Chapter 1
Of Shorts, Nighttime, and Ruined Rooms
(Edit: I'm really sorry this is such a long chapter! All the future ones are about half this length...)
It was silly of me. Silly, stupid, and oh so cliché. But I couldn't help it. For years now, I had a crush on one of my best friends. What kind of person actually does that? It made a bit more sense though when taking into consideration that we lived in a small town, and out of the three people (including myself) that were my age, he was the only guy. With options like that, surely it was understandable? Surely I deserved a bit of mercy? I mean, he didn't even like me back.
Maybe I just needed to make my shorts a bit shorter.
With that thought in mind, I rolled my eyes and turned back to Bianca. When Bianca saw my face, all she would be able to see was a cheery smile. Nothing that gave away the hopeless romantic look that had been on my face moments before.
"Tomorrow," I breathed out. "Tomorrow, we'll be entirely different people. No longer will we be normal kids around town—we'll be pokémon trainers. This'll be the last time we ever hang out together as normal friends. After this, we may well be compelled to fight each other every time we make eye contact."
Bianca giggled at my joke. Was it a joke? It was half serious. Half. Close enough to a joke, I guess.
"I don't know if I'll be able to make it." Bianca giggled again. "You and Cheren will probably blow me out of the water. He's so smart, and you're so… you."
Cheren—smart? What an understatement. Even if I wasn't head over heels for the guy, I still would think that. The guy studied everything. He even looked like a total genius. With everything he astutely observed, it was a wonder he didn't already notice how much I liked him. I mean, Bianca was a different situation entirely. The poor girl probably wouldn't even know unless I flat out told her. Well… you can't win them all.
"Hilda looks as spaced out as usual."
I jolted to attention as I heard Cheren's voice. He didn't notice; he was brushing something off his sleeve. But then again, he must have been paying attention enough to notice I was spacing out in the first place. But of course, he could have just been guessing since he'd have a high chance of being correct…
"She'll be more down to earth when she gets those pokémon tomorrow. You know how she always gets right before a battle."
Ah, yes. Despite my general cheery disposition (not quite on par with Bianca's though definitely quieter), I have been informed that I get a rather serious look right before a battle. We had had mock battles as kids with imaginary pokemon, and it was taken for granted that I'd probably look the same before an actual battle.
"Let's not talk about that," I suggested, quite willing to get off the subject. "We have tomorrow and the rest of forever to mock battle faces." That last part was directed to Bianca who started attempting to get the same serious look she had referred to that I apparently had. And really? She was trying to use her hands to force her face in the right position. Well, maybe it made sense. Goodness only knows the girl couldn't possibly make a serious face otherwise. "For today, let's just make use of the time we have together."
I could have sworn I saw a small spark of approval in Cheren's eyes, but I could have been just as likely imagining it. Infatuation does crazy things to the mind.
"Where will we be hanging out?" Cheren asked. I was mildly surprised that he didn't make at least a suggestion like he usually would, but he probably was trying to be generous or selfless by leaving the decision up to either me or Bianca. Ah, if only I could express the fluttering of my stomach. He was such a gentleman. I was probably going to be up for a harsh awakening the moment I met any other teenage guys.
"Umm…" I scuffed my shoe against the dirt on the sidewalk as I thought. My brain seemed to find it difficult to get off the subject of Cheren and focus instead on the question he asked. Where would we be hanging out? Um, we could go to my room and play on the Wii. We could relax in Bianca's plush room. We could…
Before I could say any of my suggestions, Bianca announced, "Here." Before I could entirely register what she said, I found myself being forced onto the ground. Before I could think of how literally dirty the ground was here, Cheren was forced down beside me. He was sitting cross-legged, and he was so close, his knee was brushing my thigh. The only thing between us was his black pants. And what was he doing wearing those anyway, for goodness sake? It was summer. He could definitely afford to lose a few layers. I'd be more than willing to help.
Before I could suggest for Cheren to lose his pants, Bianca sat down in front of both of us. She smiled broadly and took a deep breath of the evening air. As if getting a profound vision or memory, she closed her eyes and spoke to us. "This is a great place for us to be. Better than any. We always meet right here before going anywhere, and it was also the place where I met you guys." She opened her eyes and stared at us brightly. "Do you guys remember that?"
Neither Cheren nor I said anything, but we both remembered. Well, I knew I did, and with Cheren's absurdly good memory, I was sure he did too. Cheren and I had more or less grown up together, but then when we were six, Bianca had moved into town. Oddly enough, the way we met was because, right here underneath this streetlight between my house and Bianca's house, Bianca's shoes came untied, and she had been sitting here nearly crying over it because she suddenly couldn't remember how to tie a knot. Cheren and I had been passing by, and Cheren, being the noble guy he still is, stepped forward and tied it for her. After that, Bianca insisted on following us everywhere—just in case her shoes came untied again. We became a close knit trio of friends, and it had lasted us a solid ten years.
Sure, we had had some off times here and there, but nothing really substantial. There was, sad to admit, a time when I had nearly broken down over something Bianca had done, but in all reality, it was because I was a bit… ah… on the unintelligent side at the time. Overly dramatic. Even worse than most preteens-which is saying something. Yeah, it was when we were eleven. I saw Bianca on the street, and I waved to her, but she didn't wave back. I thought she was ignoring me, and then I noticed she was wearing slip-on shoes. Drastic, my thoughts may be—I thought she was done being friends with us. She was ignoring me, and she no longer needed us to tie her shoes for her. I ran all the way to Cheren's house, nearly sobbing all the while, and he told me I was being stupid. He told me I was stupid in that way that only little kids and preteens can. Still, he calmed me down somehow.
Well, it was only five years ago, but I definitely knew I was beyond that kind of stunt now. Or at least, that particular one. Even at the moment, Bianca was wearing slip-ons, but I wasn't breaking down, was I? If I started crying, it would probably be because this might be the last time we were together as friends. Tomorrow, we'd be trainers, and whether we took it seriously or not, we'd be against each other. It's every girl for herself out there. Or guy, in Cheren's case.
