Up, up, up
Can only go up from here
Up, up, up
Go up, where the clouds gonna clear
Up, up, up
There's no way but up from here
-Shania Twain, Up!
Small hands on skinny hips. Dropped shoulder, cocked hip, slightly confused pout on face. Such was the position of Joanna Jones, the ten-year old resident of New Bark Town . Jojo, as the majority of people she knew called her, pushed her stringy blonde hair out of her way, and looked worriedly at her mother, who was currently sitting in Jojo's desk chair. Moments before, the young girl had been chatting excitedly away about her upcoming Pokémon journey that was scheduled to start tomorrow, but had stopped suddenly when she received her mother's answer to the question, "Aren't you excited for me?"
A few weeks ago, Jojo's father had lost his job working for the Pokémon PC Company, who was, rather unfortunately, downsizing due to the lack of need for human workers any longer. Both Pokémon and machines were doing the job quite nicely, and they were much less expensive than people. Since then, both of Jojo's parents had taken menial, low-paying jobs to help support the family while her older sister, Jillian, was working as a Kimono Girl in Ecruteak and sending home the bulk of her pay. As her parents were away for most of the work day, and Jillian was living with the rest of the Kimono Girls, Jojo was responsible for taking care of her two little brothers, Jacob and John. That had added a lot to her excitement; the ten-year-old was not the most responsible and was hardly able to wait to lose the babysitting job. So when her mother had replied with a resounding, "No," Jojo was more than worried. Biting her lip anxiously, she asked, "What do you mean, 'no'?"
Jackie Jones gave an exasperated sigh, as though this was not something she wanted to think about, much less explain to a ten-year-old. "I mean," she started, sighing again, "that I'm not excited for you to be leaving tomorrow. Not until your father has a stable job. Your brothers can't take care of themselves. Your father and I have discussed it, and we're not letting you go. Not yet, at least." When she saw the beginnings of a protest on her daughter's face, she quickly began trying to calm her. "Now, your father has some interviews set up for tomo-"
"I don't care!" Jojo screeched angrily as Jackie sighed yet again. She had known it would go like this… "You can't do that! You can't…I'm not going to listen to you! Why not?!" The blonde was screaming with all of her tweenage might, while her mother sat there, doing nothing but sighing.
"Joanna, you aren't going because we can't stay home with your brothers and we can't afford a babysitter! You. Are. Not. Going."
"But-" she said, beginning to beg. "No- Mommy, no! Just- just listen. When I'm gone –no, listen! When I'm gone, I can send back half of the money I make battling people which will probably be more than your job now and then you can stay home with Jacob and John and then I can go and I'm not staying here!" she said in one quick breath with tears pouring down her face as she screamed the last two words. "Mommy, you can't," Jojo pleaded.
"And what if you can't win at all? What if you just end up as a washed-up old trainer who never won a day in her life?" Jackie said coldly. Although she really didn't believe it would happen, she was attempting to scare her daughter out of it.
Jojo looked at her mother with wide, horror-stricken brown eyes. It appeared to be working. "Mommy, I- that wouldn't happen!" she cried, her desperation switching to anger at that statement. "Remember when you sent me to that summer camp for a week and I had to rent out a Pokémon and it was a Carvanha that hated me but in the end I still won that final battle against that girl that rented an Oddish? I still hate Water-types because of that, but I managed to win! Re-mem-ber?" The tears had stopped, but her tidal wave of emotions hadn't.
Jackie, although utterly defeated because the statement had been a lie in the first place, was still the parent. Of course, being a parent meant the ability to be unfair in times like that, so she stood up and asserted her parental authority. "You're still not going," she stated with a fierce undertone, heated by the argument.
Jojo, her emotions still in control, glared up at her mother. "Yes I am! I don't care what you say! I'm still go-" She was cut off by a sharp slap to the face.
"No, you're not!" her mother screamed, her temper finally drawn out. "Keep this up, and you will never get a Pokémon!" With that, she turned on her heel and stormed off, slamming the door behind her. Jojo flung herself onto the bed, and the tears began streaming again. After ten minutes of emotional moans ands screams of mental agony, she managed to cry herself into a fitful sleep.
The problem with crying yourself to sleep is twofold – firstly, you sleep terribly and wake up early and secondly, when you wake up, you remember almost immediately that you were crying and all of your anger and sadness come back. So when Jojo woke up in the middle of the night with a downpour of emotions, she wasn't surprised. She was, however, angry and in need of a good outlet. As she didn't feel the least bit tired, she sat up in the dark and thought over the fight with her mother. Jojo knew that if she went back to sleep and pretended everything was fine that she might never get to leave on her journey. Recalling her previous words – "Yes I am! I don't care what you say!"- she realized that she had sworn herself to going on the journey, and Jojo was so full of pride she couldn't bear the thought of backing down from her word.
