Author's Note: I humbly apologize for taking so long to update this fic. Irl stuff got in the way, and while I'd like to say it'll never happen again, I strongly dislike broken promises. And so, I'll promise to try and not let it happen again. I want to thank each and every person who has read and/or reviewed the first chapter. Your encouragement means a lot!
P.S. My guy was my very obliging editor for this chapter when I was too tired to proof it myself. So, if you see any errors...blame him. haha
Chapter Two: The Visitor
"Where are you going?"
Jessie gasped, her hand reflexively tightening on her backpack strap as she froze at the front door. "What?" she squeaked.
Careful, Jess, she reminded herself. Act casual or she'll get suspicious.
"Oh...um...I was just gonna go outside and play," she lied, not turning around to face her guardian. She stuck out a hand and wrapped it around the doorknob, ready to make a break for it. "I'm going up the street to the park on the corner." She jerked a thumb over her shoulder, pointing at the backpack. "I'm taking my ball with me." It wasn't really a lie. It was just less than the full truth. She was bringing a ball- a Pokeball. Plus five more.
Of course, Prue would hopefully just believe that she was taking the soccer ball that was her one plaything. Jessie didn't particularly like or even know how to play soccer, but the ball had been left behind by a previous foster child of the Fords and so Jessie had inherited it. The Fords had never bought Jessie a toy specially for her. Certainly never any dolls, which Jessie had always yearned for.
"I thought," Jessie continued, warming to the lie, "that I'd bring my bag so I can look more like an athlete, like the other kids who come with all their sports equipment in gym bags."
"Well," said Prue, shrugging, "I'd rather you have naive dreams of being a sports star than keep going on and on about becoming a Pokemon trainer, but your trip to the park will have to wait a couple hours at least. I need you to help me some around the house first."
"Oh," sighed Jessie, half with disappointment because her plan had been delayed just so she could get stuck doing chores, and half with relief because at least her plan hadn't been discovered. With a slightly trembling hand, she lowered her backpack off her shoulder and clasped it by a strap. "I'll just take this to my room, then. Be right back."
"Meet me in the kitchen," instructed Prue.
Jessie hurried off and stowed her backpack under her bed, just in case leaving it out in the open would make Prue want to look inside of it.
In the kitchen, a bucket and mop stood ready for her. Jessie sighed and pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket, wrapping it around her head like a bandana, and put her hands on the mop handle, begrudgingly ready to start her work.
"Just a moment, please," came Prue's clipped, authoritative voice from behind her, causing Jessie to jump. "I want to talk to you." She cupped a hand to her chin and studied Jessie as the girl turned around. "You seem kinda jumpy today."
Jessie felt her eyes grow wide and she cast about frantically for a way to reassure her guardian that she didn't need to keep a watchful eye on her today.
"Er, uh…" She fumbled for an excuse briefly, but was able to come up with a phony baloney explanation so quickly she impressed herself. She'd pulled it off before, too, with the cover story about the soccer ball. She had to figure she was just a natural liar.
"I just...I got into trouble yesterday, and I guess now I'm just a little nervous about messing up again and getting punished. I always seem to do that. I…" Jessie took a deep breath. She hesitated and shuffled her feet against the floor. "I just want to be a good girl and make you proud, Prue," she said through gritted teeth.
Prue appeared caught off guard. Then she smiled smugly at her young charge.
"You know, I thought that last night might bring about a change in you! Sometimes, all it takes is a little sacrifice and hearing some hard truths. Maybe you are growing up, after all." She gave Jessie a pat on the head and, then, standing with her arms crossed self-assuredly, added, "Well, I thoroughly approve. It's about time you thought of somebody else for a change and learned the joys of making your parents happy."
You're not my parents! Jessie thought hatefully as Prue left the room with a triumphant saunter. She dunked the mop into the bucket of water and was about to begin her work when Prue poked her head back into the room.
"Oh! I almost forgot what I wanted to talk to you about! I'm having a visitor today, so you choosing to turn over a new leaf is good timing. I want you on your best behavior while she's here, understand? She's a very important lady and a good friend of mine and Frank's. I'm going to go wait out front now to greet her."
This was unusual. The Ford's hardly ever had guests over, and none that had ever required Jessie to receive anything like that little speech. Jessie wasn't aware that Frank and Prue even had friends. However, she turned off her curiosity about her guardian's guest, and pushed down her annoyance at Prue's superior attitude, and concentrated on just mopping the floor, telling herself that by the end of the day, none of it would matter, anyway.
