Runaway

`Prologue`

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Like all the other kids in the world I wanted to be a trainer. I had dreams about dominating the Leagues. Defeating all the Gym Leaders like it was nothing and having an awesome team that kicked everyone's butts while I looked triumphantly cool on the battlefield.

Unlike the other kids in the world I did not wake up on my tenth birthday running out into the unknown wilds fighting Pokémon that I don't know; the reason being my parents.

You see, my mother was an ex-trainer; she went through the mandatory phase of battling competitively with others. She quitted after a year. She still kept her team though, consisting of a Staravia, Elekid, Monferno and a Roselia. The reason she quit was that she was critically poisoned once just outside Veilstone city by a Toxicroak.

If it weren't for the close distance to the city she would have died.

There she met a cute intern at the hospital; they struck up a friendship that turns into love a few years after her retirement. They moved to Johto in a tiny village called Valeri, situated on the edge of a forest near Olivine City. My mom opened a small restaurant for weary travelers and my dad opened a human clinic to treat them. And guess what, a decade later I was the product of that relationship.

Ever since then she had been adamant about how dangerous Pokémon could be for no reason. I was raised to trust no Pokémon until it gives me a reason to. In that way I was the weird kid, the one that didn't like Pokémon. The girl who was bullied by other kids because of it. I must have gotten fed up at some point because I defied my mother's teachings and ran into the forest surrounding our little village alone. Defenseless. I was really stupid back then.

At least I learned something in that trip. Pokémon were like humans, a lot like humans, there were shy Pokémon, small Pokémon, and big Pokémon and oh so much more Pokémon than I thought existed. But there were also bad Pokémon, mean Pokémon and just plain bullies. My eyes were opened, it was like I was looking at the world through a film before this, a closed mind thinking that Pokémon will cause harm more than good, but I found that wasn't necessarily the case. It was so fun that I played in the forest until the sun almost set. When it was almost my curfew I rushed home brimming from excitement I couldn't stop my lips from grinning non-stop. I had finally understood why my peers wanted to be trainers, why they fawn over Pokémon and wanted to bond with them. I understood and I knew at that moment I wanted to be a trainer. So I burst into the kitchen and promptly announced over dinner what I wanted to be.

I was eight when I got the backstory and the big fat NO!

Disappointment coursed through me of course. After throwing a tantrum in my room for a few hours I realized it's not going to change anything crying and screeching. I also knew my parents were people that would not be sway through begging or whining, especially not something as monumental as this. The only way I could get hands on experience with Pokémon would be to go in to the forest again. So I did, again and again, until I was sure I knew the forest inside out, well the first fifty meters in anyway. I kept it a secret from my parents; I thought I was doing great; so far the most violent attack towards me from a Pokémon is a tackle from a Ratata because I accidentally stepped on its tail.

That was it…until the incident a while later.

It was the weekend and I was spending the majority of the day in the forest again. This time hiding in the bushes with a couple of giggling Azumarill from the trainer that was trying vainly to find the said Pokémon to add to his team. This happens often and I try to hide and not be seen because I'm paranoid that someone might mention me to my parents or word would spread out that I was in the forest. Yes, I read too much spy novels for an eight and a half year old. Anyway, once the trainer past us in frustration I stepped out and ran to a clearing I know that has great Oran berries. I gathered a few Sentret on the way and I was picking some berries when I heard a terrified screech. It was the sound of a terribly wounded Pokémon. Whirling around I found myself face to face with a Pokémon I didn't know. It was big and scary and it was a bug. Brown with two horns protruding at the top. The mouth was an oval filled with sharp teeth on the edges. Its beady eyes eyed me hungrily as it advanced towards me, I edged back. Shivering so much I tripped and was only able to watch in fear as its mandibles suddenly darts for my throat. I was too scared to even cry.

