Enter Winding Paths
"It's 'cause we're poor."
"No. It's because we're orphans, remember?" his older brother correct.
"It's both, dummies. Don't you listen?" their sister argued.
The young siblings kept up the low mumbling as they got closer to their destination. The excitement of getting pokemon had kept them up all night nervous and anxious.
"Actually, it's because you three are very lucky. Lucky Professor Birch partnered with our grant. If it wasn't for him, no underprivileged youths would be going on a journey," the children's caretaker assured as he drove them into Littleroot Town. "And lucky because you three are the first children to be sponsored. So when we meet the professor, what are we going to say?"
"That we'll do our best!"
"Thank you?"
"Is he adopting us?" the older brother asked.
The car became silent with the weighted question.
"...No." The man's face fell as he broke the stillness. "He's providing all of you with trainer licenses and equipment so you can go on a journey."
"But I'm twelve, Lisy's eleven; we're too old to start pokemon training now," Leandro, the eldest pointed out.
"Yeah, we're too old. Rafy's the only one who's ten," the girl complained righteously.
"You are the smartest kids I know, you two will catch up in no time."
"That's why we were picked first, dummies. Don't you listen?" the youngest parroted.
"Are we here?" Leandro analysed, as they parked in front of an enormous, reflective building.
"This is it! Are you guys excited?" the chaperone asked but quickly continued. "Are we going to thank the professor?"
Three resounding 'yes' had him granting permission to unstrap seatbelts. They rechecked their backpacks and pockets one last time before they walked around the building to the tall entrance. A lush seating area could be seen through the glass doors and people in long white coats could be seen walking briskly through a distant archway. They were directed down a corridor to a large, machine filled chamber. Long, horizontal slits acted as windows, high up on the walls. A stocky woman with rich, purple hair acknowledged the group as they hovered near the entrance.
"You guys looking for the professor?"
"Yes, Anna at the front desk said he's expecting us."
"Are these the sponsor kids?" she asked.
"Yes..."
"I can get them their stuff, Professor Birch had to go put out a fire," she explained as she foraged through a PC bank on one of the computers.
The siblings whispered amongst themselves. Rafael, the youngest, was impressed the professor was a firefighter. The two older kids knew the expression as a common phrase and tried to explain it to him. Many more clackings of the keyboard later and pokeballs were spat out of a pocket under the PC.
"Here we go. Who's the youngest? Okay, c'mon blue eyes, you get to pick first," the woman offered.
The three pokeballs sat in holders on a table. Leandro, the oldest of the three, scowled as Rafael was given yet another advantage. Elizabeth, the middle child, was shushed before she could state her grievenses. The chubby blond boy skipped forward to peer estactically at the shiny capture balls.
"What's in them?" he squeaked in excitement.
"They're all the same type," the short woman stated, regretting not just handing each kid a pokemon.
"I'll take the first one!" Rafael crowed, trying to goad his brother, who was naturally first.
Leandro crossed his arms but only shook his head, use to the favoritism usually bestowed on his baby brother. His sister's face was pinched as the man standing next to her squeezed her hand in a plea for patience.
"That's a seedot. Alright who's next?"
"Leo, go ahead," the fatherly man advised. To the girl he said, "You can always catch a different one."
The boy quickly walked up to the table, brown curls bouncing, and grabbed both pokeballs. He enlarged the spheres and cast out both pokemon. A plum-colored creature with spiky blades of grass sprouting from its head formed from the bright lasers. The other was a rubbery, blue pokemon with a round headpiece that shadowed its beaked face. The boy kneeled and was finally joined by his sister. They both reached out to pet the pokemon.
"It smiled at me," Leandro said, glancing up at the lady for approval.
"Okay. And you'll take the oddish?" she asked the girl.
"Yeah!"
"What do you say?" Their chaperone checked them.
"Thank you!" all three kids cheered.
Once outside the caretaker gathered the kids for one last peptalk.
"Guys, this is a chance to rise above the hand you've been dealt. You can be anything you want, you just have to work for it."
Shortly after he was driving away, having successfully completed his part in the contract.
The children wasted no time summoning their new pokemon. They stood in the grassy dividers of the parking lot. The oddish was quickly digging a hole and ignoring his trainer. The lotad tucked his stubby legs under the shade of his lilypad, trying to conserve moisture. The seedot waddled around, appreciating the sunlight and greenery all around.
"Seedot, come here, let's be friends!" Rafael beconed. "Aw! Hey guys, look! Look he likes me!"
The older siblings ignored him as they tried bonding with their own pokemon. The strappy leaves shook when Elizabeth petted the top of her oddish. Leandro chewed his lip as he studied his shriveling lotad.
"He's shy, " Elizabeth marveled, anxious to be charmed after being unsettled by the bright red of her pokemon's eyes.