Only a few minutes later, she heard two women entering the little house. As Prue led her guest into the living room, Jessie could hear her foster mom talking to her guest.
"Well, I can't go, of course, there's the girl to think about. She'd starve without me here, and we can't have her wasting away, can we?"
"She sounds quite helpless," said an unfamiliar voice, a woman's voice. She gave an obnoxious, trilling laugh. "Are you sure it's absolutely vital that..."
The woman's voice cut off, and Jessie heard muffled speaking coming from Prue, Jessie's guardian speaking in hushed, plaintive tones, although Jessie couldn't distinguish the words being said. The woman laughed loudly again.
"My, how considerate of you," said the woman in a voice that seemed to project all around the tiny house. "Not to worry. I don't wish to displease friends in high places. You know he's especially...touchy right now."
"Jessie?" Prue called.
Jessie realized that she'd hardly done any mopping at all, merely swirled the mop around the same spot a dozen or more times while listening in on the conversation in the next room. She groaned and cursed herself, and, rather expectedly, when Prue peeked into the kitchen at her and saw her lack of progress, she gave Jessie a disapproving look.
That, however, was the end of it. Prue then asked, or rather, ordered,
"Bring in some tea for my guest and myself, Jessie. Don't forget the sugar."
She disappeared out of view again, and Jessie huffed and fetched the kettle, filling it with water and setting it to boil. She retrieved the tea and sugar from the mostly-empty food cabinets. The sugar had hardened into one big piece in its bowl, and Jessie worked at chipping away at it while the water heated to a boil.
When it was time to bring the tea into her mother and the mystery guest, Jessie found them sitting together on the couch. The strange woman was running her fingers over a burn mark in the fabric.
She was about Prue's age, with short golden blond hair. She was well-dressed in a stylish short black dress and sophisticated red blazer, with black shoes sporting intimidatingly spiky heels on her feet. Altogether, she had a glamorous air about her. She was an attractive woman, with long lashes, ruby red lipstick, and an air of total self-confidence.
"Jessie," said Prue, as Jessie sat the tea things out on the table, "this is Sunny. She works for the same... organization that sometimes employs Frank. He's out on a job for them right now."
Jessie was intrigued, but knew better than to ask any questions.
"It's nice to meet you, ma'am," she murmured politely, eyes downcast. Something about this woman made her suddenly intimidated.
The beautiful woman called Sunny cringed, and laughed her ugly laugh. "Oh, please don't call me that," she said. She used the word 'please', but her tone wasn't quite civil. "I hate being called 'ma'am'. It makes me feel like an old lady. Silly, I know, when I still look so youthful and lovely." Black-nailed fingers now idly toyed with a hole in the couch, probably widening it and making it look even worse. Jessie saw Prue notice, but curiously, Prue didn't say anything.
"I like your nails," said Jessie. Sunny squinted at her dubiously, as though she couldn't decide if Jessie was being a smart aleck over those nails wreaking havoc on the couch cushion.
"She looks so much like Miya, doesn't she, Prue?" said Sunny, after a moment. "Like both of them. I'd know her anywhere."
"I don't really know anything about that," Prue replied stiffly. "I only ever met Miya twice before she disappeared, and I never met Jessie's father at all."
Jessie stared at Sunny. "Did you know them?" she blurted out. "Did you know my parents? What were they like?"
You shouldn't have asked, she reprimanded herself. She's Prue's friend, and Prue is an awful person. Sunny is probably an awful person, too. She sure has a nasty laugh and smile. She'll probably just say something that's going to hurt you.
Prue clicked her tongue impatiently, but Sunny seemed to welcome the question. She leaned back further against the couch and stretched out her legs casually, getting comfortable before she launched into her story. "We worked for the same organization, you mother and I," she disclosed. "On a handful of occasions, we worked side-by-side on the same project. I remember her well. She was...quite the little darling around headquarters for awhile."
Jessie was so grateful for even this little scrap of information- the only positive thing she'd ever heard about her mother- that she outright begged for more. Hands clasped together, she fell down before the couch at Sunny's feet.
"Jessie!" Prue exclaimed, clearly disapproving, while Sunny looked more amused than anything.
