~ Fresh and Free ~
Twinleaf Town
A soft breeze graced the leaves of the trees boarding the hamlet as a ray of bright autumn sunlight shone down, piercing through the branches and glistening off the small pond. The smell of sweet cinnamon coffee wafted up the stairs and into the bedroom of fourteen year old Bucky. His eyes opened to the sight of his mother, Lacey, who was bent over his bed carrying a breakfast tray.
"Good morning my little cherub" she smiled to the world.
Bucky stretched and grinned, yawning slightly as he replied "Good morning to you Mom, how are you?"
"I'm absolutely dandy, darling! Are you all set for your big day?"
Bucky nodded, rubbing one of his eyes with the back of his hand.
"Good, then I'll be downstairs when you're ready." She lay down his breakfast tray and then left the room. Bucky waited until her slipper-muffled footsteps had faded away before he got out of bed. Standing opposite his mirror in his wardrobe he stared at himself.
He was thin and quite pale. His shoulder length messy dirty-blonde hair caressed his face. His dark blue eyes were bright with excitement of the unknown events that the day would bring him. Today is be the day that Bucky will receive his first Pokémon! Usually, a child receives their first Pokémon on their tenth birthday, but Bucky was too shy and nervous to leave the security of his Mom's house. Instead, he stayed with her and enjoyed the extra time with her, but now he was older and more mature, ready to face the real world. The only question that bothered him was: which starter Pokémon would he choose – Chimchar the chimp Pokémon, Piplup the penguin Pokémon or the tiny leaf Pokémon Turtwig?
Opening the door to his wardrobe he eyed his collection of clothes. He needed something that wouldn't make him too hot or too cold while he was exposed to the outdoors. He ran his hands over shirts, heavy coats and jeans, but in the end he settled on a pair of stone-washed denim dungarees from the back of his closet, pairing them with a plain white cotton t-shirt, the puffy sleeves of which reached his elbows. After checking the weather through his bedroom window he decided to throw on a stone coloured chunky knit cardigan that almost reached the bottom of his dungaree shorts. He had to sit on his bed to pull on his brown, leather, ankle riding boots.
His mom was waiting for him downstairs. He didn't really get a chance to look at her properly when he had first woken up. She was slim, with brown hair that she had placed into a neat bun on the top of her head. She wore a pink frilly apron over her neatly ironed light-blue dress. Her smile welcomed everyone and everything.
She was busying herself over the stove, cleaning the work tops and getting ingredients from the refrigerator. She stopped when she saw him come down the stairs.
"Awe, don't you look cute, like a little cowboy." She gestured to the breakfast table with an oven-mitted hand. He sat down at the plain circular wooden table. There was a small package on top, wrapped in brown paper. "Open it" she said, coming over to sit next to him. Bucky gently pulled the paper away and something small and purple fell onto the table. It was a drawstring bag; made of soft deep purple and red materials. Blue detailing was stitched onto the seams. Black tassels hung from the bottom of the bag. Two grey ropes acted as the drawstring and they were topped off with purple knobs made of the same material as the main bag, and they were donned with two turquoise beads each.
"I bought it a while ago from a market stall in Celestic Town. The elder who sold it to me told me that the bag had once been blessed by the legendary Pokémon Palkia. The lady said that the inside of the bag would be much larger than the outside, which I guess means you can fit more things in it, without having to lug around a big rucksack!"
"Nifty, eh?" Bucky replied gratefully. "This is so cool! Now I can pack more stuff for my Pokémon adventure."
"Speaking of which, I picked you up a town map from the PokéMart in Sandgem Town so you know where you're going. It also tells you where the nearest Pokémon Centres are, in case you need to heal your Pokémon or need a bed for the night.
"Don't you worry Mom, I can take care of myself!" He smiled as he said it, but then saw the crest-fallen look on his mother's face.
"Yes… I suppose you can." She replied, before turning away quickly to get back to her work.
Five minutes later, Bucky was standing outside the front door, his beaded bag in hand (now containing a fold-up tent, a sleeping bag and the town map, but still looking as if it were empty). Lacey stood by his side, breathing into the fresh scent of new leaves upon the air.
"Now, let me know when you get to the next town, you should be able to call if you go into a Pokémon Centre. Now, this isn't 'goodbye', it's just 'see you later'."
"It's not like I'm going away forever, Mom. I'll come and visit you, don't you worry!" He beamed at her, and she lifted her bowed head, tear tracks shining on her cheeks in the sunlight, but she was smiling too.
"You promise?"
"Of course I do."
Then she gave Bucky the longest and most meaningful hug she had ever given anyone. He was her whole world.
"Okay then, Mr Pokémon Trainer, you don't want to be late for your appointment with Professor Rowan! Go on, don't worry about me."
Bucky smiled at her before walking away, as he reached the top of the road he looked back.
"Oh and don't forget to wear clean underwear every day!" called his mother's voice loudly.
"I won't!" He didn't even feel embarrassed.
To be continued…