the next crash of thunder sent two heartbeats screeching.

a small boy, age nine, pressed against the lone glameow in his house, both of them scared out of their minds.

they were in the basement, pressed up against the wall opposite of the stairs. the boy had come down before the storm had really begun, finding himself trapped when the noise became unbearable, because surely it was worse upstairs. and it wasn't long after that the small, two-month-old glameow bounded down the stairs, found him, and tackled into him, also frightened by the weather.

and so the two sat, huddled against each other, while the clouds outside fought and growled. although it took awhile, the two eventually found themselves asleep.

the boy woke up to the glameow licking his cheek. in front of him, the carpeted staircase was lit up with the light streaming in. it was morning. and so the storm was over.

or so they thought.

glameow took to the stairs first, slipping up with a grace the young pokemon should not have possessed yet. the boy was a little hesitant, but followed nonetheless.

it was only when the boy was halfway up that he darted, taking the stairs two at a time, for the screech of young glameow had reached his ears.

he didn't have to search far. only a few yards away, glameow stood, crying out. beside her was the bodies of her parents. although the carpet was also a dark red, the color was printed on various spots of their clothing, making it impossible for the boy to think otherwise of the situation.

and so he covered his eyes and screamed.

13 years later

"August? Hey, August, hello?"

I snap my head up to the concerned look of my aunt. "Was I spacing? Sorry. Ahahaha."

She rocks her head, pressing two fingers to her forehead. "Seriously, August. It's been five years since you left and to this day i still have doubts on whether or not i should leave you alone."

i hold my hands up "oh, no no. don't trouble yourself with me. i'm doing great, really!"

"Oh, say, did you ever get those pokemon from that professor you had been talking about?"

my eyes light up. "yeah i did! you wanna see?"

she scoffs. "seriously august. you can be such a child at times."

"oh come on." i grab her hand, pulling her up. "they're right in the next room. i needed to check up on them anyways, so there's no harm."

"well, if you say so."

and so, in the next room, professor augustine -august for short- sycamore and leanna, his aunt, of kalos, come face-to-face with three pokeballs. each held a quite rare pokemon from the kanto region.

i pick up one of the balls, then hesitantly grab the other two, releasing all three pokemon at the same time. as my aunt stands in awe at their sudden appearance, my hand reaches back to a quite crowded desk, moving things aside until i find a clipboard with notes on the kanto pokemon, setting it on top of the mess in case i needed to jot something down.

then i raise a hand at the three pokemon. "hey guys."

they all turn away from leanna's gaze, calling out a greeting to me. i reach down and scratch one on the head.

"so", i say, still slightly on the ground. "this one is charmander." my hand motions to the orange-coated starter, bright green eyes glittering up at leanna as he raised a paw and called out a greeting to her as well. his tail swished from side-to-side as he got excited, but was still mindful of what was around that could catch fire with the flame on the end of his tail.

"and this is bulbasaur."

the little pokemon called out to leanna almost immediately, being the friendliest of the group. the bulb on her back opens just a tad to release vines, which would through the air until they were in front of leanna.

she cast a glance at me and i nod to her. "take it", i say.

so she does. she reaches up with one of her own hands towards the vines, and they wrap around that hand, and bulbasaur smiles again before retracting them.

"this last one is squirtle."

the blue pokemon raises her head a little, then a hand towards leanna, calling out to her as well.

leanna actually claps both hands together. "oh wait right there for just a moment august." with that, she left the room.

i look over to the pokemon, seeing their own curious glances match my own. but we didn't have to wait long. leanna returns with her camera, ushering us to look at her, 'non non, stay as you are', and snaps a shot before any protests could really begin to form.

she then crouches down, the camera still around her neck, in front of squirtle. the water pokemon reaches for my arm, being quite the cautious one, but didn't make any other moves.

leanna smiles a gentle smile, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small silver chain.

"i was out shopping the other day and could not resist this necklace. although i knew it didn't suit me, i knew i would find a home for it eventually. and i think i have." she turns back towards squirtle, uncoiling the chain and opening her hand to reveal a metal piece that held up a gray crystal.

squirtle peers at it, eyes shining with wonder. i smil at her when she looked towards me, and gesture for leanna to slip it over.

once it was done, squirtle reaches out and touches the chain as if it was a foreign object, which, i guess it was. she lifts it up to grab ahold of the crystal, which was near the ground otherwise, saved by a few inches of empty space. her little paws turn it over and over before she carefully lets it drop and reaches out to hug leanna's leg.

the other two quickly crowded around squirtle to see her gift. while they were conversing, i helped leanna up.

"that was thoughtful."

she turns away. "oh, august. well, actually, i have something for you as well." leanna reaches back into her pocket, producing a rounded jewel that shone with nearly all the colors of the rainbow. my eyes widen in wonder.

"to tell the truth, i have no idea of what it is", she admits. "i was out with a team close to geosenge when we found it. none of them took an immediate interest, but then one suggested you, and i thought it'd be for the best to hand it over. but, now you have the responsibility to tell me exactly what it is when you find out." with that, she places it into my palm.

i take another moment to stare at it before putting it away. "well, thank you. i'll try and crack down on the mystery."

after that, she swung out in a hurry, proclaiming she had to pack for another expedition, being the teeming archaeologist she was. and soon i was left in the laboratory, checking up on all the pokemon.

squirtle seemed proud of her necklace, but never did she hesitate to let the other pokemon see or hold it. it was just in her nature to be that loving and kind.

a small bark made me turn, seeing fennekin looking up at me.

"hmm? you need something?" i crouch down to meet her eyes, only to have a puff of fire meet my face instead. i pull up and pat my cheek with my hand, dousing the flame as fennekin cackled on the ground. "always the troublemaker", i grumble.

a drop of rain lands on my head, making me flinch in response. when i look up, i could see dark rainclouds dotting the sky. i grimace and back up towards the door. "anyone wanna come in", i call out, for sure that they would be able to feel the raindrops now. but they all seemed content, so it was just me who slipped inside, wanting to escape the past.