Maybe they didn't look at it that way though. But we'd be separated, and we'd be battling each other. Surely that could wear down many friendships. Competition just… isn't friendly. Maybe I was wrong, but time would only tell. It probably wasn't worth thinking about unless it actually happened. Funny—that thought could be applied to a lot of things. My thoughts drifted again to Cheren. He was right there, next to me. But what was I gaining from thinking about being with him when, in less than twenty-four hours, we'd be parting ways?
Bianca seemed to accept that we were lost in our various memories, and she too sat there quietly, wistfully. It got darker, logically, due to the setting of night, but we continued sitting there, content, as only friends can be.
/-/-/-/-
It looked like Christmas. It was breaking ninety degrees outside even as the sun began to set, but I could feel the shivers dancing up and down my arms. On the far table in my room, there was a just a single item. A box. It was blue, and it had a vibrant green ribbon wrapped around with the extra ribbon (quite a bit) forming an elaborate bow on top. I had already read, more than five times, the note attached, and now it was all I could do to stand in the middle of my room. As soon as Cheren and Bianca showed up, everything would change. It was like the final hour. The suspense was pumping my blood unusually fast, and it took every aversion of thought to try not to think of how I didn't even have to wait for my friends—I could just jump right in and take a pokémon from the box. Who would stop me?
And why in the world did Professor Juniper even bring them to my house? We were all getting pokémon; it wasn't like I was the most important one in the trio. Bianca's room would have been a cuter choice, if nothing else. More memorable. The only thing that made my room more special than the rooms of my friends was that I had a Wii. And that didn't have anything to do with pokémon.
Maybe it was that my house was closest to the lab. Professor Juniper was, well, a professor. She probably had better things to be doing than travelling across town.
"Hilda!"
Cheren. I couldn't even turn to look at him. He'd be standing there is his not-at-all-summer clothes, and he'd be… here. Speaking of which, he was here. In my room. No one else was around. Bianca would probably be late as usual. I was alone with Cheren. It might be the last time we were even together like this. Maybe this, of all times, would be the right opportunity to tell him how I felt. Now, before Bianca showed up and we weren't alone anymore. Now, before we picked our pokémon and became some sort of rivals.
Just as I was about to turn to him and confess, he continued, "I heard from Professor Juniper. The pokémon are here?"
I mumbled something of a yes. All right. Maybe I wouldn't confess. My hopes were kind of dashed. It was just hard to get on the topic of loving someone for years when the subject was about pokémon.
"What's keeping Bianca?" Cheren asked idly, breaking the minutes of silence. I probably should have been trying to converse more, but my thoughts were in a bit of an upheaval. This was something of a major life change, and it was difficult to imagine that I'd have to go from seeing my crush every day to seeing him… infrequently. Possibly not even for months.
Why was that my most major concern anyway? I should probably be wondering more about what I'm going to eat and how long my money will last me.
Cheren wasn't even looking at me. He was leaning on one hip, bored, while his opposite foot was tapping against the ground. Ah, Cheren was so open. There was no hiding how he felt. Bored and impatient. His open honestly was the one fact that told me he really didn't have romantic interest in me. I would have realized it by now.
"Am I a little late again?" Cheren and I both turned at the sound of Bianca's chipper voice. She fixed us with an eager grin that didn't match the, "Sorry!" she let out. She held out the 'o' in sorry for a good three seconds which may not sound long, but when it's one vowel, it kind of is.
"Bianca…" Cheren sighed, taking a step towards her. "I've known for ten years that you had no sense of time, but… seriously… Today's the day we can get a pokémon from Professor Juniper!"
Bianca rolled her eyes happily and said, "I know. Sorry, Hilda. Sorry, Cheren." She moved to stand at my right side. I faced her, still unwilling to look at Cheren. Really, I should have been soaking up the sight while I still could, but instead I was worried I might somehow give away the fact that I like him. Bianca tore me from my thoughts by interrupting, "So, where are the pokémon?" She looked around cluelessly as if they might be hiding behind something. Not that everything wasn't pushed up against the wall in my room.
As if expecting me to have the answer, she cleverly decided, "They were delivered to Hilda's house, so Hilda gets the first pick." Yup, Bianca expected me to lead her to the pokémon since they weren't clearly out in the open. Maybe, try looking at the strange box that doesn't match the rest of my room?
"Naturally," Cheren responded in his overly attractive voice. We all turned towards the box as Cheren assisted Bianca and continued what he was saying all in one sentence. "The pokémon are waiting for us inside that gift box. Okay, Hilda, you go first and take a peek at the gift box. I want to meet the pokémon right now!" he expressed eagerly.
I stepped towards the box and laid a hand on it. Why did the pressure fall on me? Shouldn't we open it together? Or something? I lifted the card on it and read it for the sixth time.
"I've brought three pokémon, one for you and one for each of your friends. Please settle your choices politely. Enjoy your pokémon! --Professor Juniper"
Well, it was now or never. I pulled on the loose ribbon on top, and the bow fell apart as if it had never even meant to be there in the first place. I lifted the top of the box, preparing myself mentally for whatever awaited inside.
It was a bit anticlimactic. There were three pokéballs on the inside, and their round shapes were quivering slightly back and forth from the movement of the box. I lifted them out and held them in my hand. They were just barely small enough that I could hold all three in one hand without worrying about them dropping. I turned to face my friends and picked one of the pokéballs out of the three.
Unceremoniously, I tossed it forward. A small pokémon appeared in a flash of light. It looked around before turning to face me. "Te…pig?" I bent down and rubbed its back. The little pig rumbled happily. Standing back up, I tossed the other two forward at the same time. The two new pokémon announced themselves as Oshawatt and Snivy. I looked back at my friends. They looked at me. No assistance was in their eyes. The decision would be entirely up to me.
I sat back down in front of the three pokémon. The tepig rubbed itself against my knee and the oshawatt scooted forward and started nudging my hand curiously. The snivy stood its distance with an indifferent stare.
