Behavioural Therapy
Chapter 1 – From the Shores of Vermillion

The shore was still, apart from a few fisherman scattered about, hoping for an early catch. Akari was disappointed, though she supposed before sunrise was still too early for Vermillion's famous beaches to be crowded with off-season tourists and the locals. But while the bustling crowds and the noise they wrought could mask her own displays of excitement, a shout in the empty space would only serve to frighten the dregs of nightlife roaming close to the shores.

And the last thing she needed was Setsuna's father mad at her, considering that would deprive her of her travelling companion – and that would put her mother into over-protective mode and not let her go. A pout slipped onto her face at the thought, and she stamped her foot into the sand. Soft as it was, it muffled the action, and no-one was looking her way. Not that she cared if someone had been looking her way; a silent pseudo-temper tantrum was hardly loud enough to scare a Magikarp away.

Still, the near-empty beach was lovely in its own way, even if it was more the fishermen's thing than hers. She didn't think even Setsuna could prefer this over the lively day-time equivalent, but the grey ocean, before it was bathed by the rising sun, did make for quite a scene. It reminded her of a black and white photo, like the sorts her mother had, back in the day. Though she could only admire something that stayed still for so long.

She wished the Pidgey were awake at least; she could at least whisper to herself over their chirps. Even the pre-dawn sky was a monochrome of darkness, without a wisp of cloud or storm in sight. Though she knew if she whispered she'd talk, and then she'd shout; she was just that excited. Already, her stamping had morphed into a restless shifting of weight from one foot to the other: her little excitement jig, as her mother liked to call it.

And it would still be a bit before the sun rose – which was when Vermillion came alive. Akari huffed a little at the thought; why couldn't she have just slept in instead of waking up early anyway? She couldn't even put the TV on because her mother would be grouchy…and it was never a good idea to make the driver, or the mother, grouchy. And she couldn't listen to her Walkman, because she'd already buried it into her backpack and she wasn't looking forward to that again – though, she mused, if Setsuna's father was one of those white-shirt straw-hat fishermen, then she was free to wake up Setsuna.

She tiptoed closer to the fishermen to make sure, and when she confirmed the man with the grey hair and the Roselia pin on his hat, she backed away with the same care. Internally, she giggled: sneaking around wasn't something she often did, but when she did it, she did it well. And she'd had her share of fun sneaking up on her childhood friend – though, sadly, she couldn't pin down what in a long and straggly string of coincidences that had a tendency to follow was his quiet revenge.

She took her sandals off when she reached the edge of the beach, smacking them together to shake out the loose sand, then washed both under one of the small taps placed for the convenience of beach-goers – and probably the cleaners too, Akari mused as she slipped the wet sandals onto equally wet feet. It couldn't be a fun job to clean sand out of everything after all, while water evaporated easily enough once the sun was up.

She shivered a little though; the sun wasn't up at that moment, so the cold sea air was winning out. It still seemed strange to her she had to wear a thick robe over her pyjamas at night, but by midday she'd be down to a singlet and shorts. Though the footwear couldn't be helped; sandals and thongs were about all one could wear to a beach without them landing in the rubbish bin afterwards. But that didn't help her feet being a little chilled now. She considered heading back home for a towel, then decided against it. She was practically right in front of Setsuna's place; her own was closer to the other end of the city.

She tried the door, not bothering to fetch the spare key from under the doormat in case it was unlocked – and it was. Which meant Setsuna was still asleep, because he would have locked the door if he found his father had wandered off fishing without doing so. For a moment, she wondered how Setsuna's father would hold up without someone to look out for him, but then she reminded herself that nobody bothered trying to break into a fisherman's house anyway, her mother could handle the cooking side of things, and Setsuna's father was perfectly happy to do nothing but fish.

He might even be relieved, because she wouldn't be around to scare his fish away, and Setsuna was chasing his dream instead of playing a combination of housekeeper and bookworm. She knew her mother was partially relieved, and so was she; it seemed it had taken her forever to turn ten: the age she needed to be to qualify for a Pokemon license.

Lucky Setsuna was a few months older then her, but he'd been content to wait. In fact, if Akari didn't know better, she'd say he wasn't interested in moving beyond the cave just beyond Vermillion City or having Pokemon of his own, but it never took much convincing to get him to explore the nearby grasslands with her. Or the cave, though that had been an experience they decided they wouldn't be repeating in a hurry.

