Here's some background info on me being a pkmn trainer: 1) I wasn't a pkmn trainer at first. In fact, I was a ranger. And that's why I love rangers. 2) I never got the chance to play any of the original games :( Does that mean I'm less of a fan than those who have played the originals? You decide.
Recently, I looked at the newest season of Pokemon (XY & Z), which got me into a pkmn craze that hasn't happened in a long time. When I saw the op of the new season, it hit me that I still love watching Ash journey on to become a pkmn master (okay, I know the ride might not be over until all the rocks, colors, and letters have been used, but-). There's a lot that I want to know . . . Alan, mega evolution, and Alan (I love him. I'm sorry). Sooooooooooo . . . it also inspired me to write a pkmn fanfic. Let's see if this plane will take off!
Takahiro dragged his feet against the tiled floor. He walked quietly with his head down, hands in his pockets.
"Onii-san!" A boy called as Takahiro passed an open door.
Takahiro lifted his head and smiled to the child. The boy waved to him and welcomed Takahiro inside. Takahiro entered the room that was slightly chilled with the wind blowing in from outside the open window. The boy smiled as Takahiro sat on a stool placed beside the boy's bed.
"Onii-san, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Arata-kun."
"Can you play a game with Aiko and me," Arata asked, "after dinner?"
"Maybe I will," Takahiro answered with a friendly smile.
"I also have another question?"
"What is it?"
"What were you doing outside your room?" Arata asked with a hidden suspicion of what Takahiro was doing.
"I'm just dreaming," Takahiro answered bittersweetly. Takahiro's and Arata's smiles faltered a little.
Arata's small hands pressed against the mattress as Takahiro's hands clenched together. "That's right. After all . . ." Arata suddenly became afraid to look at Takahiro's blackish eyes.
"It's okay," Takahiro said. "I'm fine."
Arata looked back up to Takahiro who started to stand back up.
"Are you sure, Taka?" A new voice piped up. The voice belonged to a boy much older than Takahiro. He was halfway through the doorway and had been listening to the two boys' conversation. He stepped towards Takahiro. "You don't sound fine."
"I don't look fine either, Koichi." Takahiro's arms were grabbed by Arata and the new boy. He shooed the hands away and looked down. "If you don't look at people right in the eye, that is."
Arata and Koichi glanced away for only a second.
"But it's not as obvious now, isn't it?" the Arata asked.
"I still haven't accustomed to it yet," Takahiro shook his head.
"I still doubt your answer, Taka. Are you really sure? Most people wouldn't be fine." Koichi watched Takahiro's face shift into an empty expression. "I know that you feel horrible for losing five years because your injury."
"It's not an injury," Takahiro mumbled. "It's a scar that will never heal. Except bigger."
"Well, it is a leg." A boy looking just like Koichi walked into the room. "And it is your birthday."
"It doesn't seem like a birthday, Haru," Takahiro sighed. "You guys keep on reminding that my leg is the one thing that keeps me in. Why not let me out already?"
"The doctors want you to be safe," Haru pointed out. "That's the whole point of doctors, you know."
"But do they have to hole me up in here?" Takahiro groaned. "I'm fine, now! Why can't I leave?"
"Maybe you should ask them." Arata interjected.
"Ask?" Takahiro repeated. "They wouldn't understand."
"Are you sure? Maybe they would." Koichi said.
"Just go try it out." Haru grinned and walked up to Takahiro. He grabbed Takahiro by the shoulders and pushed him out the room. "They're coming to check on Arata now."
"Hey, I want to see!" Arata pushed himself out the bed and, with the help of Koichi, walked to the doorway.
"You want to see me fail?" Takahiro glanced over to Arata who was smiling like crazy.
"If you fail," Koichi said, "we'll buy you a birthday cake."
"There's no point, then. I don't like the cakes you buy."
The four boys heard the doctors walk up the hallway to Arata's room. The first doctor they saw, Akiyama, was a tall man with broad shoulders. Though he was a built man, he had a kind face and heart.
"Akiyama-sensei!" Haru called out. "Taka has a question."
Akiyama and the rest of the doctors looked up from their reports and directed their smiles to Takahiro.
"Takahiro-kun, how are you?" Akiyama asked.
"Fine," Takahiro answered, tugging at his sleeve.
"Is there something you need?" he asked with a smile.
Takahiro hesitated. "Um, I just wanted to know when I was going to be relieved."
"Is that all? Well, I'm glad to say that you will be relieved today, Takahiro-kun." Akiyama grinned and hit Takahiro in the head with the clipboard in his hand.
Takahiro was slightly shocked. Was it that easy?
"So you'll be going home now, huh? Make sure you be good for your mother, alright?"
That's not what I meant. Takahiro bit his lip. "Um, I what I meant by relieved was . . ."
"What?"
"Nothing-" Takahiro tried to say, but Haru had cut him off.
"Takahiro wants to go on a pokemon journey!"
"Oh, is that it?" Akiyama realized. "Well, I guess you can if you want."
"Really?" Takahiro asked out of astonishment.
"But," Akiyama wore a serious face, "there will be a few requirements."
I hope you guys liked it! The idea just came to me so I'm not really sure if it's good or not. Please come back to read the next chapter: The Requirement and the Blue Pokemon.
Again, I hope you liked it! :)