The good thing about being a bloodhungry vampire was that there were always plenty of Ratata around.
The bad thing was, they bit.
"Oww," Terry muttered, sucking on his bleeding thumb as the latest little critter made its dash of freedom. There were some days he preferred his monstrosity to others.
But that was just the way things rolled in the suburb of Kanderbrook, north Olivine. Crime rates were low so Terry had to rely on the dregs of the dregs to keep from murdering the whole populace in a fit of wild starvation. Damn, but they tasted disgusting. Terry missed the days when he could get away with attacking the jailers in central Olivine.
"Were you just kissing a Ratata?" an incredulous voice demanded from behind.
Terry turned and quickly shook his head, finding the bloodshot brown eyes of Mina Lou rivited upon him. Mina was dark, from one of the east-continent Orange islands Terry thought, and she wore her hair and skirt shorter than the other girls at their school.
"I think you were," Mina insisted. "You had it raised up to your head, and you were holding to your mouth. What were you doing?"
"Obviously I was checking it for the pokerus," Terry lied, and at Mina's disbelieving glance folded his arms. "Oh come on, who in their right mind goes around kissing Ratata? Who would even think about that?"
"I don't know, but that's what I saw," Mina sang, and continued walking on past him, bracelets clinking with pace.
Yikes. Too close. Terry winced, leaning against the wooden fence that ran alongside the white footpath. He just hoped she didn't tell anyone, or the whole school would think he was into bestiality by the end of month.
Or worse— the truth.
He arrived home, dumping his bag in the hallway and kicking his shoes and socks off. "I'm back!" Terry called into the living room, although his mother had probably heard his racket already.
"Terry, get in here! I want to have a talk with you."
"You're in deep trouble," Terry's little sister Julie intoned from the computer chair behind her doorway, running a hand down its leather weave appreciatively.
Terry took off his watch and threw it at her.
"Terry? Good, there you are." He sat down at the counter, apprehensively. "Now, tell me. What in hells do you think you've been doing, leaving twenty dead rabbits out on our back porch every night?"
Terry fidgeted. "I've told you about this, it's a respect thing. I can't help it once I've gone hunting."
"Mrs. Clancey from next door came around to visit today, wanting to return the shears I lent her. Except I wasn't home to answer the front door, so guess where she went to leave the shears?"
"Oh god," Terry groaned. He was in deep shit.
"That's right," his mother acknowledged. "She saw your little peace offering by the back door. And what do you think she did? She called the animal welfare agency, who came around to have a nice little chat with me this morning. Except I still wasn't home yet, so Julie had to call me at work and get me to bring back a half dozen cats from the shelter so we had an excuse for it. Of course, they didn't take it and the stupid officers gave us a big fat fine for our efforts anyhow."
"What happened to the cats?" said Terry, who despite himself was still quite hungry.
"Now this is what I'm talking about!" his mother roared, jabbing a finger into his chest. "I thought after the death row scandal you'd pull your act together and stop making the attacks so obvious. That hunting in the goddamn deep forest where no one bothers to go would at least keep you away from trouble with the law. But here I am again, having to cover up your ass because you're not mature enough to keep it under control."
"I just told you, I can't help it. I'm young. And it's not something you can just flick an off switch to—"
"I thought you said you didn't like the taste of animals," his mother continued, ignoring him. "And then you go have a bunny buffet every night of the week like we live in a goddamn Sizzler."
Terry couldn't help himself; he smirked. "What can I say, I'm a vampire."
Looking exasperated, his mother dropped her head in her hands. "You're incorrigible," she said flatly. "And if the public gets any more wind of what's going on here we'll have a situation on our hands. You have to realize, it's not just your life you're risking, but mine and Julie's. None of us want to get disappeared by the agents."
"I guess there's nothing we can do about it," Terry consoled.
His mother's head snapped up. "No," she said. "But I think there's something you can do. I think you should leave the city for awhile."
"What?" Terry cried. "You're kicking me out? Over some bunny rabbits?"
"I don't want to," his mother defended. "You know I don't. But this is the last straw. You need to learn some caution, Terry, and I don't think this city is that safe for you anymore."
Terry swallowed. "So this is it, then?"
"Don't be stupid. We'll see each other again. You're damn near-immortal for one, it's not like I'm sending you off to get mauled out there." She suddenly clicked her fingers. "That's it. That's the perfect way to test your limits and credit your travels."
