A remake of the original which I thought was CRAP. I'll try my best to articulate myself without using swears but you know...my characters are teenagers. ;)
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"I go to seek a Great Perhaps" - Francois Rabelais
The Great Perhaps
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Prologue
The boy wandered the darkness alone with only the headlight to guide him. He had been ordered to catch a shiny Onix, but things weren't looking too bright for him. He sighed and was about to turn back around when he noticed a faint, glowing, blue light ahead of him.
"Do Shiny pokemon shine?" He whispered to himself, then realised it was a stupid question and was glad nobody was around to hear.
He followed the blue light, albeit nervously. The glow felt unearthly and strange. Finally, he came to a halt as he noticed a small swirling mass of blue jutting out of the rocks. Curious, he began to lean closer and reach into the foot-ball sized oval of spirals. Before he was in range however, a Pokémon egg flew out of the blue and landed right into his arms. It radiated the same unearthly tone as the mysterious glow that led him here.
He hadn't found a shiny Onix, he'd found something better.
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Chapter 1
…
It was exactly four in the morning. I jump out of bed and grace along my bedroom floor into a ballerina stance, before performing my morning routine of five vigorous and energy consuming jumping jacks. Vince is coming today! I skip towards the stereos and put on Caribbean Ice before jiggling towards the bathroom. Vincent Edgewood, none other than my older brother, is going to sneak into the mansion at "exactly nine o'clock." He also said. "I will graciously bring you a present so gracious you will never fathom its graciousness." You can understand my excitement now right? I even decided to wake up five hours earlier for the arrival of my brother – who, as a matter of fact, is an idiot and chooses to never comb his own hair as a form of "religion." I am ashamed to admit that he is not adopted and we are related by the blood flowing through our veins.
Vince doesn't live with us anymore though. Dad disowned him for reasons they chose to not discuss with me. I have a pretty clear idea as to why. My dad is the sexist supreme with an unbelievably immoral, orthodox nature and insists that all women should stay put inside their houses. Brew the perfect tea for their husbands perhaps, make a sandwich even! He probably thought that as a FEMALE, I was too unimportant to know the details of my brother's abrupt departure from home.
Memories of the day Vince stepped out the door replay themselves in my mind. I recall the rain setting the mood as I clutch onto his overcoat, begging for him to stay. "I'll visit you, even if that shithead doesn't let me, I promise I will visit you Gracie so don't you cry." And true to his word, he's been flying in every Sunday by my mother's room for around two years now.
I change out of my pjs and put on the summer dress that my brother bought me, just to impress him with the fact that I don't lose all my stuff like he accuses me of. After that I am done. There is no breakfast yet because the servants don't wake until at least an hour later. I wasn't being stupid, I tell myself, I was just being organised.
I spend a few hours watching TV. Right now they're broadcasting the Champion Travis's old battles again. He is such a show off. I think all of Johto can understand his point now so why not just put on some Kamen Raider instead or something? I watch with an impassive manner as the Champion's Steelix nearly obliterates the whole stadium with its Earthquake. The former Champion calls back her Golduck in a frenzy just as I switch to the PokeNews channel.
"Champion Travis has just recovered from a raid at his estate in the Indigo Plateau yesterday. Several possessions have been stolen and police are now investigating the crime scene. Witnesses are to report to the police immediately." Serves him right for forcing innocent viewers like me to watch his lameass recorded battles every effing day! I keep watching as the newswoman speaks. "Despite the lack of credible evidence, rumours of a possible Resistance group have been surfacing amongst the population. Their possible existence has kept Police on a constant watch for Iris tattoos and imprints, believed to be the group's iconic symbol."
An iris? If I was the leader of a Resistance group I would probably have chosen something hardcore, like an alligator eating a little boy… Wait that was too extreme, probably something like a dolphin with a machine gun up its nostrils.
"Lady Grace!" I hear Cole's deep voice calling for me behind the door, followed by three loud knocks against the wood. The butler, Cole, is usually my portable alarm clock so "Lady Grace!" is his default alarm ringtone. I climb off my bed and shut the TV off, throwing the remote onto the mattress before surprising the old man with a grin. "Oh, you're awake already miss?"