"She was?" Jessie asked eagerly, ignoring her foster mother. "She really was? I bet she was really smart and talented, huh? I think I remember her being beautiful- was she? Was she breathtakingly beautiful? Were you good friends with her? What was her job?"
Prue sat very rigidly on the couch, eyes wide and unblinking, looking tense. Jessie laughed internally. Of course you don't want me to hear the truth. I'm about to find out the truth from someone who isn't just interested in badmouthing my mom. And when I learn that she was even more amazing than I imagined, you'll look more pathetic than ever, won't you, Prue?
Sunny gave a small smile and removed the clear, visor-type glasses she wore, twirling them idly between two fingers. "Miya was a superstar in the organization for awhile. Our boss at the time doted on her. Was she smart and talented? She could be. When it came to certain things. Was she beautiful?" Sunny shrugged and put her glasses back on. "She was good-looking enough, I suppose. She had her share of men that were interested. Then she met your father, and things went belly-up shortly after. I never understood why. I always thought he seemed like somebody with money, but where did it go? There didn't seem to be any left after he passed on."
Jessie stiffened, a heavy feeling dropping into her gut. Her father was dead?
She'd never known for certain. Was this better or worse than if he had abandoned her mother and her? Sometimes, she made up stories that let him off the hook. Sometimes she told herself that he was lost or abducted. Sometimes, that was where her mother had gone: to rescue her one true love. But now this woman had casually referred to him dying as though Jessie should've known it all along, and although she still didn't believe it one hundred percent, she felt that it was probably true.
Jessie's heart broke a little. She didn't remember her father at all, but maybe he'd been a good man who would've loved her.
She wouldn't realize until later that night, when she lay under the stars, contemplating the day's events, that Sunny had never answered her last two questions.
"Jessie," said Prue sternly, frowning at her, "I think that's enough. Get up off your knees, get back in the kitchen, and finish mopping that floor. Stop disrupting the grown-ups' visit."
Annoyance filled Jessie. "But Prue- " she started to protest, but the rest of her objection died on her lips when she saw from her guardian's expression that the woman meant business.
Jessie's outcry turned into a whispered apology. "I'm sorry. I'll get back to work." She was still determined not to upset her stepmother today. She had no way of knowing if the punishment Prue inflict on her if she behaved badly would throw a wrench in her plans to leave.
As she shuffled out of the room, the conversation between the women segued into talk of Sunny's daughter, who had apparently just gotten her starter Pokemon.
"She wouldn't take a Rattata, unfortunately," said Sunny with a dramatic sigh. "Spoiled little thing. That's what I get for treating her like a princess all these years. She's too picky. It would've been so much more convenient if she'd taken a Rattata, seeing as I've been breeding them for the past five years."
Everyone has it better than me, thought Jessie despondently as she resumed her mopping. She was feeling rather conflicted. Her mood toward Prue was completely straightforward: she was angry that her guardian had sent her out of the room when someone was finally willing to talk about her mother. But Jessie didn't know what she should do about that. She thought hard about it as she swirled the dirty old mop around the wooden floor, but as much as she hated the idea of letting this snobbish but intriguing woman walk out of her life, very probably forever, without getting her to share all the stories she had to tell about Jessie's mother…
Jessie sighed sadly and then swung the mop into its bucket and wrung it out violently. She resented Prue more than ever for this final insult of not letting her converse with Sunny, but there was nothing she could do about it.
"Hey, kid," came a melodic but superior-sounding voice at the kitchen doorway. Jessie did a jump-turn and was startled to see Sunny standing there. The woman chuckled at her obvious surprise.
"Wanna come see something cool?" The woman winked. "Come outside with Prue and me for a minute."
The mop clattered to the floor as Jessie dropped it in disbelief. Was she actually being invited to be part of the visit?
"Sure!" she answered eagerly, hastening to follow Sunny out of the room.
Out in front of the house, Sunny's heels stabbed into the dirt and patchy, dying grass that made up the front yard. Prue was standing off to the side, looking awkward. By the glances that she darted at Sunny, it was plain that she was feeling unhappily cowed by the woman. Prue addressed Jessie:
"Sunny had an idea to show you what a real Pokemon battle looks like. I was reluctant at first, but then I thought that maybe it would get you to stop talking about becoming a trainer so much." In fact, it seemed as though Prue was still very much reluctant to agree to Sunny's suggestion, but she went on. "You need something to tide you over, since you seem obsessed with Pokemon at the this battle will cure you of your fascination. Maybe at least you'll decide you'd be just as happy watching as participating. Being a trainer really isn't all that exciting."
