Gotta Catch'em All
-- Anymouse, lmorrigan@alaska.com
Disclaimer: Pokemon, Gotta Catch'em All, and all that junk belongs to Nintendo. hey. Fanfics are that. Stories written by fans. Mi'ko, her parents, and assorted other names in here belong to me. Yeah. me! Anymouse! :D heh. Anyway, enjoy.
*** Chief McPherson appears courtesy of his creator from Pokemon: A New Beginning MUSH. He is being used with permission. Please do not use him without permission from his creator. Thank you.
Note: I use songs that I find on CDs and hear on the radio to accent my works when I find them appropriate for the section I am working on. I usually pick one song that explains the whole story, and put it at the beginning. For this peice, I chose the chorus of My Life, by Billy Joel. I felt, after it was suggested by a friend, and hearing it, that it was appropriate for the character I am depicting.
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"Don't need you to worry for me 'cause I'm alright
I don't want you to tell me it's time to come home
I don't care what you say anymore, this is my life
Go ahead with your own life, leave me alone
I never said you had to offer me a second chance
I never said I was a victim of circumstance
I still belong, don't get me wrong
And you can speak your mind
But not on my time.
--My Life
Billy Joel
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In my own little corner in my own little chair
I can be whatever I want to be
On the wing of my fancy, I can fly anywhere
And the world will open it's arms to me!
--In My Own Little Corner
Rogers and Hammerstien
-----------------
Part 1 -- Mi'ko Steps Out
Mi'ko sat at the table, crestfallen over the sounds of her parents. Her mom as she sat across from her, trying to comfort her teenage self with a hand on her tightly clenched fist. Her dad as he paced back and forth, and barked at her, his simple (and so confusing) reasons of WHY she couldn't be a pokemon trainer, why she couldn't go out on her own, and do as others of her town had done: hunt and catch pokemon.
"It's absurd!" her father croaked. "Your just a child, Mi'ko. Your too young to go out into the world. " "But Daddy I'm ALMOST eighteen! I'm not a little girl any more." "EXACTLY Why I don't want you out there! All those.. those BOYS! And.. And... " He groaned, and placed his knuckles against the table, reminding her of all those interrigations bits from the cop shows on TV. "And we just don't want you getting hurt, Mi'ko." Her mom said, in that too sweet, 'you'll understand someday' voice she had taken to using a lot these days. "But I-" "NO BUTS! Your NOT Getting a Pokemon, and your NOT Going out there." Her father said, sternly. He was still in his buisness suit fresh from work. A heavy frown on his face, he turned away.
"Joy, what's for dinner. " He said, to her mom then, a sure sign that things were over. No. She wouldn't let them just shove it aside like this. Not again. "YOU'VE NEVER UNDERSTOOD!" She said, springing to her feet, her silverblue eyes scrunched angrilly. "Never! And.. And you never will!" And with that, though she knew she was making a scene she would never have even imagined making, she flurried out of the room, and up the stairs to her bedroom, leaving her parents behind. They were, to say the least, stunned. And angry as well. As she slammed down the door in the floor that opened up into her loft 'apartment' she could hear them yelling at each other about how she was the one who never understood, and who's side of the family it came from. But she knew, oh, she know, they were hurt. And for once? It felt -good-. She threw herself onto her bed with a loud gasp, and grabbed her ratty old Kakuna doll, which she clutched to her chest, as she sniffed, and sobbed into the round insect head.
A tidy room, that's what she had. Always tidy. Always perfect. Perfect little Mi'ko. She cast a glowering set of ice-blues to a picture on the table near the window. Her and her parents, with bunch of Pokemon she'd helped her mom take care of at the PokeCenter one summer when she was ten. That was when she started taking Trainer classes. Another picture, of her at the Zoo in Fuschia one summer when she was five -- Her mother's job again, because of some sick raichus. Pokemon had always been her life. That's all she did. Was read. And Watch Shows. About Pokemon. Her walls were lined with Pokemon posters, her bed covered in Pokemon sheets, her stuffed animals were all really PokeDolls used in fights. She had small statues of Pokemon on her table with her pictures (all in pokemon themed frames) and her book shelves? They were filled, brimming, with every book she could get her usually grubby hands on, that was about Pokemon. And then...