But she'd had her birthday a few days ago, and they'd be heading off that day. Her mother had a delivery to make to the Xanadu Nursery just outside Pallet Town, so she'd said she'd drive the pair to Professor Oak's in the process. Akari had tried to convince her mother to drive them sooner, but her mother pointed out she couldn't possibly make two trips in such a short period of time and still have her plants in their pristine condition. Lilligant could handle the garden overnight, but not for much longer than that.

She peaked in the kitchen first, noting with a mental laugh Setsuna's father had tried boiling the bread again. But as the bread was still in the pan of water, it confirmed her thought that Setsuna was yet to wake up. And indeed he was still asleep when Akari cracked open the door, though sadly not in any adorably embarrassing situation she could tease him about later. Still, if she managed to surprise him, she'd count it a victory.

'You've got a few extra white hairs since yesterday,' she teased in her normal voice – which her mother claimed should be her outdoors voice. Loud enough to be a surprise, but not enough to be hit for her troubles – because she really didn't want to meet her new partner with a bruise on her cheek.

'That gets old after the first few times,' the other mumbled, still half-asleep.

Akari frowned. It had worked last time after all. 'Your last response was something along the lines of "it's hardly my fault you've taken my share of hair pigment too",' she pointed out, wondering if she should go for the more direct approach and just jump on him…though her mother had been telling her girls only jumped on boys after they were married, and she was still at that age where marriage made her screw her face up and go: "yuck".

Setsuna mumbled something unintelligible and rolled out of bed, hitting the floor with a gentle thump. Akari slipped into the room, leaving the door free for the other to stumble out of – once he'd managed to track down his clothes. Which weren't too hard to find, as he'd been his usual organised self and left the outfit neatly folded on his desk – but that never seemed to stop him fumbling about with half-lidded eyes. Akari even had a few photos of that, though she hadn't packed them. Instead, it was her waterproof camera, because she could send the negatives home, and it would be a pain carrying around a massive scrapbook amongst more practical things she'd need.

Setsuna finally managed to grab his clothes and pull himself off the floor, and managed to avoid bumping into the wall on his way out, and Akari repressed a giggle. She'd only get a half-attentive response anyway – which most people would have mistook for fully attentive if it wasn't for that look on his face.

But fully awake was him back in about twenty minutes and a quick cool shower, dressed in earth brown pants, a grey shirt and a dust-yellow vest with convenient pockets and a hood.

'It's still cold out,' Akari said cheerfully.

'I noticed,' the other deadpanned, though it was warm enough inside the house when the doors and windows were kept closed overnight. The lack of sunlight streaking through light curtains was a giveaway as to the chill outdoors. 'Couldn't sleep?'

'Nope.' She plopped down onto his desk chair. 'Can I get some breakfast? I've been up for half an hour already. And not that boiled bread, please.'

'Boiled bread?' Setsuna repeated, before groaning and shaking his head. 'Dad…' He didn't finish the thought, instead heading for the kitchen and hoping there was something edible around. 'Want it in milk?'

'Uurgh.' Akari grimaced. 'No thanks.'

'You could just wait for your Mum,' Setsuna pointed out, checking the pantry. 'That was the last of the bread anyhow.'

'I guess we're having breakfast at my house after all,' Akari sighed. Not that it was a bad thing; her mother wasn't a cook by any means, so she usually brought fresh pastries from the bakery across the street. But Setsuna's mostly scatterbrained father was on a whole different level, and Akari really didn't get how the boy could try and salvage the odd meals instead of just ordering out.

Though, she had to admit, when his head was in the right place, he made a delicious grilled fish. And he wasn't the worst father to ever exist, not by a long mine. After all, her father had just walked out on the pair of them and started a new life elsewhere. She saw his name in the paper from time to time, but no phone calls, presents, visits or anything. Not that she really cared; she didn't know him, her mother enjoyed calling him every name under the son, and the pair of them had managed pretty well.

Setsuna's father on the other hand was about as committed to his wife as a man could get. So much so that he'd never gotten over her death. He tried to look after his son still: bringing the money in, doing the grocery shopping – which, for some reason Akari was yet to discover, Setsuna refused to do – and trying to do familial things like a family dinner every now and then. Most of his time though was occupied with fishing, either on the shore in the dim hours before sunrise, or out in his boat during the day. He was looking for a Feebas, he'd say distantly when asked – except when he was fishing, because the occupants of Vermillion City knew well enough not to disturb a fishermen when they were fishing.