This didn't sound like a good plan at all for getting Prue what she wanted, and from her agitated behavior, it was obvious that she doubted her own words. Jessie wondered about the sway Sunny must hold over her. She worked for a company that sometimes sent Frank out on jobs, Prue had said. Sunny probably had a high level position with this company, then, and she could make sure Frank never got any work through them again if he or Prue displeased her.
Sunny strutted up to Prue and handed her a Pokeball. Prue held it so reluctantly that it was like Sunny had just given her something poisonous to the touch. Sunny then went back over to the opposite side of the yard, throwing Jessie a wink as she walked past her.
The woman's crimson lips quirked into a smile. She held her Pokeball out in front of her and flexed her midnight-tipped fingers around it showily.
"Raticate, go!" she cried out, and in a brilliant flash of light, a large, beige rat Pokemon with fearsome-looking teeth appeared on the lawn.
"A Raticate?" Jessie studied the Pokemon before her. It wasn't all that cute or cool looking, its appearance just being like that of a big furry rodent, but she was still fascinated. She hadn't had the chance to see many different types of Pokemon in her life- just the ones she would see in the streets of town and those people would sometimes bring with them to the park.
"Of course," she heard Prue say. Jessie turned toward her foster mother, who was looking at the Pokeball in her hand doubtfully. Finally, Prue threw it, shouting out, rather half-hearted,
"Go...whatever you are!"
The burst of light from her Pokemon revealed a Pidgey, a Pokemon Jessie had seen plenty of around town. She watched as it sat flapping its wings and giving it's battle cry, seeming much more ready for what was about to occur than Prue did.
"See? I even let you have the type advantage by loaning you that Pidgey, so you have nothing to worry about, Prue," said Sunny, but she would have been more reassuring if she wasn't currently smirking at Prue like she was.
"Yeah...sure," muttered Prue. The woman seemed to try to shake herself out of her uncertainty. She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists and looked like she was thinking hard.
"Okay!" she shouted at last. "Pidgey! Use...er, Tackle attack!"
The bird Pokemon flew at Raticate, who jumped out of the way, but turned around before Pidgey was just beyond reach, and, at its trainer's command-
"Use Bite, Raticate!" Sunny commanded-
The Raticate thrust its already jutting teeth out even more and snapped at one of Pidgey's wings, taking the bird Pokemon down to the ground.
Prue bared her teeth in a grimace. "I knew this wouldn't end well for me."
"Now, now, honey, someone has to lose," said Sunny, throwing her head back and laughing. "But we're only two moves into the battle, so don't be such a drama queen." She straightened up. "You could still turn this thing around." She smirked, and added in a darker voice, "But not likely."
"Use, uh...er," Prue stammered, looking like she was searching her memory banks for something. "Use...uh, Gust! Yeah! Use Gust! Now!"
"You've still got it," Sunny smirked, to Jessie's bewilderment. "But it not going to be enough. Stand your ground, Raticate!"
The Gust did manage to lift the Raticate up off the ground, but it landed on its feet once the onslaught of wind was over.
"Charge it!" yelled Sunny. "Use Hyper Fang!"
The Raticate rushed toward Pidgey, enormous teeth bared threateningly and glinting in the sun, and sprung up to attack the defending Pokemon as it hovered above the ground. The Pidgey dodged just in the nick of time.
Prue bet on its speed yet again. "Use Quick Attack, Pidgey!" she cried. But this time, although the bird Pokemon was quick, Raticate was quicker, and avoided the attack by jumping into the air, doing a somersault, and, as soon as its feet struck the ground again, it was coming at the Pidgey once more.
"Swords Dance!" cried Sunny. "And then jump and go into Pursuit!"
The Raticate whirled around, spinning circles so numerous and so fast, that it was a blur as it moved. It rushed the Pidgey, its body crashing against the avian Pokemon's, knocking the Pidgey down into the dirt and leaving it struggling to stand again.
Once it, with obvious difficulty, got back up, Prue ordered her next attack.
"Pidgey! Fly!"
The bird Pokemon looked confused. It preened its feathers and cocked its head at her and then proceeded to just look around the yard.