And then there was her cap. Her baseball hat, with the official slogan. "Gotta Catch'em All." she said, softly, whispering, as she sat up on her bed, and wandered over to a body-length mirror she'd stood along one wall. The baseball cap, set upon her head, bill backwards, was a gift from her grandmother before she died. Her grandmother had been one of the BEST story tellers ever. And had taught her -alot- about pokemon. She looked herself over, and sighed, thinking about her summers at her grandmother's Ranch, riding a rapidash named Whizzer.
And now look at her. She tossed her head, to clear the fluffy golden bangs from her eyes, and ran her fingers through her long blond hair, as she picked the cap up, and hung it on the corner of the mirror. Look at her. A mess, as usual, dirt smudging her pale cheeks. Her elbow had a bandage on it. Skinned, when trying to track a raticate. Her dirty once-white tee-shirt, with it's torn sleeves -- A Pidgey hunt -- was nearly hidden under the breast of her coveralls (faded denim overalls, with frayed leg cuffs). And, under the baggy cuffs of her denem pants, a pair of red and white high-tops, that were almost worn out, peeked at the mirror. She sighed, and spun around, looking at herself. "I am SUCH a mess. " she said, softly.
"No your not!" The mirror said, as her grantedly overactive imagination took over. "Your a charming, considerate, SPECIAL young lady." "Peh, your just saying that because you want me to polish you. " she replied, to the slightly washed-out looking image of her in the mirror. "Am not!" The image replied, angrilly, putting a hand to it's hip. She replied, in very much the same manner. "Well then what do you suggest I do to prove it to -them-?!" she said, pointing towards the trap door. "Simple!" Mi'ko blinked to herself, and stared at the Image. "Go on.." She said, wanting to hear this. "You get all your stuff together in that backpack you bought for hiking.. and run away from home!" "RUN AWAY FROM HOME?!" "SHH!" "Sorry. Run away from home?" "Yes. Tonight. While their at that stupid banquet of theirs."
The image dissipated from her mind as she looked towards the door of her room, and stepped backward. As she bumped into her bed, she sat. Run away. The thought whirled in her mind. How could she even begin to think of running away from home? Where would she go? To Pewter, of course, the answer was so simple she had to laugh. To Pewter, where Professor Oak was. The same Professor Oak who had given out pokemon to such trrainers as Lavender's own Mr. Fuji, to Sliph Co's boss, and, yes, a chansey to her own mother. Again, she laughed. "Yes... Run away. On my own. Because on my own.. no one can say no except me!" she grinned, hugging her knees to her chest. It was perfect! Great idea, Mi'ko! Thank you, Mi'ko! She grinned, and looked to the clock on her wall. OOh. It was almost time for her parents to leave.. And she had a lot to do now.
The banquet, was, of course, in honor of her parents' recent contibutions to Mr. Fuji's Pokemon Adoption/Relocation center. But Mi'ko wasn't invited. "not a place for children." her dad had remarked. Well. She'd show HIM who the child was now. She pulled the backpack out from under her bed, and, dragging it to her dresser, began loading it with random items pulled from the drawers. "I'll show 'em. " she grunted, as she stuffed a final item into the biggest pocket. Wow. still enough space. She looked over to her book shelf, and randomly grabbed Wild Pokemon Guides, stuffing them in as well. Then her hair brush. Gotta keep her hair nice and brushed. She packed, as well, a mirror, even though she figured she'd never need it. She had no make up, after all.
The sound of a door downstairs closing caught her attention, and she ran to the window in time to see her parents starting down the street towards the more inhabited parts of Lavender Town. "Good. No. Great. " She waited till they were just out of sight.. Living on a dead end street was great for that, before, grabbing the backpack, she hurried to the door of her room, and pulled it up and open. Yes. Downward, to freedom. As she hopped her way off the last step, she banged into a wall with her hip. "OOF!" Oh yes. Can't forget the first aid kit. She grabbed two of the three her mom always kept in a closet, and shoved them in as well, before grabbing, too, her tooth brush, tooth paste, and, sheepishly, her rubber Psyduckie. Ah, the simple pleasures. She dragged it then, not caring to lift it all the way, yet, to the kitchen, grabbing random items like bananas, and carrots, as well as a can opener, some canned goods, and a set of utensils to eat with. There. That should hold her for a while. At least until she can get to Fuschia. She nodded in satisfaction, before blinking. She forgot something important!
