- Emerald Soulstice -

By: KBar33

"You are my sun, moon, and stars..."

Author's Note:

This story is a projection of my own life, a mirror of the difficulties and challenges I had to go through in my personal life. What I hope to achieve by making this story is helping at least one person who reads this to find some sense of solace in my work. I am dedicating this story to all of my fellow members of the LGBTQ community who struggle everyday to come to grips with who they truly are.

Trying to find out my own identity was a struggle, as it is for anyone who had to tackle the relentlessly tiresome and cumbersome task of sorting out these feelings inside you that many in this world would ridicule you for, or in other parts of the world; kill you for. It is a nonstop internalized battle of rationalization and depression and often times a strong sense of inadequacy. It's not easy to deal with all this at a young age, and it especially was for me not having anybody to talk to about it with. I had to research and find out the necessary information on my own, and one thing I found hope and comfort in was stories such as these with LGBTQ characters.

They took me away to a place where I can relate to something, where I can gain insight and wisdom from, where I can finally feel a sense of belonging. The problem is that finding these stories are few and far between. The ones available are either incomplete or so highly sexualized that the reader derives zero sense of growth or substantive thought after reading it. The sex has a time and place, but the story I wish to create doesn't focus on that. I wish to create a story where the characters grow together and learn from each other and go through struggles together, and even hate each other sometimes oddly enough. But most importantly; I want to help somebody realize that love is love, and that you are beautiful the way you are. I created this story and I invite you to invest yourself in it as I have. I want to show you a story of love, of life, of laughter, and of treachery. A story of heartache, and heartbreak. Of smooth-sailing, and troubled waters. And most importantly; I want to create a story that our community can be #Proud of... :)

Also be aware that the story is far from canon and may not be 100% accurate and faithful to the story's plotline. Changes in the plot, both major and minor, are likely intentional and are not meant to accurately represent any canon plotline, but rather to enhance and convey my own artistic expression and vision. :)

Chapter 1: Shatter

"A novus dies

amicus meus vivat

videre potest"

The time in Sunyshore City is exactly 6:00 am, yet the entire city is vibrant and full of determined citizens en route to their jobs and duties. The solar panel roads are glimmering as the light dances about on the surface of the panels as if they are putting on a luminous performance of Swan Lake. The atmosphere is vibrant and energetic, yet, there is still a sense of peace and order about the city. This life that the citizens are living is one that they are used to and have come to love. They enjoy the hustle and bustle of city life so much that it brings a unique sense of calm and stability in an otherwise unstable and frantic atmosphere. In a lone house lives a family whose lives are unstable and frantic, but not in the way that the rest of the citizens lives are unstable and frantic. In this family lives a boy named Brendan Birch who lives with his mother and brother. They may sound like a normal family but their lives are far from regular and mundane, and for Brendan; nothing was ever the same.

Brendan wakes up to his alarm just like every morning. He climbs out of bed and puts on his pants and brushes his teeth just like every morning. He eats his breakfast and makes his bed just like every morning. However, unlike every morning; he is preparing to enter a completely different life. He opens the door and walks into the living room as his mother says "Good morning Bren! Do you have everything packed and ready to go?" To which he replies with "Yes mom, for the umpteenth time I packed it all last night." "I don't need the sass right now kid, I was just asking to make sure." He responds with "I know, I just hate waking up early is all." "Wow, I bet life is misery for you Bren isn't it?" To which he simply chuckles and sits down at the table in front of his breakfast. The Birches are purchasing a home in the Hoenn region in Verdanturf Town in an attempt to strengthen the family unity that has been shaky and turbulent for the past few years after Brendan's father moved and became the Hoenn region's pokemon professor. His mother was a vendor in the Sunyshore Market for years until getting injured in an accident in which a customer's Tauros got spooked by a Bidoof's sneaze that turned into an echoed voice. This in turn caused the Tauros to go wild and ram right into the booth that Brendan's mother would work at. His brother is 11 years old, making him only 3 years younger than Brendan. The two brothers had a lot of fun together running around the city and simply enjoying the carefree lifestyle of being a kid. They would ride their bikes around the city, have pretend pokemon battles with each other, explore the surrounding routes with the help and protection of a neighbor who had been a trainer for years. as you can already guess, this lifestyle they had grown accustomed to is about to turn on it's head.

The time is exactly 9:00 am, the family's belongings were all packed up and being shipped out to their new home in the Hoenn region. They are entering the plane when Brendan suddenly stops walking. He turns around and looks at the Sinnoh region, the place he called home his entire life, for the final time and takes in the gorgeous sunrise. He ponders and reminisces about the wonderful memories he made, the friends he's leaving behind, and the life he loved to live; it was all too much for him to handle, and so he began to sob. He bawled and bellowed, clutching his hurting heart as streams of tears flowed down his face. He felt the weight of the world weighing down on him, his feet were unable to move. He had gone completely numb, the very thought of possibly never returning weighed heavily on his mind. After being comforted by his mother and brother, Brendan picks himself up and they finally enter the plane and take their seats. Brendan looks out the window of the plane and does his best to suppress the anguish and heartbreak that he had welling up inside his chest. He began to feel the pain and sadness become more and more numb, until he finally came to grips with the reality of the situation. He finally accepted it and did his best to fall asleep, they did have a 7 hour flight after all. He felt the pain of leaving everything behind, but tried his hardest to look forward to the new life he had in store. Unbeknown to Brendan, he is going to go through the lowest depths of despair and the most joyous heights of bliss. He will begin a journey to become the best there ever was, he will meet people from many walks of life, he will come toe-to-toe with the most dangerous people in the world, but above all else; he will discover his first true love. He will experience the true nirvana-esque feeling of love, and the heartbreak that comes along with defending and protecting it. He will discover something so profoundly beautiful that he is willing to lost everything to protect it. The true love and passion between two people, two rejects; two beautiful losers will kindle a fire that burns brighter than a thousand suns, and thus creating; an Emerald Soulstice.