"Sending me off to get mauled out there?" Terry responded dubiously.
"Not that, you idiot," she said fondly. "Sending you off on a Pokémon journey."
"Oh, no mum," Terry instantly disagreed. "You can't do that. Think of the poor Pokémon. I mean, I eat Ratata."
"Like most trainers without food stocks," his mother replied, and Terry gave her a disbelieving look. Obviously that was different. "Look, I honestly couldn't care if you eat the whole bloody pokedex. So long as you get some sort of empathy out of it that'll help you cut back on your diet."
"It's a bloodsport," Terry said flatly. "One battle and I'll go crazy killing everyone involved."
"Well obviously you don't actually train them," his mother replied. "Look, have a think about it. You don't have to become a trainer just for appearance's sake. So long as you go out and get it together, really. All I'm saying is it might be a good idea. And I've always thought we could use an extra pair of hands around the house."
That was true. And while Terry was safe on his own, Pokémon were crazy dangerous, and you could always stand to be that little bit safer.
He looked around the room. Stone walls, a crackling radio on top of the fridge, rafters that betrayed their thatched roof. How many times had he wished himself away from here, if for no reason other than personal understanding? His mum was great, and Julie was a heart when she wasn't being utterly annoying, but Terry knew as humans they'd never completely understand the urges he sometimes felt.
It wasn't fair that he was chucked out of his own home for something he couldn't change, but maybe his mum was right. He should learn how to hide it better, even if he couldn't stop it completely. And maybe he did need a break.
Terry marched into Julie's room, gleefully flicking the off switch for the computer at the power socket.
"Hey!" Julie cried, pushing back from her desk. "I was talking to someone on there you bumhead. Mum, Terry's ruining my social life!"
"I approve, Terry!"
Julie harrumphed and crossed her arms, glaring into Terry's smirking face. "So what misery has brought you my corner of doom this time?" she inquired, looking very much eager to be rid of his company.
"What's the best Pokémon there is?" Terry asked.
His adopted sister frowned. "One of the legendaries, I guess. Arceus? Why."
"How can I get a hold of this Arceus?" inquired Terry, folding his arms.
Julie burst out laughing. "You can't just get a hold of it, bonehead, it's god of all Pokémon. Scientists have been investigating its origin for thousands of years. How dumb can you be? This is why I keep telling you to get out more."
"Well then tell me the next best then," Terry said. "I'm going on a Pokémon journey and I want to be well defended."
Julie's chuckles died off as she took in Terry's face. "You're serious aren't you? You're seriously going to go out there and become a trainer."
"Got no choice," Terry grunted. "Mum's kicked me out."
Julie stood from her chair. "Look, this is ridiculous. You can't even look after yourself, you don't even know what Arceus is for Arceus's sake, and she expects you to survive out there? Let me talk to her."
Terrry grabbed her elbow. "No!" he demanded, and then quickly crossed his arms. "I mean, I want to go."
"You're the worst liar I've ever met," Julie said through giggles.
Terry grinned and shrugged. "Okay, so I don't really want to leave you guys. But it's safer this way. I mean, if I lose control, I don't really want either of you to be around me. This way I can learn."
His sister nodded slowly, digesting this. "We'll go collect supplies today then, and you can leave when they're all in. We'll have to tell the school, too." She paused. "I guess I can't get you to think of your education?"
"Not happening," Terry replied. "All goes in one ear and out the other, you know me."
"I guess it's a good thing you have twice as long as the rest of us to rethink it. You'll certainly need the flatter learning curve."
"Hey!" Terry protested immediately. It wasn't that bad.
Julie broke into more giggles. "Just wait until the other trainers get a load of your weak mons. 15 years old and training Caterpie. What will the Joys think?"
"I'm a late bloomer, okay!" Terry yelled after his sister, who was running down the hallway laughing.
A hand pressed on his shoulder.
"Aaah!" Terry whipped around. "Jeezus mum, you gave me a heart attack. I thought I was meant to be the skulking, shadowy one."
She whopped him on the head with her rolling pin. "Serves you right. One thing- little Georgie next door is leaving in a few weeks when he turns ten. His father's going spare worrying about him. You see him on the road, you help him out, alright?"
"Alright," Terry agreed. He paused. "Wait, you didn't just step up this whole thing to keep the neighbor's boy happy did you?"
"Of course not," His mother scoffed. "Now I'll give you some money for the journey, but I fully expect you to pack your own clothes and lunches and toiletries yourself. Once you've got eight badges you can return."
