Prologue: A Quaint Life
Ebgin was thirteen, and destined to be a Pokemon master, to bash his way through Victory Road, crush the elite four and ascend to the top ranks of the Pokemon battling hierarch; but first, he needed to finish wiping down the counter of his parents' convenience-store.
Loamy Town was a quaint little village built on a patch of dirt far away from most of civilization, and that included Pokemon gyms. A few buildings were scattered about haphazardly, and tall grass surrounded the parameter of the village on the north, south and west, while a large lake blocked passage to the east.
Ebgin hated it. How could he achieve his dreams when he lived in a secluded village miles from anywhere of significance? Even if he were allowed to have a Pokemon for training, which he was not because it was apparently too expensive and unnecessary for his schooling, at least according to his parents; even then, he would have nowhere to test his skills, no gyms to prove himself. No, it seemed that the entire universe had played a nasty joke on him, to give him this passion and deny him the wherewithal to pursue it.
So he rung out the red towel in a tin bucket and gave the counter one last once-over before he called out over the counter toward the door in the back, "I'm finished!"
A man came backing out of the door, holding a box with both hands. His stance was wide and he turned and waddled toward the counter, finally dropping the box onto the counter with a wump! and the tinkle of glass and plastic containers jostling together. The box contained some wine-glasses and glass candleholders. The shop sold mostly mundane merchandise of all sorts, but also a few Pokemon items for the odd traveling trainer, or for the pets of locals.
Ebgin's father wiped his brow and grinned, "Whew! Good work on this counter, Ebgin."
Ebgin's father was a nice man, maybe too nice at times. He had short brown hair, an average build and was of average attractiveness. He was a combination of an anchor for Ebgin, a solid foundation of values and strength, and also a portent of the rest of Ebgin's life, a simple, mundane person without the promise of adventure or exceptionalism. Consequently, Ebgin was ambivalent about his father, love notwithstanding.
From the back room, a sing-song female voice chirped, "Edward!" The note held for a bit. "Could you please help me with this?" The request was as saccharine as honey-dipped chocolates.
"Sure thing, Gina, dear," Father called, then he hooked a thumb back toward the door, "Go help your mother."
Ebgin nodded, "Yes, Sir." He opened the counter hatch and carefully closed it, then proceeded toward the back stockroom doorway, grabbing both sides of the doorframe and leaning in, "Ma'am?"
His mother had just lifted a box and it must have been very heavy. Ebgin guessed this because her face was red and her knees were bent and wobbling.
"Take this, take this, take this," she said with urgency and Ebgin rushed over and took hold of it from the bottom, pulled the weight to his stomach. His mother bent over, clutching her thighs and panting, "Oh, goodness. Thank you."
Ebgin grinned. For all of his disappointment with the direction of his life, he loved his parents and their antics.
From the front of the store, he heard the entry bell's distinct jingle, then his father greeting a customer. Then the bell tinkled again shortly thereafter and it was mostly silent. Turning, Ebgin left his mother to tend to the stock and brought the crate of Pokemon potions into the main room. He glanced around the little shop. His father was not there, and a single customer was browsing the shelves. The customer was young, maybe the same age as Ebgin himself. He was wearing a white, short-brimmed hat, a polo-shirt and shorts. He was someone Ebgin had seen before, though he could not recall exactly where. Perhaps at school.
Father must have stepped out for some reason. Deciding to stock the shelves himself, Ebgin came around the counter still holding the box. He lifted the counter-hatch with the toe of his foot, and came through to the other side.
He saw that the customer had actually brought a companion with him: A Marill, which is a small Pokemon, maybe knee-height, blue and round. It had a black tail that zig-zagged up and ended in a glossy blue sphere. Ebgin had been tending the store and talking to people for a long time, so striking up a conversation was as easy as tying his shoes.
"Hey, there, anything I can help you with?"
The customer looked at him and smiled. He looked nervous. "Oh, I dunno, I'm just browsing I guess."
"Alright, no problem. If you need anything, just let me know. My name is Ebgin."
"Will do," the customer said, then added, "My name is Jason."
"Nice to meet you."
Ebgin closed the counter's rising blockade with his foot again. It had taken some practice to not let it slam down, but he was able to start it down with the ball of his foot, then work his toe under it and gently set the hatch down, all in one smooth movement. He made it look easier than it was.
As he pulled the potions from the box and set them neatly onto the shelf, he could not resist glancing at the customer, Jason, and his Marill. Ebgin could hear Jason gently speaking to it, and it would respond with small sounds as if it could understand English. Ebgin could feel a tightening in his chest. He had felt this more than once. It was a yearning for that life. If only his parents were not so against the training and battling of Pokemon. It was all sanctioned, there were rules, and Pokemon loved to fight! It was in their natures to do so. If they did not fight them, then Pokemon would fight together without human intervention.
"Excuse me."
Ebgin had been staring, and his eyes had lost focus as his thoughts overcame his consciousness. The statement made him jerk, "Ah, yes. Yes?"
It was Jason. "If I go out of town, do you think I should bring some potions with me for Rain?"
Ebgin was confused for a moment. Was he dreaming? "Rain?" He repeated dumbly.
