Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon in any way shape or form.
I do not own any of the characters from the games or anime series either.
BEING BOBBY
CHAPTER ONE
SLIP/FALL
--------
'...what a battle that was, folks! In other news, a brand new gym is opening in Twinleaf town everyone! It will be featuring the brand new legend, Carson Topp, as the gym leader. Let me tell you folks, that is going to be one hell of a gym.'
The car radio talked on as the driver of the car bathed in his praise. Carson had just beaton the Elite Four in a landslide victory and was the new champ. But he renounced his title to everyone's surprise, mostly for the publicity. His lips curled in an angle upwards as he began to dream of what was coming. No...dream isn't the right word...
'At the grand opening of the gym, they will be having a giant festival featuring games, food, and let's not forget battles, all for free!'
Night seemed to engulf his car as the hood of his new convertible slowly slid out of sight. His full, black hair danced in the wind like a shadow. The few streaks of grey were cairfully blotted out by hair dye. He let out a loud chuckle as he began to speed up.
'There will also be a branch of the gym focusing just on Pokemon Contests! This is a muntifunctioning gym if I ever saw one folks. There will even be classes for the young aspiring trainers where practice pokemon will be provided.'
The car started speeding faster and faster. The gravel underneath him started to give away as the car began to swerve around the road, getting more and more out of control. Carson let out a bellow, much like a victory laugh as his hands let go of the stearing wheel. The car took one more swerve before fatally tripping over itself. The car began to roll, tossing itself and pieces of it down the road like a tonker truck. The vehicle flipped over the side of the road and smashed into a tree, folding it in two.
'...this is...what a...don't miss...gym, folks you..."
--------
Bobby awoke with a shout from his bedroom nightmare. Sweat dripped from his forehead and chin as his mother rushed in to see what was wrong. Bobby was squirming around in his tangled sheets on top of his bed. She sat climbed on the bed and grabbed a hold of her son, trying desperately to calm the frantic boy down.
"Shh, shh, Bobby! It is only a dream. You're ok! You're right here with me. It was only a little dream."
She held the boy close to her bosom as his attack started to subside. Bobby's eyes focused on the darkness of his room, bits of light were leaking in from the closed curtains. He didn't say anything. He just sat there, deep in his mother's embrace until he was sure that it was all over. His mother slowly let herself let go of her son and get up. He just lay there, almost dead, just waiting for the day to begin and then go away.
"Breakfast is ready downstairs. You should hurry, because I have to go to work early today. The neighbor girl is starting her journey today, and I am going to supply her with her first pokemon."
The boy just nodded and waited until his mother left the room before moving. He sluggishly moved to the main floor of his home. He looked about the table to see a feast of eggs and berries. His mother's other pokemon were around the monstrous kitchen eating various amounts. This was Bobby's favorite time of day, because he got to be around the different high level pokemon of his mother's. His mother ran the gym in Twinleaf with her dragon type pokemon. She took over the responsibilty of the gym after Bobby's father disappeared in a tragic car accident. The car had been found twisted around an old palm tree. When they freed the car, they found no body. They pronounce the driver dead and moved on with out much question. Bobby knew that his dad was still alive though. He just knew! There was no evidence to support that he had died...but there was also no evidence to support that he was alive either.
"Eat up sweetie." His mother said as she dished him up some eggs.
Bobby took a seat in between Charizard and Tyranitar, two of his mother's powerhouses. He quickly downed his eggs, and as he did, his spirit began to return. "Mom. Why do I keep having these nightmares?"
The mother stopped what she was doing and slowly turned around. "I don't know, Bobby."
"It was about Dad. This one was about Dad's wreck."
The mom kicked Charizard out of his spot, to which he was not pleased, and sat down next to her son. "Bobby, I don't know why you keep having these dreams. Ok? I don't know. But-"
Her sentence was cut short by a door bell sounding throughout the house.
"Opps! That must be Pearl."
His mother got up and hustled through the house to the front door. Bobby followed to sit in the living room in perfect view of the front door. He turned on the t.v., muted it, and listened to his mother and his next door neighbor Pearl.
"Well, good morning Pearl."
"I was at the gym, but it was still closed, so I decided to come here instead."
"Oh, no problem, you came to the right place. Let me get my stuff and then we'll head on over, how about that?"
"Sure, I'll just wait here."
"Why don't you come in and say hi to Bobby while I get ready."
"Ok."