Though, when she thought about it, it would have been nice if they both had the usual sort of families – like how she remembered Setsuna's being, before his mother had fallen sick and died. When she'd cook a delicious crab and invite her son's friend as well. When his father would take them out on the fishing boat sometimes (which he didn't do anymore, though they'd never asked). When the house didn't look so…drafty, and empty, and lacklustre. But then she saw the bread still soaking water in the pan, and she thought his father really did try do enough for both parents and mourn as well.

She knew that meant her parents had never really been in love; her mother saw men on and off, every now and then. She never seemed to care when she saw her child's father's name in the paper, except that she thought him rather irresponsible. It seemed to cheer her mother up, whenever she could go on a rant and snip at the rose-bushes, and then wish she could find a proper guy so they'd be the perfect family. Then she'd point out that her Gallade was as good as a father for Akari, minus the bread-earning part. It was Gallade who'd taught Akari how to spar, and play a few pranks, and given her piggy-back rides, while Lilligant was the clumsy older sister that pretended to be all grown up.

'What's wrong?' Setsuna had closed the pantry and was staring at her.

'Nothing,' Akari said automatically; it was a bad time to be feeling nostalgic after all, but somehow it always struck her when she saw the kitchen in its current state. It used to never be without the smell of fresh berries and warm Poke-block and fragrant flowers and mist…the last two coming from the Roselia and Froslass claiming their spots on the dining table. There'd be a Milotic and Meinshao too, but they preferred the backyard, and apparently there'd been a Pidgeot that had, after his trainer had settled down in Vermillion City, gone back to the wild forests.

But they were all gone now, set free by their trainer before she died. And maybe it was for the best, or maybe it wasn't. When Akari thought about how Setsuna's father was now, she figured he wouldn't have been able to handle four high level Pokemon as well as a seven year old son – and Setsuna had still been three years from becoming a trainer at the time.

'You're taking a while to think about nothing,' Setsuna pointed out, getting the milk out of the fridge. 'You looked like you'd be shoving food into my mouth and dragging my to your mother's truck.'

'Your kitchen is depressing,' Akari said flatly. 'Actually, your whole house is depressing, but the kitchen cinches it. Especially when there's some sign of your Dad doing something scatterbrained again.'

Harsh, but she figured it had to be said…just like every other time she said it. 'Come on,' she tacked on to the end, 'let's just watch the sunrise and then pick out the strawberry pastries before the tourists can eat them all.'

Setsuna paused in the motion of unscrewing the cap on the milk bottle. Sensing the problem, Akari revised her original plan – quite generously, she thought. Boiled bread sounded disgusting. 'How about you rescue that bread and we'll split, we'll eat them and watch the sunrise, and then we'll fill the rest of our stomachs up with the pastries as we drag your stuff over to Mum's truck.'

'That sounds good,' Setsuna said after a brief pause, setting about doing exactly that while Akari plopped onto a chair.

'Hurry it up,' she yawned, tapping her sandals on the wooden floor. 'You're going to see the sunrise in short sleeves?'

'I packed a jacket,' Setsuna replied in reverse order, 'and you can always help.'

'No thanks; I'm not going to be the one to pull your Dad away from his fishing.' She shuddered, remembering how scary the last fisherman she'd disturbed had looked. 'You know I've never learnt to cook.' It seemed to run in the family: an inability to cook. Though she hadn't inherited her mother's green thumb either. Setsuna wasn't a chef by any means, but he could make simple stuff like noodles and soup – which was what she had to look forward to on the road.

Seeing Setsuna about to pour the milk, she added: 'Make sure you get the pot and not your hair.'

A rather poor attempt to lighten the mood, but it worked out alright as Setsuna threw her cheap shot right back. 'I've heard all your jokes about my hair.'

'Not the one where that almost-white blond makes you look like a girl,' Akari pointed out. And there was a good reason for that too; it didn't make him look like a girl unless he grew it out past his shoulders. Considering it was neatly cropped up to the base of his neck, that wouldn't be happening in a hurry. 'At least you don't bother with my hair.'

'You mean those spiky pigtails that look like a Torchic's wings?' Setsuna asked.

Another wildly transparent attempt at trying to shift the mood, but Akari bit it. 'Oh, come on. My hair's redder than that.'

'Like Tamato berries?'

'My pigtails aren't that wild,' Akari pouted. She'd brushed her hair after all. 'What's that stuff taste like anyway.'

Setsuna offered a bowl of milk, complete with bits of soggy bread, floating in it.

'The things I do for you,' Akari said with a grimace, screwing her face up before tasting a spoon – and blinking. 'You put sugar in it, didn't you?'

