A/N: sorry that this took so long. The scenes weren't quite wanting to be written and I had all of my wisdom teeth pulled a few days ago. The painkillers do a number on progress. Anyway, this chapter is nice and longer than the prologue. Also, I apologize for the whiplash, but I have gone back to third-person perspective. I hope that isn't a problem for ya'll, cause I'm gonna stick with it.
I'm thankful to all of you who have faved and followed, but a shoutout goes to werewolfgirl3 for making some important points for me to think about as the story goes on. I don't think I managed to get all of her concerns answered or recognized because of the major timeskip in this chapter (and just how much went in here), but I'm on the road to explaining to my new reviewer, I have your review in my email! Don't worry about that.
Yeah, guys, there is currently a review glitch on the site, among other things. Please, if you're going to review, which I hope you do, as I really want to know what you think, please make sure to save your reviews in case they don't show up when (if) the glitch is fixed and, if it's not too much trouble, post them as a guest if they don't show up on the review page.
Also, as you can tell, these updates take a while, so please keep this story on your alerts if you're following, as the site's alerts are funky, but it's trying, at least. I know, I'm trying. Hehe. I will be putting teams down soon, but since we're not in the 'journey' right now, I don't know if I need to just yet.
Anyway, here I babble too much. Enjoy and let me know what you think!
chapter one
green seeds
On the morning of his fourteenth birthday, Ash, formerly of Pallet Town, was woken up by the energetic leaping of a small child onto the side of his bed.
She was lucky he didn't hit the ceiling. Kid bounced like an Azurill.
"Mols," Ash groaned, squinting his eyes open. "The train's not until one... lemme wake up slow, kay..."
"You can't!" Molly Hale, six-years-(and some months, she proudly proclaimed to any adult who asked) old and with a tendency to get dead-set on whatever it was she was thinking about, declared. "It takes you forever to get ready and I want to battle!" She would have stomped her foot, but the last time she had done that, she had stepped on a red tail and nearly lost said foot to a lot of pain.
Ash groaned again, this one with more fond exasperation than Arceus directed irritation. "Fine, fine, I'll move. Seriously... silly kid."
There was a grumble from the other side of the bed. "'M not silly."
Ash laughed. "All kids are silly, Mols, especially you and me." He moved to slowly sit himself up on the bed, throwing his covers near his feet. He winced in pain at the cracking noises from his shoulders and began to stretch, slow, careful rolls.
Molly hopped onto the oversized bed beside him and watched, half-eager, half-antsy, proven by the way her whole body twitched like she had Durants in her pants. He massaged his legs in slow, careful circles, rubbing around and over each faded burn. It was slow, tedious work, but if there was anything Ash had learned from growing Berries and mobility therapy, it was patience.
He couldn't have said that at ten, and definitely not before the fire.
Being raised up in Pallet Town for his early years, (he had no clue where he was actually born, and neither did anyone else that he could find or ask), Ash had grown up under the guardianship of the famous Professor Oak, and the somewhat nurturing environment of Pallet Town's citizens. Legally, it had been a conundrum, emotionally and physically, confusing. Pallet was an elder's town, the children there for only as long as they had to be if they were there at all. For Ash, that made a life of things learned for his own sake. If he wanted something that the adults could get, he had to earn it, if he needed something he could make himself, he had to make it. If he wanted help, he would have to ask. No one could read your mind.
And until the fire, he, like the other children, had been able to do it.
When you have your house collapsed and burning on top of you, however, that tends to open an entirely different can of worms.
Not that it was their fault, he hoped.
"Can I do the other one?" Molly wasn't jittery now, but she was staring at his still left leg, impatiently tapping her knee against the sheets. Ash paused and moved one hand to muss her hair. She pouted and pushed his hand away, probably having an internal fit about the state of her hair, which the maid had probably spent a good hour brushing because of the unruly back of her strawberry-blonde head. He had to not laugh. She would get messy when they 'battled' anyway. But Molly was always a little fussy about appearances.
"Sure," he finally said, when he was certain she was about to jump out of her skin. Not that he could see this too well, but he knew Molly's body language well-enough by now. "Could you get my drops and stuff first?" She leaned over to his bedside table before he could finish his sentence, waiting until he began to bend his knee up before handing him the drops and contacts. Finishing one leg, he let her come forward and massage the other while he put in the drops. To be honest, she wasn't as good as she wanted to be, but Molly tried her best.
All things considered, she was a good adoptive little sister.