Well, the tepig was cutest, no doubt there. It was rubbing up my knee, looking happier than anything. Its tail, literally a coiled spring, waved back and forth with the tepig's movements. Since I was going on a journey alone, I probably could have used the cheerful company. But all the same, it didn't quite seem… right for me. It looked like the one I expected Bianca to pick.
The oshawatt was coiling and uncoiling my fingers as I judged the tepig. Looking at the oshawatt now, it was a cute one too. Its eyes were smaller than tepig's, but in a sense, they seemed larger. It seemed like the oshawatt was trying to gather in the entire world all in one moment. Its curiosity was definitely a plus. It was adorable. It poked at my hand and then looked at its own. It fixed me with the most adorably curious look I had ever seen. Adorable. There was really no other way to describe the thing. It was almost difficult to believe it would even be a strong fighter.
The snivy was still standing aside from everyone. Its eyes were barely half open, and it looked entirely at ease. And arrogant. It looked like it owned the place—my room—even though it had never previously been here. When it noticed me looking, it gave me a small flick of the head. I wasn't sure whether it was a simple acknowledgement or… I don't even know what. I nodded at it back, and it looked a bit happier for a second before going back to its "cool and collected" look.
Was there really a best choice among them? They all had their advantages as far as battles go, so the choice was merely between which one I liked the most. A choice between cheer, curiosity, or calm.
But was it even that hard of a decision? I had known which one I was going to choose as soon as I saw all of them. I stood, careful not to bump the two pokémon clustered around me, and held two of the pokéballs out to my friends. I informed them with a smile, "The snivy is mine."
I figured the tepig would go with its similar human, Bianca, and the oshawatt with its natural intrigue to learn more would go to Cheren.
With a typical, big smile, Bianca took one of the pokéballs from me. "Okay, I'll take this pokémon! Cheren, that one's yours!"
Cheren moved forward quickly. "Hey, how come you get to pick out my pokémon?" He looked at the pokéball he got and then shrugged. "Oh, never mind. I wanted Tepig from the start, anyway."
Oh, Bianca got oshawatt? She probably couldn't refuse the adorableness factor of it. That was understandable. But Cheren wanted Tepig all along? Huh. That one was lost on me. Ah well, it's his choice.
Stating the obvious, Bianca announced, "Everyone has chosen a pokémon! …So that's that! Hey, I know! Let's have a pokémon battle!"
Not even two minutes into acquiring a pokémon, and Bianca was already itching to fight? She didn't even want to train or get to know the pokémon first?
Cheren seemed to share my thoughts. "Honestly, Bianca…" he sighed. "Even though they're still weak pokémon, you shouldn't have pokémon battles inside a house." Okay, maybe we weren't thinking precisely the same thing, but it was close enough.
"Don't be a worrywart!" Bianca requested with a giggle. "These little ones are weak, like you said. We have to let them battle to get stronger. It's settled, Hilda! Get ready for a pokémon battle!"
With no more than a sigh, yet no less than a smile, Cheren stood back to the side and made sure to be roughly halfway between us. He was ready to call the shots if a referee role needed to be taken. It probably wouldn't—these pokémon were just beginners, as were the trainers for that matter.
I started reaching for Snivy's pokéball before remembering that he was already out. He sauntered in front of me looking as though not even a legendary stood a chance at defeating him. I, in all honesty, hadn't fully expected Bianca to choose me as her opponent. My starter had the type advantage over hers. Yet, there was, at the moment, a fierce determination accenting her usual happiness.
Bianca's oshawatt gave her a final curious look before scampering out in front of his trainer. He narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath as he prepared himself. As I thought, the poor creature looked more adorable than fierce. I don't want to play the "I'm a total over confident egoist" card, but I really doubted I could lose this battle.
In a rather loud whisper to Cheren, Bianca exclaimed, "See! Look at her battle face!"
Contrary to my friend, I decided not to waste any more time and said, "Snivy, tackle!" Without missing a beat, the snivy lunged forward and knocked the oshawatt to the ground.
"Eek! Ouch!" Her pokémon got back up, and Bianca looked more damaged by the attack than he did. She continued, "I won't let you get away with that!" She ordered her pokémon to tackle mine back, but Snivy, being faster, tried dodging. The dodge could be looked at as unsuccessful since Oshawatt refused to give in, and it started running towards the other pokémon in another attempt to tackle. Snivy's eyes widened, and he took off running with the oshawatt following close behind. It was only when the snivy was cornered against my bookshelf that the oshwatt managed to ram into it. The oshawatt looked proud for a moment—until it realized that the bookshelf was swaying back and forth. In a matter of seconds, it started falling forward. Snivy jumped up and started pushing oshawatt back until they were both out of the way. Just in time, too—the bookshelf slammed to the ground.
Mom didn't hear that, did she? She must have, but I didn't hear anyone coming up the stairs. Maybe she had to leave and do something. Maybe she'd be unknowingly buying us enough time so that we could finish the battle and make up some excuse for why we were battling indoors in the first place.
Deciding to keep on the offense, I ordered another tackle. Snivy let out a battle cry and lunged towards the pokémon he had just saved from a falling bookshelf. The oshawatt, in turn, let out a rather cute growl. Even from feet away, I could see the expression in Snivy's eyes grow soft.
"Don't give in! Tackle it again!" Snivy reacted with yet another tackle, although it did seem a bit weaker than the others. Maybe I was just imagining it. Bianca called for another tackle, and Snivy seemed to get a devious look in his eyes before making another dodge/chase scene.
It was at that point that I decided my snivy had a certain taste for destruction. With the oshawatt in tow, Snivy ran behind the plant in my room--that got knocked over as Oshawatt tried to follow. Dirt was now on Snivy's feet, but if he cared, it was lost on me. He really probably didn't care. He was a grass type, after all.
