Skarm's story
It was a peaceful day in Odale town.
Taillow darted through the trees, chirping and singing. Wild zigzagoon nosed around, looking for berries to eat. The odd trainer, passed through en route to Petalburg. Odale was a fairly out of the way town, so visitors were a rarity.
A few of the travelers were nice and stopped to say hello to the children playing in the streets. The others, toughened by years on the road just ignored them, stalking by with powerful pokemon in tow. The young children stared at the trainers in awe, each wishing to be like that someday.
A small brown haired boy watched the newest trainer pass with a sigh.
The young boy's clothing were over sized and hung limply on the boy's skinny frame. The obvious hand me downs were streaked with mud and dirt from playing like any other kid but his facial expression was totally opposite what you'd expect. Serious brown eyes followed the older trainer's every movement. Gray did not appear to be a very happy ten year old.
He was quite old, this trainer sauntering down the road. Most Trainers fit comfortably into the age gap of late teens to early twenties. He was clearly a seasoned traveler, with ragged dark hair and a dark jacket that looked more brown than black. The pack on his back was fairly small, with several patches. Despite his haggardness, his face was cleanly shaven and shown to be actually quite handsome.
A huge Ninetales padded along besides him, continuously scanning her surroundings and giving her Trainer worried glances every so often. Nine fluffy tails waved softly in the sun but Gray knew better than to think they were harmless. Ninetails' tail Curses were quite infamous. Her golden fur gleamed softly in the sunlight, normally frightening scarlet eyes looked friendly and curious.
The man's face turned in his direction and Gray had to bite back a gasp. A long scar ran from his temple to his jaw before hooking sharply towards his mouth. It added to his battered appearance. His dull golden eyes stared at Gray, lighting up in mild amusement. Blushing furiously, the young boy realized that his mouth was still hanging open and clamped it shut.
"Fascinated by my scar, are you?" The man chuckled in a friendly tone, stopping before the boy.
Gray nodded wordlessly, still staring at the man in awe. Despite the admiration, he didn't move any closer, wary of the Ninetails.
"My name's Aerin and this is Vix." The Trainer introduced with a faint smile.
The beautiful ninetales bowed her head and approached the boy in sure steps. Before he could even move back out of range, she was in front of him nuzzling at his chest. Still in a state of shock he raised his hand to pet her in an automatic reaction. He paused, giving Aerin a glance. The man made an amused 'go on...' gesture and Gray let his hand ruffle the fox's head.
"It's so soft!" he squeaked in surprise.
Aerin chuckled lightly and approached to ruffle Gray's brown hair. "What's your name kiddo?"
"G-gray." He stammered.
"I'm sure you'll be a good trainer some day."
"I'm only ten! I have four more years!" he pouted, finally acting his age.
"Patience is a virtue." He chuckled, smirking at some hidden joke."Even though you can't be a traveling trainer till fourteen, its not against the law to own pokemon and train them at home, you know."
Gray perked up, hopeful that he could worm his way through the loophole in the irritating law. "Really?!"
"Yeah, Really."
"And believe me traveling is not as great as it seems." He added as an after thought.
Feeling a lot better about his predicament, Gray grinned. "Thanks mister Aerin!"
Coughing with embarrassment the older man stood up. "It was nice meeting you, Gray. I have to go, the road calls."
With a farewell wave the loner began to make his way towards Petalburg. The Ninetails faithfully followed behind him, tails swaying.
"Bye Aerin!" Gray squeaked, ecstatic to have met a full-fledged trainer.
Turning away from the sight he slipped away, down route 103. He felt full of energy and boundless ideas. The older Trainer was right! If he had four years to wait, then why couldn't he start now! Though because of his parents, Gray didn't own a single Pokeball. Despite that, he skipped carelessly down the trail. He whistled happily.
Before he even knew what was happening, he was bowled over by a gray blur with flashing teeth. Lying flat on his back, the black dog was lying flat on his chest smugly.
"Eve, you really need to stop doing that!" Gray pouted
The Poocheyana licked his nose.
"Ahh! Stop doing that, Eve!"
The female pokemon gave a canine grin and licked her human friend again.
"Come on! I met a really nice trainer called Aerin who gave me an idea."
The eager ten year old bounced to a stop before some bushes.
"I'm not fourteen so we can't travel but we're gonna train! So when we go, we can be plenty strong already!"
X
X
X
X
Two years later...
Gray sat on his front porch staring listlessly at the road.
Still quite thin, the boy had managed to gain some height in the two years. Somehow he had gotten some muscle with the constant training he put himself through. The boundless energy he had as a youngster was gone; it was replaced by a dull bitterness at the world that smoldered in his eyes.
Odale was not a very exciting place to live. Nothing happened here. The trainers the boy once revered were no longer so. He could watch the eager new trainers bounding through Odale. Some would stagger back days, even months later, shabbiness and defeat in the teenagers that returned home before their time. Some of them held an inner sadness, as though they had seen too much for their years and refused to accept it.
Gray watched them all pass.
Despite the failures he saw, he never saw Aerin again. Somehow he knew the man was still out there, dust covered as ever, with his Ninetails still padding along next to him. That knowledge gave him inspiration and even more determination to go traveling.
Trainers were few and far between. It was just a phase of youth, the parents said, and sent their returned children off to learn how to be businessmen and doctors.
Gray could hear his mother inside talking with his father. They thought it was a phase; they were preparing to send him to a school where he could learn to become something 'useful'.
Only he knew.
When the time came, he would never return. No one here understood his dreams, what he wanted to do. If they had their way Eve would've been thrown out long ago.
It is kind of hard to evict a Mighteyana dead set on staying where it is. So, to retaliate, Gray was allowed no other pokemon. He did not mind. Eve was the only friend he needed and there was no pokemon around the area he wished to catch anyway.
With a sudden burst of movement Gray rose and slipped away silently.
They would never know he was gone.
A sharp whistle brought Eve to him. The sleek and powerful Mighteyana bounded next to him. She had matured a lot in the years. Both depended on the other for comfort and companionship. They could read each other like a book.
Sensing her master's foul mood Eve remained quiet, waiting for an appropriate time to bring him out of his dark thoughts. She could tell he was thinking of running away again. His eyes were shadowed and his gaze remained fixed on the ground. Kicking moodily at the road he traipsed to the edge of town.
Nothing could touch them in the day or night; Eve was too strong for the weaker pokemon in the area. Barely hesitating they set off, up route 103 to find something for Gray to vent his pent up emotions on.
They didn't know it, but it would be the last time they ever did so.