"What?" Prue spat out, flummoxed. "What are you doing?! I didn't order you to stare into space, did I?"
"That Pidgey doesn't know Fly attack yet, Prue," Sunny informed her, nonchalantly picking dirt out from beneath her talon-like nails.
"What?" Prue gasped again. "What do you mean, it doesn't know how to fly?" Then, as though to contradict these words, the Pidgey suddenly got a gleam in its eye. It evidently had spied something in the yard that it found captivating. Jessie couldn't even begin to guess what that would be, until the bird Pokemon inexplicably started flying at top speed toward the clothesline, where Prue had hung up some bed sheets, straight from the wash.
The Pidgey clipped one end of the line with its beak, and the opposite end unraveled from the pole. The Pokemon dragged the clothesline away, the sheets rippling like banners in the breeze as the Pidgey flew off with them.
Prue swore and started chasing after the wayward bird. "I told you, Sunny!" she whined. "I told you this was a bad idea! Now this bird brain is taking off with the only sheets I have!"
In response, Sunny gave a one-shouldered shrug. "When dealing with Pokemon, it's your job to realize what stage they're at in life. What they're ready for. That's where success as a trainer comes from."
Prue paused in her pursuit of the Pidgey and looked at Sunny crossly. "What are you talking about? Who told you that? Nobody ever taught us that!" It was clear that she was nearly in a panic, watching Sunny's Pidgey zoom through the air in circles above the yard, the clothesline dangling from its beak.
The Pidgey was gradually flying higher and higher, its circles becoming wider and wider. Soon, it might vanish from the neighborhood altogether.
Strangely, though Sunny didn't seem too concerned. Prue heaved a sigh of frustration and looked at her guest despairingly. If she was expecting help, though, or even sympathy, she must have been disappointed by Sunny's reaction. Prue was forced to continue chasing the thieving bird-type Pokemon, but Sunny made no move to recover the sheets, or the Pidgey, even if it did belong to her.
"Now's your chance."
Jessie jumped a foot into the air when the voice in her ear startled her. She hadn't even heard Sunny approach. Confused by the woman's words, she turned and looked at the glamorous stranger.
"I can tell you don't want to be here. Prue tells me you've got the heart of an adventurer. Like my own dear daughter. Like me. Like your mother. But not like Prue. She's got such a timid heart, it's ridiculous." Her hands were resting on her hips, and one of them brushed open the blazer she was wearing, black-tipped fingers finding a Pokeball hooked to her belt. Sunny smirked. "You want to run away, don't you? I can see it in your eyes. Well, far be it for me to stop you."
Jessie had the unmistakable feeling that Sunny was somehow toying with her, and as she stood before the well-dressed and enigmatic woman, she felt paralyzed with fear. She didn't immediately take the Pokeball that Sunny offered.
"In fact, let me help you. Here's a Rattata. No need to thank me. It's a common Pokemon, and especially common around my house. You'll need a first Pokemon, though, if you're going to capture any others. Now hurry up. I'd be willing to be your things are already packed- that is, if you even have any belongings at all." Her voice quivered with a sarcastic chuckle. "Run and get whatever you have to your name before Prue returns from rescuing her tatty old sheets. Run!" she urged. "Go! Get out of here!"
This didn't make any sense. Was this a set-up? Was Sunny just trying to get her in trouble with Prue?
"You can trust me," said Sunny with a smirk and a dismissive wave. She haughtily adjusted her glasses over her nose. "About this, at least. I don't like seeing plucky young women held back. Besides, having you out of this so-called house serves my own interests, I admit. Prue is no good to me when she has to stay home with a child."
Jessie was totally bewildered. She didn't fully comprehend all of this, but it was enough to convince her that she'd probably be allowed to leave. With one last lingering, searching look at Prue's mysterious guest, she turned and fled into the house.
It seemed as though everything in her mind had gone topsy-turvy. Her breathing, as she ran through to her room, sounded extra loud in her ears. It was hard to think, hard to fully appreciate what was happening. She just kept telling herself, over and over in her head, Just get your stuff and get out, just get your stuff and get out, You're finally free from this place!
The backpack, Jessie, she told herself. Remember, even if you get caught, you had that good cover story!
She was in such a hectic mood that, without thinking, she grabbed her soccer ball, too, and shoved it into her backpack.
