Bells could be heard chiming from that looming metal tower in the distance. It's what I grew up with, it's what I was taught, and it's something I will never forget. Those wretched bells – they were so beautiful from an external point of view; truly morbid in their true form. The sound, metallic like the tower they represent, reverberates throughout the rural town of Ecruteak– known for its myths, legends, and stories of lore – namely the story of Ho-Oh, the legendary phoenix of the Tin Tower. The Tin Tower stands contiguous to the Burned Tower. They were once identical until an unholy fire ravaged the now Burned Tower; its name lost in history's wild winds. This was only the beginning, however, to a journey that I'll be able to pass down to my children and them to theirs. A legend, if you will. From the birthplace of legends, a new story unfolded. I can almost hear Ho-Oh's beckoning on the wind's wings…
My father has always taught me the ways of history. I've studied textbooks, historical documents, artifacts and so much more. We've often taken so-called 'field trips' to the ominous Ruins of Alph (which the puzzle remains unsolved, to this day), which always gave me the chills. It was a monotone world – shades of brown covered every inch. The only delight of color I was able to see was the occasional patch of grass here and there, and the Pokemon that inhabited that grass. I was fond of a certain species of those creatures. Smeargle always drew me close with its murals on the walls of the ruins. There were drawings of it, along with drawings of the other Pokemon as well. They were all so well done. Almost professional, dare I say. I've always wondered if there was more to these creatures than we've ever thought. Are they actually more like us than they seem? Still to this day I've never found the answers. Maybe one day, researchers like me will unveil the true origins of not only Pokemon, but of the world.
Until then I will fight. I will fight alongside my friends. I will fight alongside my family. I will fight alongside my partners. And I will fight alongside the truth and hold it close as an infant. There's no limit to what one can do if they just believe. If they believe that they can, they will. If they believe that they are, they are. If they believe in what they're doing...well, that's the key to everything.
"Sean, are you ready?" My father called from downstairs. Our house was a quiet little thing, nestled in between a small pond and the forest on the edge of town. Since my father loved to fish, this was the ideal spot to live. It's not like we had a choice in the matter anyway. My family has lived on location since the feudal times. It's been demolished and rebuilt many times, but there's just something always drawing my family to rebuild in this spot.
It could be the tower. The Tin Tower kept us in its shadow day and night. We were always the first to hear the bells every hour. My father was also the first to feel the unrest when the legendary phoenix returned to the peak of the tower after a boy named Ethan's pure heart drew it close. But it had this aura about it. Something so delicious and irresistible made our blood long to stay near it. It was a drug to my family. My mother escaped it, but my father fell under its spell. I wonder if I'll have the same fate…
"Sean?" My door now opened to my father with a worried look on his face. He was dressed in business attire. My face showed that I hadn't heard him. I didn't even know we were going out today. Apparently it was important, whatever it was. "Sean, you're not even dressed yet. We have to leave!" I hung my head and mumbled an apology. He wasn't harsh, thankfully, but my father had that cute, boyish quality that could make you feel terrible in an instant if you offend him in any way. Actually, I'm not sure he even matured at all since he was a boy. He loves to mess around; to get in the dirt and play. Of course, when it came to his work, he became a new person. Apparently, this meeting wasn't for work, which I was thankful for.
"Is Haunter coming?" I looked up with a hopeful smile, and he returned it wistfully, meaning she wasn't coming. I loved playing with Haunter. She was my father's first Pokemon (she saved him when he was a young kid and wandered into the Burned Tower and they bonded instantly), and still stayed loyal by his side. He invited himself into my room and began to rummage through my closet and finally throwing a dress at me. I looked at it for a moment and then made a face. "But daaaaad…"
"Don't start that, Sean." He left me to get dressed. I sighed heavily and quickly undressed myself only to slip the dress back on. It was, like all of the maybe three dresses I owned, short and of a cool tone. This one was different, though. I've never seen this dress before. It was the color lavender with angelic white lace around the bottom, the neckline and the bottom of the three-quarter's length sleeves. There was a belt made of that same lace. While the dress wasn't patterned, it was still elegant – like a princess' dress. It was almost too nice to just wear to be wearing it. I stared at myself in the mirror and sighed. My deep blue hair and emerald eyes clashed with the dress. I was a wreck, but there was nothing that could be done but to become a slave to hair dye. But I think that one should be older than eleven years old to dye their hair. No, excuse me; I'm twelve, not eleven. Today is my birthday. But it kind of makes me sad because most of my friends went off two years ago when they turned ten to become trainers, while dad won't let me. He wants me to work with his company – an excavation company who excavates mostly in the Ruins of Alph via contract.
