A Rough Beginning.
My name is Stella.
My parents thought it would be very funny if they kicked me out the door of my own home the morning of my thirteenth birthday. They said they couldn't give me much but a journey was as good as anything. They just handed me a backpack and a Pokeball and pushed me out. Not so much as a 'Happy Birthday'.
I guess I'm a bit behind track on Pokemon training. I didn't leave on my tenth birthday like my three close friends did because my parents couldn't provide me with a starter Pokemon. So they all went gallivanting off around Sinnoh while I stayed snug in the house my parents had patched up for years in Veilstone City. I haven't heard much from my three friends since they left so I was half hoping this so called journey thing would allow me to cross paths with them again. I miss them all too much.
Veilstone City is quite a big city. The department store towered over every suburban house, making all of us Veilstonians feel insecure. I also felt that if there was even a minor earthquake it would come tumbling down very efficiently. Maylene's gym was the pride and joy of the city, producing tough and buff trainers one after the other. The game corner was the lowlight of the city, or so I thought. It held tragic memories for me of my good father who tried so hard to provide for us throw away school fee tuition after tomorrow's meal at breakfast.
After I'd been kicked out of home, I wondered around a bit. I'd rummaged through my bag but there wasn't much apart from empty Pokeballs that gleamed red and white and a couple of Potions which would come in handy later on, I was sure.
Then there was the not so empty Pokeball. It was reasonably heavy in my hands. I wondered what it was for the umpteenth time before deciding I didn't have the courage to see what was in it yet.
I wondered into the city's only Pokemon Center at that point. I thought it would be a good place to start since it was for Pokemon trainers. As an eleven year old kid who'd been kicked out of home, forced to start a journey when I hadn't made up my mind if I wanted to go or not, the Pokemon Center was probably the right place for me at that point.
The lobby had a comfortable feeling brimming from the couches. Many people were about, which I thought was unusual for this time of day. I'd have thought trainers would have been out and about, catching Pokemon.
I saw the familiar Nurse Joy wavering about near the front desk. Her Chansey was not far behind. The red headed nurse had a concerned look on her face; equal to the trainer she was dealing with. Or was it pink hair?
The unfamiliar trainer had extremely long dark brown hair and cowboy boots that looked very expensive. Despite the girl's wealthy look, she looked nice enough.
I wondered whether or not I should register for the league but then hastily decided that the league would do fine without me. Instead, I scuttled closer to Nurse Joy and the wealthy girl, eaves dropping on their conversation. Much safer.
Nurse Joy looked like she was only half listening as the girl, in a rather screechy, high pitched voice, poured her heart out to the nurse about a Pokemon I had never heard of before being wounded on the nearby route.
I tuned out for a few minutes, as I usually do and thought about what I was going to do for food. I was quite hungry even though hardly any time had passed since breakfast that morning. I was quite suddenly thrown back to reality from my food day dream by getting hair swatted across my eyeballs. That was the last thing I expected and I gaped at the girl, who looked at me with sudden disgust.
"You'll do," she grunted, before grabbing my arm rather fiercely and dragging me out of the Pokemon Center. I held tightly onto the bag and my Pokeball, in fear that this suddenly scary girl was going to rob me.
The determined girl dragged me through the city's streets, with me thinking about how strange the situation would look to by passers. We sure were getting some odd looks. I let out a small giggle at some of the city people's expressions.
That did it.
"What do you think you're laughing at?" The whirlwind tornado spun round to face me, deathly close. I screeched on my heels to an instant stop. "We've got to save that Pokemon, it's not a laughing matter." In a huff and the swish of her long locks, the girl dragged me off again.
So that's what I'd been dragged into.
I didn't understand why we had to crouch and weave and dodge and disappear into the tall leafy blades that sliced at my bare legs. I'd told the wealthy girl that I thought it would be fine just to go up to the Pokemon and offer help and Potions. All I got was an earful of screech. Apparently, not all Pokemon were approachable at all times.
So the wealthy girl and I were scouting through the route's swishy blades and sturdy trunks, looking for what I did not know. My scary companion had babbled on a bit about saving the Pokemon and grunted and huffed when the Pokemon we were trying to save wasn't were it initially was.
I still held the birthday Pokeball tightly in my palm, receiving some consolation that if a wild Pokemon attacked us, I'd then be able to help with my trusty partner Pokemon. Whatever and whoever it was.
The day was brightening with the sun seeping through my scalp, in turn burning up all my brain cells. All this plodding and tramping and scuttling was making me dizzy. Well, the girl was tramping onwards quite determinedly. I was the one plodding. The whirlwind tornado knew it too.
"Can't you pick up the pace?!" She twisted around to sort of whisper but sort of yell at me. I just returned a meek smile before making my knees work overtime.
"So," I started, matching the girl's sort of whisper toned voice. "What are we looking for exactly?"