I felt a stinging pain on my neck. I looked down and there was blood running rivers down my collar bone. Wait, I'm not dead yet. Then where is the Pokémon? I tried to swivel my neck to look but every move caused a jolt of pain. My question was answered when a flock of Ledian swarmed me. They must have chased off the Pokémon. But they were too late I thought as I looked over to the Sentrets that came with me, out of five two were dead and the rest were heavily injured or in various states of consciousness. The flock took the Sentret away and I was left alone again.

I gingerly touched the cut the Pokémon gave me trying to ignore the pain. It came away bloody and I realized I was still shaking. Then it came down on me, I just watched a Pokémon murdered a Pokémon and then it almost killed me too. It would have killed me if not for the flock.

I could have been killed.

I could have died out here in the forest and decompose with no one the wiser.

I could have died.

I could have died.

This was all too déjà vu for me. This was happened to my mother. She got attacked by a violent Pokémon; I got attacked by a violent Pokémon. Was it genetic?

I tried to stand up and a wave of dizziness washed over me and I was reminded of the gaping wound in my neck. First aid training kicked in and I hurried to find something to stop the blood flow. I had nothing; desperately I tore off part of my shirt to tie it around my neck, tight enough to somewhat control the flow but not too tight that I can't breathe. It was crude and I hoped it works like how I read in the books. Luckily I was not that far away from the village, by the time I got there I was panting and the blood has soaked through the make shift bandage. As I catch my breath I faced another dilemma, I can't show my parents this, it would practically cement my not-going-to-be-a-trainer status. It was now throbbing and reminding me I don't have that much time left before I faint. So I went to the only place I could think of, the Pokémon Center.

I went in the back door and manage to open it before someone caught sight of me and gasp. I quickly gesture her to be silent, she nodded and Nurse Joy came in seconds later.

"Don't call my parents," were the last thing I said

I fainted after she exclaimed "Oh my!"

I woke up to bright lights and a worry face peering down on me. I didn't explain to Nurse Joy what happened and she didn't pry into it. But she did tell me that I was healed up because of Chansey, but the wound would leave a scar. It started from the bottom of my left earlobe to the middle of my neck. I figured the Pokémon was knocked over in the process of killing me so I only have one scar and not two. She also said that I was lucky because despite all the blood I didn't lose enough for it to be serious, though I was going to be weak for a few days.

I lay back on the bed while Nurse Joy left the room with her Chansey. The situation caught up to me once again. Pokémon were killed. I couldn't do anything but watch in fear. I couldn't even move. I was useless. I didn't know what the Pokémon was. I was weak. If this happens again, I might not be so lucky to have someone save me. Then I will be dead.

Tears pricked my eyes as I thought of this. My mom was correct in some ways. Some Pokémon will tear at your throat for no reason other than they want to. And that training was dangerous. I agree with her. But I don't agree on how all Pokémon are dangerous, sure training was dangerous, the world is dangerous but did that stop millions of other kids from going? No. It's not going to stop me either. I was in danger because I was not prepared. My mom quit because she couldn't see that the good outweighs the bad. I can.

Sniffling and sloppily wiped away my tears, I promise myself it will never happen again. Resolved on this I fell asleep.

It was near sun down when I left the Pokémon Center. I figured out how to hide the scar from my parents. I asked Nurse Joy for a concealer before I left. If I ran out I could always use my mother's. It was at that moment that I discovered the usefulness of makeup.

Upon returning home I immersed myself into the books. Reading up on the Pokémon, species, types, strategies, advantages and regions. I found out that the Pokémon that attacked me was a Pinsir, a bug type Pokémon. I officially hate bug types now. That and a healthy dose of fear for them too. My parents mistook my sudden bookworm-ness for a change of mind. They welcomed it and bought me books when I couldn't find it at the local library. I almost felt guilty for lying to them every time they present me with a new book. Almost.

