I know I've done a lot of prequels for this project, but frankly, I've introduced my protagonists, and haven't introduced EliteKessu's. This project will revolve heavily around EliteKessu's character, Maryellen Cast. It also happens to be a pseudo-crossover with the Naruto series; characters will be used from there, but their pasts and abilities won't be the same. Since there were no Naruto character references yet, I decided to keep this prequel in the Pokemon section only. This tale will be heavily OC-centric, but we hope to craft an engaging tale, and that you give it a chance, at least.
Tell us what you think of Mary; she belongs to EliteKessu, but we're both curious how you'll all react to her and her plight. She's unrelated to any character in the Pokemon series, though one could compare her to the starting trainer from Little Root in the games. Only richer, and, well… you'll find out. EliteKessu and I will appreciate any and all Reviews. This is an omake, so it's slightly shorter than the chapters we will pump out. Ja ne!
An alarm clock rung in the posh bedroom. The bedroom was fancy, but not overly so. Unlike the rest of the house, which the adolescent girl didn't have much say in, the room was more modest, and was a partially failed attempt at a typical child's bedroom. It partially failed, because there was some gold here and there, and the bed sheet fabric was imported silk. Again, not the girl's decision; left to her, her bedroom would be average, filled with cheaper things. But alas, the girl's foster parents coddled her and tried at every turn to make everything in her life perfect, rich, and classy.
The girl was Maryellen Cast. She preferred being called Mary, though. She was born to Charles and Serenity Cast, who made a fair amount of wealth and left it all behind for Mary to use at her leisure. Due to circumstances outside of Mary's control, she was left with overprotective foster parents and restricted to Little Root.
Feeling around for the alarm clock on her bedside table, Mary silenced the annoying ringing. Rubbing her eyes, Mary grabbed her cane that was leaning against the wall and got out of bed. And then she quickly got dressed before her foster mother came up to 'help'. Mary loathed how her foster parents made her seem like she was helpless. She had a disability; that didn't make her incapable of doing anything without assistance.
… Oh yeah. The most important part: Mary was BLIND.
"Sweetie," A high-pitched voice came from behind Mary's bedroom door. "Can I come in?"
Mary placed her blue hat on top of her head and beamed. She had blonde hair and green eyes, and her skin was sickly pale due to her heavily sheltered life. Her attire consisted of a blue skirt, blue hat and shoes, and white shirt and socks.
"Sure, mom."
A brunette stepped into the room and placed her hands on her hips. The woman's hair was curled up into a bun, and she, too, had green eyes and light skin, though hers was not as pale. While Mary's attire was of more common materials, her foster mother's was more expensive. She wore a long, red velvet dress that reached down to her ankles and covered her shoulders, and had ruby-colored nylon high heels. And she was decorated in a rich assortment of jewelry, from rings on her fingers, to the golden necklace around her neck, to the jeweled earrings; and they weren't fake, cheap jewels, either.
"I was coming to help you, dear! There was no need to rush."
Oh, if only she knew. Mary's smile didn't falter.
"I'm fine, mom. I'll be out in the garden, if you need me."
Mary's foster mother didn't budge from the doorway.
"At least go downstairs and eat breakfast first, dear. You must be starving! Wilson has laid out a buffet for you, of course."
Mary groaned inwardly. She wasn't anorexic, but she was skinny. Mary ate healthily enough, and she took every opportunity to be outside, but she still ended up appearing sickly pale. Mary's foster parents, bless them, restricted her outside time, and confined her to the mansion for much of the day, because they feared for her safety, even though she was in no way endangering herself out in the garden. Again, due to circumstances beyond her control, Mary had become a bit of a pariah in the town of Little Root. There was nothing natural about her blindness, and there were numerous, false rumors about her. Other children were encouraged to stay away from her, and Mary couldn't dispel any rumors because she had a strict curfew. And so the rumor mill kept on turning viciously.
"Okay, okay," Mary grumbled, complying with her overprotective foster mother. She wasn't that hungry, but it was important to get in three square meals a day.
On their way down to the dining room, Mary's foster mother attempted to hold her hand along the way, but Mary would swat her away each and every time.
"I told you I'm fine, mom." Mary groused. "This cane lets me get around!"
Mary's foster mother nodded in understanding.
"I know, dear. I just don't want you tripping and falling down the stairs."
Cue second inward groan. She went through a similar routine on a day-to-day basis. It was beyond tedious.
Down in the dining room two men stood side-by-side. The one on the left had brown hair that was thinning slightly at the top and brown glasses. He wore beige pants, a dark brown jacket with a white dress shirt underneath, black dress shoes, and a dark brown bowtie. He was Wilson, the family butler. And the man on the right was Mary's foster father. Like Wilson and Mary's foster mother, his hair was brown, but slicked back a little. He had blue eyes, and was dressed up just as fancily as Mary's foster mother. Though his tuxedo and pants were a rich green instead of a lush red. And he had less jewelry on than his wife.