When she tiptoed out the door again, carefully peering around to make certain Prue was still nowhere in sight, she discovered that not only was her foster mother gone from the yard, but Sunny had likewise disappeared.
Jessie spared only a couple of moments' thought about it before dashing away from the house, as fast as her legs would carry her.
At the end of the long street, Jessie couldn't stand the anticipation anymore and ducked behind some bushes. She had to meet her new Pokemon- her very first Pokemon- right away.
"Come on out, Rattata!"
The purple rodent Pokemon emerged from its ball. It growled its name and stared at her with wary eyes. Jessie kneeled and offered her hand, so as to let the creature sniff it. The Rattata took its time. It pointed its snout at her and narrowed its eyes. It didn't seem happy.
"C'mon, little darling," Jessie cooed. It really was a pretty cute little creature. She'd never been afraid of rodents, and so found its diminutive size and small rounded ears adorable.
However, baby talk and waiting gently tried her patience when they appeared to be getting zero results.
The Rattata crept perhaps one inch closer to her, then approached no further. It was growling under its breath, when Jessie didn't even know that mice could growl.
"Well, this is a brilliant start," she muttered. "C'mon, Rattata, you're supposed to be my friend!" And, bored with holding her hand still and waiting for the Pokemon to come to her, she attempted to pet it, reaching out and aiming for the top of its head, intending to give it a little scratch.
The quick move startled, the Rattata, who snapped at her.
Jessie shrieked. "How dare you?!" She grabbed for its Pokeball, holding it in a clenched fist and grimacing.
This is the wrong Pokemon, shethought.
Jessie called Rattata back into its ball. She hadn't felt an instant bond with the creature, but surely that was no problem, right? Jessie was positive she'd heard that sometimes happened- a trainer and a Pokemon didn't immediately connect, but soon they became close-knit partners.
Calling Rattata back into its ball, Jessie told herself, despite her doubt, that this was the beginning of everything. She was free. She finally had her first Pokemon, and she was off on her Pokemon journey. She was free. Now there was nothing to stop her from shining like a star.
The moment didn't feel dramatic enough. She'd had her opportunity, so she'd taken it, but for some reason, this wasn't what she had pictured when she imagined running away. It would've been better to leave on her own terms this morning, the conflict with Prue fresh in her mind. It would've felt more like a relief to abandon the house where she'd been taunted about her dreams and about her mother.
Meeting Sunny, though, had changed things a little. Jessie had finally met somebody who was willing to talk about her parents- somebody connected with her foster family, so somebody she was unlikely to ever see again. This was also somebody who'd tainted her big moment of rebellion by being an adult who approved of it.
Jessie was grateful toward Sunny, and she was annoyed.
All she could think of was that she had followed somebody else's orders again.
All she could think was that she was running away from the answers she'd always craved.
Jessie reached the top of the highest hill in town and looked down at the Fords' house. It looked as shabby as ever. It was practically a shack. Its sorry condition was obvious even when it was partially obscured by the houses surrounding it- most of which were bigger, but only a little less rundown. She told herself that this was the last glimpse she would ever have of Frank and Prue's house, but somehow, in her heart, she had a hunch that it wasn't true.
She scolded herself for being ridiculous and shook her head as if to clear it, alternating running and swiftly walking as she made her way out of the town proper. Once the clusters of shops, houses, and other buildings cleared out, she realized she'd reached the edge of town, and she stopped to take a break on a dusty back road.
Jessie, winded, crouched in the dirt and sipped from her water bottle. Her backpack, still unzipped, slipped from her shoulder. As she took a long swallow from the bottle, water dribbling down her chin, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the hand-me-down soccer ball fall out of her backpack and roll a short ways down the road until it hit a fence and stopped.
It had rolled to the edge of somebody's property. Jessie wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and got up to retrieve it. As she shuffled over, a voice called to her.
"Hey, is this your ball? Do you like soccer, too?"
A picturesque little house sat far back from a wide, green fenced-in yard. The person who'd spoken was a boy who was sitting on a tree stump behind the fence, some kind of sports magazine poised in his hands. He was maybe a couple of years older than Jessie, and he had messy brown hair and a friendly smile. He also happened to be the cutest boy Jessie had ever seen, and she immediately blushed and became tongue-tied. The boy was forced to repeat his question, as he got up and walked to the fence.
"Do you like soccer, too?"
