Human Soul, Pokémon Heart


Chapter 1: Not the Way I Planned It


An alarm clock rang in that bright, chirpy, irritating way alarm clocks have. Alarm clocks are rather like grocery store clerks; it is part of their job description to be excessively cheerful at all times. If this particular alarm clock were to be endowed with human feelings, it would have been observed to cringe, as if it was expecting at any moment to be violently turned off, stuffed under a pillow or maybe even tossed across the room. It appeared to wait tensely for a moment. After an uneventful pause, during which it stopped ringing, it cold be said to open an eye cautiously, as if confused by the lack of instant suffering.

Were this clock actually alive, it would have seen the room's inhabitant, usually the one who inflicted the aforementioned indignities upon it in a zombified morning grump, jump eagerly out of bed with a shout and proceed to get dressed with uncommon alacrity, not bothering to turn of alarm off.

This was Merenwen Anwarunya, and today she would be getting her first Pokémon.

-.-.-.-.-

"Bye Mom!" Merenwen called, preparing to dash out the door.

"Wait, Merenwen!"

Merenwen froze mid-step and sighed inwardly.

Merenwen's mother came scuttling up behind her. "Are you sure you've got everything you need, dear?" She fretted.

"Yes, Mom," Merenwen did her best not to sigh. She knew her mom was just worried, but they'd been over this dozens of times. It had been difficult enough to convince her mother to allow her to leave at all; she thought ten years old was much too young to be leaving home, but Merenwen had protested and begged and finally brought in Professor Birch to testify that most trainers begin at ten. Merenwen was allowed to go, but that was just the start of her mother's worrying.

That was two months ago. Between her mother's fussing and Professor Birch's advice, Merenwen was sure she had everything she needed. She tried to tell her mom this. "I'm ready Mom, really. I've been preparing for weeks." Longer, really.

"Alright. Are you sure you don't want me to walk you there?" She tucked a loose piece of brilliantly red hair back behind her ear. She kept it short, but it still managed to escape when she was worried. Which tended to be often.

Walk me there?! Merenwen thought. "Um, that's okay, since we live in the same town as Professor Birch's lab I think I can make it. I go there all the time." she declined her mother's offer politely.

"Well all right, if you're sure..." her mom stressed. "I'm just sorry your dad's away on business right now."

"It's okay. I said goodbye to him before her left. Bye!" Merenwen adjusted her backpack as she stepped out the door. She was finally on her way!
-.-.-.-.-

Merenwen hummed as she headed across town. Finally, her first Pokémon! Little Root Town was really small, so she would be the only new trainer getting a Pokémon today. But that was okay with her; it meant she wouldn't have to worry about getting there first or fighting for the same starter as another trainer. She already knew which one she was going to get. It was such a perfect day to start a new life, too! Merenwen shielded her eyes to look at the sky. Such a pretty blue. She watched a flock of Taillow winging their way across the sky. Hmmm...maybe she would catch a Taillow. She stood for a moment, watching the swift bird Pokémon. One of those would be useful, she reasoned. She grinned, thinking about all the Pokémon she could catch, and was about to start on her way again when the Taillow flock she had been watching suddenly broke up in confusion. They scattered frantically, and soon were nothing more than vanishing dark blue dots in the bright sky. Merenwen frowned, wondering what could have caused that. And then she heard a helicopter.

She spun around, and there it was, a large gray helicopter making its way slowly across the sky. Merenwen wasn't the only one to stop and stare. Something so sophisticated anywhere near this small town was a sight to see, although Merenwen didn't think it looked like much. It was so clunky-looking, an ugly steel gray with a fancy red letter "R" painted on the side. Merenwen wondered what company it stood for. And then she wondered what was wrong with the helicopter.

There were few people out, but they too had stopped and were staring at the unusual sight. The aircraft was clearly listing to the side, and one of its rear blades did not appear to be spinning. Merenwen was just wondering if it was going to crash when, to her and everyone else's immense surprise, a hatch at the back of the helicopter swung open and something fell out! Merenwen gasped and, almost without thinking, started running for the place where the object was headed. The closer she got, the more she could see it was some kind of box...with a grill in the front...some kind of cage? As it neared the ground she realized how fast it was going and almost stopped. But if someone didn't catch it, it would probably break apart when it hit! And who knew what was in it? As Merenwen dithered, wondering if it would be safe to try and catch it, the box hit the corner of a rooftop and came bouncing off, clanging against a lamppost and bouncing off of a storefront canopy before finally heading to ground. Merenwen made her choice and dived forward to catch it at the last second. "Oof!" she gasped as the box hit her in the stomach, but she managed not to drop it. As she slid across the ground from her dive, she winced and regretted her decision to wear shorts that day.

"Ow..." she muttered, climbing slowly to her feet. She looked down at the mysterious box, then back up, looking for the helicopter. It was already past the town, moving farther away into the blue, like the Taillow. Merenwen could dimly see the open hatch still swinging, and worriedly thought that whatever this was must have fallen out by accident. She looked at the box again, hoping that Professor Birch would know what the "R" stood for and how to deliver this back to the people to whom it belonged. She started for his lab again, examining the box. It seemed to be made out of some type of hardened plastic, and it did indeed have a metal grill covering one side. There was a lock on the grill, she noticed. It definitely seemed like some kind of cage. Feeling she was starting to worry as much as her mother, Merenwen thought about how far the cage had fallen and suddenly wondered quite desperately about the creature inside. It was light, so maybe it was empty, but...Merenwen turned the locked side to face her. There did seem to be something in there...a faint groan sounded from the cage, nearly causing Merenwen to drop it in shock. Quickly, but as gently as possible, she turned the opening to face the light. And gasped at what was inside.