Wilson's hands were clasped together, and Mary's foster father's were behind his back.
"Greetings, young Mistress, I trust you slept well?"
Mary nodded affirmatively.
"Yeah…"
She didn't need to say much else. It was basically the same routine, day in and day out. Breakfast passed in relative silence, and Mary excused herself to go out to the garden, where she knew the many Pokemon of the woods surrounding Little Root would be waiting for her.
"Good day, Mistress!" Abra joyfully greeted Mary as she exited the house.
"Hey, Abra. The others assemble yet?"
Another fascinating trait about Mary was her ability to converse with Pokemon. This intriguing ability was a side effect of the accident that rendered Mary blind, and it turned out to be very useful for the adolescent girl. She could understand Pokemon speak like it was plain English; and it wasn't restricted to just one type of Pokemon, either.
"Of course! You come outside at this time every day!"
Mary sighed wistfully at the reminder, but didn't respond. Unlike the townspeople, the Pokemon were actually nice to her, and so Mary wasn't complaining about their company, but of the repetitive routine. Something had to change, or Mary would go insane.
Pushing aside her thoughts, Mary and Abra ambled along to the usual meeting place, a grove at the edge of the garden. Abra tried to make small talk.
"Jimmy got back at that one grocer for you, Mistress! Haunter swore me to secrecy, so you're gonna have to ask him yourself how he repaid the rude man, but I'll tell you that it was most befitting considering the crime!"
Mary snorted in amusement.
"There was no crime, Abra! The guy just overcharged me slightly. And that's nothing, with my family's wealth. You know that."
Abra huffed.
"It's still inexcusable, Mistress! You are horribly mistreated here! And I applaud Sir James in his efforts to repay your tormentors for their grave injustices!"
Mary giggled slightly.
"Well, I guess he does make things interesting around here… Everyone dreads April Fool's Day, thanks to him…"
As they reached the groves, a young man leaped from a tree branch to the ground a few feet away from Mary. He wore blue jean shorts and a pink sweatshirt with matching shoes. The young man's hair reached down his back a little, and was very red, with two 'antennas' drooping down slightly. The young man's hands were in his pockets, and he grinned deviously.
"I hear you talking about me!" James chortled.
James Saru was Mary's only remaining childhood friend, and was her only human friend, aside from Wilson. He was twenty years old while Mary herself was sixteen. Though technically an emerging adult, James had a childlike personality, and had been an orphan for fourteen years of his life. Like Mary, much of the town looked down on him, but he withstood their harsh gazes with a winning smile and personality. He was practically the only one that positively associated with Mary outside of her family, whether it was in public or private. The two pariahs of Little Root stuck together in spite of their pasts. James played a big role in keeping Mary happy.
Mary crossed her arms and turned in James's general direction.
"Abra tells me you pulled another prank, Jimmy. How bad was the damage this time…?"
James playfully waved her off.
"Nothing big. Don't worry about it." James did his best to hold in the uncontrollable giggles that wanted desperately to get out. After being under Mary's scrutinizing look for several minutes, James rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I guess I was the one that made all of the uniforms of that one grocer hot pink… But don't tell anyone; the guy's grilling everyone. Teehee."
Mary sweatdropped at her best friend's shenanigans.
"You mean you turned all his uniforms… pink…?"
James nodded vigorously.
"Yup! And he couldn't get a spare in his size. He has to wear the pink uniform until the next shipment of spare uniforms comes in. Cool, huh?"
Mary did her best to hold back the chuckles, but did a poor job of it.
"Pffft. That was uncalled for, Jimmy. He only overcharged me a little; he doesn't need to be humiliated like this."
James shrugged and didn't drop his Cheshire grin.
"You won't give me the go-ahead to prank all the townspeople on a city-wide level. I have to get my jollies somehow."
Mary sent her pal a deadpan stare.
"If I gave you the 'go ahead' for that one harebrained scheme of yours, we'd both be in big trouble. You for pulling off that unbelievable stunt, and me for giving you permission. Besides, not ALL the people deserve to be pranked, not at one time or individually."
James giggled maniacally.
"I'm keeping it as a last resort. Project Omega is too good to throw away!"
Mary massaged her temples; she loved her best friend dearly, but sometimes he could get a little TOO carried away. 'Project Omega', as he so aptly called it, would top all of his other pranks in a heartbeat.