Still fleeing the tackle, he ran across the table on the far side of my room, effectively knocking the gift box to the ground, and… that was where things started getting even further out of hand. In a mad leap, Snivy jumped across the room—hit the television—landed on the fallen bookshelf, and started running across the walls. As if it was his second nature, he ran across the walls perpendicularly, parallel with the ground. The corner gave him no trouble, and he just kept running.
The oshawatt didn't even bother following. It was in the center of the room, and it was looking as curious as it had been when it was first in the room. Granted, even I was kind of intrigued. I mean, yeah, Snivy was fast, but it could run on walls?
Still, gravity paid its toll, and the snivy fell to the ground right before its second corner. Fortunately, there was a bed there, so its fall was broken. The oshawatt, seeing this as a perfect opportunity, ran forward and lunged to tackle the snivy.
Although the oshawatt got its hit in, it forced the mattress down, and the springs, not expecting that sudden force, pushed back up. Maybe it was sadistic of me to think so, but the oshawatt comically bounced off Snivy, hit the wall, and rolled off onto the floor. The snivy regained its senses and prepared to attack again, but then it saw the oshawatt on the ground. Its eyes were closed and it looked limp. Still, it was breathing normally, so it could be figured that the poor thing was okay. Fainted, but okay.
As Snivy made an effort to drag the injured oshawatt back to its half-oblivious trainer, Bianca declared happily, "The pokémon on both sides did their best!" She fished in her purse for a few seconds, and then she held out some pokédollars to me. "Just like real battles right?" As I counted the money she had given me, she continued, "Wow… Hilda, you're gonna be an awesome trainer someday. I can tell! No doubt!"
"Uh…" Cheren started. I paused from counting to look at Cheren. I couldn't help it. He continued, a bit of an awkward flush on his face, "Bianca, would you take a look around?"
Bianca turned every direction, and a blush started creeping up her face as she assessed the mess. "Wh-whoa! What happened? Wow! Pokémon are amaaaaazing! So little, but so strong! I'm so glad that I get to have a pokémon!" She turned back to me and saw the dead-pan expression on my face. "…Oh. Um, sorry about your room, Hilda."
Cheren sighed and stepped forward between where Bianca and I were. "You… are completely hopeless. Here! I'll restore your pokémon for you." He pulled a potion out of his pocket and sprayed it on the oshawatt that had been left at Bianca's feet. "Hilda's pokémon needs to be fixed up, too," he confirmed. Snivy, now resting by my own feet, was sprayed with a potion just as Oshawatt was.
Bianca suddenly gave a small, excited jump, and as she recalled her Oshawatt, she walked to where Cheren had been previously standing. "Hey, Cheren!" she called despite the close proximity. "How about you battle, too? With all you know, I'm sure you can battle without turning the room into a disaster area like I did!" She truly sounded quite optimistic for someone who just ruined my room. The only item I could see that hadn't been moved in the battle was my Wii, and I'm sure that was pure luck.
Still, Cheren nodded with an almost egotistical expression and pushed his glasses up the ridge of his nose. "I believe you're right! It'll be no problem for me to keep the room from getting any messier. Besides, it's not fair if you two are the only ones who get to have fun battling!" He turned and looked at me with an analytical expression. Was I really supposed to fight him? Couldn't I just stare at him instead? When I battle, I aim to win, but how can I plan to defeat the person who I was so infatuated with? Could I just lose intentionally? I didn't want to do this. But I didn't want to lose. I wouldn't lose. "It's decided," Cheren seemed to agree with my thoughts. "You'll be my opponent… in our first pokémon battle!" Well, his first. "Let's see what you can do, Tepig!"
The pig pokémon strutted out to stand before its trainer, its coil tail springing all the while.
This battle wasn't much different from the last, except about ten times less disastrous. Snivy decided not to bother attempting to dodge attacks, and all that went on was, more or less, back and forth tackling. It was a close call, but my snivy, with its barely higher speed, managed to get in the last attack just before the tepig. The tepig fell to the ground in a manner similar to the way my bookshelf did, and Cheren recalled it. It had been a close battle.
"Ah! So that's a pokémon battle!" Cheren said in wonder. He murmured, looking down at his pokéball, "I've finally become a trainer. Everything starts from here." Louder, he said, "I made a strange blunder in my first battle, but this feeling I have…"
I would rather his feelings were about the person he battled with, not the battle itself.
"I'm finally a trainer," he finished. "But first, we'd better go apologize to your mother about this messed-up room."
"Oh, I'd better come, too!" Bianca announced. She eagerly followed him down the stairs. Was there anything that got this girl down? I mean, you'd think I'd learn after being friends with her for ten years, but she always seemed so chipper. She lost her first pokémon battle, and she had seemed happier than ever. Seeing my room ruined? It only got her more pumped up. Maybe I was lucky to have such a happy friend.
I took one final glance at the now disorganized state of my room and headed downstairs. Mom, Cheren, and Bianca were all standing together, and as I came over, they made room for me to join.
"I'm very sorry about all the trouble, ma'am," Cheren apologized politely to my mom.
Bianca joined in with, "Well, um… We can clean up…"
My mom laughed at the both of them. "Cleaning up? No worries. I'll take care of it later. Shouldn't you be on your way to meet Professor Juniper?"
Cheren nodded with a grateful smile. A rather handsome smile, at that. "Yes, thank you! Please excuse us." He turned his head to look at Bianca and me. "Come on. Let's go thank Professor Juniper." He was still giving a rather handsome smile, so all I could do was nod dumbly. Then, as if noticing my stare, he looked directly at me. "I'll be waiting in front of the Pokémon Research Lab." I'd rather meet him around the back—there were some nice trees that could easily hide people from view—years of hide and seek taught us that. Let Bianca go to the front of the lab. Cheren and I could go to the back instead…
Before my thoughts could get too carried away, Bianca looked up sharply. "Oh! Wait! I've gotta go home first." Clutching onto her purse, she turned to my mom and gave her a final smile. "Thanks for having us over!" She walked out, and Cheren went with her. Of course, my eyes were all on Cheren.