Whirling her way up the stairs, she grabbed her hat, plopped it onto her head the way she liked it, and dashed back down as fast as she could. She fastened all the pokcets shut on the backpack, and, hefting it up onto her shoulders, looked at herself in one of the mirrors in the kitchen. "Nice, Mi'ko. Wonderful. " she grinned. Grabbing her jacket, and her wallet, she walked to the door of her house, and, throwing it open, stared at the night with shining eyes. Freedom stretched out before her. Now all she had to do was follow the beckoning call.. of stardom. And so,taking a deep breath of air, she strode, out, into the night, closing the door behind her, and then walked her way briskly down the street, and into the world.
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"I wanna be the very best, that there ever was.." the bellowing voice called out down the road from Varidian to Fuschia. "To catch them is my true test, to train them is my real cause!" Mi'ko, cheery and bright, sang as loud as she could. Not to keep herself company, as one might think of the young girl walking alone, but, to alert any wild pokemon that she is around. She'd heard singing would keep them away from her, or, at least, keep her out of some trouble. And she didn't need wild pokemon chasing after her when she had neither pokeballs, nor a tame one already in her posession. She did, however (thankfully!) have well over enough money to fully fund herself for the time being. At least until she got her pokemon and started battling people! And she was gonna do that! Oh yeah! She had even already decided what kind of pokemon she wanted the most. "A Meowth. " She said to herself again, rolling thr words over her tounge. "Meowth. Meaaaooowth. " she tried saying it a few times, like the pokemon it'self might, and laughed. "I sound so convincing!"
A rustling in the bushes, unheard, behind her. Apparently she wasn't the only one who thought so. A female nidoran peered at the human from the deep grass as she walked along. And narrowed it's eyes. A human. and from the noises it was making, it had to have one of their annoying pets with it. Suddenly, it sprang from the grass, with a cry of "NIDO-RAAAN!" causing the human to whirl about. Mi'ko's eyes went wide, as well as her jaw going slap. "Now.. No.. you.. you don't want to attack.. " she attempted..and failed. "OH SHOOT!" she yelped as she turned on her heels, hefted her bag, and took off running as fast as she could.. Nidoran in tow. "YAAAAIIII!" "NIDO NIDO! RAAAAAN!" Down the road the two went, until she found herself staring at.. Oh... Crud. A hedge maze spanned out before her, and she tried to think hurredly why she didn't remember it from when she was younger. Crud. She looked behind her at the nidoran (still charging.. uhh... uhh.. ) And, pausing only long enough to heft her backpack up again as she hopped from one foot to the other, dove into the maze.
Twisting, turning, knotting, spinning, the maze went on FOREVER! And that Nidoran on her heels didn't make things any easier. Suddenly, she came to a dead end. "Oh.. My... Goddish." she grunted, eyes going wide as she suddenly turned. What could she do, what could she.. Her purse. She slung the item off her shoulders, and peered at the Nidoran as it got closer, growling, ready to attack. If it got even an inch away from her she was going to whack it upside the head. She kept stepping back, too.. The Nidoran suddenly charged, lunging to attack, as she jumped backward, swinging the purse. But before the heavy sack of material could hit the pokemon, she was suddenly falling backwards through the wall of the maze with a "OOMF!!" and another, shrieked, "YAAAAI!" as the little pokemon suddenly sprang to life, recovering from the shock of seeng the girl fall.
The sound of crashing and a girl's yelps drew attention to a couple of trainers at the end of the maze, who could only stare as suddenly a screaming blur dashes past as fast as her legs could carry her, followed by a rather angry looking Nidoran, who, thankfully, stopped at the end of the maze. Mi'ko, however, didn't stop running into she came upon the flat stretch of land that stood before the watch tower. She stood, panting, for a moment, slightly hunched over, her hands on her knees. "Holy Magikarp." She gasped, looking over her shoulder to see the Nidoran disappearing into the maze again. She let out a heaved breath panted towards the ground, and sat there, staring at it for the longest time. She never knew standing still could be so enjoyable! After several minutes like this, just staring at the ground, she righted herself, and, wiping at her forehead in releif, started down the road walking slowly, to take the time and enjoy the trip. Well. What little of it she had left before reaching Fuschia.
