Hello, and welcome to the first chapter! Please keep your limbs inside the compartment, and try not to make too much noise when your mind is inevitably blown. Thank you!
As the autumn sun rose steadily to peep over the horizon and spill into Kanto, the towns and cities slept. Even as the warm golden light washed over the dull grey tiled roofs of Pewter City, the town lived up to its name, and slept- well- like a rock. Most of it, anyway.
In a house near central Pewter, a Pokégear trilled insistently. Since it was stuffed under a pillow, its noise was muted, but it was still enough to awaken its target. After allowing the gear to ring for a moment longer, a hand fumbled for the buttons, and silenced it.
It was Twig's tenth birthday, but she wasn't celebrating quite yet. It wouldn't be a proper birthday unless she could make her wish prove itself true.
Yvette Charlotte Tori- although she'd kill you if you dared to call her by that name- was a serious girl with a proud, almost arrogant face, and sharp eyes. They were so light a shade of brown that in certain lights they shone amber.
Retrieving the Pokégear from under her pillow, she brought up the display. The time read 6:01. Ignoring this, she initiated the phone function, and brought it to her ear. Pacing back and forth, she impatiently waited for the dial tone.
Finally, a high male voice answered. "Twig?" The voice sounded groggy. "What's the matter?"
"So you didn't set your alarm, then," the girl sighed. Her exasperation was mild, because she'd known that her lazy friend wouldn't set an alarm of his own. He was not at all a morning person.
"...Alarm?"
"Give me strength, Liam. You haven't forgotten, have you? Even you aren't that bone-headed."
"Nope. Uh... how about... you tell me, so I can make sure you're right?"
"Catching a Pokémon of my own? Finally getting out of this stupid town? Going across Mount Moon?"
"...Correct answer. Yeah. I'll be at the edge of the forest in thirty?"
"Make it twenty." Twig hung up, shaking her head. Liam was a bit of a goof, but he was the best friend she had. He also had something that she didn't have. A Pokémon. But not for long.
She'd slept in her clothes, so all she had to do was drag a comb through her brown curls, and check her backpack. Potions and antidotes- check. Change of clothes- check. Food and drink- to be continued.
Twig raided the fridge for crackers, drinks, and a packet of dried fruit, stopping to take a slug of water. It wasn't till she closed the fridge door that she noticed the sticky note hidden in the magnets.
"GONE FOR BIG MEETING", it said. "I WILL BE BACK." The ten-year-old tore the note in halves, then into quarters. Her aunt was a proper workaholic, that was for sure- she was a scientist, currently working on a new exhibit at the Museum. Her legal guardian's frequent absences didn't bother Twig- she knew her way round a larder, and could cook a mean stew- but it would've been more exciting if she'd had to sneak past somebody to get out.
As it was, the streets were completely deserted as she made her way towards the forest connecting the city with Viridian. A Meowth gazed at her suspiciously from a wall as she passed, but other than that she met nobody until she reached the outskirts of town. A boy, dressed in Bug Catching gear, waved to her.
"Over here, Twig!" Liam gave a lazy smile. His prized Pokémon, a female Butterfree, whirred her teeth excitedly as she approached. "You'd better be ready. I'm still wearing my pyjamas under this."
"Maybe if you knew how to work your Pokégear, you'd have been up earlier." Twig dug in her backpack, pausing only to allow Butterfree to nuzzle her fingers. Bug Pokémon were so affectionate. "Got the Pokéballs?"
Liam grimaced. "Are you kidding? I spent the last of my pocket money on them."
"I chipped in."
"Oh sure, the girl with the rich scientist aunt 'chipped in'." he moaned, bringing out the Balls. Three shots, Twig counted. Three attempts for a new life. Then what?
Her friend noticed her concern. "Don't sweat it. All you need is one Pokémon, and you're on your way!"
"To Mount Moon. And then after that..." Then Twig stopped herself. She had tortured herself too much about her new life as a bona fide Pokémon trainer over the past week, but now was the time for action. She had to be in the now. "Let's do this." Taking the Balls from Liam, she led the way boldly into the forest.
Because Twig had never seen past the entrance to Viridian Forest, she had never been able to appreciate the beauty of it. But now, looking up at the canopy, she could truly understand why Liam spent so much time in here, catching bugs and observing them. Now she was looking for a Pokémon, the silence of the wood was foreboding rather than therapeutic. What was lurking around the next corner? She had a basic knowledge of what Pokémon hung around in the morning. Probably a Caterpie, or even a Ledyba...?
"Shh!" Liam hissed, even though Twig had said nothing. "Do you hear that?" She did. Something had stirred in the hollow of an old-looking tree, making the leaves rustle. Twig walked up to the tree. It moved again. Then, with all her strength, she beat the trunk of the tree with her fist. The pain was justified, for out of the hollow jumped a furious-looking, defensive...
"Pikachu!" The Bug Catcher gaped, grinning from ear to ear. "Wild Pikachu are so rare around here! We've hit the jackpot, Twig!" Twig grinned back, her eyes glinting in the sudden sunlight. "Alright, here we go. Butterfree, go!" The purple bug leapt from her master's shoulder, and struck a menacing pose towards the electric mouse.
