I'm not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep
I'm afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion
Alexander the Great
Chapter 1
Light. Not a kind light. Not a warm, loving light. Not a light that caresses your eyes, and leaves your senses groping for more. No, it was a harsh light. A light that burned, and fought to pierce your eyelids and travel deep into your soft, unprotected mind.
The first thing he noticed was that he was wet. And he hated being wet. His soft cream colored fur was plastered against him. His ears were drooping back over his head, and his green, leafy tail was… take a wild guess… wet. And then he heard something that scared him. Something that terrified him more than anything else. Silence. He had never seen light and heard silence at the same time. What was wrong?
He forced his paws to lift him to his feet, and his eyelids reluctantly opened. He had never seen anything like it. Green trees and damp leaves filled his vision. A smooth layer of river pebbles shifted under his paws. A clear, bubbling brook trickled behind him. His long ears perked slightly, but even just that movement made him feel sick. Black spots were dancing before his eyes. Something was very, very wrong.
"Well, that's somethin' you don't see every day." An icy, light bluish creature rose from the grass, "It's not every day you see a hopeless, washed up Leafeon." Leafeon blinked. The creature was talking to him… The thing was amazing. Having the same body type as itself, she was cold and she was colored in light shades of the blue. Beautiful and yet dangerous, its eyes showed no sign of anger. That's when he knew what it was the Fresh Snow Pokémon, "Hey, are you sure you're OK?" Leafeon stumbled slightly, and the creature was instantly by his side, "Hey there, there's no need for that. Just lean on me, just like that. I'll get you to someone who can help. By the way, you can call me Glaceon."
Nate felt depressed. No matter what he did, his Pokémon lost. It didn't matter if he trained them this way, or that way, or even upside down. His stupid Pokémon lost EVERY SINGLE TIME! He hurled his backpack onto the hotel bed, tossing his hat to the floor. It was pointless. Even Juniper had been wrong. He would never be great. A soft knock tapped at his door.
"GO AWAY!" Apparently, the knocker didn't understand the subtle undertones in his words. With a growl, Nate kicked the wall, "What do you not understand about the words GO AWAY?!" He sighed and flicked his brown hair out of his eyes, "Fine. Come in." The door opened and Nate could almost feel his face growing red, "Oh, Juniper. Uh, sorry, I didn't know it was you."
The girl laughed, "It doesn't matter. I would be mad too if I lost." Nate moodily dropped into an armchair,
"You don't know what it's like to lose every match! I mean, who knew that that conceited druggy Ash had a friggin' invincible Pikachu?!"
Juniper's green eyes were laughing, but she put on a stern face, "Now now, Nate. Don't get angry. Get smart. That's how you win."
Nate made a face, "How would you know. You want to work in a lab. How would you know anything about Pokémon?"
"You're twelve, and I'm twenty. I think I would know a bit more than you would."
Nate threw up his hands in exasperation, "But nothing you say works!" He spun on his heel and stalked towards the window, back towards the young woman.
He refused to turn around as her sympathetic voice reached his ears, "Are you upset about Leafeon?"
Nate felt his eyes growing watery, and shook himself, "No! Of course not! Why would you think that?" Silence. He heaved a heavy sigh, "Alright, maybe I am."
"It's alright. But everyone has to release a Pokemon at one point."
"Does that make it right?"
Juniper raised a delicate eyebrow, "That depends on how you define 'right'."