Standing up, the tweenager turned on the light by her bed and looked around the room. Sitting on top of her desk was the brand-new, rather expensive, outfit her mother had bought for her just a few days before her father had been laid off, which was composed of a navy blue and white striped dress, silver biker shorts, tan fur-lined boots, and a navy blue headband with a large bow on the side. There was also a canvas bag filled with empty Poké Balls and an assortment of other trainer necessities, including her new Poké Gear and Pokédex, both of which has been customized in a pinkish-purple color.
Filled with excitement, Jojo changed quickly into the outfit and slung the bag over her shoulder. When she finished, however, dozens of dilemmas began filling her mind. Such as getting out of the house, or getting her first Pokémon, or getting food and water. So the young girl sat on her bed and began thinking. The safest way to not get caught sneaking out would be through her window, where there was a tree she could climb down. The safest way for her health, however, would be out the front door. As for food and water, she could sneak downstairs and grab a few water bottles and some food – her parents were heavy sleepers, after all. But she knew they wouldn't sleep through the front door opening, so that wasn't an option - but jumping out through the kitchen window was. She then thought about getting her Pokémon. She couldn't simply wait outside for Professor Elm to come by and give her one – that would pose too many problems, such as the high chance of her parents catching her first.
Deciding to cross that bridge when she came to it, she pushed it out of her mind and made her way silently across the hallway and down the stairs. She went into the pantry and, quietly as possible, grabbed a few fruits, snacks, and water bottles. As she made her way over to the kitchen window, she stopped as she saw something move from the corner of her eye. There, sitting on the living room sofa, was Jacob and the family Meowth.
"Jojo?" the five-year-old questioned innocently. "Where are you going?"
Jojo sighed, and sat down next to her brother. "Why are you awake, Jake?"
"I couldn't sleep. I heard you and mom bein' angry. I don't like it when you're angry." Jojo sighed once again and hugged her brother, tears sliding silently from her eyes.
"I'm going on my journey, Jake. I'm going to miss you so much. You know that, right?" she said, and began having doubts about leaving. Maybe she wasn't ready for this, even if she had gotten permission from her parents. She was only ten…that was so young.
"I'm gonna miss you, too," Jake said, hugging her back and crying along with her.
"Jakey," she sniffled, "you can't tell Mom and Dad about this, okay? It's gonna be our secret, alright?" The young boy nodded. "Pinky promise?" she asked, holding out her littlest finger.
He nodded again, taking the finger with his. "Pinky promise."
"I love you, Jakey," she said, suppressing her sobs. "You too, Whiskers," she added to the Meowth, who rubbed against her side affectionately.
"Love you too, Jojo," her brother replied.
Jojo stood up and walked towards the window, half-smiling, half-crying. "Bye," she whispered, and jumped through.
Once on the other side of her house, she walked quickly across the small town over to Professor Elm's Lab – a path that she had memorized over the years. When she got there, however, the problem she had pushed to the back of her mind came forward once again – getting a Pokémon. Waiting was still not an option, but she couldn't think of another way around it. With a little moan, Jojo had no choice to sit down and think.
It wasn't too late, she considered, and the much weaker part of her was contemplating just turning around and sneaking back into the window. Her parents wouldn't be awake, and she could simply slink back into bed and wait out her father's unemployment like a good daughter – and sister – would do. She imagined being back in her warm bed with Whiskers curled up next to her, sad but at peace with the knowledge she was doing the right thing.
Jojo rolled her eyes. Because that was exactly what she would do…right. She had almost convinced herself, she almost turned right back around, but…Whiskers. Meowth were known for being thieves. Often times, as a kitten, Whiskers would steal any number of things and play with them, typically destroying them in the process. She was usually chastised, but nothing more, as she was still a kitten. Technically, Jojo thought, I'd still be a kitten in Meowth years. With a sneaky grin and a pounding heart, she knew what she would do.
Walking around to the back of the Lab, she saw the window that was always left open due to Professor Elm's love of outdoors and incessant need to keep a constant air flow in his lab. It was just low enough for her to reach by jumping, and, with much difficulty, she managed to pull herself up and through, into the lab.
It was dark, but Jojo's young eyes let her navigate fairly well. There were rows upon rows of Poké Balls that were all hers for the taking, alphabetized and sorted by type. Thinking silently about what Pokémon she wanted, she decided to honor Whiskers for giving her the perfect idea; Skitty, a close relative of Meowth, would be a good choice for a starter – cute and practical. Making her way over to the row marked "S", she bent close to the labels under the Poké Balls, which were hard to read in the low lighting. As she was walking down the aisle, her bag accidentally bumped into one of the Poké Balls, knocking off of the shelf. The lights came on – as did the alarm. The siren and flashing red lights filled the entire lab. Quickly, she grabbed the nearest Poké Ball and ran as fast as her legs would carry her, clambered onto a desk near the window, and toppled out.