'The only thing that makes the sogginess bearable,' Setsuna shrugged, pouring a bowl for himself. 'Your Mum won't mind us leaving the dishes over at her place?'

'Of course not.' Akari shrugged. 'She promised to check up on your Dad anyway, so she can drop them off then. More likely she'll be wondering why we haven't brought him along.'

And that's exactly what her mother was wondering, after they'd finished the first half of their breakfast on the porch and watched the sunrise and met her by her van.

'He's fishing,' Akari whined under her mother's disapproving stare. 'All fishermen go crazy when I interrupt them.'

Her mother looked at Setsuna, who shrugged. 'He was telling me stories about Mum's travels last night.'

Mother and daughter fell quiet at that, before Lilligant came with some pastries and broke the silence. Akari wondered what sort of stories they'd been: when Setsuna's mother had been alive, she'd told them quite a bit about her travels, particularly about the half-year she'd travelled with his father through the Delcotta Islands. But that meant they'd had some proper father-son time last night, and Setsuna's father had gone to sleep with head full of memories about his late wife.

Akari wolfed down her two pasties before Setsuna had gotten to the strawberry filling of his first. So did her mother, who was pawing through her bag while Akari washed her hands clean of stickiness.

'Go get Ryoushi,' her mother told her.

Akari glanced at Setsuna, who was still on his first pastry. A little slower than normal, she thought, but then she noticed he wasn't really looking at the pastries at all. Maybe he was thinking about his father – or having second thoughts.

She agreed and ran off, yelling over her shoulder: 'You owe me one, Setsuna!'

'You can pick first,' he called back to her, sounding relieved, and Akari grinned. Not that it really mattered who picked first, since they'd both decided on their Stater Pokemon and there hadn't been any conflict, but they'd been play-fighting about it anyway. She could have avoided it, since she was the girl of the pair, but she'd much rather get Setsuna to admit defeat on equal footing with him, not because he was being a gentleman.

Setsuna's father was on the beach where she'd seen him last, line still cast and box with two Magikarp and a Tentacool in it, and Akari was starting to wish she hadn't agreed so easily. She didn't fancy wearing herself out before a long ride – but she supposed she was going to distract him from his game at some point or other. It was a miracle, considering how much time she spent around his son, that she hadn't managed to disturb him already.

'Uhh…' she began at a safe distance, in case the fisherman, like a certain other fisherman, tried to hit him. 'Mr Taiyou?'

'Ah.' He turned around and smiled at her, wrinkles clouding his face. 'Kameyo, you're up early.'

Akari saw quickly enough why Setsuna had been avoiding this.

'I'm Akari,' she reminded, 'and we're leaving soon.'

'Leaving?' His face took on a befuddled expression. 'There's only Magikarp today. Not the right season for Feebas to wash up near the shores, I'm afraid.'

'Not for fishing,' Akari said impatiently. 'Setsuna and I are going to Pallet town to get our first Pokemon!'

It took a moment for that to settle into the other's mind. 'Ah,' he said finally. 'That's right.' He stood up, throwing his rod over his shoulder. 'Kameyo always said she wanted him to start out with a Feebas.'

Akari blinked at that; "always said" perhaps, but she'd never heard it. Then she realised the direction the fisherman was going in: down to the docks instead of up into the city. 'Mr Taiyou!'

'Keep it down!' a nearby fisherman roared, swinging his rod sporadically over his head, and Akari jumped, sighed, and tried to follow Setsuna's father. But he was off in his boat, trying to catch an elusive Feebas. A hopeless task; they almost never wound up in Kanto waters; the last one sighted had been the one Setsuna's mother had raised into that gorgeous Milotic.

She sighed and went back to the truck, now packed with her backpack looking far more evenly packed than her last night attempt.

'What happened?' her mother asked her, turning away from Lilligant for a moment.

'He went out into the sea to catch a Feebas,' Akari responded dryly.

Her mother sighed and shook her head, before coming closer. Setsuna was still finishing his two pastries, though his eyes had flickered towards her to hear – or see – her success. Or failure really.

'Did he call you -?' her mother asked quietly.

'Kameyo?' Akari asked, making sure to keep her voice down as well. 'Yeah, he did.'

The woman sighed. 'I suppose some wounds don't heal,' she said, before turning back to the truck. 'Lilligant, I trust you'll hold the fort?'

Lilligant replied with a nod and a cheery wave. Setsuna finished off his pastries and washed the stickiness off his hands too. 'Dad's out fishing?' he asked, tone somewhat sad.