At the obvious sign of competition, the Pikachu's cheeks sparked angrily. Liam gulped.
"We've got a feisty one here, that's for sure! And Butterfree's half Flying-type, so if it uses its electricity... okay. Butterfree, use Confusion!" Butterfree's round eyes caught Pikachu's, and the wild Pokémon began to sway. The Bug-type began to hit it, increasing the bewilderment of the creature.
"I think it's getting confused..." muttered Twig. "C'mon, just a bit more..." but then the Pikachu shook its head, as if to rid itself of water, and returned to normal.
"Huh." Liam shrugged. "Shouldn't have been so easy to shake that off; Butterfree's pretty strong." In fact, Twig noticed, Liam's Pokémon didn't seem to be at the top of her game. It was almost as though she was reluctant to attack the wild Pikachu.
That was when the electric-type took its chance. Seeing the red cheeks light up, Liam yelled, "UP! UPWARDS!", but the bolt of power hit Butterfree like a bolt of lightning hitting a kite. She fluttered to ground, but then forced itself a foot into the air.
"Butterfree is weak!" yelled Liam. "It's now or never, Twig!" Twig steeled herself, then threw the first Pokéball. It hit the Pikachu on the leg. A bad shot. The ball only shook once before the Pokémon broke free. She immediately threw the second one, which missed altogether, as Pikachu prepared its next Thundershock. Butterfree barely managed to dodge the blast.
"Use your Sleep Powder, Butterfree! Come on!" The bug Pokémon obeyed, and scattered its special powder over the grass. Almost immediately, the Pikachu's eyes began to droop. It tried to fight it, but after a few seconds, the wild electric-type fell to the ground.
"Twig, now's your chance." Twig focused on the sleeping Pokémon, readying herself. She had to get this right... But as she began her throw, she heard a yell:
"STOP!" She paused. Liam had grabbed her arm.
"What are you playing at? It'll wake up soon! I need this!"
"You can't! Look..." So focused on the Pikachu, she had not even noticed the tiny figure appear beside it. An infant Pichu sat by its mother, looking up at her with utter bewilderment. "We can't catch this Pikachu. If we take her... the baby won't survive on its own." Liam looked embarrassed, but held his ground. "Butterfree, return. Let's get you to the Pokémon Centre." His prized Pokémon returned to the Ball in his hand. "She should wake up pretty soon. It's over."
"You can't!" Twig grabbed onto Liam's arm, ignoring his yelp of pain. "We need to try again! This is my last chance!" The Bug Catcher's eyes hardened.
"Not until Butterfree gets to a Centre," he said firmly. "We've got one Ball still. You'll get your precious Pokémon." He sounded slightly bitter. Or disappointed, Twig couldn't tell.
"She wouldn't be hurt if you actually trained her properly! Or maybe Bug Pokémon are just as useless as you are."
"It's not her fault she's weak to Electric attacks. We shouldn't have picked a fight with a Pikachu, anyway! It was trying to defend its young." Then he paused. "Forget it. There's always tomorrow, isn't there?"
"Fine!" Twig yelled at him furiously. "Just... fine! If you want to stay in this stupid boring town, catching Caterpie after Caterpie, just to get a stupid dancing moth, go ahead! I'll do this on my own! I can't believe I trusted you not to mess it up. Bug Catchers are all hobbyists, everyone knows that." And with that she ran home, leaving Liam staring after her.
Outside her aunt's small house, she realised that she had Liam's last Pokéball still in her hand. Her anger cooled down slightly, as she remembered what she'd said to her only ally in the whole town. "A stupid dancing moth", she'd called his Pokémon. She liked that particular Butterfree; she was so affectionate and sweet. Just like how Liam could be at times, even if he wasn't as ambitious as she was. And he wasn't a "hobbyist"; he just didn't enjoy battling like most kids at school, that didn't mean he didn't love Butterfree.
By the time Twig got up to her bedroom, her opinion of her friend's behaviour was elevated greatly by her considerable guilt. For perhaps the first time, she wished that her room had some thing, some object of value, to take comfort in. One thing she and Aunt Winnie had in common was that neither of them cared much about possessions. Their house was of a decent size, but not that big compared to Winnie's good salary. Her aunt wasn't tight; she just didn't need much space to get on.
She flopped onto her bed, gazing dully at the ceiling. Usually she felt claustrophobic when she looked at ceilings for too long, but now she just felt resignation at the thought of slowly growing up in Pewter. If she was lucky, she might be able to be a scientist like Aunt Winnie. But... maybe it wouldn't hurt to pretend? Her room was painted magnolia, with no real distinguishing signs that a child lived there. If she asked nicely, she might be allowed to paint the ceiling- she was good with a paintbrush. Maybe to look like the sky... blue, not grey like outside most of the time. And on the walls, all the towns and regions, a panoramic view. Over the seas and islands she'd fly-
THUD.