My mom walked up to me with a humorous glint in her eyes. "My, my, Hilda." Uh, she didn't catch on to me liking Cheren, did she? After all these years, she couldn't have somehow just now noticed! She continued, "Pokémon battles are so lively, aren't they?" Seeing the worried, startled look in my eyes (that was for a different reason than wondering, as she thought, how she knew we were battling upstairs), she explained, "I could hear the pokémon's cries clear down here! Hm. That sure reminded me of my first pokémon battle!" She got a dreamy look in her eyes and twirled a lock of her brown hair before turning to me. "Oh, and you know? After a battle, you need to rest your pokémon!" She held out her hand, and I handed her Snivy's pokéball, and she held it for a while before handing it back. "Actually, your pokémon is looking great! Now, if you're going out, don't forget your 'cross-transceiver'!"
She handed me the cross-transceiver, and I strapped it onto my wrist. The cross-transceiver was, more or less, a recent phone that came out. It looked like a watch with an overly large screen which was used to show the person using it and the person being communicated with as they're talking. Up to four people could be shown on the screen at one time. With a number that large (which didn't seem as large as it was), the people on the screen were small, only just large enough to recognize them.
As I stared at it, my mother said, "You're going to thank the professor too, right? Better get going, honey! Oh wait!" She walked over to the table and picked up a notebook off it. "This journey may become one of the most important parts of your life. To remember it better, I suggest journaling." She handed me the notebook and I flipped through it. The covers looked surprisingly durable, and there wasn't a single mark on any of the pages. "There will be times where you feel you need to write down what is happening, and other times when you feel you won't need to. Write anyway. Save your progress all the time. Before you can forget anything that's happened. If you become famous, you could probably make loads of money off making copies of it!" She laughed. "Now, go on to Professor Juniper. Bye, sweetie!"
I smiled at her, took a final glance at the television. It was broadcasting loudly, "…a couple of genius musicians who live in an exceptionally high part of Accumula Town! Hello! Why are you living in such a high-up place?"
The screen switched to show a woman who then said, "I wanted to live in a house where I could make music without bothering anyone, but I also want to live close to the city and all its people."
I almost got totally distracting watching it, but I forced myself to look away and leave. A man's words from the television followed me out. "Also, I thought it would be nice if our music could ride the wind…"
Musicians in Accumula... Since I had lived in Nuvema all my life, I knew Accumula was the town on the other side of Route 1, but I had never actually been there. I had seen it at a distance, but it wasn't an important place to go. Now, starting my journey, it would be an important place. Maybe I'd even meet those musicians. See if their music could ride on the wind like the man wanted.
Outside my house, I took a deep breath of fresh air. I thought back to my mom since I had just left her. Maybe I should have said bye, too? I didn't really see a point in it. She knew I was leaving. It wasn't worth dwelling over.
Looking around, I saw Bianca turning the corner to the front of her house and Cheren going to stand in front of the lab. A flock of pidoves flew off, and I saw a woobat swoop from the sky to perch on Cheren's chimney. Night was definitely beginning to fall. The sun was entirely gone out of the sky, but strips of light could still be seen on the horizon. I began walking towards Cheren, and I slowly realized that Bianca would be late again, so Cheren and I would be alone together. I'd have another chance to admit how I felt.
As I approached him, I found I just couldn't do it. Nervousness was settling in, and my legs began to feel shaky. Despite how much I wanted to be alone with him, actually being there, actually saying what I wanted to… There was no way I could.
When I was closer but still at a distance, I waved at him and called, "I'm going to go check on Bianca!"
He nodded to show that he heard me, and I started a light jog towards Bianca's house. So, maybe I would never be able to tell Cheren how I felt. It was probably for the best. He probably didn't like me that way anyway. Since we grew up together, he probably considered me as more of a sister. When you grow up with someone, say, an opposite gender sibling, your brain releases a chemical that recognizes the person as being related to you, so you can't fall in love with them. Scientifically, that was supposed to happen also with neighbors and friends you grew up with too, so your brain recognized them as being "related," and you won't become smitten with them. Your brain considers them as your sibling. And dating a sibling is just wrong.
Yet, apparently, I just bypassed that rule by liking Cheren in the first place. Whoops.
When I got outside of Bianca's house, I stood outside the door for a moment to catch my breath. I hadn't been running that fast, but… I felt stressed. Even though I hadn't asked, I felt like I had been rejected by Cheren. Nothing had happened between us, but my mind was telling me that he turned me down. He didn't want me. With these thoughts in mind, maybe I shouldn't even go back to talk to him—to go to the professor. What was a pokémon journey anyway? Maybe I should just go get a job somewhere.
Forcing my mind to be blank of these thoughts, I turned the doorknob and opened the door to Bianca's house. I was greeted with a yell of, "No, no, a thousand times no!" I winced, and as I stepped in, I could see Bianca had nearly cringed. Her shoulders were hunched up as she faced her red-faced father.
Still, Bianca proved she had some strength in her and objected, "But, I'm… I'm a good trainer who got a pokémon and everything! I can totally go on an adventure!" She squared her shoulders up stubbornly and started walking towards the door. Although she was looking straight in my direction, it took until she was almost right in front of me to notice my presence. She looked shocked for a moment before she nodded with downcast eyes. "Oh… It's okay." As if she needed to convince herself, she slowly said, "…It's fine! I'll be waiting for you in front of the lab, okay?" She brushed past me and walked out. I gave a last look at her angry father before quickly following her.
As we walked into the lab with Cheren, Professor Juniper greeted us warmly, "Welcome! I've been waiting for you!" She laughed. "Let me introduce myself again. My name is…"
"Professor Juniper?" Cheren interrupted as politely as an interruption can be. "We know your name."
She looked at him, reprimanding. "Come, come, Cheren! This is not a time to take things lightly. Today is a day to remember always, so it's best to behave with some formality." She fixed herself with a cheery smile again. "That being so, once again, my name is Professor Juniper, and I am researching when and how the creatures called pokémon came into existence. And now, as for why I gave you all pokémon…"
Cheren interrupted again, "It's for the pokédex, right?"