He blinked at the drops, reaching for his contacts with watery eyes. God, these things were worse than the lenses. Two tries later, he could see clearly again and began to swing himself off of the bed. Molly hopped off the bed, walking to the other side as Ash stretched his arms. She went to the wall and moved the black walking stick from where Ash had left it the night before, handing it to him. He grinned at her and pushed himself to his feet. "Ya eat yet?"
Molly nodded, but her stomach growled, causing two snuffles of laughter to erupt from the other side of the room. Ash grinned, watching her face flush. "Hey, I'm hungry too. Lemme get dressed."
Molly's eyes narrowed. "How do I know you're not gonna fall asleep again?"
He scratched his head, walking slowly towards his closet. "Um, well I'm moving?"
She huffed, and crossed her arms, looking a lot like the mother she would only know from pictures. "If you fall asleep again, Vince should scratch you in the face!"
"And ruin these awesome cheekbones," Ash exclaimed, drawing back in mock-fear. "No thanks!"
She rolled her eyes, not understanding the joke but going with it anyway. "Well, you'd better stay awake then! I wanna fight!" She sped the room and Ash mussed his messy black hair.
"She wants a battle," he said to the Pokemon in the room. "But not as much as pancakes. Priorities. I love them."
Then again, pancakes were just awesome.
He went and sat back down, pulling on the loose jeans he had left at the foot of his bed. There was another snuffle, this more of a yawn than anything else. Vince stretched and stood, shaking his stiff paws and yawning again. He barked a lazy greeting and leaped into the closet, dragging other clothing out for Ash to take from his mouth. Ash held the fabric between his finger and thumb and sighed. "This is still weird."
Even after seven years of living in Greenfield, expensive anything still made him wish he had coins to count.
Vince threw the shirt and jacket over, mumbling something about him whining too much and probably something about eating Furrets too. Ash, now that he had some kind of idea of Vince's actual words, had quickly learned to just tune it out. It was easier than trying to cheer up the little guy.
Another whine followed as Sora wandered to his side. He toyed with the bandanna around her neck, tightening it and making sure the white cross over blue fabric was visible. Ash rubbed his eyes and Sora nudged his fingers, licking them gently. He patted her white head.
"'M fine," he said, smiling. "I'm sorry you can't battle much now." Sora let out a crooning yip, rubbing her face against the palm of his right hand, indicating she didn't care. She was here to take care of him, be it as a mobility assistant or a caretaker, or anything else. That was what she told him, anyway. Ash curled his left hand around his walking stick and rose to his feet again. "All right!" he shouted, making Vince peek open his closing eyes. "Let's go eat and run our muscles. Then it's off to the train station!" He practically jogged out of the room, walking stick swinging with his legs.
Sora let out a sigh and padded after him, grabbing Vince by the scruff of his neck as she walked.
Idiot human, Vince muttered. Sora grunted through his fur in agreement.
Our idiot human now.
–
There was a whistle from the kettle and Professor Oak looked up slowly before going back to the key ring floating by his face. "Klefki..." It chimed its keys at him, looking pointedly at the kettle before a young woman went over and turned off the heat. Daisy sent her grandfather an amused but irritated look, her Cleffa bouncing about her feet.
"Grandpa, stop toying with the trainer Pokemon." Klefki jangled at him in agreement, floating away at the sight of the man's crestfallen, but sheepish expression. "We have to leave in a few hours."
"There's still time," the man protested as he took his tea mug from her. Blowing on it, he laughed. "I know you two miss him, but time doesn't change while you're watching it."
Daisy sighed, picking up her Cleffa and rubbing his head. "Even so..." She gave her grandfather a meaningful look. "I know how you get when you get absorbed into something." She sipped her tea. "Gary's out at the corral. Should I get him? It takes a while to get to Saffron as it is, even with the shortcuts and we're out of tea."
"You've grown up to be such a worrywart, Daisy," her grandfather lamented with a small smile on his face. "What am I going to do without you?"
"Hire an actual assistant?" she quipped despite herself. The professor only laughed again and busied himself with setting up a few programs. "Grand-pa~"
"Relax, they're just computer scans and backups." He stretched and rose from his rolling chair. "We'll be gone a while, might as well get the routine checks done while we're gone. Pokedexes do take time after all."
Daisy sighed and gave up. Her grandfather really was a workaholic. No wonder Gary got so ridiculous sometimes. "Yes, that's true," she agreed and went to grab her bag. "I'm going to go on ahead, in case there are any lines at the Department Store."
