking for the Leader. By any chance, are you Falkner?"
He slowly nodded. "I'm not interested in a battle right now, kid. I know that's why you're here. That's the only reason why people even show up here anymore. That, or they want to crush me down even more than I already am." He started choking up again, waving his hand in front of his face in an attempt to keep from becoming hysterical.
"You're crying, sir. Is there anything I can do to help you?"
"Help me? Just sit down and keep me company. You do that, and I'll have a battle with you." Between sobs, he got all of that out, and I felt so much pride in being asked to keep a Gym Leader company that I jumped at the idea. Not really, though. I just sat down and told him that I'd stick around as long as he needed me. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into, kid."
He was right; I didn't know. "It's okay, sir. I'll manage to understand what I'm involved in soon enough. Right now, though, you need to dry your tears and calm down. Do you want the people in your town seeing you crying?"
"They don't care anymore. To this town, I'm just the Leader who can't win a single battle, let alone a woman's heart." He shrunk back for a second, while I tilted my head at this development."What, do you want me to explain what I mean by that?"
"I would appreciate it, mister Falkner."
Before starting into the story, he asked me how much I knew about the Leader system. When I said that I knew there were eight of them, and I had a list of all of their names, he cringed. "You can't hear this until you know a little about how Gyms work in Johto. All eight of us Leaders, well, we're supposed to be a close-knit family. But we're not. Clair and Morty have separated themselves from the rest of us (why, I have no idea). Jasmine doesn't open herself up to anyone, so she's an enigma we all try to unravel. And then there's Whitney. She's so perfect, but..."
"But what? She's available, isn't she? Why can't you take her and marry her like my parents married each other?"
"She doesn't associate herself with the guys. She finds herself 'too good' for the rest of us. That leaves Pryce, who is cool and all, but is really old and kind of creepy, Bugsy, who is my best friend and I will protect him with my life, me, and Chuck, who is this fat guy who I like fighting because he makes me feel useful whenever we do." Falkner leaned back, using his arms as braces. "But a guy like me, young and carefree, needs a woman in his life, not just guys."
"I'm a guy and I don;t have a woman in my life. Is that a problem?" I seriously asked, expecting an honest answer.
Instead, he just laughed. "You're funny, kid. I like you. You remind me of when I was younger."
"I don't want to remind you of you. I want to make you think of that guy from New Bark Town. You know, the one who went and became Champion?"
"You don't remind me of Ethan, though. You remind me of a younger, more spirited me. It was my reckless spirit that got me into this rivalry with Chuck, after all. I don't want you to lose the childish side you have, okay?" I nodded, and he sat back up. It had been maybe twenty minutes since we had started talking, and I could see how just having me there was lightening his mood. "Say, you still want that battle, or are you okay if we talk some more?"
I grinned at the thought of getting to whip his birds with Mareep, but I could tell there was still a tinge of sadness in his voice. "Actually, if it's okay with you, I'd like to talk some more. Could you teach me about liking girls? I doubt my parents would ever do that for me!"
"I think I could do that, kid."
"Excuse me sir, but could you please not call me 'kid' anymore? My name is Shaun. I'd rather go by my name than 'kid.'"
Taking my comment to heart, he gave me a similar request: "I'll stop calling you 'kid' if you stop calling me 'sir.' That's the kind of respect we show towards Chuck or Pryce, not me." I laughed and said I'd stop being polite instantly. "Thanks, k—Shaun."
We sat there for what seemed like hours, him telling me more about this Whitney lady that he was so fond of. From what he told me, she sounded nice, if not a bit too perfect, but I figured he was describing her as he saw her, not as she really was. Did it matter? No, because I'd get to see her for myself one day. According to my list, she was the third Leader. That battle couldn't have been too far in the future, now could it have been?
By the time we finished talking, it was dark outside and my stomach was growling. I was too nice to ask for food, though, and Falkner didn't notice that I was extremely hungry. "You ready for our battle now, kid?" he asked, to which I eagerly nodded, ignoring my rumbling tummy. All I wanted was to be Champion, after all. I didn't care if I was starving. Dreams came first.
A/N: So, let me give the reason for this story even existing. My friend Kami has been playing through a ROMhack called Shiny Gold, and I've been his audience. We've been having fun with this. Last night, he checked the Trainer Card and saw that the Leaders were a bit out of order. From that, this story was born.
In this world, the Leaders go in the order that the Trainer Card gives. The Gyms are in the same places, but the Leaders are not. (Well, obviously, Falkner is.) Because of this change in lineup, there will be some seriously crack-y moments that would have never been dreamed of if I hadn't known the "rearranged" order.
Please review if you read. I want to know how you like me writing in first person, from a young boy's view.
I don't own Pokémon, hence why I'm writing fanfiction for it.
Signel