Bianca leaned forward so that she could see him without me being in the way, and she gave him a confused look. "Pokédex?"
Professor Juniper, more happy to be interrupted this time, exclaimed, "I am astonished. Nice work, Cheren! You have already studied pokémon extensively, haven't you?" For the sake of Bianca and me, she clarified, "The pokédex is a high-tech device that automatically records the pokémon you encounter! So, I want the three of you to visit many places and meet all of the pokémon in the Unova region! This is my request. Hilda! Cheren! Bianca!" she addressed, "You'll go on an adventure to complete the pokédex, will you not?"
"Okay!" Bianca excitedly exclaimed. "I mean… yes, professor!"
"Thank you very much," Cheren said formally. I bet he had another handsome smile on his face, but I resisted turning to look. Cheren continued saying, "Because of you, I can become a pokémon trainer, exactly as I've always wished."
I simply nodded silently, and Professor Juniper accepted that. "All of you, thanks! You have given me the best possible answer!"
She handed each of us a pokédex, and I flipped it open to inspect it a bit. It immediately picked up on Snivy in front of me and relayed information on the screen about him, but Professor Juniper started talking again, so I closed the pokédex, planning to read more later.
"Next, I need to teach you how to meet pokémon. Please meet me at Route 1, okay?" Bianca and I stepped aside so the professor could walk by without having to go around us all.
Bianca turned her eyes to the ground as she recalled her oshawatt. Nervously, she questioned, "S-since the professor asked us, it's okay to go on an adventure, right?" I couldn't help but cast a worried look at Bianca. She wasn't considering backing out because of her father, was she? I mean, I guess that's as good a reason as any, but… She continued, "I can explore and maybe find out what I want to do in life. I think I'd like that." She looked back up, and I smiled gently at her.
Cheren agreed, "Of course. We can travel however we want while we complete the pokédex."
I nodded, recalled Snivy, put my pokédex in my bag, and started out the door, intent on starting already. Bianca followed eagerly while calling, "Heeey! Hilda, wait up!"
I was already stopped. None other than my mom was already standing outside waiting for us to leave.
"Oh, there you are! And…? What did the professor have to say?"
I was wondering why she thought the professor was supposed to tell us anything—we had just gone to thank her, but I pulled my pokédex out, and confirmed, "She asked us to complete the pokédex."
My mom gasped. "She asked you to complete the pokédex? I can't believe it!" Then she laughed. "Well, actually, I can. I already knew she was going to ask." She laughed again and stepped closer. "That's why I brought you three of these town maps. Take them with you! Here you are, Cheren. And one for you, too, Bianca." She handed me mine without saying anything.
Cheren replied, "I'll take good care of it."
Bianca's head had perked up as she was given one too, and she said, "Th-thank you so much!"
Ah yes, undoubtedly, maps would be handy. They were digital maps, battery powered, and I resisted flipping mine open to see what it was like. I'd be experiencing the Unova region first hand soon, and until then, well, I knew my way around town well enough. I didn't need a map for that. I could wait until I was out of the town to see what the map was like.
"As for your room, Hilda—or what's left of it…" She fixed us with an oddly happy smile that didn't quite match the subject matter of the ruins of my room. "No need for any of you to worry. I'll take care of tidying up. Okay, Hilda?" Yeah, she was going to clean it all up by herself? That smile definitely shouldn't have been as happy as it was. "Ah, pokémon. They are so cute, but they have enough power to destroy a bedroom! They are really something. With pokémon like that at your side, you'll be safe wherever you go! I'm sure you'll find lots and lots of places you like in the Unova region—and become wonderful adults! Have a great trip!" She gave us each a final smile before turning and walking back to the house.
Cheren looked down at his town map just as I had been, and Bianca and I turned to look at him as he looked up at us and spoke. "Shall we head to Route 1? The professor's waiting."
Eagerly, Bianca responded, "Let's go, let's go!"
Cheren and Bianca hurriedly began walking towards Route 1, and if they weren't clearly walking, I would have said they were racing since they appeared so hurried. I took a final look at the town I called home, and I followed after them at a more nostalgic pace. It was night time, and we were leaving on a pokémon journey. Maybe it would have been smarter to wait until morning, but why put it off? It was now or never.
Well, maybe they could wait just a few minutes. I pulled my notebook out of my bag and searched a bit longer for a pencil, and then I wrote down what had happened so far. Nothing much, but well, it was a start.
/-/-/-/-
As I approached the beginning of the route, I stepped on a random twig (to be honest, it was half-intentional; I could have avoided it if I wanted), and Bianca turned around at the sound.
"Hilda…" she called, "It's this way!"
I got closer, and she stepped aside so I could stand next to Cheren. As I thought about him, he turned and looked at me. "Bianca says if we're starting a journey together, she wants us all to take our first step at the same time."
Bianca scooted closer and more or less repeated, "Hey, Hilda! Let's all take our first step on Route 1 together."
"Okay," Cheren started, rolling his eyes subtly. "Here we go!"
"One," Bianca counted, "two!" On the count of three we all, synchronized almost perfectly, moved our right foot down onto the route.
We all let out a small laugh (mostly Bianca and me), and Bianca exclaimed, "Oh! I wonder what will happen! Isn't this so exciting?"
"It sure is!" Cheren agreed. "C'mon, the professor's waiting!" We all walked towards where Professor Juniper was patiently waiting for us. Cheren began, "Professor Juniper, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."
Just you? We kind of all are sorry, Cheren. Still, it was hard to get angry at him over misuse of words when it was Cheren. Even when he was just looking out for himself, he was still rather cute.
Professor Juniper didn't pay much mind to what he said anyway. "Now that everyone's here, I'll explain. The pokédex's pages update automatically whenever you meet a pokémon. Moreover, it's set up so that you obtain even more information when you catch a pokémon! To make this clear, I'm going to demonstrate how to catch a pokémon."