Professor Oak almost protested, worry outweighing the knowledge that she would leave soon as it was. Then he stopped himself and smiled. "All right, we'll meet you there. Don't Pokemon hunt and stick to the safe roads."
She called an agreement, rolling her eyes. Then a Pokeball went flying towards her head and she caught it, examining the leaf engraved into the ball. Her grandfather winked.
"I can't just send out my grandchildren with babies, can I?" He pocketed one in the pocket of his laptop. "I'll give Ash his when we get back. The little one needs some final check-ups."
Daisy paused in tightening her bike helmet. "You're giving Gary a Charmander?"
"Your brother needs a challenge, Daisy," Oak said, spinning the final starter's ball on his finger. "Like your father, like me, like my father, like you. Our family doesn't prosper without a challenge. Better to deflate his head before it grows into a balloon and floats away."
Daisy bit her lip and nodded. It was true. Oaks were revered in Pallet Town for their ability to overcome adversity, and by default, training and raising a Charmander wasn't easy, no matter how obedient they became. She looked at the ball in her hand, thinking of the Bulbasaur in it. Her challenge was entirely different. "I hope it doesn't get him killed."
"It's not as though I'm giving him a Deino," the professor pointed out.
Daisy winced. "Never been so happy for a species to not be migrating," she muttered and placed Cleffa in the basket.
"The Safari Zone warden is looking into bringing more rare Pokemon in."
Daisy finished tying her shoes and huffed. "Well, if he really thinks he's going to get a permit for baby, blind, constantly ravenous dragons in a supposedly safe safari, I welcome him to it. Good luck, grandpa." She went to her bike, left tied on the inside of the Oak Lab fence, and pedaled off.
He watched her for a moment more before heading to the back of his lab. He looked at his grandson's starter one more time, and took a deep breath. It was just a Charmander. Kids fought using them all of the time.
But the legal traveling age had been raised region-wide for a very good reason. And if Gary wasn't up to the rite of passage, let alone the other two...
He didn't want to bury any more family before their time.
–
Ash drummed his fingers on the keyboard of the small laptop and sighed. "Professor," he whined to the unresponsive video call. "I need to know about the permits!" He had no clue where any of this was going after he got to Saffron. Was he starting in Saffron? Not that that was a great idea, mind you. The Gym Leader had apparently broken down the Magnet Train system by accident once. He needed to get so many forms resubmitted and it was easier to just do it all in Pallet because the system was a city away.
He whined again, mumbling obscenities under his breath as he played with the call settings. In his lap, a yellow and brown egg trembled, and he patted it absently. "Don't worry, lil' guy," he said softly. "We'll take good care of ya. You're one of us now." Left under the floorboards of one of the older parts of the Hale mansion a few weeks ago, Ash had decided to carry it with him wherever he went, mostly because it was cool (he hadn't seen an egg since Piddo) and the rest because he wanted an egg.
Ash gave another nervous hum again and then turned off the laptop, giving up. He would try one more time before he left. I know the Professor gets too into his work, but Daisy and Gary usually would have pulled his chair away by now...
He shrugged and stood up again, taking his walking stick in one hand and the egg in the other. It shook a little and Ash had to ignore it at the sound of Molly shouting. He had let Vince go at it himself, he didn't really need Ash right now. Ash wondered if the little guy ever really did, but he never gave off the vibe he didn't want to be around them. So Ash kept hope alive.
"Watch out, Piddo! Dodge down! Down!"
Piddo ducked in the air to avoid a green flying orb, but didn't manage to dodge the flying tackle Vince made towards him. The Butterfree squeaked and hit the ground. Ash muffled a laugh and went to stand on the other side of the battle. Idly, his eyes caught a glimpse of the large yard and building surrounding him and he grimaced. God, he felt small in Greenfield.
"C'mon, Piddo!" Molly cried, small fists waving in the air in frustration. "Throw him off!" Piddo squeaked and struggled to flap his wings. Ash waited, watching Molly struggle, foot tapping on the dirt like it would make a hole in the ground. He could see a couple of ways to do it, but...
"Vince!" he called. "Jump, fire!"
The Vulpix mewed his amusement, pushing off of the Butterfree's smaller body and rolled up, releasing tiny fireballs from his mouth.
Molly yelped. "Gust!"
Piddo managed to right himself, flapping translucent wings and whipping up the wind. Ash winced. He had shown her that tactic once, and even though it was sending Vince spinning...
"Piddo!"
The Butterfree fluttered to the ground as the flames picked up in the wind, wings singed. Vince dropped to the ground with a yelp. Molly whimpered and ran over to Piddo, looking crestfallen.
