The Loved and the Abused

Chapter One: Love at First Sight?

*Napoleon's p.o.v*

Anthony and I were inside his home in Vermillion City getting ready for a special day today-Anthony's marriage to Larraine, our childhood friend! I just finished helping Anthony put on his black tuxedo for the wedding on the beach nearby.

''How do I look?'' Anthony asked striking a pose.

''You loom GOOD, man!'' I said proudly. ''I can't believe that you're getting MARRIED!''

''I know, it still feels like a dream!'' Anthony said rubbing the back of his head. ''Someone pinch me!'' I then proceeded to pinch Anthony on the cheek causing him to exclaim in pain. ''That was just an expression, Napoleon!''

''I know, I just wanted to tease you some more since you're still my baby brother,'' I said smirking.

''Well come on you jokester, it's time for the wedding,'' Anthony said rubbing his cheek. We walked out the door and down the stairs.

''You know, Anthony, mom and dad would be so proud of you,'' I said putting my hand on his shoulder.

''Yeah, mom would be bursting into tears right now,'' Anthony said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

''I'm sure she and dad are watching from heaven right now,'' I said comfortingly as I hugged him. Anthony smiled happily and we walked out the door towards the beach. Crowds consisting of all of our family and friends have already gathered beneath the tarps and began socializing.

''Oh Anthony sweetie, you look so handsome!'' our grandmother said walking up to us with our grandfather following closely behind as her violet eyes sparkled proudly. She then proceeded to kiss him on both cheeks.

''Thank you, grandma,'' Anthony said smiling.

''You look so much like a man!'' grandma beamed. ''You're going to make a great husband and, one day, a father!''

''Hopefully Napoleon will follow Anthony's example and get hitched as well!'' our grandfather teased eyeing me with his emerald green eyes. I hate it when he teases me like that, but then again I think I do take after him, I groaned in my mind.

''She's coming!'' Larraine's friend Cassidy shouted excitedly. ''Positions, people!'' I saw Larraine walking towards the beach in a radiant, white, floral wedding dress alongside her father, Lt. Surge. Larraine was holding a bouquet of white roses. Anthony stood in awe of the white goddess.

''She's beautiful,'' Anthony said entranced.

''C'mon, bro!'' I urged dragging Anthony by the arm. ''You need to be ready to say your vows!'' Anthony and I got into our positions for the ceremony as did Larraine's two friends, Cassidy and Rachael. Larraine separated from her father down the middle of the row of chairs on the sand tears obviously leaving marks down Surge's face. Anthony's gaze stayed focus on the beautiful twenty-two year old woman before him. They clasped hands as the holy man prepared to speak.

''We are gathered this evening to celebrate the wedding between a man and a woman,'' the holy man spoke sophisticatedly. The man was about in his late 50's or 60's but could still say the traditional wedding speech pretty well despite his age. ''Do YOU Anthony take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?'' I could tell Anthony was somewhat nervous and waited a second to answer.

''I do,'' he piped up. His traditional black tuxedo glistened somewhat in the sunlight and had some small grains of sand attached to it from the wind gently blowing over the beach.

''And do YOU Larraine take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?'' the holy man asked Larraine. Larraine's white, floral wedding dress seemed to radiate a pure white light as the sun beamed down on it.

''I do,'' she answered confidently. The man smiled proudly at her reply.

''Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife,'' the holy man spoke elegantly. ''You may kiss the bride!'' The two newly weds then lovingly embraced each other and kissed. The brisk sea air was filled with the sounds of clapping and crying. I couldn't believe it; my baby brother was getting married! The lovers walked down the middle of the aisle and Larraine tossed the flowers up in the as per tradition. The guests were laughing, crying, or both. Cassidy grabbed them in midair much to Rachael's chagrin.

''Hey where are you going, you two?!'' I shouted to Anthony and Larraine as they walked away from us. ''You're going to miss the reception!''

''We just want some time alone if that's all right,'' Anthony hollered back.