Reaching the look out post, she opened the door, and entered, attempting to look like your normal travellor for the watch guard inside. Unfortunetly, like they say, most of time time when someone's trying to look innocent, their actually not. "Going somwhere, young lady?" The guard said, looking up from his pokemon magazine at her suspiciously. Crud. She stopped, and nodded merrily. "Just going to Fuschia, sir. To see the Safari Zone." "Mmhmm. Let me see your lisence." A grumbled sigh met the officer's request, but, She flashed her lisence. "Can I go now, Puh-leeease?" The officer returned the distressed whine with a grumble. "Yes yes, of course. But be careful! There's been Rocket sightings near the Bike Path." "Yes, yes of course. I know, the Rockets are quite a threat." She shrugged it off. At this point in time? The rockets were not a problem. The hunger she could feel knotting in her belly, however, was. And she really didn't feel like popping out a can of cold soup like she had done for lunch. And then there was the matter of sleep. It was already, gosh, 10:00 AM, and she had been walking all night. As she passed through the doors of the watch tower, she gave the guard a smile, which went unnoticed, and headed into the town known as Fuschia.
A town like no other, the brochures said about this place. They were all probably right. She didn't know. But as she looked about, she was certainly in awe. The town was, to say the least, big. Much bigger then little ole' Lavender. A town like this, she could get to like. More action then her home. And no one was sad. Everyone was smiling. She walked her way down the streets slowly, nodding her head polightly to everyone as they passed by, cheerful and calm. She pauses, long enough, to check a small map of the city placed upon a sign at the entrance, and then headed for where it said the Pokemart was -- Near the Zoo and Safari zone. She needed supplies. She needed them bad. As she approached the building she smiled, and pulled out her wallet from her purse, before pushing her way through the doors.
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"And your sure there's nothing you can do?" Reynard Meyuzami said, sadly, to the PokeForce officer before him. "Nothing at all?" The officer shook his head. "We can't do much except wait fouty-eight hours, and have you file a Missing Persons." Joy, Reynard's wife, the mother of the missing, burried her face against his arm, and sobbed. "Oh my little Mi'ko.. Out there.. in the world.. Who knows what's going to happen." The officer sighed, and shook his head. This was a sad state of affairs. "I'm sorry. " He said one last time, before whistling to his Growlithe, who came to heel, And then entered the police-colored pokeball willingly. The officer clambered atop his bicycle, and was very soon off, biking down the road. Joy turned to Reynard with a frown, watching the officer leave, and then wanderd her way sadly towards the house. "This could have all been different, If only we'd have just let her go. " Reynard followed, slowly, frowning. "I know Joy, I know."
The door of the loft apartment was up as Joy made her way solumnly up the steps and into the pokemon-decorated room. She looked about sadly as images of her daughter raced through her mind. Mi'ko, sitting in front of the pet-shop begging for a growlithe at age four. Mi'ko, helping a baby doduo hatch from it's egg in the Zoo of Fuschia, at age seven. Mi'ko, the day she graduated from Trainer School, as was denied to take the gift of a Ponyta from her grandmother, who, instead, blessed her with a cap. Mi'ko, the day of the funeral of the very same grandmother a month later. That cap. It was the first thing Mi'ko put on in the morning, and the last to be taken off at night. So they weren't surprised when they found it and her gone the next morning after a late night. They were, however, surprised to find that several of her belongings, including her back pack for hiking, were gone. Which lead to the only conclusions they could muster: Either Mi'ko had run away.. or been kidnapped.
Joy wandered her way towards the bed, and picked up the Kakuna doll. She remembered giving that to her daughter when she was only three. That stupid pokedoll had went with her everywhere with her when she was younger... so why not now? Slumping down on her daughter's bed, she clutched the plush toy tight to her chest, and burried her face against the back of it's head. It was a comfort, smelling the same, dirty, dingey smell her daughter often had, the smell that mixed so easily, so beautifully with the jasmine and rose perfume Mi'ko treasured, and everyone else seemed to loath. Silently, laying down, her head against the pillow, she began to cry, unkowingly recreating the last act their daughter had done as a part of their family, once more soiling the fuzzy plush toy with the tears of a heart in pain. And silent, from the stairs, Reynard watched on, somehow unable to feel anything but guilt. He had chased her away.