"But it worked before," she shouted when she was sure Piddo could still fly. Ash laughed a little, moving to join them. Vince trotted by his side, albeit slower, as the fall had probably really freaking hurt! "When you showed me, the flames got weaker before!" Molly's face was set in a small pout, blue eyes glowing with hurt.
Ash scratched his head. "Yeah, but that's because when I showed you, Vince had to hold back. If Piddo were stronger, his wind might have been able to put out the fires. But Vince is older and stronger than Piddo, so he knows how much power to use."
Vince preened.
Molly huffed and turned away. "If it wasn't fire, Piddo and I coulda won."
"Battling's a tricky thing, Mols," Ash said, mussing her hair. "It's luck and strategy and strength and-"
"Teamwork, you've said it a bajillion times!" Molly scrunched at the fabric of her blue dress. "I just... I don't wanna lose."
"No one really likes losing, Molly," commented a voice from the edge of the expansive yard.
Molly turned, pout turning to face-eating grin so fast Ash wondered if mouths could have whiplash, and charged forward like a bullet out of a gun. "Papa!"
Spencer, as Ash thought of him, grunted at the sudden weight of his daughter on his chest, and almost fell over. His assistant moved to support him, but Spencer caught himself and managed to spin the girl around him like they were a Hitmontop. Ash snickered at their antics. He was glad he had managed to avoid that display of affection.
"Hey, Spencer," he greeted, adjusting the egg under his arm. Vince pawed at it. "It time to go?"
"Your bag's in the backseat," he said with a small smile, setting Molly down. Ash winced as her hand gripped the side of his green, pressed shirt. Spencer seemed to notice as well, as he added. "Are you sure you want to do this? You have a good eye for analysis, but..."
Ash sighed. "I promised Gary," he said, whistling for Sora. He felt his body starting to ache a little. She went over and let him place the egg in its incubator on her back. "If he's gonna take the journey, I'm gonna take it too. This-" He gestured to himself. "Doesn't mean I can't do anything."
Spencer's smile was faint, but, if anything, Molly's expression turned mulish. Ash sighed and Vince went over to place his paw on Molly's stomach. She drew back, and he snickered at her.
"It's gonna be okay," Ash said and Molly's expression darkened further, like a storm cloud ready to burst.
"You're not going to be here," she said, digging the heel of her shoe into the ground. "Not you, not Papa, no one's going to be around to play or teach me or anything! That's not gonna be okay!"
Ash winced and glanced helplessly at Spencer. He wasn't a parent. Just because he had been around since before Molly was born, it didn't mean he suddenly figured out being an adult. His fingers caught hold of his walking stick and he stroked its head with unconscious nervousness. "Piddo and the servants will be here," he said, testing his words like he tested soup broth. "Your Dad will come home as often as possible. And I'll be making sure to call every week."
The girl tugged at her bow and looked down at her feet. "You're not going to be here," she repeated, and this time the words were more defeated than angry. The unspoken words remained at his tongue, and he changed his sentence before he could say it. Molly didn't need that reminder too."It's not gonna be the same."
"Things can't stay the same," Spencer began, and Ash took that as his cue to step back and let the adult handle it. He nudged Vince, who had decided the tense situation was a great time to take a nap. Vince yawned and trotted ahead of Sora, who waited by Ash's feet. Ash watched the egg a moment more before giving Molly a gentle hug and letting Spencer take care of things. He waved to where Piddo was shyly fluttering by a tree and made his way towards the car.
Spencer's assistant, Schuyler, made an apologetic noise. "Happy birthday, huh?"
Ash laughed, settling into the back seat. "Guess so. She doesn't mean it." Sora made an affronted noise from where she lay on the other side. Vince was curled by the incubated egg.
"She's a kid, she means it right now."
Ash sighed at Schuyler's comment. "Guess so... but with her mom gone... I guess she doesn't know what to do."
"She'll understand when she's older."
Ash looked out the window and closed his eyes. "I hate when adults tell me that."
"So did I. Why do you think I'm hunting Legendaries for a living?"
–
Feeling her bag bounce against her side, Maisy yanked twigs out of her hair, grumbling. "Ilex is getting worse, not better, right Teddy?" Her Teddiursa scratched at the lunar mark on her forehead, shrugging little shoulders. "Well, you're always cutting down the thorns so you must think it's fine..." She stuck her tongue out at the little Pokemon, who returned the favor without missing a beat. "Come on, let's get to the train! Dad's gonna be mad if we're late..." Not that he's not always mad...
