~Simple Things~

Prologue~

I guess in all honesty, i spent more of my time trying to figure out simple things, than i did trying to piece together what really mattered.

My name is Augustine Sycamore, im twenty-six and living the dream.

Well not really. Actually my dream was to become the worlds best pokemon master, and to conquer mega evolution along with saving the world and managing to make friends. Lots of friends. But… i think you know what i mean. As a child i was cursed with hideous looks and the unbelievable ability to remember things about pokemon. As a kindergartener i was able to recite the whole entire known dex to Kanto. As a fourth grader i was able to spell their names and tell you their types. And now, as a man thriving through his twenties, i was completely eligible to become the worlds smartest professor. Aside from maybe… well maybe that hot rookie, Green Oak, who was following and passing his grandfather's footsteps with more flying colors than a gay rainbow.

Regardless, I am well aware of my success and proud of it. Just because my dreams didnt come true didnt mean that i was a depressed man that forgot to shave once in a while…

Oh wait.

No… Nevermind. I'm one hundred and ten percent stable with my life. Sometimes i have to reassure myself.

…..

Chapter 1

~Calem~

Kalos was an interesting world to say the least. And by world I mean a place completely secluded from the rest of the world. It was huge, and beautiful, and had the most protected borders I had ever seen. Unlike the region I was used to—Kanto—they actually protected against border hopping, and if you didn't pass a hell of a test and apply for citizenship, you could bet you would never get to see it in person.

I was lucky enough to get that chance because my mother was famous and wealthy do to her history with racing, and because I was technically duel-citizenship. Apparently my mother had a fling at some point in this lovely region, and there was an ongoing joke about how I was conceived in a Ryhorn stable before one of her races. To be honest I didn't want to believe it, but knowing my mother it was the truth. She was a wild woman, and her history with males might just lead her to do something so crazy eighteen years ago.

Eighteen years ago to-date that is. My mother insisted on moving me here the day of my birthday because she knew as well as I did that this was the day I would be going on my pokemon journey. She had even purchased me a Fletchling to "get me started". However that little bird had only attached itself to her, so I decided to leave it here for her benefit while I would be gone.

Besides, a man named Augustine Sycamore had agreed to gladly give me one of his pokemon.

And so I was up with little less than four hours of sleep and a year's worth of jetlag to get me going. My mother was asleep in her room, judging by the way she snored, and I had to remind myself that her Ryhorn was actually outside now (back in Kanto we kept him in a garage at night). I barely give the time of day to comb my hair and get dressed before I was flying across the hall to brush my teeth. Hygiene was one of the most important things to me, and I had been trying to convince myself that this was the region to live in for it. Everything here in Kalos was utterly clean. Sparkling. Just dandy. And I was ready to see it all.

My bag had been packed—or rather rearranged—the night before, and I knew that there was still a granola bar in the pocket waiting for me. It would have to be enough until I could get to the next town because I didn't plan on wasting any more time.

Fletchling was watching nervously as I bound about the house, trying to be quiet for my mother's sake, and having a panic attack when I couldn't find my keys for about forty seconds. I was cussing at my shoes because my fingers couldn't tie them fast enough, and I was tripping on unfamiliar lips in the floors because it was still dark out.

"Cheerp, cheeeer." Fletchling called musically, flapping her wings and landing on the top of the door frame before I could reach for it. I looked up at her, eyes widening when she jumped down at me, gripping the collar of my shirt and nuzzling into my neck.

"Wh—what is it?" I pat her delicate back with my fingertips, ruffling the red and grey feathers there.

She tweeted again, and gazed up at me longingly. I would only stare back, realizing that I was in such a hurry that I hadn't even thought to say goodbye. Of course I was being polite and trying to let my mother and Ryhorn sleep, but in reality I knew they would want to see me off.

"I'm so stupid." I said, flinging my bag off my shoulder and onto the wooden floor. "Mom!"

Fletchling responded delightedly, launching herself from my shoulder and leading the way to my mothers room. She was a smart little bird. I sighed, rounding the corner of the hall and pushing the door open.

My mother was in bed still, but staring back at me with an exasperated expression. "It's like Christmas morning all over again, right?"

I nodded, flashing my teeth sheepish, but whole-heartedly.

"Well come here." She said, her young face excited despite the darkness. I flipped the light switch the wrong way—due to the region difference and the way they made things—and then hurried over.

"When I was your age I had already won three races." She said. "My dreams were already halfway done… I'm jealous of you now."

I shot her a look. My mother had wanted to be a racer, not a trainer, and now in her young thirties she often talked about wishing she had done things differently. I knew that she was jealous, but it wasn't the first time. She always had an undying desire to be younger than she really was.

"I'll live them for you." I sat on the edge of the bed, feeling the first tang of fear and remorse that I had since I got here. It was really easy to forget that I wasn't just going off on my own for the first time, but I was going to have to survive as well. I was going to have to make friends in a world where communication could even be a challenge. People here spoke my language—I heard it plenty at the airport—however it was fueled with a thick accent and I didn't want to look like a freak because I sounded different.

I guess down deep being so hasty was my way of covering up for my nervousness. My mother knew this.

"You're so my kid." She flipped my hat off my head in a swift movement, and then mussed my hair with both her hands—a sign of love that I couldn't explain to people who were used to hugs and kisses. My mother was a strange woman, and growing up things like "I love you" weren't tossed around generously. I knew that things such as her teasing showed more affection than words could ever portray.

"Stop, stop!" I pushed her arms away and made an attempt to push my hair back into place. She grabbed my hat, chuckling and then squashing it back down on my head.

"You're going to do fine."

"I know."

"Ok good." She gripped my chin and forced me to look at her. "You call me when you get to the next town, alright?"

I nodded, and then leaned over—an impulse that I normally didn't feel—and hugged my mother with as much strength as I could muster. She scoffed at me, but accepted easily and then let me go.

"Thanks, Mom." I said, pushing up off her bed and heading to the door.

"Thanks, Kid." She echoed, choked with awkward emotion. I wasn't sure what she meant by that, but I didn't stick around to see it. Fletchling sat quiet at her side, whistling her goodbyes.

I entered the living room swiftly, excited and nervous and hungry for that granola bar all at the same time. I scooped my bag up, slung it over my shoulder, and reached for the door that separated the safety of everything I had ever known, from the intense passionate world of Kalos.