She walked into the tall grass, and as we watched, she found a wild pokemon, weakened it, and demonstrated how to catch it. As she walked back towards us, I noticed the shiny red of the pokéball reflected oddly well in the moonlight.
Professor Juniper asked, "Did you see that, just now? That's basically the way to catch wild pokemon. And to wrap this up in the best way, I have a gift for you—some pokéballs!" She handed some to each of us, and I put them in the top pocket of my bag so I'd have easy access to them. Easy enough, at least. To make sure she got the point across, she continued, "I'm going on ahead. I'll be waiting for you in Accumula Town! You might want to wait until morning though. Try camping out on the route—then tomorrow I'll see if you guys actually have what it takes to travel." She laughed and began walking to Accumula Town.
Cheren stared after her before turning to Bianca and me and saying, "I'm heading to Accumula Town, too."
"I think I'll go, too," Bianca confirmed with a nod. Really, guys? Had there been any doubt? Weren't we all going on an adventure together? Bianca looked peacefully happy for a moment before she spontaneously looked excited. "Wait a minute! Hey, listen! Hilda, Cheren, I thought of something fun!"
Giving credit where it's due, she usually was the one to think of the most fun things to do. My hearing perked up in interest as I wondered what she was going to say.
"But we need to get going!" Cheren protested. He was right, too. It was nighttime, after all. He continued, "We need to make sure we can go and get enough sleep because tomorrow morning, I'd imagine the professor will be waiting, and we don't want to waste her time by having her wait for us."
"Would you just listen a sec?" Bianca huffed. "Seriously! Why don't we see who can catch the most pokémon? The person carrying the most pokémon, including the one received from Professor Juniper, is the winner!"
"Huh," Cheren contemplated. "Actually, that sounds interesting. It will fill up pokédex pages, so I'm sure it will please the professor, too. Okay, then." He nodded. "Until we reach Accumula Town, take care of healing your pokémon at your own house."
I sneaked a look at Bianca and, as expected, I saw her wince a bit. She wouldn't be going back to her house—not with her father there. "Actually," I bargained, "Let's up the stakes a bit. No going back home. We stay on the route all night, and the only time we can leave is tomorrow to get to Accumula Town. If we can go home, who's to say we're not chickening out from spending the night on the route like the professor wants?"
Bianca and Cheren nodded their agreement to this new addition to the rules. I hoped I had a potion somewhere in my bag. Otherwise, as much as I knew Snivy was strong, we might not even make it to the end of the route.
Bianca smiled happily and started taking her first steps. "Me and Oshawatt will do the best for sure!"
She and Cheren began walking out onto the route. I took a few more moments to stay behind and write what had just happened. Would all of this really matter to me in the future? Sure, I was recording my memories by writing them down, but what was so serious about it anyway? All we were doing was trying to fill up a pokédex. How life changing could that be?
/-/-/-/-
If there was anything I was grateful for, it was the nighttime. I could feel the humidity in the air, and I knew that if it was day time, I would have been absurdly hot. As it was now, I was still sure it wasn't below eighty degrees, but without the sun shining down, that didn't seem too bad. Tomorrow though, I'd probably be travelling on Route 2 in the middle of the day. That couldn't possibly be enjoyable.
As if to rip me out of my thoughts, a lillipup barked at me. I jumped—it was night time, I was alone, and it was a loud noise. How could I not be momentarily frightened? Without much thought, I quickly tossed out Snivy's pokéball.
The lillipup crouched down—the shaggy fur around its head dragged in the dirt— and growled, and Snivy seemed to stretch up higher and kept its arms crossed in an "I'm too cool for this" gesture.
"Snivy, tackle!"
Snivy abruptly lunged forward and knocked the lillipup to the ground. The lillipup, in return, rolled them both over, jumped off, and then came back with a tackle of its own. In a way that almost made me feel bad about the battle in the first place, Snivy let out a cry from being hurt by the attack. Still, he got back up with determination in his eyes.
Yeah, I really hoped I had a potion with me. "Snivy, stay strong! Tackle it again!"
Snivy followed my order and tackled the lillipup a second time. The lillipup staggered a bit, bounded a short distance away, and then growled before running to tackle Snivy again. The sound of Snivy's previous cries echoed in my ears, and before I put much thought into what I was doing, I grabbed out one of the empty pokéballs and chucked it at the running lillipup in hopes that it wouldn't be able to hurt Snivy again.
Looking back, I should have been shocked at how I had actually aimed perfectly under pressure, but instead, I was holding my breath and staring at the wiggling pokéball on the ground. Just as the professor's had, the pokéball wiggled three times before letting out a small click. Feeling pumped with adrenaline, I ran up to Snivy and gave the small creature a hug.
"We did it! We did it! We did it!" I cried happily. I put the snivy down, and he looked up at me happily. I reached forward to pet his head and said, "Good job! If all our battles are so successful—especially with catching, we'll have the pokédex filled in no time!"
Snivy scooted away from my hand and rubbed his head where my hand had been while giving me another "I'm too cool for this" look. I wasn't sure what to make of that since it had looked happy only moments before, but then, you know, I probably wouldn't want someone rubbing my head either. That's a number one reason to wear a baseball cap all the time, right there.
Regardless, I smiled at Snivy again before getting up and looking around. The first thing I noticed was, of course, that I had left the captured lillipup on the ground. I walked over to it, crouched down, and picked it up. My first captured pokémon.
I turned around and opened the pokéball. The small lillipup came out and looked around. It saw Snivy, and it simply turned around to look at me instead. Snivy seemed to glare at it as it turned, and I wasn't entirely certain that the lillipup hadn't given it some rude look before looking at me instead. It was looking at me with a fairly neutral expression, but then it simply lied down on the ground in front of me and wagged its tail (thump, thump, thump) against the ground. Snivy came closer and simply stood next to the puppy with his typical expression. I smiled and recalled them both.