"I certainly am! Is breakfast ready?" I shuffle behind him and glance downstairs.
Cole turns around and ushers me towards the stairs. "It will be served as soon as you present yourself at the dining room." Upon hearing this I dash down the stairs. Food is the holy sacrament blessed upon humanity by Arceus, second to Pokemon of course.
x.x.x.x.x.x
I creep through the doorway as though I am infiltrating a criminal base. My mother's room is the perfect meeting spot. Father had never stepped foot into this room since my mother's death. He treated it as if it was cursed, and plus, the maids follow a routine schedule when cleaning the rooms so I learned how to avoid them.
I pull a chair beside the large glass window and prop my elbow up against the ledge. I am five minutes early and my brother tends to arrive right on time. Easily bored, I grab the family photo sitting a few inches away from me, as I always do when I am early. My dad is on the left, one hand resting on my brother's shoulder and the other around my mother's waist. He is slightly younger, a brunette with somewhat dark skin, natural soft perms and a gleaming pair of jade tinted eyes. My mother on the other hand had deep, autumn red hair and hazel eyes, two traits of which both children inherited.
I look up again and see Vincent at the window sitting on top of Luce, his Skarmory. He waves and flashes a dorky smile. I instinctively smile back and open the windows.
"Hey lil sis!" He climbs in through the opening and sends Luce back into her ball, "looking at that picture again?"
"Hi. Yeah. Ok. Where's my present?" I demand.
Vince pretends to be cut by my words as he dramatically places both his hands over his heart. "I come all this way for you and all you care about is the Pokemon? Not your brother?"
"Why would I care fo – WAIT WHAT? POKEMON?" I think I heard him wrong. "OH MY ARCEUS BALLS POKEMON? IS THAT THE PRESENT?" I punch him out of a playful will but somehow end up injuring him in the armpits. Excitement makes you looz control, end of discussion.
He rubs his armpit craters as he nods. "Well yeah I got you one since the old bastard wouldn't let you keep any."
"Oh Vincent! I love you so much more!" I hug him around the waist and look up.
He puts on a disgusted face. "Incest is not wincest."
I pfft him and end up spitting in his face. "Okay show me the Pokemon! Hurry up!" I search in his pockets and pokeball belt. Vince grabs my shaking hand and gestures for me to stop with a finger.
"It's here sis." He reaches behind to his back pocket and holds up a pokeball. Dammit! I should've known!
I reach for it but he holds it up just beyond my reach. "Guess what it is first."
I hate guessing games. "I LOATHE GUESSING GAMES BEYOND HUMAN CAPABILITY. MY UNDYING HATE FOR THEM IS LIKE A BURNING FLAME IN MY HEART!"
"I think I know that already." Vince grins mischievously, "I LOVE ANNOYING MY SISTER MORE THAN THE HIDDEN PORN STASH UNDER MY BED!"
"Okay, alright! Fine. It's a Jigglypuff isn't it?" I stop jumping up for the pokeball and give in to his cheap tricks. "Cause you know I love singing my Gaytey Perry in the shower."
"I can't say I wasn't considering a Jigglypuff. You look like one too."
I am very offended but I decide to keep guessing. "Okay it's a Clefairy then; I probably look like one of those too."
"Correct!" Vince puts the pokeball in my hand. I gasp. I can't say I'm too delighted about the –
"Jokes it's an Eevee. It's great, it has different evolution types and you can choose which one you want him to evolve into," Vince explains. "Eevee is rare, so watch out for poachers."
"Ee-Eevee..?" I stare at the Pokeball in my hand with amazement. I should probably open it. "Well uh… I don't think anyone will poach him while I'm in this house. You know, since I'm surrounded by walls and all…"
Vince reads my mind and indicates with a finger for me to press the button. "What if you weren't in this house then?"
"Well I'd be in the garden. Where are you getting at Vince?" I nervously press the button and a flash of light zaps out of the ball, leaving behind a brown, furry Pokemon on the carpet. Eevee is asleep. Very anticlimactic if you ask me. He is curled up in a ball, tail acting as a blanket over his stomach while his chest rises up and down with every breath he takes.