Twig was startled by her reverie by a loud noise above her head. The following rattle confirmed her first thought; something had hit the roof, hard. Hard enough to dislodge four or five roof tiles, at any rate. Only a second later, there was another sound. This time softer and further away, like a weighed down pillow hitting something. FLUMFPH. A fallen bird.
She ran down the stairs three at a time. Could it have landed in the yard? she wondered, as she sped through the kitchen. She stuck her head out of the sliding screen doors, checking the back yard. Nothing but a few fallen leaves from next door's birch tree. It had been the roof above her bedroom, she was sure of it! So where did it go?
Stepping out further into the yard, she stared up at the roof of the house. In her mind's eye, she imagined something falling from a great height, skidding across the rooftops until finally coming to a stop-
Bingo.
She scaled the sandstone wall at the rear of the house, climbing onto the waste bin and hoisting herself up with reasonable grace. She looked down.
A Spearow lay in the alleyway, where the two streets met back to back, with its wing at a stomach-churning angle. Twig looked at it, fascinated. Wild Spearow weren't indigenous to the area, only passing over occasionally during migration time and never actually touching down. To actually see one close up...
She swung her legs over the wall and jumped down, ignoring the shock to her feet and calves. The small bird Pokémon's copper tail feathers were matted with blood, and its eyes were shut- in sleep or in pain, Twig couldn't tell. Its breathing was terribly laboured.
Twig reached out to it, and realised she was still somehow holding the Pokéball. Was it fate, then, that her fate should coincide with this bird's? Was she destined to catch it? She looked down at the injured Pokémon, and felt the weight of the Ball in her palm.
No.
She had learnt her lesson in the woods. She had not earned the Spearow's respect as a trainer. She didn't even own a Pokémon yet. So what right had she to assert herself as its owner? None at all. All she could do was help it.
Ignoring the blood, she picked up the fairly heavy Pokémon and ran.
Say what you wanted about the Pokémon Centres and their bland style of service, they got stuff done.
"Wild?" a lone attendant asked Twig almost the second she entered. She nodded, caught off guard. "Okay. No Ball then? We'll have to use different equipment." He gently took the Spearow from her, managing not to jostle it. "It'll take much longer to fix the wing, and to see if it has a trainer ID. Are you happy to wait?"
"I want to know if it's okay." To her surprise, she meant it. She didn't even know the Pokémon. She hadn't even seen one of its kind at that range before. So why was it that she was staying, as the injured bird was whisked away to some back room?
She looked longingly at the general desk. It would be so much quicker, if she had only tried to catch it... Twig realised then that she recognised the clothes of the boy being served, the smiling nurse handing over a lone Pokéball. Then the boy turned, and they made eye contact. To her dismay, and to some extent fear, Liam approached her. He nodded coolly.
"Twig." She suddenly felt alarmingly like the Spearow in the alleyway.
"Hey. Is Butterfree okay?"
"She was paralyzed temporarily, but they cured her. Not that you'd care." Liam wouldn't meet her eyes, and sounded like he had a bad cold. Twig wanted to say sorry, but what came out of her mouth was:
"I'll pay you back. For the Balls, I mean." What a stupid thing to say, she thought angrily.
"Whatever," muttered Liam. "See you around, Twig. Hope you find your own servant soon."
"Liam-!" But he was gone. Twig kicked the leg of her waiting chair in frustration. It hadn't occurred to her yet that their friendship might not recover from the incident in the woods, but it was definitely occurring to her now.
The attendant from before approached her. "Are you okay?" he asked, his face concerned. "That kid seemed to shake you up a little." Twig mentally steeled herself, and allowed her eyes to harden. She wasn't about to bare her soul to anyone, never mind a stranger.
"I'm fine, thank you," she answered clearly, raising her chin slightly. "How's the Pokémon I left with you?"
"I wish I knew," confessed the man honestly. "I'll be straight with you, I'm the janitor. But I've seen cases like this before, and I wouldn't hold your breath. If you come back tomorrow, I'll try and get a better idea of how it's doing for you. Then you won't be stuck here all day. How's that?" Twig realised she didn't have much choice either way. She couldn't exactly march into the emergency room and demand information. No- she had to trust this guy, whoever the heck he was.
"That should suit me fine. Thanks."
As she exited the Pokémon Centre, she was surprised to see that it was barely past noon. And it was a Sunday. Maybe, she thought, she would come out of this mess maybe not with a friend, but with a Pokémon at least. It would at least give her some credibility at school, maybe.
Literally as she thought this, Mabel Trinby and a group of her friends passed her on the other side of the main road.
"Hey, Freak!" called Mabel in her shrill voice. "Nice dead bird! Did you get it free with your shirt?" Her friends giggled equally shrilly, and their laughter finally faded. It occurred to Twig that most of the town had seen her carry the "dead bird" to the Centre in broad daylight.
So, credibility was a no. Also, Aunt Winnie was going to go ballistic when she saw the state of Twig's T-shirt...
And that is, as they say, it. Feel free to add any constructive criticism on your way out. Thanks!