"Eight badges? Are you serious?" Terry's voice stepped up a notch. "Do you have any idea how long that'll take? Years. And how hard it'll be- god, what about school? What about my friends? And Julie! What's she going to do without me?"
"She'll live," his mother said. "Lots of sisters lose their brother to Pokémon. Besides, I'll be here for her."
"That's not the point!"
"No, it's not!" His mother gritted her teeth. "The point is, you're risking both of our lives by being a goddamn idiot. And until you have the maturity to wisen up, I don't want you around us both. At all."
"So you hate me," Terry said flatly.
"Sometimes, yes!"
"It's because I'm a vampire, isn't it? That's the real reason. You're afraid one of these days I'm going to go for your julgar and you think I'm disgusting because I eat red meat and you're sending me away."
His mother sighed. "No, Terry. Julie and I both love you, and we trust you have a good heart. Just sometimes you put your stomach before your head."
"Yeah," Terry said. "Yeah, I guess I do. But still! I don't have to leave you both for all that time to learn better."
"Well what about after you mauled those criminals, and the police made that task force? You said you'd stop then. You said you wouldn't draw any more attention to us."
"Then I'll say it again, and mean it this time!" Terry protested.
"We need more than that," his mother said. "We need proof."
"You just want me to get out of your hair for a year! You don't care about how I might survive. You don't care about me at all." Of course they didn't. They were humans, he was a vampire. Terry didn't know why he ever thought different.
His mother scoffed. "Of course I care. No mother wants to live alone. But if you continue the way you are, you'll be stacked, or shot, or living on the streets before you hit nineteen. You just can't drain people, even murderers, and you can't kill livestock. I know it doesn't sound like it, but I'm doing this for you. So you can function in an adult world."
Terry changed tactics. "Well what about my schooling? Surely you don't think it's a good idea to miss a year or more of education?"
His mother chuckled into her blouse. "You have all of immortality to reapply. I think it'll be fine."
Julie stepped back into the hallway. "Are you guys done yelling yet?"
"Well if Terry's stopped chucking a temper tantrum, I'd say so."
Terry nodded and frowned, and his heart sank with the truth of the lecture. He really was leaving. "I've never even played Pokémon. I don't know how to battle or anything…"
"You'll learn," said his mother reassuringly.
"Yeah, and get your ass kicked by ten year olds," Julie snickered into his ear.
"Mum, Julie just called me weak!" His mother was retreating back into the living area.
"Julie, your brother's got superstrength! Play nice."
Terry stuck his tongue out. Julie made an offended face.
His little sister stuck her hands in her pockets. "I'm gonna miss you," she confided.
"Yeah, you too." Terry swallowed. "But I mean I'm not going yet. We've still got whole days to hang around together and pack and stuff."
"A whole year," Julie whispered. "I mean, I knew it was bad, but I didn't think she'd go that far."
"Me neither." Terry stared down at his school shoes. "I must've made her feel really worried her."
"Yup. When she got home she cried."
"Thanks, Julie. I really wanted to hear that." God, he should apologize.
Julie's eyes caught his school shoes. "Damn, you're going to miss the school holidays too. And my birthday."
"I'll bring you back a present." Terry promised. He crossed his arms. "I can't believe this afternoon my biggest worry was Maths homework. So much for that, huh."
Julie seemed to sense he was getting into a mood again. "I'll just go water the pot plants."
Terry went to his room, and sat down in front of his heater where he flipped his shoes off. Terry usually liked his heater, because had was an electric fan and actually produced heat for some strange reason, but today he wasn't calmed by it. His image in the mirror dangling on the across wall mocked him. Look how stereotypically handsome I am, it said harshly. Dark hair, pale skin and high cheekbones except oh wait none of that helps when you're trying to not look like a vampire ...
And he didn't even have super strength taboot.
Stupid Pokémon. Stupid journeys. Of course he had to get matched off with the only other species that was just as weird as him. God, why didn't anyone like normal animals for a change. Terry had a picture of a lion as his desktop background except Julie was always changing it.
Julie. God, what the hell would he ever do without his frustratingly annoying, hyper-intelligent girly little sister? Let alone his mum. He didn't even know how to tie a tie. Not that Terry planned to be tying many ties on his road trip but really. His packing skills were terrible.
