Life. Every second and minute is full of life. You wouldn't imagine what would happen if there was no life. Probably an eternal abyss. Or maybe a wasted abandoned world. That would probably happen when one being or person robs that element from everybody. Isn't that cruel? If you don't think so, then you're probably one of those maniacs around the world. Robbing a life is a huge crime. Robbing anything is considered to be bad, but taking a life from somebody is even more horrible. The victims suffer a lot after that, which could result into death, suicide, mental injuries and etc. And I'm one of those people who experienced this.

My name is Jason, and I'm 16 years old. I live in a decently quiet place in Kanto called Pallet town with my parents and a little brother. Or should I say I USED to live there. What I'm about to tell is not an ordinary story or a fairy tale, what I'm about to tell is what happened to me, when I got robbed of the life that I wanted.

It all started one afternoon, one sunny afternoon. And ironically, this afternoon was also the afternoon of the last day before summer break.

"Jason, are you snoozing again?"

"Sorry, Mrs. Snodsbury."

I was sitting at the history class. For some weird reasons, the teachers of "Pallet Town High School of Hope" were always strict at the last days before vacation. I was surprised because in most of the other schools, the teachers were actually easy-going at the last lessons. Hmm, who knows? It could be because the town is small.

Mrs. Snodbury was one of the strictest teachers I've ever seen. I assume she was at her early 50s, the wrinkles on her forehead and cheeks easily noticed. Her curly light brown hair looked messy, as if she didn't wash it for 1 month. Her way of teaching was very annoying to the most of our class, as she tended to yell almost every time she heard a small whisper in the class or saw somebody inch towards an another student. "It was as if she had very developed ears and eyes", joked about Mrs. Snodbury's behavior Phil, one of my friends and classmates. And moments ago the history teacher caught me for goofing during the boring Spring Semester History Review.

"Will this lesson ever end?" I muttered to myself. History was hard and boring. And the last day of the semester is not the best day to take tests, in my opinion.

"Chill, dude. After this, we'll be outside having fun, kay?", whispered a voice. I glanced backwards, noticing a familiar black face.

Phil was the same age as me, being classmates for a long time. We stuck together a lot, usually hanging around in the park or in each other's houses. He had a dark brown skin, though his hands were brighter. His hair was short, almost bald. He recently got himself a haircut, but I could notice how he wasn't satisfied with the local hairdresser's 'skills'. His eyes were brown, the color very similar to a common acorn's shell. Today, he was wearing blue jeans, a yellow t-shirt and a checkered red and white jacket. His legs were shaking because of eagerness and boredom; I could notice his leather sandals were experiencing an earthquake, a made by human legs earthquake.

"The bell will ring in 2 minutes. So stop whining." A guy on the right from Phil added. Mark. He had unusual gray hair and gray eyes. His skin was also slightly tanned, almost like mine. He wore a blue jacket with buttons and black pants this day. He had a white bandana around his head, which reminded me of a karate master from the dojo. His green cap was nowhere to be seen: his usual trademark cloth.

"Alright, stop it. You say as if I'm a lost mamma boy." I joked. I heard a slight chuckle from my right. "And YOU are the original mamma boy, Fred." I added.

Fred was a boy year younger than me with shaggy light brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a long –sleeved purple shirt and blue, like most of the boys in our school like to wear, jeans. He also wore sneakers, like Phil, but with a Spike trademark on it. Fred was a huge fan of the Spike brand. You wouldn't believe me, but all of his shoes in his house were made by Spike. Fred was also quite lonely. He was ignored often in school and had almost no friends. The only people to talk with him were me, Helen and Phil. And still he looked so lonely.

"Hey!" I heard him protest. All 4 of us laughed. And as if on cue, the bell rang. Mrs. Snodbury hastily made her 'last lesson speech' and, soon, we were off, away from the classroom.

"So what's the plan?" I started, others approaching the lockers' room.

"Wanna hang out tonight, everybody?", I heard Phil suggest loudly. Phil was one of those guys, who people adored a lot. He would joke occasionally, when people were down or were in a mood for jokes. And, he was a party maker. Once, our class prepared a birthday party for our favorite teacher, but the idea and most of the plan was suggested by Phil. So it was common that Phil would suggest a party once in a while.

I heard agreements from most of the people. I reminded myself to tell my mom later that I was going for a hangout with my classmates. Anyways, we quickly packed our stuff, headed outside to discuss more about the upcoming event. We all decided to meet up at 8 near Phil's house. After that, we all went our own ways back home. I, Phil and Fred were living in the same neighborhood, so I actually had some companions on the way back home. Oak Street wasn't very far away for it took us barely 10 minutes by foot.

"So Jay, what do you plan on this summer?" Phil asked me.

"Nothing much. I might visit my dad this month." I said. I remember hearing my mom talking to my dad through the phone yesterday. I can't help but wonder now why were they talking on the phone for a long time. "Why do you ask?"

"Fred here wants to go for a trip around Kanto." Phil said. I laughed when I saw Fred trying to stop Phil from continuing by punching him lightly on the shoulder and mouthing 'don't' towards him. "He wants to compete in this summer's league-"

"Mark told me to try it! I didn't agree YET!" Fred interrupted. His cheeks were cherry red from embarrassment. I remember once I also wanted to go for a pokemon journey, but I changed my mind. Or should I say, my parents made me change my mind. They didn't want me to have anything to do with training pokemon They wanted me to become a scientist or a doctor. Come to think about it, I totally forgot about the pokemon journeys. I wonder if it's too late to go for it now? Surely it would be fine to go.