Mrs. Topp walked back into the kitchen to finish feeding her pokemon. Pearl walked into the living room and plopped down on the couch next to Bobby, who was staring blankly at a muted t.v.
"Sooo...do you always watch television on mute?"
Bobby snapped out of his translike state and turned to pearl, red flaring across his cheeks. "Well, not always..."
"Thats good. Because I like sound." She snatched the remote from Bobby and turned the t.v. up to almost full blast. Bobby winced as the sound seemed to blast right through him. Mrs. Topp's pokemon wailed from in the kitchen from the loud sound effects. "Oops!" Pearl quickly turned the t.v. off and turned to Bobby with a sheepish look on her face. The two looked at eachother, then burst into a fit of giggles.
Mrs. Topp bustled in to scold them, when she found them laughing instead. Grateful to find Bobby smiling, she let the little sonic boom of their's slip. "Well, it appears that you are ready to go after all, Mrs. Pearl."
"Um, yeah. I'm ready."
"Good. Let's go get started then! Bobby, why dont you come along too. I think you'd have fun up there too."
Bobby didn't say anything. Pearl rolled her eyes and then yanked him off of his previous position and flung him out the door. "It's time you do something for a change you lazy pile!"
His mother laughed. "Why thank you, Pearl, I've been trying to get him out of the house for months!" She laughed to herself as she caught up with the two teenagers. The two were standing looking up at the sky, unable to say anything.
"What? What is going on. Bobby? Pearl?"
Pearl raised a finger to the sky. "What is that?"
Mrs. Topp raised her head, blocked out the sun with her hand and loked up at the strange thing approaching Twinleaf.
"It...It looks like your fa-"
The room of the pokemon gym next to them exploded in a flurry of color. Red and yellows from flames and sparks, and purples as a result of a massive shadow ball attack.
Mrs. Topp took off running towards the gym, releasing her pokemon as she went. "Go Charizard, fly up to see what is going on. You too, Flygon! Altaria, you and Salamence check the perimeter. PorygonZ, you come with me. Tyranitar, stay with the kids and keep them safe!"
Bobby watched as his mother called out orders like a pro. Her impressive line-up of pokemon rolled off to do as they were told. His mother soon disappeared inside the gym. Then there was another explosion as the door that she just entered exploded in another shadow ball.
"Come on, lets go, Bobby!" pearl tried to advance, but Tyranitar stopped her. He called out stating that she must stay put for her own safety, or as best as a pokemon can state anything.
Bobby looked on helplessly as another shadow ball ripped through the walls of the brand new gym. "Bobby!" Pearl called to him again to come and try to get Tyranitar to let them go.
Bobby ran forward and grabbed the tyranitar by the paw. "Tyranitar! You have to come and help my mom! Or she might end up just like my dad!"
The towering pokemon stood and thought for a moment, then nodded and lifted Bobby and Pearl onto his bulky shoulders and took off towards the gym. His feet making craters in the ground from his furious wake. The trio entered from the crevice made by the most recent shadow ball attack. Upon entering the gym, they found Mrs. Topp standing on one end of the gym, and an old lady standing on the other side. PorygonZ hovered in front of Bobby's mother, a light screen protecting both of them. The old women ordered her Gengar to throw another shadow ball to try and break the light screen. The Gengar raised his small arm into the air. A purple orb appeared in his hand. Then it almost instantly grew to an enormous size. It was the biggest shadow Bobby had ever seen! The huge ball was deflected by the light screen and shot stright at them. Tyranitar flung the two teenagers off of his shoulders to safety, only to recieve the bulk of the shadow ball attack. Tyranitar wailed in pain as the ball exploded on him and shot him accross the field leaving purple flames in its wake. The old woman turned to the teens that had just come into the picture.
"Bobby! Pearl, get out of here!"
"Children, eh?" The old woman cackled. "Gengar! Give them a taste of your psychic attack!"
Gengar complied with his eyes glowing a bright purple. Pearl screamed as both her and Bobby were lifted into the air. Mrs. Topp screamed as she watch on in horror. The old woman laughed in a hideously broken tone. "We're really having fun now! Now, Gengar! Give them a good toss!" The two suddenely shot into the air. The two screamed as they flew higher and higher. They hit the peak of their accent about one hundred feet above the gym, which was already three stories high. As they began to fall Pearl reached out to grab Bobby's hand. The two got a hold of eachother. The two passed Flygon on the way down, and it immediately took off after them. It sped down and scooped the two into it's arms. But when Flygon grabbed Pearl, Bobby lost hold of his grip on her and slipped off of the dragon pokemon. The boy slipped away unnoticed and was too panicked to scream anything. It was too late by the time Pearl had noticed Bobby's absence. He had disappeared from sight. "Bobby!!!"