I squeal with delight, hopping over towards him and scooping him up into my arms. "Why is he SO adorable? It's sinful I tell you!"
Vince ignores my comment. "You don't have to be stuck in here all your life Gracie. You could become a Pokemon trainer. Go on an adventure, like that Great Perhaps you've always dreamed about."
"You mean get disowned?" I cradle Eevee in my arms and start to rock side to side.
He rolls his eyes. "That's not the only way to get away from that bald old fart. You have alternatives. You could run away."
"And get caught."
Vince sighs at my response. It's not as if I haven't considered that, but logic was a bitch and it told me that even if I am on the other side of the world, my dad will catch me. He'll catch me and lock me up in the basement and then forget about me and I'll turn into a feral–
"Have you ever wondered if there was more to being alive than just living in luxury?" Vince began. "Didn't you always want to be free from father? Are you really going to let him control the rest of you life like this? Get forced into an arranged marriage to one of Chewbacca's relatives just because he has a title?"
My brother throws more rhetorical questions than I can handle. He really loves me and he knows I hate it here. He knows that no matter how determined I am, the actual act of escaping was so much harder.
"Let's get out of here Gracie. I'll show you the world outside of this house." Vince pulls me over back to the window and calls out his bird Pokemon again. I follow and I don't protest, returning Eevee back to his Pokeball in a rush. This could be it. This is what I've always wanted, and my brother is delivering it to my doorstep. I know my father will catch me though, but maybe, even if it only lasted a minute, I'd like to see what was beyond the mansion.
I sit on Luce's back behind Vince. He turns around to look at me with a triumphant smile on his face. "Hold on tight, wouldn't want my sister to fall to her death right in front of my me would I? I'd be traumatised."
"Probably not." I grin. Already, we had caught the attention of the guards. They were a black and white blur beneath me, scurrying around in a confused frenzy.
"Let's get out of here before they send out those annoying ass Sythers." Vince shouts a few instructions to Luce and we are moving. The wind is strong and I end up having to squeeze against Vince's waist. "Don't look back." He tells me, and then we fly off away from the frantic shouting beneath us.
x.x.x.x.x.x
"Why did we land here?" I look around my surroundings, still feeling somewhat dizzy from flying. In front of me lies a footpath to who knows where. Trees, bushes and shrubs circulate me, forming a never ending abstract of green.
"You're travelling alone from here," Vince throws me his backpack. "Take that with you, it contains surprise goodies!"
"…WHAT?" I am dazed and he begins to fly off before I can respond. I end up having to shout from below. "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME YOU MORON?"
"Because travelling with a sister is lameeeee!" He calls out. "And you have to learn your own responsibilities as a traineeeer! Ciaoooo Graciee! Goodluuuck!"
Just like that my brother and his Pokémon disappear from my vantage point. I instantly begin to regret my decision. "Okay, just calm down Grace, you can get through this alone." I whisper but find myself inconsolable. But wait a second! I'm not alone. I have Eevee. I HAVE EEVEE! I reach for the Pokeball in my pocket and press the fateful button.
"Eee!" The Pokemon cries. It is awake and I thank Arceus for that. Eevee wanders around in confusion before sniffing its tail and heading towards a nearby tree. I realise he does not acknowledge my presence.
"HEY DID YOU FORGET I EXIST?" I scurry after him like a clingy dog only to find him lifting his hind leg up and chucking a piss. I look at the puddle forming under him with disgust. "You're shameless…"
"You'll have to do that too. There are no toilets out here. I recommend digging a hole first." A voice suddenly speaks. I look around for the source but my eyes finally land on Eevee. He shakes his head at me. I then look up at the tree. Eevee rolls his eyes and points to the floor.
"OOH, so the floor is talking to me." I nod with a look of comprehension on my face.
"Actually no, the pile of foliage beside you is."
"Oh yes, yes, the foliage must be talking to me. Of course it is." I stare at it in silence for a few seconds before collapsing onto the floor in horror. "I've become insane! What did I do to deserve this cruelty?"
