I woke up to the sound of beautiful music. Wondering if it was Morning already, I opened my eyes. I was sitting on my bed, laying against the wall, fully clothed. Looking around, all of my possessions seemed to be in order. An ache in my chest was present, but not necessarily incapacitating. Blinking a few times, I stumbled to the window to look outside. In the tree nearest my room, a Kricketune was sitting in the tree. It was a light orange instead of a reddish hue and glowed faintly. As I observed, it leapt from the tree and took flight, continuing to play music. I wandered absently after it, entranced. I shouted something to my Mom and took off, hoping the bug and the innate feeling of familiarity wouldn't leave me. As it was, it was waiting in the middle of the streets. It was sunset. Strange, sunsets didn't usually look this good in Twinleaf…
"HEY! LUCAS! LOOK OUT!" This was all the warning I got that a blonde blur in an orange and green striped shirt and jeans was headed my way at a hundred miles an hour, but it was all the warning I ever needed. I turned around, a little slow to dodge, so I simply opened my arms and we collided in the high-speed, high-danger embrace we'd perfected. Falling to the ground laughing, we kicked up dust. As if on cue, the bug started playing music. "I haven't seen you in a while! What gives?" Barry accused, though his tone was light.
"I dunno, I woke up sitting on my bed with that glowing bug outside my window and followed it." I pointed to the Kricketune, which, seeing me acknowledge it again, flew forwards a few feet towards route 201. I got up and ran after it.
"Wait for me!" Barry yelled, dashing after me. While Barry was faster than I, I had a decent head start, but the Kricketune outpaced us both. Flitting several paces ahead, turning around to see if we were there, all while playing its song. Once it got to route 201, after a few moments it turned to the right, flying off through the tall grass. I stopped, and Barry skidded to a stop behind me. "Hey, what's the big idea?"
"We're not allowed to go through the tall grass. You know that." I whined, upset. I felt something when looking at Kricketune, and determined its faint glow and orange coat meant that it was one of the rare Shiny Pokémon the other kids had told me about. I wanted to catch it, badly.
This elicited something rare out of Barry: Silence. Like me, he had heard about these rare Shiny Pokémon, and like me, he wanted one of us to catch it. He knew the rules. I saw it first, so it was mine if we found it, but he was willing to help me find it. He put a finger to his left cheek, tilting his head slightly in a maneuver that looked surprisingly well-practiced. "Well, if we run through the grass really fast, the wild Pokémon won't even know we're here!" He said, his face lighting up with the excitement of formulating the perfect plan. "Let's go!" He took off.
"STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!" A thunderous voice straight out of any disobedient student's nightmare boomed. Barry froze mid, stride, nearly tumbling over in the process if it wasn't for my arms stopping his fall. We turned around, panic alighting in our chests as we saw a slightly stocky man in his sixties or so, wearing a brown trench coat over a blue vest and white dress shirt approaching us. He was carrying a briefcase. Behind him was a rather timid-looking girl in a red dress. "Just what do you think you're doing, running off into the grass without a Pokémon?!"
"Well, we, uhh… that is, I… I mean…" I sputtered. The lights were on, but nobody was home. Barry, knowing I didn't talk well under pressure, stepped in.
"We wanted to catch a Pokémon!" He defended the two of us. "We are of age, we're both twelve!" This took the man aback, and caused him to pause. After a few moments, he turned to his assistant. The two of them had a conversation, and then the man turned around.
"I'm going to ask you this. Do you two love Pokémon?" He looked us up and down, daring us to think before giving an answer. Barry spoke first, testing the silence.
"Yes, we do! We both love Pokémon more than anything!" he said. His words were like a call to action, prompting the pain in my chest to flare up with my courage.
"We do! It's all we've ever wanted, our own Pokémon." I said. "That's why we were running after that Kricketune." I felt something about that Kricketune, like it was meant for me. By telling this man and the girl behind him, I felt as though something awful would happen. And yet, something awful could happen at any moment. The man thought over our sincerity, gazing deep into our souls. After several agonizing minutes, the man slung his briefcase out in front of him and put it on the ground. It opened with a resounding Click!.
"Very well. You two have proven to me, Professor Rowan, that you are worthy of taking one of these Pokémon." At the sound of the name "Professor Rowan", Barry and I became awestruck. Surely not the Professor Rowan, the same one that gave the lectures we watched every sunday! It couldn't really be him offering us a Pokémon, could it?
It was. The girl, who appeared to be the Professor's Assistant, opened up each of the Poké Balls. A small, green and brown Tortoise Pokémon with a leaf on its head appeared out of the first one, followed by a reddish Monkey with a campfire for a tail, and lastly a blue Penguin. "These" She said, "are Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup. These three Pokémon are extremely rare across the world and are usually given out to trainers who are starting their journey. They bond with their trainers quickly and are quite powerful."