"What do we do now?" the youngest prompted, walking circles around his sister and her buried oddish. His seedot happily trotted after him.
"Now that we're trainers we have to go back and catch our pokemon," Leandro mused. "We can train these along the way."
"Back to Rustboro City? That'll take days!"
"Weeks, probably," Leandro sighed, worried about his pokemon friend's feelings. He'd explained what was happening, but wasn't completely sure the empath had understood.
"Wait let's battle!" Rafael squealed suddenly, and jumped around wide-eyed as if astonished that they hadn't already. He tripped over his bulging backpack but hopped up before his seedot could reach him.
"Don't cry when you lose," Leandro warned with a grin. "Lotad let's go. Growl at seedot and use tackle."
"SEEDOT USE TACKLE!" Rafael countered.
The tiny water-weed pokemon meeped out a noise that would never pass for a growl, but seedot stopped short. Neither of them proceeded further. Leandro quickly crouched to pet his lotad.
"Good growl."
"Do seedot learn growl?" Rafael asked.
"I don't know, I think everyone learns it at first," Leandro guessed.
"No, Rafy, your guy probably doesn't know growl. They probably don't know attack moves yet," the sister said as she stood from where she'd been kneeling. She dusted her hands on her shorts. "We shouldn't battle until we know where the pokecenter is, in case."
Her older brother nodded, but Rafael frowned.
"You're scared to lose. I think I won this battle," he declared and picked up his seedot for a congratulatory squeeze.
"No way I'm scared."
"You didn't win, we won. Lotad growled and seedot stopped. We won," Leo stated, grabbing the extended handle on his rolling backpack.
"Nope," Rafael argued, as he grabbed his own handle and started forward.
The boys walked ahead, bickering. The seedot trotted at the youngest's heels, while the lotad did his best to follow Leandro. A horrible shriek had them swirling around. Elizabeth was cringing away as her oddish's green leaves shuddered violently.
"What's going on?" Leandro asked, walking up quickly.
"I think it's stuck!"
"Did you pull on it?" Rafael asked as he knelt next to the clump of leaves, he was tempted to tug on it himself.
"Yes, a little...maybe a lot! It wouldn't come out!" Elizabeth admitted, face scrunched up with shame.
"Lisy," Leandro scolded. "You can't pull on it!"
"I'm sorry!"
"C'mon oddish, let's be friends!" Rafael tried his winning phrase.
"Shh, you're too loud," Leandro complained, waving them away.
He carefully scratched around the base of the clump to expose to purple plumpness of the pokemon. The oddish felt the sunlight and wiggled deeper into the ground.
"What's going on?" Elizabeth asked, scooting forward for a better view, her younger brother did the same.
"Shh, ugh. Give it space," Leandro demanded, physically pushing on his siblings.
"Hey!"
"Ugh, it's my pokemon!"
"Shush!"
The eldest boy took a deep breath and sat back on his heels. He chewed the inside of his bottom lip as he considered the situation. He frowned disapprovingly as his sister petted the oddish's leafy head. Rafael was twisted away, peeking in his backpack. It was several minutes before the boy gave up.
"Put it back in the pokeball."
"But I want to bond with it!" the girl wailed, frustrated. It's all she'd wanted to do!
"Well, it won't walk with us so put it back," Leandro insisted.
Elizabeth scowled to hide the tears brimming in her light, brown eyes. It was so unfair. She pressed the button on the capture ball and pointed it at grassy patch.
"Oddish return," she mumbled unnecessarily as the lasers highlighted the programmed DNA and drew in the pokemon into the first dimension for storage.
"Seedot can walk with you, Lisy," Rafael offered.
"Thanks."
It only took them thirty minutes to cross the small town. Littleroot was more of a research outpost, consisting of rental cabins and dirt paths. The handful of buildings were clustered in the biggest meadow of the vibrant forest and offered many close encounters with resident pokemon. Not two minutes out of town the kids had their first opportunity to catch pokemon. Scruffy zigzagoon were scraping it out over a fat, pink wurmple.
"Let's catch them!" Rafy hooted as he ran over.
His older brother had two gifted pokeballs at the ready. He handed one to his little brother and together they casted them. The capture balls opened up to outline the intended pokemon but scanned three different DNAs which activated the safety mechanism and deactivated them. The two startled zigzagoon fled, leaving behind a mangled caterpillar. The three kids crouched over the flailing wurmple. The worm pokemon wriggled in pain, and instinctually extended a stinger.
"It's all chewed up," Rafael whispered aghast.
He reached out to comfort the worm pokemon but was stopped by his sister.
"It'll sting you."
"We can't leave it like this," Leandro intoned steadily.
"I'll catch it."