"What? Me, play soccer?" Jessie scoffed at the idea. She played with this toy because she had nothing else, but nobody had ever accused Jessie of being a sporty person.
...But there was no reason that he had to know that, especially when he was so cute.
"Y- yes," Jessie responded, and walked toward the fence, too, stooping to collect her ball. "I- I absolutely...love it!" She smiled as big as she could so as to seem more convincing, and he mirrored her smile, his teeth gleaming enthusiastically at her. The beaming power behind that smile made him appear even more handsome to her, and she bashfully ducked her head a little.
"Cool! My name's Henry. Do you want to stay and play for a little while? Oh…" He pointed at the backpack hanging off her shoulder, apparently noticing it for the first time. "What's all that stuff? You look like you're going somewhere." He leaned against the fence and looked at her curiously.
"I...I am," she confirmed, wondering if she really would like to stay and play soccer with this kid, even if she didn't particularly like sports. "And my name's Jessie, by the way."
She gazed around a bit and took in his surroundings on that opposite side of the fence: the smallish but comfortable-looking, well-kept house, smoke rising from the chimney and emphasising the cozy impression, and the rolling green lawn speckled with wildflowers and big, leafy trees leading up to it.
It was such a homey place. She wondered for the first time if it was hard for kids who came from places like this to leave on their Pokemon journeys.
"Where are you going?" He was still grinning broadly, and he pushed his tousled brown hair out of his eyes with the back of his arm. He was so effortlessly charming, it momentarily left Jessie speechless.
When she realized she'd gone too long without speaking, she flushed and immediately began to nervously splutter, "W-where am I- oh! Where am I go-going? W-well, ya see…" She didn't know how to answer that. She only knew that she wanted to get out of town; she had no destination in mind.
And then she remembered that she didn't have to give an answer more specific than, "I'm setting out on my Pokemon journey today!" Which she said full of pride and with a big smile on her face.
The boy called Henry's eyes widened. "Really? That's so cool. I'm no trainer myself, but I still really like Pokemon! My parents are actually Pokemon breeders."
"That's neat," Jessie replied, smiling, enjoying talking to this cute, friendly boy. She leaned on the fence separating them. "I'm going to be a great Pokemon trainer!"
"I'm sure you will be," said Henry, making Jessie blush. "Stop back and see me sometime and show me your Pokemon. Hey, what did you get for a starter, anyway?"
"A starter?" Jessie repeated.
"Yeah, like did you go see a professor and get a Charmander, Squirtle, or Bulbasaur? Or did your parents give you a Pokemon to start your adventure with?"
"Oh." Jessie reached down to her belt and ran her fingers along the outside of Rattata's Pokeball. "Um...a family friend. She gave me a Pokemon."
"So what kind is- " Henry's words cut off as a woman's voice could be heard, yelling across the fields.
"Heeeennrrryyy! I need you to come and help your father and I with something? Where are you? Heeeennrrryyy! Can you come here now, please?"
"Well," said Henry, gazing back at the house behind him. "That's my mom calling me. I guess I'd better go. It was nice meeting you, Jessie."
The smile that had been plastered on her face practically since she started talking to Henry drooped and she felt more than a niggling of disappointment at him being called away. "Oh!" Caught unawares, she couldn't get her goodbye words out fast enough.
"S-same to you, Henry. I- I hope- " But then, she stopped talking, realizing that he'd already gone too far- leaping and bounding through the field back toward his house- to hear what she was saying.
Jessie's mood took a slight hit. That had been the most pleasant conversation she'd had with a kid her age in a long time. And he'd just so happened to be the dreamiest boy she'd ever seen. She kicked at a rock on the ground and frowned. If only she'd known that someone so nice and cute lived this close to town. If only they could've met sooner, then maybe- "
But no. She would have had to leave, regardless. Her destiny didn't lay around these parts. Her life wouldn't truly begin because she made friends with one boy. Her life would begin once she set out on the road toward greatness.
And with her goals reaffirmed, she turned and, putting one foot purposely in front of the other, properly began her journey as a Pokemon trainer.
To be continued…
A/N Part II: Trying to keep things as faithful to the show as my possible is what led me to not making Ekans Jessie's first Pokemon. This is because I chose to run with what she said in "Pokemon: Shipwreck!" about getting Ekans. And clearly, at that point in time, her last birthday wouldn't have been her tenth.
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