-- Anymouse, lmorrigan@alaska.com
Disclaimer: Pokemon, Gotta Catch'em All, and all that junk belongs to Nintendo. hey. Fanfics are that. Stories written by fans. Mi'ko, her parents, and assorted other names in here belong to me. Yeah. me! Anymouse! :D heh. Anyway, enjoy.
*** Chief McPherson appears courtesy of his creator from Pokemon: A New Beginning MUSH. He is being used with permission. Please do not use him without permission from his creator. Thank you.
Note: I use songs that I find on CDs and hear on the radio to accent my works when I find them appropriate for the section I am working on. I usually pick one song that explains the whole story, and put it at the beginning. For this peice, I chose the chorus of My Life, by Billy Joel. I felt, after it was suggested by a friend, and hearing it, that it was appropriate for the character I am depicting.
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"Don't need you to worry for me 'cause I'm alright
I don't want you to tell me it's time to come home
I don't care what you say anymore, this is my life
Go ahead with your own life, leave me alone
I never said you had to offer me a second chance
I never said I was a victim of circumstance
I still belong, don't get me wrong
And you can speak your mind
But not on my time.
--My Life
Billy Joel
|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
In my own little corner in my own little chair
I can be whatever I want to be
On the wing of my fancy, I can fly anywhere
And the world will open it's arms to me!
--In My Own Little Corner
Rogers and Hammerstien
-----------------
Part 1 -- Mi'ko Steps Out
Mi'ko sat at the table, crestfallen over the sounds of her parents. Her mom as she sat across from her, trying to comfort her teenage self with a hand on her tightly clenched fist. Her dad as he paced back and forth, and barked at her, his simple (and so confusing) reasons of WHY she couldn't be a pokemon trainer, why she couldn't go out on her own, and do as others of her town had done: hunt and catch pokemon.
"It's absurd!" her father croaked. "Your just a child, Mi'ko. Your too young to go out into the world. " "But Daddy I'm ALMOST eighteen! I'm not a little girl any more." "EXACTLY Why I don't want you out there! All those.. those BOYS! And.. And... " He groaned, and placed his knuckles against the table, reminding her of all those interrigations bits from the cop shows on TV. "And we just don't want you getting hurt, Mi'ko." Her mom said, in that too sweet, 'you'll understand someday' voice she had taken to using a lot these days. "But I-" "NO BUTS! Your NOT Getting a Pokemon, and your NOT Going out there." Her father said, sternly. He was still in his buisness suit fresh from work. A heavy frown on his face, he turned away.
"Joy, what's for dinner. " He said, to her mom then, a sure sign that things were over. No. She wouldn't let them just shove it aside like this. Not again. "YOU'VE NEVER UNDERSTOOD!" She said, springing to her feet, her silverblue eyes scrunched angrilly. "Never! And.. And you never will!" And with that, though she knew she was making a scene she would never have even imagined making, she flurried out of the room, and up the stairs to her bedroom, leaving her parents behind. They were, to say the least, stunned. And angry as well. As she slammed down the door in the floor that opened up into her loft 'apartment' she could hear them yelling at each other about how she was the one who never understood, and who's side of the family it came from. But she knew, oh, she know, they were hurt. And for once? It felt -good-. She threw herself onto her bed with a loud gasp, and grabbed her ratty old Kakuna doll, which she clutched to her chest, as she sniffed, and sobbed into the round insect head.
A tidy room, that's what she had. Always tidy. Always perfect. Perfect little Mi'ko. She cast a glowering set of ice-blues to a picture on the table near the window. Her and her parents, with bunch of Pokemon she'd helped her mom take care of at the PokeCenter one summer when she was ten. That was when she started taking Trainer classes. Another picture, of her at the Zoo in Fuschia one summer when she was five -- Her mother's job again, because of some sick raichus. Pokemon had always been her life. That's all she did. Was read. And Watch Shows. About Pokemon. Her walls were lined with Pokemon posters, her bed covered in Pokemon sheets, her stuffed animals were all really PokeDolls used in fights. She had small statues of Pokemon on her table with her pictures (all in pokemon themed frames) and her book shelves? They were filled, brimming, with every book she could get her usually grubby hands on, that was about Pokemon. And then...