The boy closed his eyes as he began to imagine his death. He saw the ground. Only fifty feet until he meets his maker. Bobby lifted his eyes to the sky and saw the clouds part above him. They were blown away by something moving very very fast. It was a pokemon, but it wasn't one of his mother's. It was different. It had long feathers, sharp claws, and a short stubby beak. It was going really really fast.
'Great.' Bobby thought. 'Not only am I gonna splat on the ground. I'm gonna get eaten.'
But there was something else. There was a man riding this pokemon. He was covered all in black and had trailing clothe behind him. He looked almost like a ghost. The pidgeot was speeding at an almost unimaginable speed. Bobby saw the ground one more time.
Twenty-five feet.
Bobby looked back to see the man reaching out, almost desperatly trying to reach him in time. Bobby was close enough to see the man's eyes, those eyes, they were crying. The boy lifted his hand for the man to grab.
Ten feet.
The teen could feel the man's fingertips touching him.
Five feet.
Bobby saw the ground out of the corner of his eye, it was so close. He looked up into the man's eyes. They were so deep. He could feel the pain leaking out of them. But they felt like a home, cozy, warm, and inviting.
Bobby closed his eyes to prepare for the impact. But instead of crashing into the ground in a flurry of bones and skin, he was lifted up, away from the menacing grass and ground of the earth.
The man brought Bobby to the top of the gym and set him down. Mrs. Topp and the old woman both stopped to stare at the unrequited gift of life. The man got off of his Pidgeot and stood over the boy. Bobby stood up only to his shoulders in height and was a little intimidated by the presence of the strange man. The two stared at eachother for a long time, neither saying anything. Then the man patted the boy on the shoulder and gave the teen a wink and went to leave.
"Please don't go!"
The man stopped, but didn't turn around. "Agatha."
The old woman turned away from the battle and hobbled away from the gym and into the woods.
"What did you want from me!" Mrs. Topp shouted from down below.
The man didn't answer. He hopped onto his Pidgeot and gave the boy on last look. "I just needed to know that you were ok." Then he swooped away into the same sky that he had just came from.
Flygon soon landed next to Bobby, Pearl riding on top. "Bobby! I thought you were a gonner!"
Boby didn't answer, he just stared into the cloud that shielded the man's escape.
"Who was that?"
Bobby knew. He knew. 'My Dad...' "No one. Just some...guy..."
"Oh...Are you ok?"
Bobby broke from his trance. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get off of this thing before it breaks or something."
"Yeah, good idea."
The two hopped aboard the flygon and drifted slowly down to the safety of ground where they were hugged by Bobby and Pearl different mother's and family. The whole town had seen the battle. Most of them wanted to shake Mrs. Topp's hand for successfully fending off the unkown attackers.
Once the evening had cooled down, Bobby, his mother, and Pearl were back in teh Topp residence being treated to hot chocolate curtesy of the aspiring chef, Charizard.
"That was pretty scary today. You two could have been killed."
"I know, mom."
"Do you, Bobby?" Mrs. Topp sternly asked. "Tyranitar was sent to the Pokemon Center because of that attack today! You two need to be more careful."
"Mrs. Topp, I'm sorry, I made Bobby and Tyranitar go. I just didn't want anything bad to happen to you. That's all."
Bobby's mother softened and let out a little chuckle. "Well, I suppose no one suffered permanent damage. But I'm afraid that your journey is going to have to wait till tomorrow, Pearl."
"I know. That's ok. I'll be back tomorrow, bright and early! Goodnight, Bobby."
Pearl made her grand exit and the house was finally left in silence. The pokemon slowly went to bed in different areas of the house. Mrs. Topp began to clear the dinner table of dishes and cups and put them in the dishwasher.
"I saw dad today."
She stopped.
"He saved me."
She didn't even turn to him. She just spoke in an injured tone. "No, you didn't. Your father is dead. Now go to bed."
Bobby felt his head drop. He got out from the table and solemly trudged up the stairs and drifted into the safety of his sheets and the troubles of his dreams.