Terry closed his eyes as he thought about what lie his friends might believe. I'm travelling the world to find my one true love. Lame. I'm being put on witness protection for stalking a wanted criminal. Worrying. TPU's paying me twenty bucks a night to film a regional documentary. They'd want to see the film.
I know I've never really liked Pokémon but I don't care about school and I want to go on an adventure…
Looks like they'd have to settle for that, because no way in hell was he telling them the truth.
It wasn't that he didn't trust his friends not to freak out. He didn't. But they'd known each other for so long that it would be awkward if they asked why he never told them. What would he say, that his mother forbid him and he was saving it for the perfect moment? And then if he just left.
God. Terry flipped his open phone shut and threw it in the bag.
Sounded like he'd be needing it.
The days after that were awkward to say the least. Terry was barred from his usual chores, and he sulked around the house once school was out, collecting food supplies and wondering what to do.
Joshua and Bronte ended up visiting him. He'd forget he arranged to go with them to the park house that Saturday and they came to his house to bring him along with them. They talked about strange wardens and the lookout view and Terry sat in the gazebo and opened his mouth and closed it.
Finally, he stood up. "Guys," he said. "I'm leaving."
Bronte stopped talking mid-sentence to stare. "Well, bye," she said dubiously.
"You alright there, Terry?" Joshua thought to ask. "You didn't show up here at first, and now you're acting all weird."
Terry let out a breath. "No, I mean I'm leaving. I'm going on a trip, and I'll probably be gone a long time. I might not come back."
"What?" ("what?") Both of them stood up with him.
"But why?" Bronte was quick to demand. "Surely you don't want to go and leave us, do you. What about school?"
"I'm dropping out of school," Terry said. Joshua chewed his lip.
"Are you moving? Where to? And who's going with you?"
"I…" Terry didn't know what to say for a moment. "I don't have any plans to move, and my family's not moving. I'm going by myself."
"That sounds pretty dangerous," Joshua commented.
Bronte leant back against the railing. "Oh my god."
"Yeah," Terry agreed, and tried to get himself to tell them about becoming a trainer. "I'm going to, uh, go on foot." Chicken.
Joshua's frown increased. "You can't go on foot, man. I mean you'll get killed. By Pokémon. Surely you know that?"
Terry said nothing. He kneaded his eye sockets with his fists, threw his arms down and span and started home.
"Terry!" Bronte called after him. "Terry, wait."
She caught his shoulder with his hand and he threw it off.
"Don't call me," he said.
Bronte texted him the next day. Terry, why didn't you tell us you were going on a Pokémon journey? We would've understood.
He wasn't going to miss them. He wasn't.
Who told you?
Julie.
"Julie, you're dead!" Terry called into the other room. A cackle returned.
Joshua's message came a few minutes later. Good luck.
"Dear," Terry's mother poked her head in the door. "I just got a call from Bronte's dad. What did you tell her?"
"Nothing. And I don't want to know anything more about it, I'm blocking her number."
"You can't just push your friends away because you're ashamed of yourself."
"I'm not ashamed of yourself." Liar.
"Why don't you go down to the gym today with Julie? You could see if they could get a starter delivered."
"Okay," Terry muttered.
"Julie, take your brother out to get a Pokémon!"
There was none of the usual awww mum, I wanted to do blah today. Julie appeared at his doorframe. "Come on," she said.
They walked into town, and Julie pointed out all the sign streets that had to do with Pokémon painstakingly.
"Yeah, who would've thought that Mareep Street might be named off a mareep."
"Oh shut up," his sister said, adjusting her sun hat. "When you go to Goldenrod, if you do and you have to by the way to buy me a gift, go visit Crystal Walk. All the sculptures are facing out over the harbour, and they have little coloured lights in them, and at night they glitter. It sounds so romantic."
It'd probably just make me hungry. God. What was I going to do about that. I couldn't keep my Pokémon in its ball all the time.
They caught the bus into the centre city, and Julie convinced him to go to the markets with her to 'look for supplies'. She tried on about fifty dresses and begged him to buy one, and he spent his allowance on a cap which said, "Meat is Murder Tasty".
"Yeah, that's not obvious at all," Julie said.
Terry raised an eyebrow. "I don't know what you're talking about."
After they escaped from the markets, Julie spotted the Silph Store and they spotted a beautiful red pokedex with indent designs. "It's on sale!" his sister squealed. "Oh, you have to get it."
"Yeah, I didn't actually bring my piggy bank with me."
"Oh come on!" The girl leant in and wiggled her eyebrows. "Use your… speciality."