And then there was her cap. Her baseball hat, with the official slogan. "Gotta Catch'em All." she said, softly, whispering, as she sat up on her bed, and wandered over to a body-length mirror she'd stood along one wall. The baseball cap, set upon her head, bill backwards, was a gift from her grandmother before she died. Her grandmother had been one of the BEST story tellers ever. And had taught her -alot- about pokemon. She looked herself over, and sighed, thinking about her summers at her grandmother's Ranch, riding a rapidash named Whizzer.
And now look at her. She tossed her head, to clear the fluffy golden bangs from her eyes, and ran her fingers through her long blond hair, as she picked the cap up, and hung it on the corner of the mirror. Look at her. A mess, as usual, dirt smudging her pale cheeks. Her elbow had a bandage on it. Skinned, when trying to track a raticate. Her dirty once-white tee-shirt, with it's torn sleeves -- A Pidgey hunt -- was nearly hidden under the breast of her coveralls (faded denim overalls, with frayed leg cuffs). And, under the baggy cuffs of her denem pants, a pair of red and white high-tops, that were almost worn out, peeked at the mirror. She sighed, and spun around, looking at herself. "I am SUCH a mess. " she said, softly.
"No your not!" The mirror said, as her grantedly overactive imagination took over. "Your a charming, considerate, SPECIAL young lady." "Peh, your just saying that because you want me to polish you. " she replied, to the slightly washed-out looking image of her in the mirror. "Am not!" The image replied, angrilly, putting a hand to it's hip. She replied, in very much the same manner. "Well then what do you suggest I do to prove it to -them-?!" she said, pointing towards the trap door. "Simple!" Mi'ko blinked to herself, and stared at the Image. "Go on.." She said, wanting to hear this. "You get all your stuff together in that backpack you bought for hiking.. and run away from home!" "RUN AWAY FROM HOME?!" "SHH!" "Sorry. Run away from home?" "Yes. Tonight. While their at that stupid banquet of theirs."
The image dissipated from her mind as she looked towards the door of her room, and stepped backward. As she bumped into her bed, she sat. Run away. The thought whirled in her mind. How could she even begin to think of running away from home? Where would she go? To Pewter, of course, the answer was so simple she had to laugh. To Pewter, where Professor Oak was. The same Professor Oak who had given out pokemon to such trrainers as Lavender's own Mr. Fuji, to Sliph Co's boss, and, yes, a chansey to her own mother. Again, she laughed. "Yes... Run away. On my own. Because on my own.. no one can say no except me!" she grinned, hugging her knees to her chest. It was perfect! Great idea, Mi'ko! Thank you, Mi'ko! She grinned, and looked to the clock on her wall. OOh. It was almost time for her parents to leave.. And she had a lot to do now.
The banquet, was, of course, in honor of her parents' recent contibutions to Mr. Fuji's Pokemon Adoption/Relocation center. But Mi'ko wasn't invited. "not a place for children." her dad had remarked. Well. She'd show HIM who the child was now. She pulled the backpack out from under her bed, and, dragging it to her dresser, began loading it with random items pulled from the drawers. "I'll show 'em. " she grunted, as she stuffed a final item into the biggest pocket. Wow. still enough space. She looked over to her book shelf, and randomly grabbed Wild Pokemon Guides, stuffing them in as well. Then her hair brush. Gotta keep her hair nice and brushed. She packed, as well, a mirror, even though she figured she'd never need it. She had no make up, after all.
The sound of a door downstairs closing caught her attention, and she ran to the window in time to see her parents starting down the street towards the more inhabited parts of Lavender Town. "Good. No. Great. " She waited till they were just out of sight.. Living on a dead end street was great for that, before, grabbing the backpack, she hurried to the door of her room, and pulled it up and open. Yes. Downward, to freedom. As she hopped her way off the last step, she banged into a wall with her hip. "OOF!" Oh yes. Can't forget the first aid kit. She grabbed two of the three her mom always kept in a closet, and shoved them in as well, before grabbing, too, her tooth brush, tooth paste, and, sheepishly, her rubber Psyduckie. Ah, the simple pleasures. She dragged it then, not caring to lift it all the way, yet, to the kitchen, grabbing random items like bananas, and carrots, as well as a can opener, some canned goods, and a set of utensils to eat with. There. That should hold her for a while. At least until she can get to Fuschia. She nodded in satisfaction, before blinking. She forgot something important!