"Anyways, I was thinking if you would like to have a stroll around Kanto this summer? And maybe see Fred's progress too?" Phil asked. It wouldn't hurt to have a road trip with my friends. And I could visit my dad on the way.

"I'll think about it." I answered. "Are you coming?" Phil looked at his hand and moved his fingers in a pattern, as if he was counting something. Apparently, he really was counting.

"Yeah, I'm coming. Mark too. And…" He grinned. "Probs your girlfriend and her friends."

I punched his shoulder lightly and looked away, my cheeks blushing fire red. Only some knew that I had a crush on a daughter of one of the richest families in Kanto. Helena Philips was the same age as me and about an inch smaller than me. She had long blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. Today I saw her wearing a red and purple dress and black high heel shoes. I knew that dresses weren't her style for she usually preferred pants over skirts. Plus, she looked more beautiful when I saw her once riding a horse, wearing a blue jacket and black pants. Her smile then was so cute, I still can't forget it.

"Awww, look who's blushing now." A teasing voice brought me back to reality. I turned around. Phil and Fred were laughing slightly. I only rolled my eyes. "And look, she's walking right there." That sentence grabbed my attention as Phil pointed his finger on a blonde girl in the distance. I grinned.

"See you on the party, guys." I hurriedly said before dashing along the Redwall Street. I ran and ran, for I hoped to catch up to her. My sneakers stomped on the asphalt floor, making huge noises and attracting lots of attention from nearby people. I didn't care what others' reactions were. I just wanted to talk to her for a moment. I was some feet away when she finally turned around and looked at me. I slowed down, catching my breath for a moment. Then I looked at her.

Helena was still wearing the dress I saw her on today. She was wide-eyed for a moment, but then a smile appeared in her face. Her sweet smile that made everybody happy. Her sweet smile that could turn the unhappiest into the happiest.

"Hey Jason, what's the hurry?" She asked. I nervously laughed and straightened myself. I wasn't a good conversation starter, so the only answer that came from my mouth was air. I slightly chuckled as I saw Helena covering her mouth and laughing a bit.

"Came to escort the princess back home." I joked. Helena slightly chuckled as she kept whispering 'silly' about me. Helen was one of the people I knew the most about. We weren't officially a couple, but we were very friendly to each other. I would usually see her talking with girls like Faith or Kelly whenever I approach her. I have a crush on her, but I never had the guts to ask her out for a date. Phil once offered a blind date for me, but I refused, knowing that he would bring Helena as my other dater. I appreciated his offer, but I just didn't want to act yet.

"Are you coming to the party?" I carefully asked. If she was coming, I was planning to make a small surprise for her. Mentally, I crossed my fingers that she would say yes. She had to come. I finally wanted to do something for her. I nervously breathed in when she opened her mouth. But as she was about to answer, I heard somebody call her.

"Helena!" An another familiar voice cried. Great, I was about to get an answer from her that I needed. Annoyed, I looked across the road to notice 2 of my other classmates. There stood the only girl with red-hair and brown eyes I knew. She was wearing light blue jeans and a white ski jacket that I thought was silly to wear in this hot weather. Well, at least it was unzipped for I could see a red t-shirt with something written on it. The other classmate was a boy, who also had a winter outfit: a black scarf around his neck, a black coat and black jeans. Plus, his hair was shaggy and black. I remember when I first met this guy, I thought he was an emo. He is unusually quiet, but he occasionally comments - sometimes seriously, sometimes jokingly. Come to think about it, I'm not sure if he's coming to the party.

I watched as my 2 classmates crossed the road and greeted me and Helena.

"Hey, Mark asked me to tell you something." Said the red-haired girl cheerfully. That sentence alone was enough to let me know what was she going to say.

"Faith, don't." I quietly whispered. Faith ignored me, or possibly she didn't hear me.

"He asked if you could come tonight to the party. For sure." Added the boy. I raised my eyebrow. This was not what I expected. Well, at least Chris didn't say what I thought he would say.

"Uhh… Sure?" Helena answered, a tone of confusion in her answer. "I'll come, but is there something wrong?" She gently asked.

"I don't know either." Faith said, shrugging. I had slight feeling that it was about the trip Phil mentioned on the road. Or maybe something else. Eventually, I decided that it was about the trip.

"Okay." I said, sighing. I decided that I would have a private talk with Helena during the party. That, and my little surprise I was preparing for her. I will finally have the guts to ask her out. I will finally have the guts to tell her my feelings.

"See you guys in the party." I said and waved goodbye. Then I turned right and away from them. Today will be the time when Jason McCain will finally ask Helena Philips out for a date. And I won't back away like many other times. I smiled as I walked along the street, thinking about tonight's events to come.

Pallet town was smaller than other cities, but there were enough buildings to make people think it was a city. There were backstreets, which were rarely used by people because of the foul smell of the garbage. Some people would use it for shortcuts, others would avoid people through the dark corners. And somebody was using these paths for their own use.

A man was quietly smoking in one of these streets. He watched the almost empty street with concentration. 3 figures were walking there, 2 of them chatting busily. He straightened his old brown coat and walked out of the alley, tossing his cigarette into the trash can. He padded across the street towards the 3 unwary teens. But he didn't confront them; he stayed back and quietly followed them. The chattering could be heard now from where the man was.

"So where's the party going to take place again?" A girl asked.

"I told you. At Phil's house." He heard the boy on the left say. "See you there." Then he walked across the street to the left. The man quickly decided to follow the unwary boy. He grinned as he finally found a perfect timing to accomplish what he was ordered to do.

Just you wait, Chris Trims. We'll have a party tonight. The man laughed to himself as he quietly walked and followed the boy. His FIRST target.