Barry, having been visibly humbled into politeness by the reveal of Professor Rowan, offered to let me choose first. My favourite Pokémon type to learn about in school was Grass, so I walked towards the Turtwig. However, as I got close the pain in my chest flared up.
A boy. Me. Choosing Turtwig. Adventure. Evil Man. Curse. Death.
All these images and more rushed through my head, images of pain, joy, sorrow, death, life, adventure, and thousands of other things. I felt dizzy. Having the energy to collapse partially, making it look more like me sitting down towards a different Pokémon - which one it is, I don't care, just not Turtwig - and when I regained full consciousness I found a Piplup in my lap.
"Peplum!" It said, my hearing was still slightly fuzzy. "Piplup! Pip Pip! Pip-lup!" I gave it a hug, making it look like it was my choice, not just a result of some images dissuading me. Barry, concerned, picked up Turtwig. I shuddered.
"Very well! If those are your choices, I think they're excellent ones! Dawn over here picked Chimchar as her first Pokémon." Professor Rowan said. He returned Chimchar to its Poké Ball and packed up the briefcase. "Well, we'll be on our way. My lab is in Sandgem Town, if you need assistance. Dawn and I would be happy to help." And with that, Barry and I stepped aside and they walked away.
"It's strange how his whole personality changed when we told him we liked Pokémon." Barry mused. "Anyways, let's go find that bug!" He ran off.
"Wait, shouldn't we tell our par-rents…" I sighed. Just like Barry to run off. I knew he knew deep down the bug was mine, though. If he caught it I could just trade him the Piplup if I needed to. Turning around, I walked down the lane to Twinleaf to inform both of our parents when another spell came over me and my eyesight blurred.
Hello.
"Who are you?" I cried out, not caring who heard. To the passerby - though those were rare at this time in Twinleaf Town -, I appeared to be yelling at the fading sun, or perhaps the wind blowing through the trees.
You are me. The pain in your chest. It is a curse you carry. Bound to your Pokémon, your life is.
"What do you mean?"
If any of your Pokémon faint, they vanish. You may only catch the first Pokémon you encounter in a given area.
"Well, what if I don't want to follow these rules?"
If all your Pokémon vanish, as will you.
"Well, I don't believe in curses, so there!" As soon as the words left my lips, I regretted them. A searing pain engulfed my body, as though a fire creeped up out of my chest, threatening to burn me alive. I dropped to my knees. The pain flared around me, circling my body, preventing my speech. I thought I would die, I wish I would die, but then what would Barry do without me? After a few moments, the pain receded. Panting heavily, I called Piplup out of its Poké Ball.
"Piplup! Pip?" I smiled. Piplup showed concern over my condition even though we'd only just met. Maybe I could get used to having it around. It hadn't really showed any battle ability yet, though...
"Mom, I'm home. And I-" I was interrupted by Mom, bearing down on me. I sighed mentally. Barry and I had been in a few lectures by our parents before, and I knew I'd be here a while. Piplup held onto my leg with its wings, and we waited it out.
"...Now, what do you have to say for yourself, young man?" Mom was in full mom mode.
"Well, I ran into Professor Rowan, and he gave me a Piplup." I mumbled, turning around and picking up the small Penguin. Mom's stern facade melted at the sight, and we spent the next few minutes playing with Piplup. In a happy haze, I took some clothes, sleeping supplies, a tent, and some maps, and we left. No sooner had we gotten to Route 201 when we heard a familiar voice.
"HEY, LUCAS! LOOK OUT!" Barry yelled. This time, I scooped up Piplup and turned around. He crashed past me and skidded a few feet. "What took you so long, I went to Sandgem town already!"
"You have got to learn how to stop." I teased.
"Well, I didn't crash into anything, did I? Come on, let's battle! You can't say no now, you're a trainer!"
"Alright. Piplup, go!" Piplup jumped out from my arms, did a small dance, and stared down Barry, ready to fearsomely Pound anything that Barry threw out.
"Well, I've only got one Pokémon, so Turtwig, let's get going!" Barry threw out his Poké Ball energetically. It hit the ground, and Turtwig appeared. It plodded slowly towards Piplup. Barry looked puzzled. "Come on Turtwig, step it up."
"Uhh, Barry…" I started laughing. "You expected a Tortoise to be fast?"
"Right… well, Tackle attack!" Turtwig charged at Piplup, surprisingly fast for something so slow.
"Piplup, Pound it!" Piplup's Wing glowed white, and it smacked Turtwig. Both Pokémon went back a little. Not knowing any other damaging moves, the two simply went at it again, and again, and again. Eventually, both Pokémon were running out of Energy, but Piplup had just a little more. With another Pound attack, he defeated Turtwig.
"Woah, no! Turtwig, come back!" Barry recalled his Pokémon and I did the same. "Wow, that was intense!"
"Yeah…" I panted. I hadn't told Barry about my presumed affliction, but it appeared that battles took a lot out of me. I'd have to get used to it.