Whirling her way up the stairs, she grabbed her hat, plopped it onto her head the way she liked it, and dashed back down as fast as she could. She fastened all the pokcets shut on the backpack, and, hefting it up onto her shoulders, looked at herself in one of the mirrors in the kitchen. "Nice, Mi'ko. Wonderful. " she grinned. Grabbing her jacket, and her wallet, she walked to the door of her house, and, throwing it open, stared at the night with shining eyes. Freedom stretched out before her. Now all she had to do was follow the beckoning call.. of stardom. And so,taking a deep breath of air, she strode, out, into the night, closing the door behind her, and then walked her way briskly down the street, and into the world.
-----------------
"I wanna be the very best, that there ever was.." the bellowing voice called out down the road from Varidian to Fuschia. "To catch them is my true test, to train them is my real cause!" Mi'ko, cheery and bright, sang as loud as she could. Not to keep herself company, as one might think of the young girl walking alone, but, to alert any wild pokemon that she is around. She'd heard singing would keep them away from her, or, at least, keep her out of some trouble. And she didn't need wild pokemon chasing after her when she had neither pokeballs, nor a tame one already in her posession. She did, however (thankfully!) have well over enough money to fully fund herself for the time being. At least until she got her pokemon and started battling people! And she was gonna do that! Oh yeah! She had even already decided what kind of pokemon she wanted the most. "A Meowth. " She said to herself again, rolling thr words over her tounge. "Meowth. Meaaaooowth. " she tried saying it a few times, like the pokemon it'self might, and laughed. "I sound so convincing!"
A rustling in the bushes, unheard, behind her. Apparently she wasn't the only one who thought so. A female nidoran peered at the human from the deep grass as she walked along. And narrowed it's eyes. A human. and from the noises it was making, it had to have one of their annoying pets with it. Suddenly, it sprang from the grass, with a cry of "NIDO-RAAAN!" causing the human to whirl about. Mi'ko's eyes went wide, as well as her jaw going slap. "Now.. No.. you.. you don't want to attack.. " she attempted..and failed. "OH SHOOT!" she yelped as she turned on her heels, hefted her bag, and took off running as fast as she could.. Nidoran in tow. "YAAAAIIII!" "NIDO NIDO! RAAAAAN!" Down the road the two went, until she found herself staring at.. Oh... Crud. A hedge maze spanned out before her, and she tried to think hurredly why she didn't remember it from when she was younger. Crud. She looked behind her at the nidoran (still charging.. uhh... uhh.. ) And, pausing only long enough to heft her backpack up again as she hopped from one foot to the other, dove into the maze.
Twisting, turning, knotting, spinning, the maze went on FOREVER! And that Nidoran on her heels didn't make things any easier. Suddenly, she came to a dead end. "Oh.. My... Goddish." she grunted, eyes going wide as she suddenly turned. What could she do, what could she.. Her purse. She slung the item off her shoulders, and peered at the Nidoran as it got closer, growling, ready to attack. If it got even an inch away from her she was going to whack it upside the head. She kept stepping back, too.. The Nidoran suddenly charged, lunging to attack, as she jumped backward, swinging the purse. But before the heavy sack of material could hit the pokemon, she was suddenly falling backwards through the wall of the maze with a "OOMF!!" and another, shrieked, "YAAAAI!" as the little pokemon suddenly sprang to life, recovering from the shock of seeng the girl fall.
The sound of crashing and a girl's yelps drew attention to a couple of trainers at the end of the maze, who could only stare as suddenly a screaming blur dashes past as fast as her legs could carry her, followed by a rather angry looking Nidoran, who, thankfully, stopped at the end of the maze. Mi'ko, however, didn't stop running into she came upon the flat stretch of land that stood before the watch tower. She stood, panting, for a moment, slightly hunched over, her hands on her knees. "Holy Magikarp." She gasped, looking over her shoulder to see the Nidoran disappearing into the maze again. She let out a heaved breath panted towards the ground, and sat there, staring at it for the longest time. She never knew standing still could be so enjoyable! After several minutes like this, just staring at the ground, she righted herself, and, wiping at her forehead in releif, started down the road walking slowly, to take the time and enjoy the trip. Well. What little of it she had left before reaching Fuschia.