I also went back to the forest, often taking a book with me to study. It could be on plants or Mankeys or Pokémon habits. Either way I learned a lot. I took up the habit of bringing a small switch blade everywhere I go, not just into the forest anymore. Even if I didn't have a cause to use it, it came in handy sometimes. I would never feel helpless ever again.

Time passed and it was my tenth birthday. Most kids would wake up with either a trip to the professor for a Pokémon, pokeballs to catch a local Pokémon or an actual Pokémon their parents would give them.

I woke up to a brochure and a train ticket to a research lab run by Professor Elm in New Bark Town.

For a minute hope rose in me were they sending me to the lab to get my first Pokémon?

No, of course they aren't. As I listen to my parents gushed about how they got me a position as a research lab assistance my hope disappeared like smoke on the wind.

How? How did they think working with wild Pokémon, who probably didn't even want to be there, in an enclosed space would be better than running in the wild surrounded my mostly amicable Pokémon. It was so not fair. If I was a Pokémon captured and was forced to be in a lab to be studied, I would wait until the last moment, flip out on the nearest assistant and escape. How was that possibility not dangerous? How? I internally raged as I went through my morning routine.

Well, I guess it was kind of my fault seeing how I present myself as more knowledgeable about Pokémon than most kids my age were to the public. My parents thought they were doing me a big favor. I know an opportunity when I saw one and this was it. It would get me away from my parents, so secretly becoming a trainer would be easier. It would also allow me to ask questions about training that I can't do here without raising suspicion. So I smiled and thank them. There was a niggling in the back of my mind as a plan was forming.

A few hours later I was standing at the door of the lab. Professor Elm turned out to be a pretty awesome guy. Sure he was a bit scattered brained and about as organized as a murder of Murkrows, but he was awesome. It kind of creep me out the way he has a wife, son, probably in his mid-forties and still look a decade younger. He even gave me the guest room in his house to temporarily live in.

I began to like being an assistant more and more. Kids my age come in random times to get their new Pokémon, it was my job to inform them of the starters. The really feisty ones wanted to fight right there in the lab. I complied of course picking one of the other two and duke it out in the courtyard. Sometimes I won sometimes I lost, but every time I gave a command it makes me want to become a trainer even more.

I am proud to say I was one of the first people to test the new function of the pokedex called Speak. It acts as a translator for the Pokémon you have registered as yours.

I was happy.

And I made money. That was very important. That money went to my Plan. I knew there was no way my parents would buy me the supplies I need to survive training. But the pay was small, a bit less than half of minimum wage since I was low on the academic food chain. To make up for it I did odd jobs. Mowing a lawn here, finding lost Snubbull there. Slowly but surely I was gaining money.

Sometime during the middle of my job Professor Elm was sent a Pokémon from the Unova region. It was a Litwick. I looked at it because I have never seen something that looks so much like a candle before. Granted it had a yellow eye and was bigger than my head. But it was purple with a fire on its head. I honestly questioned if it would smell like the lavender candles my mom liked to burn so much. Curiosity satisfied I went back to my own business and never gave it a second glance. It must have not liked being ignored because it went into my dream that night and started terrorizing me.

I learned how to properly deal with ghost Pokémon after that.

So a year has passed when I finally had enough money to buy what I need. It was my day off when I went to the closest city by train. At Cherrygrove City I bought potions, antidotes, revives, food, time capsules to put it in. Traveling clothes I have. I also bought some hiking boots, tennis shoes will wear out so fast I would have to buy new pairs at every city, and they caused blisters. Then a small pot and pan and a light sleeping bag, it was one of the newer ones that could fold into less than twenty times its original size. I am small for my age and there was no way I could carry a cumbersome sleeping bag with me while walking tens of miles every day. It just wasn't happening. It was the most expensive thing I bought but I thought it was worth it.

With the money I have left in my strict budget for supplies I could only afford a big saggy drawstring pack with comfortable straps instead of a proper backpack. At least it has lots of pockets.

Going back to the lab took until it was late in the evening; I fell asleep on my bed immediately and smiled. Tomorrow the Plan would go into effect.

