This is the story of many: a loving mother, a sorry child, and a controlling society. Who am I in this story? I'm a kid who didn't know what happened to those that wanted to be different. My mother knew. She tried so hard to keep me on the path of a Nurse Joy, but she failed. It's my fault. It's all my fault. I'm sorry, Mother. I'm sorry, and I know you forgive me for what I've done to us.
My name is Novel Joy. I'm sure Mother meant to name me after a type of book to say I'd be smart, but my definition is different and by that I mean literally different. As a Joy I attend a special school that focuses more on medicine and less on battling; other schools do the reverse. Here I am, nine years old, and everyone tells Mother that I'll come around to being a Nurse Joy. Mother knows me better. She knows how the medicine bores me, she knows how I don't share the renowned 'Connection' to a service Pokémon like Wigglytuff or Audino, and she knows that I don't get along with the other kids at school. Everyone says that i'm 'antisocial' and forgets to mention how the others like to make fun of me for being different. When are you gonna get a 'Connection,' Novel? Why don't you wanna practice on the ditto like us? Afraid you'll mess up? I'm not afraid of messing up; I'm afraid I'll be stuck on this path no matter what I do. I don't want to be a Joy. I want to do something else with my life, but I'll never know if I don't have the chance to try something different. Mother knows.
Mother sits me down to brush my corsola pink hair each night and tells me the stories of a boy named Ash. He was a trainer that went all over the region, where I stay here in my hometown. He caught many pokemon, where I'm not allowed to catch any. He made lots of friends on his journey, where I can't manage to make one. Mother tells me I have the spirit of an adventurer inside of me. She pulls my hair into two high pigtails. I wish I could choose my own hairstyle, but it's part of the dress code at school. Mother tells me that this is how adventurers wear their hair, and I let myself believe it's true.
We live in the Kalos region's mountain area. Mother tells me not to go into the mountains, and I obey her. I know she only wants to keep me safe. Besides, it's forbidden for us to go into the mountains without special permission. One day, a strange woman came to our town. She looked like one of us, but her facial expression was far too serious. She wanted to speak to Mother. I was the one to let her into the house; her and her Audino that looked strong enough to take down a Durant without a scratch. I tried to listen in, but Mother closed the door behind them as they entered her bedroom. I could only make out part of a sentence: "If she won't… we'll take… be a Joy or…" That's all I could make out before the door swung open and the woman skulked out. Mother was worried about something, and that made me worried, too. I hadn't seen the woman again for a while, but Mother wore the worry on her face every day since the visit. I didn't dare to ask why she came.
I thought life would go back to normal eventually, but it began to feel… strained. I believed that the teachers finally gave up on me joining in; Mother encouraged me to participate, to study, to smile. She stopped telling me the stories of Ash the Pokémon Trainer. Mother tried to tell me stories of a woman instead, Nurse Joy, the original. She told these stories with a sense of urgency until I told her I didn't want to listen to stories anymore. Mother still smiled. I'd ask her if something was wrong, and she'd smile. I wish the smile had reached her eyes, but I began to believe it never would again.
Then, the end came. I knew it was the end when the strange woman returned. She showed up at my school, but was given no introduction. Everyone looked at her with admiration, envy, and determination; but all I saw were my mother's distressed eyes on the window, lost in thought. When I got home that day, I told Mother about the woman's visit. Mother's face dropped, but she hid it somewhat. I asked her why she was saddened about her return. "You can be anything you want to be" Mother went into her room; she came back with something in her hands that I'd only seen a few times before. "This is a Pokéball. Carry it with you from now on. It will protect you." She didn't say how it would protect me, but I believed her completely.
The woman was at school the next day as well. She was teaching about medicine. When I told Mother, she told me to start on my weekly chores. Mother went to my bedroom and prepared a bag for me while I swept in the kitchen. I found it by the window when I went to bed.
The strange woman stayed to teach more the rest of the week. On her final day, she taught about handling large patients that didn't want to be treated or were afraid of people. She had her Audino with her. Everyone went outside and a Mamoswine made of wood was constructed in an open area near the classroom. "There are some situations in which you will be required to weaken your patients in order to treat them. In this circumstance, you may have to battle them. I will be showing you all some moves today that one common nurses' Pokémon, Audino, can learn." The woman had her Audino use various moves on the wooden Mamoswine. Hyper Voice, Double-Edge, Take Down. Each time the Pokémon reduced the wooden Mamoswine's size. The woman asked for volunteers to command their 'Connection' Pokémon to combat the wood. A few were willing, only a handful out of twenty-five. The teachers were proud, but I couldn't see why. Weren't we supposed to help, not harm? This woman… I still had a bad feeling when she was in sight.
Mother had me eat quickly once I'd gotten home. "I need you to clean in your bedroom." She didn't say why. I kept looking over at the bag she packed for me a couple days before. Why did she pack it? I felt over my pocket where the Pokéball was hidden from view. Why did she give it to me? What Pokémon was inside? I wasn't going to ask or find out right now. Mother entered my room near the end of my cleaning with some clothing and told me to change. I was surprised by the clothes: mostly black, silver and crimson details. She told me to stay in my room; more specifically, in the closet. Take the bag she had packed in with me. I asked her why. "If I yell for you to run, then go into the mountain and don't look back for a second. Do you understand? Be the adventurer you've always been at heart." A knock at the front door kept her from continuing. She told me she loved me and shut my door as she left the room.
I sat in silence. Complete and utter silence. Mother was speaking with the woman; I could hear the woman's voice clearly as my heartbeat quickened. "If she isn't going to be a Nurse Joy, then she isn't going to be anything. We're taking her whether you like it or not. You have made a horrible mother and should have raised your child properly." I heard Mother fighting with the woman. "You can't take my baby away from me! I won't let you!" I heard the sound of skin on skin. That woman hit Mother. I was both angered and afraid, but I managed to calm myself. Then, I heard footsteps. Loud and in charge, they stormed into the house. "Run, Novel! Run!" I dashed out of the closet, opened the window in my bedroom, and ran to the mountains. I heard a scream as I reached a cave entrance. Footsteps as I hid behind a rock formation. Grunts as the footsteps gave up their search and I was alone.
Author's Note:
Thanks for reading what I have written thus far. If someone reads this and has any suggestions or questions, please feel free to comment. I plan on setting the story in the Kalos region's mountain area at the moment, yet am not sure which town to have Novel visit first. I apologize for any heartache caused by the story and hope to continue soon. Thanks again.