Both boys looked up at at their sister as she picked up one of the pokeballs and reactivated it. Neither said a word as the bug was easily captured and encapsulated.
"You don't like bugs," Rafy pointed out.
Elizabeth shrugged.
"I don't have to keep it."
They looked at each other silently for a second. They'd just caught their first pokemon. Each sibling burned the experience in their mind, each remembering it differently. Rafy had captured the greenness of the forest and the sweet smell of the flowering trees. The rustling of leaves and the pure determination of his sister's face. Leo had noted the chirping from darting taillow as they chased each other through branches. The perfect dappling of the sun through the trees and the limp breeze stirring his sisters messy, brown hair as she aimed the pokeball. For Lisy the thrill of the catch included the sweat trailing down her back from the muggy air. The pressing gawks from her brothers. The peering, yellow eyes of the seedot she'd bonded with and the blank stare of the lotad. Then the release of pressure and overwhelming pride of succeeding and the approving looks from her brothers.
"I wanna catch one next!"
Route 101 hadn't seemed very long in the car, but walking through it was a completely different experience. There seemed to be wurmple on every blade of grass. They clung as they ate and bent the grass over themselves for cover, but it also disguised much-used zigzagoon trails. The tiny raccoon pokemon were speedy but not adept at making slight angles to dodge several pairs of feet. The children had battled dozens of them and filled their pokeballs with a racoon each. And taillow, who'd flitted through the tall grass for wurmple. Rafy had struck gold when a beautifly had zoomed out of the canopy as he'd walked by. They'd spared their starter pokemon by using the fresh pokemon they'd caught but by the afternoon everyone was exhausted.
"Um Leo, I think there's something wrong with Lotad," Lisy announced.
The older boy immediately looked over at his lagging pokemon. The lotad was trudging far behind them. His wide headpiece had wilted. It flopped around him, draping over his beak when before it had stood on its own, turgidly. The ends were curling as they dried out and a yellow tint was developing.
"Floistin!"
Leo rush to his pokemon, expertly stepping over hidden wurmple.
"He needs water!"
"Me too," Rafy bemoaned, exposing his white belly as he wiped his face with the edge of his shirt.
"Me three."
He ignore them and petted lotad. The blue pokemon croaked a noise between a burble and a quack.
"I guess you'll have to put him away just like Oddish," Lisy couched.
Leo sighed sadly and drew out the pokeball. His zigzagoon came to a tumbling halt next to him. Her mouth was bulging with pieces of wurmple.
"I guess it's just us three," he said, addressing the puny taillow swooping overhead.
"I'm hungry."
The two older siblings glanced over at their youngest brother disapprovingly, as if not mentioning the glaring problem had been under unspoken agreement.
"What? We haven't eaten since breakfast."
Leo sighed again.
"Alright, I just thought we could make it Oldale Town where we could have eaten for free."
"I get to pick first!" Lisy goaded, knowing it would result in an argument, but needed to assert her leadership in some area. Her older brother scoffed and interestingly Rafy just hummed.
They advanced on Rafy's pack which held most of the food, but the little boy backed away, looking reproachful.
"Um, so. Wait, so."
Leo scowled, anticipating a confession from the known glutton. Lisy narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"What?" they demanded together.
"Well I didn't know that we'd be going back for our pokemon," Rafy started.
"You didn't," Lisy accused, her fingers suddenly curved into claws.
"I had too!"
Rafy dragged the heavy pack behind him. The bulging bag twitched.
"Rafy, you idiot. You were suppose to carry the food," Leo remonstrated.
"I couldn't leave him behind like you!"
"What?!" the older brother snarled.
"He sleeps! You know how he sleeps! I didn't get to tell him before he fell back asleep. I didn't want him to wake up and not know!" Rafy rambled. "I didn't want him to think I abandoned him."
Lisy shook her head, but sympathy was waging war on her anger. She hadn't ferreted her pokemon in a bag because it hadn't been possible. The poochyena would have given herself away. But if she'd had an abra...
"Well, I didn't eat all my snacks. We can have that," she snapped, still at odds.
"You're so stupid. I said we would go back!"
"Yeah, but I didn't know!" Rafy squeaked, voice breaking with emotion. He was use to arguing, but having them both mad made him feel vulnerable.
Leo seethed. It stung not to be trusted. He was doing the best he could!
They sat away from each other to scarf down the measly sweet bars. In an attempt to unify them Lisy dug through her pack and pulled out a stolen treasure.
"I have this, so we won't starve."
Just then Leo's zigzagoon burst through the shrubs and spat out whole berries at her trainer's feet. Rafy's fat taillow flew over and dropped a fragrant flower. The three humans watched the petals drift down gently to the dirt before they realized what was happening.
"Thank you Fleta," Leo praised his tiny raccoon pokemon.