Oh god. Terry's 'speciality' was that he could pass through shadows at will. "They have security cameras," he whispered.
"I won't tell mum if you won't."
"No, besides they'll notice me vanish."
"Not if you go to the bathroom first."
"You are not making a thief of me, July."
And that was the end of that conversation. Julie did buy the custom cover off a sales assistant though, and grinned at Terry knowingly.
Terry followed the big sign that said 'To Gym' in the business sector and didn't let Julie distract him anymore. He was getting a Pokémon and getting out of there whether she liked it or not.
"What type of Pokémon do you want to get?" she asked.
The vampire shrugged. "One I can eat without feeling guilty."
Julie squealed in outrage. "No, Terry, you can't eat your starter it's not fair!" she lowered her voice when a passing trainer staired. "Promise me to give it a chance okay?"
"Yeah, okay," Terry grumbled. Sisters were so irratating.
She'd be gone soon.
Julie scoffed. "You didn't even mean that! Hey, you know the Gym Leader here teaches Steel Types. They might give you one of them if you ask nicely. But I don't even know if they register trainers, or if you have to go to the Pokémon Centre."
"Then why are we even here?" Terry demanded.
There wasn't time for answer. They faced the entrance of the domed, jagged Pokémon Gym with doors made entirely of scrap metal. The landscaping blended the building easily into the high rise and luxury apartments steeled around, and I thought if Steel Pokémon weren't so earthy it'd probably be a skyscraper.
The doorman nodded at them, and deciding they weren't trainers, inquired, "You here as spectators?"
"Actually," I said before Julie could become offended, "I was interested in seeing if I could get a Pokémon ordered in from here. Should I go to a mart or a Pokémon centre, or…?"
"Oh, that's fine. Just wait, I'll grab one of the assistants."
They waited. A young, blonde girl wearing cog and gear earrings returned, clipboard out and tapping against her thigh. "Heard there was a Pokémon order?"
"Yeah, that'd be me," Terry said. "I wanted to know if you could order a starter or something from New Bark Town or from anywhere and how much it would cost."
"Well it depends what you're after really," the girl replied. "If you wanted a Pikachu or Charmander or something shipped in from Kanto it would probably cost a lot compared to the basic Johto set, and it depends if you get them purebred from the lab or from a backyard breeder or a professional. And then there's the under 15's handout, which you might be eligible for. Really you're looking from anything between fifty to five hundred dollars."
"Wait, so there's more than one type?" Terry backpedalled. His expression must have looked boggled because Julie snickered into her sun dress.
"Don't you believe it," said the assistant, growing more enthusiastic with each sentence. "You can choose from the traditional Johto starters of Cydnaquil, Totodile or Chikorita or the four Kanto starters or the three Hoenn and Sinnoh starters, and the unofficial Evee, Vulpix, Poliwag, Oddish set… or if you use the PTN you can buy any Pokémon you want without a level restriction from anywhere in the world. The non-specialized starters do tend to be more temperamental though. Actually if you're interested from getting a Pokémon from right here in the gym I think Daniel's Aggron just had babies."
"So I could get a cold-blooded po-" Julie elbowed him sharply. "Nevermind. What's the PTN?"
"The Pokémon Trade Network. You can buy any Pokémon easily over the internet on the PTN website and trade them with a computer transmissioner, which is like a big, expensive pc adaptor. We have one in the gym next to the heal machine. God there are union rooms full of transmissioners in like all the good Pokémon centres. Oh, and there's the GTS in Goldenrod where they have trade summits and auctions and stuff, but you probably already knew that."
"Oh cool," Terry said. Goldenrod sounded like a pretty snazzy place, no small wonder they made it the capital. "Umm, I just want to have a think about it. Can I call you? And how long do they take to arrive?"
The girl smiled. "Well, if you use the PTN it's teleportation, so it's instantaneous once the deal's done, but if you trade from a breeder they might deliver it personally to make sure their Pokémon is going to a good home. A few days in that case. And sure that's fine, I've got a match to see to anyway. I'll give you the gym's contact card and you can call me if you've got any more questions. My name's Madonna."
"Like the singer?" Julie demanded instantly Terry swore with stars in her eyes, and the assistant laughed.
"Yeah. I'll see you guys round, okay? When you're a trainer!"
"Thanks, Madonna," Terry said back. He was feeling way overloaded with information but he was happier for it, and thought he might be able to get a good Pokémon for cheaper now. Not that he even had the slightest idea what he wanted.