'He is,' Akari's mother replied. 'You should try calling him once we stop at a Pokemon Centre.'

'Okay,' Setsuna replied, and even Akari found her morning excitement down the drain.

It was her mother that clapped them both on the back. 'Cheer up,' she said. 'Think about it; you'll both be rid of us old geezers for a good while.'

Akari grinned at the thought. 'No more curfews,' she teased. 'And brushing my teeth, and –'

'Oh no, young lady, you'll be brushing your teeth and Arceus help me if I find out you haven't been –'

'– what's to miss?' Akari finished, pretending she hadn't heard her mother's mock scowl.

The florist sighed, shaking her head with half a smile. 'You'll see, once you two are on your own you'll be missing your one and only parent.'

'I miss him already,' Setsuna said softly, looking out towards the harbour, the blue just visible past the roads. 'I guess it's a good thing he didn't come see me off; I might've just gone back home with him.'

'You'd better not have!' Akari cried, shocked he'd even think it – before realising what he said hadn't been so outrageous after all. 'We'll be together,' she pointed out, in a more reasonable tone. 'We'll have fun like we usually do, and we'll be fine. And your Dad and my Mum'll be fine too. Who knows, maybe they'll get married without us kids around.'

Akari's mother rolled her eyes and shooed them both into the back-seat. 'Gallade's riding shotgun,' she informed them. 'And you two don't start thinking about marriage until you're old enough to get married yourselves, got it?'

'Yes, Mum,' Akari sang, though she poked Setsuna and made him grin too. 'Just think,' she said, 'you'll have your chance of teasing when Mum drops us off.'

'Like when she drove us to that summer camp?' Setsuna shot back.

'What summer…Setsuna!'

Akari's mother laughed at her daughter's red face. 'He got you there,' she said, before sneaking a peak at the boy in the back-seat. 'And don't you worry about your father; the sea'll do nothing to him, and Lilligant and I'll watch him on land for you. You know he's not normally this bad.'

'Yeah.' And Setsuna half smiled as he snuck in a last peak of the harbour, where his father was still trying to make his ten-year elusive catch. 'I suppose this is his way of saying he loves both of us.'

Akari could accept that, even if she didn't quite understand that angle of family dynamics, considering mother and daughter were usually quite forward. What she couldn't do was leave Vermillion City silently. The minutes ticked away as their mother did a final check on everything – including seatbelts, during which Gallade struggled a bit as he always did before she securely strapped him in – and made sure Lilligant knew what plants needed what sort of attention, and what was not to be, under any circumstances, sold to a begging tourist. She'd starting humming an upbeat tune as well, something that couldn't possibly keep anyone frowning, and Akari found herself humming along, drumming her fingers on the rolled down window.

The giddiness factor was rocketing sky high, and by the time her mother started the engine, it was full to the brim. 'See ya, Vermillion!' she shouted, the engine barely obscuring her loud voice.

Some tourists hoping for a pre-breakfast swim stared at the truck. Akari's mother laughed. 'The city's not going to hold its breath,' she said. 'And once you two are on the road, you'll forget all about this being your first metaphorical step out of the city. It's when you get your first Pokemon that matters.'

'Don't rub it in!' Akari cried. 'We won't get to Pallet Town until almost dinner time.'

A/N: Notes on the OCs:

Setsuna Taiyou and Akari Sakuraguchi are the two main OCs you'll be seeing. Setsuna's an androgenous name (there's a male Setsuna in Angel Sanctuary, for example, but a female one in Sailor Moon). Part of the reason behind his name is his hair, but there's more to it. Akari's naming also has more to do with just her appearance, but partially do do with the fun fact that the two Akari's I know in anime both have red hair (Akari Hinomoto from Digimon Xros Wars, and Akari Tsukumo from Yugioh ZEXAL).

Setsuna's father, Ryoushi, is named with the word that means fisherman in Japanese. Simple enough, since he's a fisherman. The surname he's passed on to his son has more do do with the person Setsuna's mother fell in love with. Taiyou means sun, or sunlight.

Setsuna's mother's name is an ironic one: Kameyo, meaning tortoise, the symbol of long life.

The surname "Sakuraguchi" has partially to do with the "Sakura" flower: its pink, relating once again to Akari's hair, as well as her mother's work by being a flower. The "guchi" portion refers to a portal, or an entrance/exit. Considering the two Sakuraguchi woman are both independent and not, it seemed like an interesting idea.

This chapter was mostly from Akari's POV, so there'll be more of Setsuna in the next chapter.