Prelude
Chapter 1
If there was one word Hikari could use to describe Twinleaf Town, it would be unremarkable.
She wasn't even sure if it could even be considered a town. Over the expanse of green lay a handful of houses, a narrow branching path darting the short distance between them. The forest loomed over the speck of civilisation, skyward tree trunks like metal bars.
She stared.
Her mother was silent for a moment, looking over the town with unreadable eyes. Then she flashed a small, reassuring smile at her daughter. "Come on then, little miss. Let's go unpack."
Hikari was still faintly nauseous from the ferry ride over. She still didn't see why they couldn't have flown here, as the dragon tamers did on TV, but when she had asked, her mother answered with a patient smile that she was much too young, and that business was for experienced trainers only.
She huffed quietly, because eight years old was plenty old enough and she had truly been looking forward to riding a Staraptor. She imagined clinging to his neck, swooping madly through the sky as the wind whooshed past her at eccentric velocities.
Now, she thought as her wide eyes swept over her surroundings, there was no chance of adventure for her any more. Not in this sleepy little town.
She was wrong there.
Her mother came and placed a hand upon her head, before heading off, towards a house that Hikari supposed was theirs. Hikari couldn't bring herself to follow her mother in. Instead, she petulantly looked out over the town, arms crossed.
A breeze slid by swiftly, teasing the treetops and sending ripples over the grass.
Then came another thought, just as wrong as the first.
I'm gonna be so bored here.
Fate heard. A moment later, a blur of gold and green hurtled into her life. Hikari made a small sound of surprise as something bowled into her with a jarring thud! The impact left her sprawled across the ground. Disoriented, her eyes searched for what had knocked her over.
A boy, blond hair in disarray, had also hit the ground, but he sprang to his feet easily, mumbling something that might or might not have been an apology, though either way, it seemed to be directed at his watch. Hikari was largely ignored as the boy continued on his way in hurried strides.
She stood up, astonished. Then she stalked into the house, face crinkled in distaste. What a rude boy! She hoped fervently that they would never cross paths again.
And that, that was a hope doomed to fail.
Time seemed to contract and expand in the leafy confines of Twinleaf. An afternoon would sluggishly trawl on as she wandered around town, searching for something to do, another fly by when hungrily absorbing the tales stored in the dusty books that her mother occasionally managed to procure for her. Those afternoons passed by the quickest, and Hikari would read and re-read and trace her fingers over the words printed over the yellowing pages, engraving them into her memory.
She read of brave trainers, and pokemon that created the world itself- one whose cry could split mountains, another who brought forth the vast oceans. A bird, its plumage an inferno of vivid colours, that blessed all that saw it with happiness beyond description. And she'd sit and dream, and wonder of the world beyond.
Though Hikari nearly never complied, Ayako often prompted her to go outside and meet new people- the world, she'd say, is what you make of it, but the comment would pass over Hikari's head each time.
Ayako was settling in nicely, as was her sleek, smug Glameow, who trotted at her heels with her little black nose in the air. Ayako had met up with an old friend, a kindly woman around her own age who lived only a stone's throw away with her son, and the two women often visited each other, bearing fruits or biscuits for the coffee table. Hikari would stay downstairs and sip silently at her sugary tea while her mother and her friend chatted away, usually about subjects that bore little relevance to her.
But she stayed anyway, both for the biscuits and the rare gems of information that peppered their conversations. She almost spat out her tea when her mother's friend mentioned that her husband was Palmer, the Tower Tycoon. The Tower Tycoon! A figure of such strength and prominence, a trainer so great that he had captured and tamed the legendary Regigigas.
Her mother smiled down at the teacup in her hands. "Palmer was always neck to neck with him, but they were closer than brothers. Do you remember the battles they used to have? It was always a sight to remember."
Who "he" referred to was made known by the way her voice lilted ever so slightly on the word. Ayako rarely spoke of her deceased husband, but since arriving in Twinleaf Town, it seemed that she was beginning to share those crystallised memories of him more and more often. Hikari would understand if she decided not to, since she herself had her own few memories, perhaps corroded and slightly blurry with time, but precious nonetheless.
They remained locked in her head, for viewing on days when she particularly missed him, and she guarded them jealously from prying relatives, because sometimes it was nice to imagine that there was something that existed only between her and her father, and nobody else.
There was a sense of awe that came with the fact that her father, who would bounce her on his knee and made silly faces, used to battle a Tower Tycoon and hold his ground. She listened speechlessly as her mother and Palmer's wife detailed long battles between the two and their mighty teams.
Her father's team was familiar to her already, but when it came to Palmer's team, she could not help but lean forward and listen intently with bated breath. In her mind's eye she took the words spilling freely from the women's mouths and conjured up a picture of great beasts spouting magma or streams of ice, attacking with swift power that could shatter bones as if they were glass.
The notion entranced her, ensnared her with half-formed daydreams that kept her awake at night. Her mind buzzed with slivers of magnificent battles with no beginning, no end and certainly no tact. She was only a little girl, after all.
Her books and her daydreams kept her sane, but even they could not help her on days when the inescapable loneliness manifested and lingered in the recesses of their new house. On these days, even her most fantastic stories could not help her feeling miserable.
Twinleaf Town was even less a home to her than it had been when they had first arrived, with every day alienating her further from the people who lived here. Her mother continued to visit Mrs Palmer, and they both continued to chit-chat over the coffee table. Hikari joined them less and less as the days passed by.
It seemed that her only company these days was Glameow, who like her had decided that Twinleaf Town was not worth leaving the house for. Glameow had once been a champion contest winner, once owned the stage she walked on. But now that the limelight had faded, she was reduced to a common house pet living in some obscure town in the middle of nowhere.
"Do you hate Twinleaf Town as much as I do?" Hikari would ask, voice lowered to a conspiratorial whisper, though the house was empty more often than not.
Glameow would only send the little girl a haughty look over a silky grey shoulder, and leap off the kitchen counter so she could take her nap elsewhere.
So, most days, Hikari confined herself to her room, and let herself be pulled into the worlds of her beloved books. Sometimes, out the window she could see a figure of gold dashing about below, a green scarf trailing behind him. This rude, horrid boy she had identified as Jun, Palmer's son. But I bet he's nothing like him, she decided. Often he was alone, but at other times he was with other boys, kicking around a ball or playing cops and robbers. If she was feeling bold, she'd push the window open ever so slightly, so she could them clearly.
One day they were playing adventurers, all trainers on a quest- Hikari heard their muffled chatter and hearty laughter through the window pane. She pressed her fingers against the glass and watched. They were all grinning.
Ugly jealousy slushed in the pit of her stomach as she watched them. It wasn't fair. Hikari would give her best book away for someone to play adventurers with her.
She sank down to the floor, back against the wall, and hugged her knees to her chest. She stayed like that for a long time, listening, until she heard goodbyes and the boys' laughter finally fade.
When she mustered up the courage to look out the window again, the grassy clearing was empty. A little while away, one boy was hurrying back to his house, a green scarf fluttering after him- and as he glanced back, she could've swore that for just a split second his amber eyes flickered to her window.
tbc