"Aww, well isn't she a doll!" Later on, after some pleading with dad, and failing quite miserably, he led me along the streets of Ecruteak to our destination – which he still hasn't told me where we're doing – when we ran into my best friend and his father. I hung my head in shame as I saw a sliver of blonde poke out from behind his larger look alike's (everything from his hair to his clothes)body. "Well, Morty, aren't you going to say hello?" His father had a booming voice; it was fitting for his gruff, athletic look, even though he was anything but gruff or atheltic. He was tall man, but not very large. He had distinguished muscles, but it wasn't creepy like that gym leader from Ciannwood, Chuck. Like usual, he wore a baggy solid color kimono with white trim to accent his mid-length, bright, blonde hair. His face was normally shaven, but he must have not shaved yet, because a hint of fuzz covered his face.
Morty, despite how social his father was – he was one of the more involved in the town– was quite the shy one. Even though I was his best friend, he was still slightly withdrawn around me. Of course, this would change in the future as we grow further apart, but I wasn't to know this at the time. I would have never guessed that he'd grow to be how he would be. I guess that's what being a leader does to one. He stumbled through his words and he put his index fingers together and stared at them. "H-hi, Sean…" His father just chuckled and he withdrew a little bit more.
I nudged my father, who understood right away. He quickly formed an excuse to leave, and we parted. I mouthed to Morty "I'm sorry!" as we dashed off. He haphazardly waved at me with a slight smile, which pretty much made my day up to that point. I hardly ever see him smile.
We sped up with our walking speed, and I questioned dad, but he just smiled at me. We were on the other side of town – I could tell because we live about as far from the Kimono Girls' Dance Theater as possible – as the Dance Theater came into sight. It was one of the more traditional buildings in town (most of the others have fallen under what I like to call Goldenrod Syndrome because Goldenrod was the only real big city we have here in Johto), with it's beautiful sliding doors and feudal accents. It looks like it came right out of one of our legends.
Dad's smile got wider as we neared the theater, only to be greeted by six beautiful women, all identical like one single cell divided into many. They had their extremely long, shiny, black hair up in a perfect bun, their faces were caked with white cover up, their eyes were enclosed in eye shadow (each one had a different color, so I suppose that meant something), and their faces had blush painted on their high cheekbones. Their kimonos were also the same in make, with beautiful cherry blossom patterns, but, like the eye shadow, each one had a different color scheme. He nodded and a girl with a black and yellow colored kimono stepped forward and took my hand and silently led me into the theater.
"Sean, you're twelve now, correct?" The girl benevolently asked me, never turning her head. I was acting like Morty was earlier – shy and withdrawn. I played with the excess lace of my belt and nodded. She did nothing belligerent towards me, yet I was acting so rude. I should have been ashamed of myself, which I was – very much so. "So I see. I think I have you memorized now. Come with me." I obeyed the command and followed the woman into a back room behind the stage of the theater.
There was another woman in this next room. Her kimono was bright enough of a reddishorange to lighten up the room, even if there were no lights. She too smiled in a kindhearted way. "Welcome, Sean. Your father has spoken to us before to set arrangements." She turned around for a brief second. When she flipped, she looked like a dancing flame. Her movements were graceful enough to put a swan to shame, yet they had a certain rigidness to them that caused me to flinch in awe and fear that if I moved, the flames of her dance would chastise me.
"This…" She turned back around holding a small red, white and black capsule. It was large enough that you could barely hold it in your palm, but it was able to shrink to pocket size. "This is something I'd like to give to you." She lightly tossed the capsule into the air as it opened and a stream of red data was released into our atmosphere. The red light took the form of a small brown creature with long, pointy ears and large tufts of fur on its chest and paws. "An Eevee is our calling card. Every trainer who walked out of this theater with a new Pokemon has had an Eevee. You are the one we've selected for this little girl. She's tender, so be sure to take good care of her, which we believe you will." She returned the Eevee to its ball and handed the ball to me carefully.
I was trying to keep a straight face, which was nigh impossible with what just happened. I received my first Pokemon. Not only that, but it was one of the rarer ones of the region! Elatedly, I took the ball, being sure to be careful, and held it close before gently tossing it up and releasing Eevee. When it was released, it let out a cry of joy before trotting on its stout legs over to me and looking up at me with a joyful expression. I knelt down to it and stroked its head gently, returning the smile.
"I think," I began and then stopped, thinking. "I think I'm going to name you Lilac!" Evidently, she was ecstatic with this name, for she jumped up and down and swept her bushy tail from side to side. "I'm glad you like it, Lilac." I smiled at her as she did her little dance for joy. "I think we're going to be an amazing duo!" I stood back up and turned to the fire-like woman. "I can't thank you enough!"
"Be sure to also thank your father." With this she sunk into the darkness of the back of the room and left me standing there with Lilac. I nodded, and signaled the Eevee to follow me with a nod of my head towards the door. As I nodded my head, she took a defensive stance and growled, her beady brown eyes following my hair as it moved with my head. I giggled a little and continued walking out, trying to keep my hair as still as possible. I believed that I had a bright future with Lilac. I dreamt about us when we were older, living together with our family just like dad and Haunter. Naturally, this silly dream of a young girl would die away.