"I can't believe you didn't even get a Pokémon," Julie sulked on the way out. "A baby Aggron! That would've been so cute."
"It would've been ugly and gargantuan," argued Terry, even though he didn't know what an Aggron was.
They got home, and it turned out their mum had been off arranging a time for Terry to leave. "I talked to Cathy next door," she said. "And it turns out George isn't leaving home until Monday, since he's going with a friend. Since you're going to be looking after him," his mother stressed with a deadly emphasis, "then you've still got one day to get your stuff together and say your goodbyes."
Terry told her about forgetting to bring money for a Pokémon, and the girl who told them all their starter options at the gym.
His mother laughed. "And here I thought you were out in the northern route crawling on your knees trying to catch one yourselves! I left a pokeball on the counter, but if you really want to avoid danger and buy one, that's fine too."
"Yeah, I think I could get one pretty cheap if I used this grant thing the girl at the place was talking about. But I don't know if I want to get a water type or a fire type or what."
"Ooh, get a Totodile! Rawr," Julie offered, running past for the fridge.
His mother shuffled a few papers. "Well, you've always liked lions. Why don't you get something lionish?"
"Great idea! Thanks mum," Terry gave her a peck on the cheek and ran off to google lion Pokémon.
He soon ran into a slight predicament. The only two Pokémon that were vaguely lionish (and Purrloin didn't count because it was a cat and loinish) were stupid. One was Entei and an actual mythological creature, and the other was something called a Shinx, which was stupid because it was electric and weird coloured didn't even look like one. Well, the Luxray was pretty cool he admitted but his mum would never let him get an electric lion for his first Pokémon. He'd probably try to eat it and fry himself to death.
God they had mouse Pokémon, they had dog Pokémon, they had like two million bird Pokémon, why wasn't there a decent selection of lions?
"Still looking for starters?" Julie asked as she walked in.
"Yup, and doing fine without you thanks." Julie took that as her cue to bonk him on the head and take over the computer. "Oi, use your own."
"I'm showing you the starters, idiot." She brought up like six tabs of google searches.
"Hey, what's that one?" I pointed one out suddenly.
"What, this?" Julie switched back. "Oh, Vulpix. It's a flaming fox pixy thing. Real prissy and stuff. Mum'd like it if you got one of those , you can get them near Ecruteak and they're probably cheaper."
"It looks really sad in its Wikipedia entry." It looked really sad in the picture. Like someone had called its birthday off.
"Well that's just one Vulpix. They don't all look like that, idiot."
Their mother came in and joined them. "Well jeez, party in my room settle in guys," Terry complained.
"You're welcome," Julie said. "Hey, so you definetly want a Vulpix?"
"Well all the other Pokémon are crap, so…"
"Terrence James Tyson what have I told you about swearing in front of your sister?"
"Oh come on mum, I'm like twelve now!" Julie said. "Twelve! He's only two years older."
Terry grinned. "So can I get the Vulpix?"
"I can't believe you want a girl Pokémon," grumbled Julie.
The vampire scoffed. "So, you liked the manly crocodile."
"Stop it, you two. If Terry wants the pretty kitty he can have the pretty kitty. Now where do you want to get your Pokémon from, honey?"
Terry huffed, crossing his arms wonderingly. "Wherever it's cheapest I guess. But Julie you did say you can catch them up near Ecruteak right?"
"You're not going up to Ecruteak by yourself without a Pokémon," their mother cut in. "I'll get one in cheap from the trade union and that's that. Come with me tomorrow to the Pokémon centre, we'll get you an ID there too."
"Alright," said Terry, who was still a bit embarrassed to be seen in public with his mum. And all the crowds made him thirsty… Like the vein in Julie's wrist made him thirsty…
Shaking the thought off, Terry excused himself for an early dinner. Hopefully when he went on a feeding frenzy this time he'd remember to leave the leftovers off of their doorstop. God, he'd probably killed enough rabbits by now to make a fur pelt. He could start his own clothing line. 'Vampire Fresh'.
The next day passed too quickly. It seemed like the every second was spent in a vacuum of cleaning, changing, packing, arguing about whether his room should be made into a second office, and purchasing. By the end of it all Terry had a trainer ID, a pokedex, the pokeball that got left on the counter, three hundred dollars to spend, and a Pokémon he hadn't seen yet and wouldn't until tomorrow.