She rolled her eyes at me before stopping suddenly. The wind had picked up quite a bit, blowing leaves and the blades of grass around violently. The girl's hair also nearly sliced my eyeballs again and I edged away slowly from her.
"Did you hear that?" I stood confused as the girl ran off in what I thought was a north easterly direction, leaving me behind. I got my legs moving, gripping my Pokeball and my bag tightly.
It was a good ten minutes before I caught up with her again. When I reached her, hair whizzing around everywhere and muddy cowboy boots, she held a battle stance facing a Pokemon. It was obviously the injured Pokemon - one of the joints on it's leg was swollen profusely, it's right eye was nearly shut and it's black coat was mangled and slightly patchy.
Despite the Pokemon's disadvantages, it still tried to stand proud and I suspected it was just protecting it's territory. It obviously did not understand we were trying to help it.
I watched as the girl swiftly and expertly reached for a Pokeball before throwing it out in front of her. Quickly, a Pokemon I instantly recognised materialised out of the blue light. A Roselia. It proudly flaunted the red and blue flowers it held on the ends of its arms as it did a twirl. It then copied it's trainer's determined battle stance, facing the hurt Pokemon.
"Gala, stun spore."
I watched in awe the first Pokemon battle I had ever seen up close. It was rather one sided though, since the injured Pokemon didn't do much at all. The Roselia, Gala, twirled on it's vine toes before expertly shooting orange coloured spores out of its flowers. It flew with incredible speed and I realised instantly that the girl and her Pokemon must have trained a lot to be able to attack like that.
As the paralysis started to take effect on the injured Pokemon, who hadn't even had a chance to fight back, the girl grabbed a pink coloured Pokeball and threw it. It flew fast and hard and the injured Pokemon, who gave a small yelp as it disappeared into the ball.
I watched as the girl grabbed the Pokeball and come running towards where I was standing and partially hiding, followed in tow by Gala, who looked extremely pleased with herself.
Determined eyes bored straight into mine as she handed me the Pokeball, her long hair floating about.
"Take this to the Pokemon Center, see what they can do for it," She explained. "It looked like a broken leg," The girl then turned to scan the area, suspicious. Then she turned back to me. "You need to hurry before the Pokemon's pack arrives back,"
"Uh, okay then," I stumbled. The Pokemon had a pack? Probably fierce, man-eating, scavenging pack mates. We'd all heard the stories as kids. But they were just stories, right?
"Will you be okay?" I asked, gripping the Pokeball tightly.
"Sure I will," The girl smiled for the first time, grinning at me. "I'll be fine. Now get that Pokemon outta here!"
With a nod I spun on my heels and ventured back the way we came, only this time, alone. Or so I thought.
It was taking me a while to find my way back to Veilstone. I hadn't been out here on the route for quite some time by myself. Even though the sun was shining brightly through the minimal cloud cover and there was a gentle breeze flowing through the foliage, the whole route still felt kind of eerie.
As I trudged through the long grass, I stared down at the Pokeball in my hands. Pink, pretty and radiating love. Then I looked at my own Pokeball. It was mysterious, holding captive an unknown soul waiting to be set free. Waiting for me to find the courage to.
As I pondered these thoughts, something came to my attention. The grassy blades to the left of me shook in violent bursts. Unusual for grass. Being the curious and somewhat dumbfounded girl I am, I took a step forward, bringing me closer to the shaking grass. Bad idea.
Whatever it was, it jumped. The whole grassy patch shook and jumped and weaved and bobbed its way on top of me and then off to the side again. I was knocked back off my feet, both the Pokeballs rolling off in unknown directions.
With the wind knocked out of my chest and my heart retching from the fright, I scrambled around before the grassy terror came back. I couldn't find the Pokeballs. It was just my luck to be thrown into what seemed like a life or death situation with no protection whatsoever.
I felt the presence before I saw it. While I was down on my knees searching through the grass and the dirt for the Pokeballs, the thing jumped on top of me. I was appalled because it was quite heavy and because it had the guts to do what it did.
"That's it," I grunted, before rolling sideways, throwing my attacker off balance and into the muddy dirt. As it quickly got back up, I could finally see what it was. The Pokemon looked exactly like the one we'd rescued. I instantly thought of my conversation with my lovely travel companion who'd left me out here alone about pack members. Maybe it knew I had its friend.
I spotted red amongst the green just as the Pokemon leaped forward towards me, teeth bared. It got the end of my lucky shoes as I reached the Pokeball. I managed to press the small white button on the Pokeball before hurrying off, keeping a distance between myself and the attacking Pokemon.
I had to turn back though. I had to see what would come out of my Pokeball. My partner Pokemon. It was a shame we couldn't meet in a better situation. My Pokemon materialised in the air, which quite surprised me. That was until I realised what it was.