Reaching the look out post, she opened the door, and entered, attempting to look like your normal travellor for the watch guard inside. Unfortunetly, like they say, most of time time when someone's trying to look innocent, their actually not. "Going somwhere, young lady?" The guard said, looking up from his pokemon magazine at her suspiciously. Crud. She stopped, and nodded merrily. "Just going to Fuschia, sir. To see the Safari Zone." "Mmhmm. Let me see your lisence." A grumbled sigh met the officer's request, but, She flashed her lisence. "Can I go now, Puh-leeease?" The officer returned the distressed whine with a grumble. "Yes yes, of course. But be careful! There's been Rocket sightings near the Bike Path." "Yes, yes of course. I know, the Rockets are quite a threat." She shrugged it off. At this point in time? The rockets were not a problem. The hunger she could feel knotting in her belly, however, was. And she really didn't feel like popping out a can of cold soup like she had done for lunch. And then there was the matter of sleep. It was already, gosh, 10:00 AM, and she had been walking all night. As she passed through the doors of the watch tower, she gave the guard a smile, which went unnoticed, and headed into the town known as Fuschia.
A town like no other, the brochures said about this place. They were all probably right. She didn't know. But as she looked about, she was certainly in awe. The town was, to say the least, big. Much bigger then little ole' Lavender. A town like this, she could get to like. More action then her home. And no one was sad. Everyone was smiling. She walked her way down the streets slowly, nodding her head polightly to everyone as they passed by, cheerful and calm. She pauses, long enough, to check a small map of the city placed upon a sign at the entrance, and then headed for where it said the Pokemart was -- Near the Zoo and Safari zone. She needed supplies. She needed them bad. As she approached the building she smiled, and pulled out her wallet from her purse, before pushing her way through the doors.
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"And your sure there's nothing you can do?" Reynard Meyuzami said, sadly, to the PokeForce officer before him. "Nothing at all?" The officer shook his head. "We can't do much except wait fouty-eight hours, and have you file a Missing Persons." Joy, Reynard's wife, the mother of the missing, burried her face against his arm, and sobbed. "Oh my little Mi'ko.. Out there.. in the world.. Who knows what's going to happen." The officer sighed, and shook his head. This was a sad state of affairs. "I'm sorry. " He said one last time, before whistling to his Growlithe, who came to heel, And then entered the police-colored pokeball willingly. The officer clambered atop his bicycle, and was very soon off, biking down the road. Joy turned to Reynard with a frown, watching the officer leave, and then wanderd her way sadly towards the house. "This could have all been different, If only we'd have just let her go. " Reynard followed, slowly, frowning. "I know Joy, I know."
The door of the loft apartment was up as Joy made her way solumnly up the steps and into the pokemon-decorated room. She looked about sadly as images of her daughter raced through her mind. Mi'ko, sitting in front of the pet-shop begging for a growlithe at age four. Mi'ko, helping a baby doduo hatch from it's egg in the Zoo of Fuschia, at age seven. Mi'ko, the day she graduated from Trainer School, as was denied to take the gift of a Ponyta from her grandmother, who, instead, blessed her with a cap. Mi'ko, the day of the funeral of the very same grandmother a month later. That cap. It was the first thing Mi'ko put on in the morning, and the last to be taken off at night. So they weren't surprised when they found it and her gone the next morning after a late night. They were, however, surprised to find that several of her belongings, including her back pack for hiking, were gone. Which lead to the only conclusions they could muster: Either Mi'ko had run away.. or been kidnapped.
Joy wandered her way towards the bed, and picked up the Kakuna doll. She remembered giving that to her daughter when she was only three. That stupid pokedoll had went with her everywhere with her when she was younger... so why not now? Slumping down on her daughter's bed, she clutched the plush toy tight to her chest, and burried her face against the back of it's head. It was a comfort, smelling the same, dirty, dingey smell her daughter often had, the smell that mixed so easily, so beautifully with the jasmine and rose perfume Mi'ko treasured, and everyone else seemed to loath. Silently, laying down, her head against the pillow, she began to cry, unkowingly recreating the last act their daughter had done as a part of their family, once more soiling the fuzzy plush toy with the tears of a heart in pain. And silent, from the stairs, Reynard watched on, somehow unable to feel anything but guilt. He had chased her away.