So, I had two pokémon. Lillipup seemed to be a bit at odds with Snivy, but hopefully that was only temporary. It was probably because Lillipup had just lost. Or didn't get to finish his attack. There were plenty of battle reasons to explain it. Hopefully, they didn't just dislike each other. What would happen if two pokémon on the same team disliked each other? That definitely wouldn't make this journey any more enjoyable.
I started walking along the route again, and I began wishing I had Cheren's sense of style. Or even Bianca's. I mean, sure, it was summer, but this tall grass was really beginning to get to me. I couldn't deny how I loved my shorts and my own sense of style, but having to constantly feel the grass constantly brush against my thighs was kind of awkward. To distract myself, I looked up at the sky instead.
The moon was out tonight, and it was a few nights short of being a full moon. It was still reasonably bright though, which was probably one of the reasons I wasn't bothered by all this walking around at night. I mean, I wasn't afraid of the dark or anything, but… I guess it's partly because of the way people are raised. We're told from early childhood not to go walking around at night, so it just seemed wrong to be doing it now. Maybe it's just a part of growing up. I rolled my eyes.
Bored, I started looking for constellations. I could see a few of the more obvious ones, but I never could see any of the ones like Bouffalant or Fraxure or Scolipede. Who saw pokémon in the stars anyway? Clouds, I could understand, but the stars seemed almost random. Even when I saw pictures of the constellations labeled with what they were, I still couldn't understand how it could be seen. But apparently they were. Maybe—
I had what seemed as less than a second to shoot my arms out to catch myself as I tripped towards the ground. Even catching myself, my palms stung and my knees were scraped. "Ouch," I whimpered, and I looked back to see what tripped me. Oddly enough, I couldn't see anything there. Did I trip over my own feet?
A sharp hiss to the right answered me. A patrat stood there with a rather upset expression, and I could guess from the dirt on only one of its sides that it had been sleeping, and as I was looking at the stars, I tripped over it. Well, I'd be upset too. It was standing fiercely and was baring its teeth at me. Despite how it had a vicious expression, I couldn't decide whether it looked more like a rat, as its named seemed to say, or a raccoon. The black around the eyes definitely seemed more like a raccoon.
It hissed at me again, so I quickly stood up and reached for one of my pokéballs and threw it. As the pokeball was in the air, I couldn't help but wonder if maybe I should have looked to see which pokémon I grabbed for, but well, it was too late now.
In a flash of light that didn't match the night at all, the lillipup I just caught appeared in front of me. Taking in the scene before myself, I ordered, "Lillipup, leer!" Considering Lillipup's weakened state from fighting Snivy, I probably should have gone on to just doing tackle, but Lillipup followed my demand and leered at the angry patrat. The patrat shrunk down a bit and lost some of its vicious expression, but then it suddenly jumped forward in a tackle.
Lillipup bared its teeth as soon as the brunt of the force was over, and as soon as I said, "Tackle!" he was darting forward, and in a rare opportunity of how the patrat was standing, Lillipup managed to hit its opponent right in the stomach. Patrat flew back, and I took this as the opportune moment to try and catch it. It was another addition to the pokédex, right? Taking aim, I threw an empty pokéball at the wild pokémon.
It missed. It came close, but it flew over where the patrat was and landed underneath a tree. Well, there were more where that one came from. And hopefully I'd have better aim. The second pokéball I threw stayed true to its course and enveloped the patrat in a white light. Out of what hopefully wasn't just sheer luck, the pokéball shook its simple three times and clicked.
"Good job, Lillipup!" I called to my battle partner. He came bounding up to me, and sat in front of me, waving his tail and panting. I scratched his head, and he took more of a liking to that than Snivy did. Well, the differences between dogs and reptiles were pretty large, so it made sense.
I left Lillipup outside of his pokéball temporarily, and he dutifully followed me as I retrieved Patrat and the pokéball that had fallen under the tree. Maybe, I thought, I should practice aiming some time. If I was going on a journey to catch pokémon and fill up the pokédex, it'd probably be good if I could actually, you know, hit the pokémon with a pokéball. I couldn't just keep getting all these lucky hits.
I put the patrat's pokéball in my bag's pocket, and after smiling again at the one who just won me this additional entry to the pokédex, I put Lillipup back in his pokéball and put that in my bag, too.
I looked idly at my cross-transceiver as I continued walking. It was 10:58. It seemed so strange to be starting the pokémon journey at night. Any time I thought about it in the past, I imagined it being the middle of the day or even morning. Starting at night… It almost felt like we were being inducted into some kind of spy group or even a cult.
I rolled my eyes at my thoughts becoming overdramatic out of boredom. Now that I knew to watch where I was stepping, I hadn't run into any more pokémon. They were likely all sleeping. I wouldn't be surprised if it was eleven by now. Bianca and Cheren probably went to sleep already too since we planned on meeting in the morning. It wouldn't be good to oversleep. Plus, if I woke up early enough, I could see if there were any other pokémon that showed up early in the morning but not late at night. It was a win-win situation to stop and go to sleep.
Still, when I finally decided to go to sleep, I found it difficult. Now that I was a pokémon trainer, I didn't want to stop even to sleep. With a sigh, I sat up and looked around. Without much of a wait, I found a rock. It was small and somewhat lightweight. Good enough.
I looked around and spotted a tree a short distance away. I spared a last glance at the rock in my hand before taking aim and throwing it. It missed the tree, but what did I expect? I jogged over to get it, and I jogged back. I threw it again, missed even worse, retrieved it, and came back again.
I did it over and over, and on the fifth try, I scraped the side of the tree with it. Maybe I should have simply tried getting closer to the tree, but I was beginning to like the challenge. On the seventh try, I hit it dead on. I kept trying anyway, and although my aim didn't seem to be making any vast improvements… it was a start. I could keep trying every day, and before too long, my aim might be considerably better. If I wanted to catch all the pokémon I could, then I had to try to do all I could to make that happen.
A/N: Well, there you have it! The first chapter of Shorts. What do you think? Too long? Too short even? Too much following the script? Any thoughts?
Any review, good or bad, is entirely welcome! Reviews make my day!