I had it all planned out, after getting out of the lab, I will make my way to Cherrygrove where a train will take me to Goldenrod. I booked a flight to Sinnoh. The plane will land at Jubilife and I can begin my journey there. I knew why I picked Sinnoh. I wanted to prove to my parents that I could do it, that I can survive what my mom didn't. They'll see that I am not a little girl to be coddled and looked upon as fragile. I wanted to see their faces when I they found out I'm not only a trainer but also a successful one.

In the morning my biological clock woke me up at six. I was the only one in the lab to wake up this early. One of my jobs was to make breakfast, clean up the lab and get it ready for the day. Also first time trainers liked to be early. Today there was no one at the door yet, this worked immensely to my advantage. I had about two or three hours before the next person wakes. Being as discreetly as I could, I packed my bag to perfection and shoved it under my bed. Running lightly downstairs I swiped the key to the spare pokedex drawer and took one out. Booting it on, it took a picture of me, recorded my voice and officially registered me as a trainer.

Phase one is complete, in government terms I was a trainer. I could pay the mandatory fees later. And the pokedex was mine.

Before I had debated if it was okay to steal a pokedex.

Was it morally wrong?

Yes.

Do I care that much?

No.

Who's going to stop me?

No one.

So there my mind was made up. Beside the point, pokedex were free to any trainer that wanted one anyway. I was exercising my right. While I was at it I stole some pokeballs too.

Running back up to my room I stow the things inside my back pack. I was giddy, was this the after heist adrenaline I read about in the books? Never mind that it wasn't really a heist. I practically skipped down to check on the experiments, Pokémon and emails. I was absolutely delighted, excitement made me smile endlessly and I was trembling. If it weren't for the weird looks the Pokémon gave me I would have giggled maniacally.

I was making breakfast of omelets and toast when Professor Elm burst into the room with an egg cradled in his arms. I stared at it; I was told that the patterns on the eggs correspond with how the Pokémon looks like when it hatches. The egg was pale gray in color with a band of dark purple on the bottom half. A red feather like blob was shown on what I assume was the front.

Well that narrows it down now doesn't it?

Professor Elm himself didn't know what the Pokémon would be. A breeder up in the Unova region gave it to him as a present. Professor Elm said he will give the egg away to a trainer if they wanted it or if they deserved it. That piqued my interest. Another variable was added to the Plan. I mulled over it while chewing on my toast.

Later that night I wrote a short note and saying thank you and goodbye. Along with my letter of resignation and left both on the kitchen table. Professor Elm wasn't stupid, he knew I wanted to be a trainer; he might have put the pieces together and figures out my circumstances and parts of the Plan. It wasn't like I was keeping it a secret from everyone. Just my parents. I didn't exactly miss the twinkle in his eyes at the breakfast table this morning either when he looked at me.

Shouldering my pack I sneaked out of the house, past the sleeping guard that I drugged at dinner with sleeping powder as part of Phase two.

I made it along to a path before I noticed the chillingly familiar presence of a ghost. Abruptly stopping I slowly turn around and almost got hit on my head with an incoming Litwick. Shocked at what the heck it was doing here, I stood there gaping at it while it grins at me. Then furiously whispering I urged it to go back to the lab before something bad happens. Having none of that the Litwick turned transparent when I took a swipe at it. Sticking its tongue out at me we engaged in a glaring match that I lost when I grudgingly accept that the Litwick was here to stay. Thinking to myself that I can always ditch it later when we get to civilization. It might even be useful when we run into wild Pokémon, because now I am armed with nothing more than a switch blade and I was even more at risk if I am running away from Pokémon while carrying an egg. The Litwick will be useful. It better be if it wants to stay.

Yes, that's right I also took the Pokémon egg.

Hello! So this story is going to be in the future a bit. About seven or eight years after the anime and games storyline. I hope you guys like it!

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