"I don't want to know how you came up with that, or how you would pull that thing off… I just know that you would. Somehow, some way, you would. You do some of the most ridiculous things on April Fool's and Halloween…"
James bobbed his head up and dead.
"You know me too well! Those are the greatest days of the year!"
Shaking her head, Mary's ears perked up at the sound of the approaching Pokemon. Seemed James had been a little early today.
"Jimmy, I just realized… You're early. What's up?"
James kept on beaming at Mary.
"Well, I've got an idea, and wanna know what you think of it. And bringing it up at the daily Pokemon meet 'n greet seemed like the best place to do it."
Mary frowned thoughtfully. James's tone was serious, so this wasn't some prank idea he wanted to share with everybody. Pokemon gathered around Mary, James, and Abra; among their number were Poochyena, Zigzagoon, Ralts, Treecko, Shuppet, Duskull, Dusclops, Ghastly, Haunter, Gengar, Slakoth, and a few other Abra. All were lightheartedly exchanging small talk up until Mary greeted everyone.
"Hey, guys! Can we all-"
"Hello, Mistress!" The forest Pokemon chorused.
Mary took a calming breath, acknowledging the greetings from her plentiful friends.
"Hi, guys. We can chat in a little bit, but Jimmy wanted to say something."
James rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"You guys can talk; it's okay."
Mary wagged her pointer finger sternly.
"You had something you wanted to share, and you brought it up first, Jimmy."
James shrugged nonchalantly.
"Okay, if that's what you want." Pausing, James dropped his grin and frowned thoughtfully, straightening his back a little from his usual slouch. "Mary, I know you've been getting a little bored with your home life… And I was wondering what you'd say to travelling around as a Pokemon Trainer."
Mary blinked in astonishment at the suddenness of it all. Jimmy had really thrown her for a loop this time.
"Pokemon… Trainer…?"
James nodded.
"Yeah, a Pokemon Trainer. Someone that travels around, meeting all sorts of new people and Pokemon. Many battle to train and collect badges, but you don't HAVE to do that. It'd definitely be a nice change of pace, don't ya think?"
Mary frowned contemplatively and furrowed her brow. Now that he put it that way…
"That'd be nice, Jimmy, but my parents would never let me do it."
James raised an eyebrow.
"So? When'd you let them stop you before?"
Mary nodded grudgingly.
"I guess… But that's pretty much running away, Jimmy…"
James shook his head negatively.
"Just think of it as a new chapter in your life. An escape from the repetitiveness that is everyday life here in Little Root. You could even write home occasionally, if you wanted to. All you'd need to do is coordinate with Wilson, and you'd be outta here."
Mary chewed her lower lip.
"Yeah… What about the Pokemon, though? Pokemon Trainers can only take six Pokemon with them at one time, right? I'd be leaving many behind... And what about you? And Wilson?"
James extended in arms in a placating gesture.
"Wilson will still be here when you return, Mary, the Pokemon, too, but I might not. I still intend to join a circus, and wanna join sometime pretty soon. I could take ya with, but I don't think you'd care too much for the eccentric lifestyle. These Pokemon you've befriended might not be around forever, either. They're Wild Pokemon, and technically up for grabs. None have claimed them yet, but that could change sometime in the future."
Mary looked down somewhat dejectedly. James was bringing up good points on all accounts. But that still didn't make it easier to part with friends she's known for years.
"At least think about it, Mistress. Master James brings up an interesting idea," Abra remarked.
Mary wasn't quite sure how to respond. It had its good and bad sides to the plan, but so did staying in Little Root. 'Nothing lasts forever.'
"Go on, Mistress! You'll have many adventures out there!" Treecko piped up.
"We'll hold down the fort here, don't you worry!" Ralts boldly claimed.
Ghastly, Haunter, and Gengar snickered deviously.
"We'll help Master James and Wilson fool your parents!" Gengar asserted.
"You can't stay cooped up forever in that big ol' house, Mistress!" Poochyena howled.
Mary smiled weakly at all the emotional support her friends was giving her.
"Thanks, guys… I… I guess I'll talk to Wilson about it…"
James's grin was back in full force.
"That's the spirit! And maybe if you're lucky, you'll find some travel companions!"
Mary smiled genuinely now.
"Yeah, but they can't match your company… or Wilson's…"
With that matter of business out of the way, Mary and the Pokemon carried on with the day like it was any other day. Later, Mary brought up the Trainer idea with Wilson, and he approved of Mary expanding her horizons.
It would take a little preparation and appropriate timing, but Mary would one day soon leave Little Root with little more than a few provisions, the clothes on her back, and Abra at her side. Life on the road would be challenging in other regards, but it would be much more gratifying after years of being sheltered, coddled, and pampered.
If only Mary knew of the insane adventures that lied ahead…