I turn my head and glance at the foliage again. It does not speak. Eevee wanders over besides me and does the same.
"Boo." A human head suddenly pops out of the leafage with a monotone. I jump but Eevee attacks the head with his paws. "Oh crap." The head says.
"Wait Eevee stop! That head is alive you're hurting it!" I call out to him but he is still panicking and doesn't stop pawing. I end up having to restrain him by lifting him up into my arms.
"Your Pokemon doesn't listen to you." The head tells me. I take a better look at it and notice its features. Its hair is a brilliant shade of midnight blue as its eyes gleam a soft yellow crescent of the moon. It is like a portrait of the night. "You must be an a-m-a-t-e-u-r." The head shuffles under the pile of leaves and I watch agape as two hands emerge. Then a whole body rises up from what seems to be a hole underneath.
I take a step back. "You're not just a head!"
"I'm not just a head." He replies stoically, before rubbing his face, red from minor scratch marks.
"What the hell were you doing under that? Peaking under skirts?" I accuse him.
He stops rubbing and looks at me very seriously with a frown on his face. "You were wearing safety underwear. It was impossible."
I put my hands over my head. "NOOO! MY VISUAL VIRGINITY!"
Head-man pats me on the shoulder with a sentiment face. I glare at him, ready to send a colourful string of inappropriate words but my Eevee beats me to it. Its stomach growled. Mine then follows after the queue.
"Uh…" I blush.
"Eevee…" Eevee blushes.
I flick Head-man's empathy hand off, and then reach for the bag Vince gave me on the floor. I expect food to be in it, but all I find are: potions, pepper spray, pokeballs, a framed picture of Vince, pokedex, pokegear, translator clips and a town map.
What does he expect me to eat? Am I supposed to resort to cannibalism? I look up at Head-man, then shake my head with disapproval. I couldn't call Vince either because I had always put him on speed dial so the Pokegear was no use.
Head-man bends over and makes a comment. "That's the newest model of the Pokegear. It's not even out yet, they're only advertising it." He raises an eyebrow. "Where'd you get it from?"
I raise my head high with arrogance, "I have sources."
Head-man sits himself onto the ground beside me and pulls canned food and berries out of his bag. He gestures for me to take the food and places the berries in front of my Eevee. Perhaps not all perverts were bad people.
"Thanks…" I pull the can open to find spaghetti. Head-man hands me a fork.
"Name?" He asks.
I stuff the noodles into my mouth and hurry to swallow it down, "Grace Edgewood."
"I'm Ryan. You look around the same age as me, did you just start training?"
I nod.
"That's strange, most people start earlier."
"I'm a late bloomer," I tell him.
"Hmmm. You can call me Master Shen for now." He places both hands on my shoulder. "Come apprentice, you have much to learn." A noodle drops out of my mouth. He ignores it. "You have to name your Pokemon first. Good form of bonding."
"Okay…" I look across to Eevee, who is preoccupied with his food. "How about Eve?"
Ryan seems shocked from my suggestion. "My statistics tell me 99 percent of Eevees are named Eve."
"Did I say Eve? I meant Steve." I lie.
Ryan tuts at me with a look of disapproval. "I don't think Steve is a very suitable name for your Eevee."
"Hey, I'm the one naming him!" I place my can down and hold Eevee up high, re-enacting a scene of The Lion King. "What should I call you hmm?"
"How about Mingo?" Ryan suggests.
"Eeeve ee!" I begin to tickle Eevee and he wiggles playfully under my grasp.
"Yeah okay, Mingo's cute. You're Mingo from now on." I tell my pokemon, who giggles at the name. I took it as a sign of approval. "Kinda sounds like Mango."
Sending Mingo back to his ball, I ask Ryan. "What does Mingo mean anyway? How did you come up with that?"
Ryan stops collecting more leafage for his hole. "It means, 'to piss', in Latin."
A/N: Welps! I do plan on finishing this one, oh if you noticed any weird spelling...it could be because I'm Australian. But anyway, did you know? Reviews are like a writer's food. They need it as a source of energy! So what can i say? FEED ME!