"Yeah," Jason said, pointing at his Pokemon, "That's the name of my Marill. She's a good fighter and can protect me, but I'm not sure if I'm being paranoid to buy a bunch of potions. I'm only going to the Stacker's Inn."
Stacker's Inn? Ebgin knew it. An inn only about four miles from Loamy town, a respite for people traveling to or from Town-Town, a place as simple as its name, which the mayor there had given it out of spite, claiming that all of the "good" names were taken. It seemed silly to Ebgin that someone would give his town a lame name just because someone had taken a better one, but he wasn't a mayor or even an adult, so perhaps there were things he simply did not understand.
"Well," Ebgin began, "on the one hand, the journey would only take three or so hours at most, depending upon which route you take, or if you decide not to take the footpath at all. Still, you don't want to be attacked by a wild Pokemon if your Marill is injured and you don't have anything to heal her with."
Ebgin bent down and plucked two potions from the crate on the floor and handed them to Jason, "Here, these should be good enough."
"Okay!" Jason said, accepting them with a grateful smile and cupped hands.
"Hang on," Ebgin said as he turned and crossed the aisle to the far wall, adjacent to the counter where shelves were lined with merchandise. With the quickness of familiarity, he grabbed a small canister and turned to face Jason again, "You'll need this, too. It's an antidote. In the grass you'll meet all kinds of Pokemon who have poisonous barbs or fangs. If you or your Pokemon gets bitten, you'll need this. I wouldn't leave town without it."
"Oh," Jason said, his voice low. He seemed surprised. Ebgin figured he was just overwhelmed with the influx of information.
"That's about it," said Ebgin cheerfully, "I can check you out at the register if you're done."
"Yeah, I'm done."
Jason followed Ebgin to the counter, "Do you- really think we're going to encounter that kind of thing?"
"What do you mean?" Ebgin began entering the prices on the till.
"You know, this is my first time out of town alone. I'm kind worried." Jason was looking down at his feet.
The concern in Jason's voice was evident. Ebgin looked up from the till, "Hey, don't worry. You've got Rain with you, right?"
Jason looked over, and Ebgin couldn't see the short Pokemon from this vantage with the counter in the way, but he heard the Pokemon make some noises that sounded happy enough. Jason's grin told Ebgin everything he needed to know.
"You're right. Nothing will happen to us as long as we look after one another."
"That's the spirit," Ebgin said as the till dinged, and the dull rumble of the drawer sliding out sounded, "That'll be eight bucks."
That evening, the sun was waning, casting orange lights through the glass door and throwing the back of the main room into shadows.
"Don't forget to lock the door when you're done, alright, Ebgin?"
"Sure thing, Father."
Father gave him a wave from inside the open door as he egressed. The door swung closed with a tingle from the little golden bell. Ebgin stared at it for a moment as the sound died, orange sunlight reflecting off of its metal surface. With a sigh, he finished his sweeping. For a time, the only sound was that of his broom's bristles brushing against the wooden floor. Then there was the plastic clacking of the dustbin, then the door opened again and the bell tinkled. Leaning outside, he hurled the dust from the dustbin and it plopped to the ground some feet away in a billowing of particles. The breeze was gentle enough only to sway the small cloud of dust.
Finally finished, Ebgin locked the door and started for home, squinting at and admiring the sky as it turned from orange to pinkish, and lit up the treetops in the distance beyond town like molten gold poured atop them, and shot through with brilliant iridescent light. A part of Ebgin knew that he should appreciate this. It was a beautiful town, the weather was temperate and life was good, really. Really, it was.
He was walking along a brick path straddling a grass field that rolled down and up like frozen waves of grass. The wind was sporadic, blowing heavily in its own time, rippling the grass, and then resting again for a while to bring stillness to the land in quiet contrast.
Walking along and enjoying the weather, Ebgin was suddenly aware of voices. He looked to his right and then left and spotted two specks in the distance. No, four. Two must have been Pokemon, and they were bouncing about. A Pokemon battle? Here? Without another thought, Ebgin turned off of the path and went running through the grass, sliding down the hill perhaps a dozen feet and he hit the ground running, the wind billowing his outer shirt like curtains at an open window.
Skidding, he transitioned into a fast walk and as he approached he slowed to an amble. The trainers were both girls, one young, perhaps Ebgin's age. She was standing in front of a growlithe whose fur was standing on end. Its upper lip was peeled back in a snarl that wrinkled its muzzle and showed its fangs. The other was an older woman, though younger than Ebgin's mom, and very pretty, with hair in a dark brown braid that went all the way down to her lower back. Her Pokemon was a starmie, which floated before the older woman, its aft cog spinning rapidly one way, its forelimbs spinning slowly the other. It was a little scary, because everyone knew that this meant it was prepared to attack.
Suddenly, Ebgin was struck with a strange feeling, like something horrible was about to happen. The wind, up to that point only a zephyr, reminded Ebgin of its presence with a violent surge, whipping his hair wildly. He hugged himself with one arm, using his other hand to shield his eyes from the sunlight.
The battle began, and Ebgin would soon know the truth of these violent altercations.