"A flower? Well, thanks! Swifty!" Rafy called after his bird.
The girl held up a pocket-sized book.
"This'll tell us what's good to eat."
"Where did you get that?" Leo asked, walking over.
Rafy looked around for this seedot and spied him hanging from a low tree branch, sucking down nutrients.
"I borrowed it from the lab."
"You stole it," Leo faltered, too startled by the building rage in his gut.
"No one's going to miss it!" she reasoned.
Rafy face was stretched in disbelief, eyebrows high, wide-eyed, mouth hanging open. Leo raked a hand through his matted brown curls.
"You stole from the Professor?! What is wrong with you? Do you ever think?" he raged.
"What?! I'm looking out for us. As far as I know the professor sabotaged us!"
"What's sabotaged?" Rafy asked.
"Are you crazy!?" Leo roared, beyond trying to understand. "I'm surrounded by dumbasses!"
Rafy frowned, but was relieved his mistake had been forgotten for the moment.
"They won't miss it, and we need it. We can always return it."
Leo's disgusted face had a stabbing affect on his sister. So she'd stolen something. It was unmissable, and she could always return it without anyone knowing. And she'd done it for them, in case they needed it, which they did. She'd shared her food and it was Rafy, Leo should be mad and screaming at.
"You don't steal. It's wrong." He seemed to plead, "How could you steal from someone who is given us everything? Pokemon. HOW?" He finished on a scream.
"Oh! I'm the bad one! Right because the professor cared enough to hand us pokemon," she mocked, releasing pent up frustration by trying her hand at sarcasm. "And oh, we'll be supported every step of the way!
"DO YOU FEEL SUPPORTED? 'Cause the only one supporting anyone is me!" Her face was red and angry tears rolled from her eyes.
Leo didn't respond for a long while. He just studied her. Rafy waited silently, not mature enough to realize he was relieved this blow up had happened between them instead of with him.
Finally Leo said, "There's something seriously wrong with you."
Her pouting face crumbled at the words. It didn't matter what she did, how much she tried no one appreciated her. She jumped up desperate to defend herself with a mouthful hateful words. Just then Rafy's abra crawled out of the backpack and stood, his sleepy eyes were wide awake and glowing eerily. Everyone paused as an energy touched them and a ralts materialized from thin air. She stood next to Leo, and reach up to hold his hand. Both psychics held a radiating hand out, in the classic signal meaning stop. They feared such strong, dark emotions out in the wilds would attracts ghosts. Specially now, when afternoon slid into early evening.
"Fine," she choked out, and dropped the book. She jerked her face away as hot tears ran down her face. She didn't see ralts' protecting hand turn and reach out, or Leo's reproachful face waver. She marched into the trees with an angry, righteous ball burning in her chest.
The ralts and abra helped alleviate the stress from the boys.
They instinctively felt the urge to soothe any negative thoughts and feelings. Together they managed to turn the broody humans back to their natural states.
"Let's battle!"
"No, we should set up camp. I think I can do the tent. Can you get firewood?" Leo asked, already looking through the packs.
"Okay, come on Shandris, let's get some firewood!" he waved to his piebald fox. The brown and gold abra took his time stretching then padded behind his unofficial trainer on all fours. He let his tail drag through the dirt to mark their trail. He'd foresaw Rafy getting lost.
"Antonidas, can you pick up on Lisy?"
The ralts shook her head. She would never be less than sincere with her trainer, but she also didn't like his sister and was relieved at her absence. Leo sighed, and the sad emotion echoed in ralts' delicate heart.
They sat around the fireless fire-pit and ate a buffet of fruits that their pokemon brought them. Rafy's zigzagoon, beautifly, taillow and cascoon kept an active watch while his abra, Shandris kept a passive watch as it levitated in a semi-permanent sleep. Leo kept his lotad, Floistin, resting safely in his pokeball while Fleta, the zigzagoon, scampered around keeping a perimeter around the group. Leo's taillow and ralts tucked in close to the boy's sides to add warmth.
Lisy hadn't gone too far, she didn't think.
Her bare legs had been scratched by brambles and stung. Her arms itchy from brushing up against shrubs and her feet were bruised from tripping over roots. The worst part was the paranoid feeling that something was following her. By the time night fell she was close to hyperventilating and had run out of pokeballs to throw. She had a taillow, two zigzagoon, a surskit, an oddish and a wurmple. All except the oddish were low in energy and unable to battle.
The sound of a twig snapping had her swirling around. Yellow eyes peered up at her.
"Seedot?"
The acorn pokemon blinked slowly and waddled over tree roots to her side.
"What are you doing here?"
A/N Ralts and Abra's names aren't mine! I'm pretty sure they're copyrighted. But it'll be significant to some, thanks for reading!