''Okay, you two lovebirds,'' I teased. However, I couldn't help but feel tears well-up in my eyes. Hopefully Anthony didn't notice.

''Napoleon, are you crying?'' grandma teased noting a tear fall from my eye just as I wiped it away.

''What?!'' I exclaimed startled. ''No! I'm above that.''

''It's okay, Napoleon,'' grandma giggled as she put her wrinkled hand on my shoulder. ''It's perfectly natural that you'd feel this way about Anthony marrying the woman of his dreams. No sense in bottling up your emotions.''

''Well I, uh-'' I stammered nervously. I then let my tears flow and sniffled a bit. ''I'm just so proud of my little brother for progressing so far in life. One day, he'll be graduating from college. And then, he'll be raising a family. It's just so…*sniff* overwhelming!''

''I know, baby, I know,'' grandma said handing me some tissue. ''Just take things one day at a time, alright?''

''I will, grandma,'' I said cheering up.

''Good,'' grandma smiled before handing me some champagne. ''Now come join the reception. Your brother wouldn't want you to be sad on a special day like today after all.''

''Okay, I will,'' I grinned. I sipped from the champagne glass happily and casually strolled around the party. Everyone was making light conversation and laughed merrily. Blastoise was downing several bottles of champagne at once greedily much to the others' annoyance. I just sighed and chuckled to myself at the sight. Maybe introducing alcohol to Blastoise was a bad idea, I thought. I continued walking and quickly stopped in my tracks. I saw a young woman standing a slight distance away from the rest of the group sipping from her champagne glass slowly. She was clad in a rose red dress and red heels. Gold earrings were in her ears and a pearl necklace was wrapped around her neck and had a brown purse on her forearm. She was tall and slender (taller than Larraine) and had gentle brown eyes and short-cut brown hair. For some unexplainable reason, I felt an urge to approach this woman and strike up a conversation with her. I felt a hint of nervousness but I quickly swallowed it and made my move. ''Umm…hello,'' I managed to say.

''Oh! H-hello,'' the woman said slightly startled.

''I'm sorry, did I startle you?'' I asked feeling bad for making the woman jump.

''No no, not at all,'' the woman quickly responded.

''What's you're name? Are you family of Larraine's?'' I asked changing the subject.

''Oh no, I'm a friend of hers,'' the woman answered slowly coming out of her shell. ''My name is-'' Suddenly, the woman's cell phone began to ring. She quickly pulled it out and looked at the caller I.D. She seemed to have whitened in the face before answering the phone. ''Yes, daddy?''

Though the father on the phone was indiscernible, I could tell his tone was angry.

''Daddy, I told you I would be back in an hour,'' the woman said trying to reason with her father. ''But daddy-'' The woman was then cut off by her father's yelling. ''Yes daddy, I'll be home in a few minutes. Please calm down.'' The father yelled some more. ''I'm sorry, daddy. Good-bye.'' The woman hung up and pulled out a Poké Ball summoning Pidgeot.

''You're leaving so soon?'' I asked shocked.

''Yes, I'm sorry but we'll have to talk more later,'' the woman said regretfully as she mounted the SUV-sized bird Pokémon. She then quickly took off into the sky.

''I never got her name,'' I said sadly.

''Hey, where did Mindy go?'' Larraine asked behind me.

''Mindy?'' I said turning around. ''That girl in the red dress?''

''Yes, she's my childhood friend,'' Larraine added. ''Did her father call her?''

''Uh…yes and he sounded very angry,'' I said curiously.

''I thought so,'' Larraine sighed. ''Her father is very strict with when she goes out and he…'' Larraine bit her lip nervously. ''Never mind, I'll tell you later. Let's just try to enjoy the party.'' Larraine and Anthony then walked away to cut the cake. I looked back in the direction this ''Mindy'' flew away.

''Mindy…'' I said quietly staring into the horizon. I then walked to join the group for the cake cutting.