Teddy pawed at the wicker basket in her hands and she slapped him off. "Don't be a dummy, there's no Honey in here." Teddy pouted and Maisy rolled her eyes. "Grumpig," she said without any malice, before checking her watch. Thirty minutes until the next train. "Come on, Teddy!" Making sure the basket was shut, she ran further down the streets of Goldenrod, dodging pedestrians with their Pokegears at their ear and spinning away from a man with an overly excitable Voltorb. Teddy growled something that was probably rude (the Voltorb had started sparking at him mid growl) and Maisy hurried to yank his paw away. She didn't have time to stop at a Pokemon Center and make it to the train in time.
As she reached the station, the crowd began to thin. Her face was flushed red from the run and at this point, the girl was gripping her Pokemon's paw hard enough to yank it off.
"Hey, kid, where do you think you're going?"
She ignored the speaker, pulling out her ticket and hurrying up to the inspector. "Sorry... sir..." she huffed. The man tipped his hat, hiding a smile beneath one gloved hand.
"Haven't seen you off this way by yourself before Maisy? Mister Kurt getting' too old?"
"Sprained his back," she said, bringing her basket to rest in front of her. "Told him it wasn't worth Dad getting mad when I could walk the forest myself!"
He chuckled at her, scanning the card. "Well, you certainly did make it, though your hair looks like you took half of the forest with you." Maisy flushed, almost wanting to rip the thorns out that were probably making new trees inside of her brain and-
Okay, she needed to relax her overactive imagination just a tad.
The ticket inspector returned her card. "Say hi to your dad for me, all right?"
"Sure!" She knew her father likely wouldn't care who he was or that he had even said anything but it was the thought that counted. The thought... and the signed permission forms!
Time off of career school, age exemption pass, application for the second Pokemon, Pokedex identification... She mentally blanked just thinking of all the forms kids had to fill out (or their parents had to fill out, hah!) just to be able to go outside of their town and tackle the league circuit. In her grandpa's time, you either had a parent catch it for you, or you caught a Pokemon with your bare hands and some hunting tools. Then, you were on your own.
Maisy touched the scars hidden under her hair.
She supposed both systems had their flaws.
"Ur! Ur!" Maisy turned at the noise, picking her Teddiursa up from where he was wiggling to get up the stairs.
"Grum-pig!" she scolded, laughing. He blew a Razz Berry at her, picking up the basket and running through the train. Maisy didn't catch herself until someone shouted in surprise, at which point she hoisted her tiny bag back onto her shoulders and raced after him.
"I swear, I should have used a Friend Ball to catch him..." She murmured apologies to people rushing into the carriages, making her way to the sound of high-pitched, squeaking growls by a nearly empty corridor. Teddy was backed against another carriage door, Apricorn Pokeballs spilled on the carriage floor. His black eyes were large and wobbling and Maisy looked to see a red fox snarling protectively from the other side of an open door. Its hackles were up and its body glowed a faint orange. The amber eyes burned with rage and a fireball was beginning to form in its mouth.
"Hey, wai-" Maisy went to run in the way, only mentally thinking of how stupid of a decision that was after she was in the way. Thankfully, a pair of tan hands pulled the fox back, forcing the Pokemon to swallow the fire before it went flying into the ceiling. The Vulpix squeaked and pouted and a young man's face peeked through the open door, expression sheepish. "Hey, sorry about that, Vince is... territorial... I guess?"
His voice made her relax, up until she felt the train lurch to begin leaving the station, at which point she almost fell over in her attempt to get over to her Pokemon. The boy blinked and a white blur moved past him, lifting her up easily by the back of her shirt so she could stand again. The red eyes blinked at her like a concerned Noctowl's and she smiled by reflex. Maisy took a few wobbly steps, but once she was sure she could move and the train didn't randomly decide to lurch in another direction, she ran to her Teddiursa's side. The Pokemon was slumped against the empty carriage door, bawling from fear. The Vulpix swished its tails, scoffing until the young man gently thwapped it on the head. Maisy went to wipe her Pokemon's eyes, sighing and pulling the Level Ball out to return him.
"He's a crybaby when he doesn't get the first hit," she said. "Sorry, did he hit your door?"
The boy grinned. "Yeah, but he was so disoriented, I'm surprised he didn't hurt himself. "I'm Ash, by the way, want to join me?" He was back in his seat, back carefully reclined against the cushioned seats.
"Maisy," she said, nodding without thought. She usually spent the trip by herself, watching the scenery and doodling. "Just let me pick up these first."
Ash watched her deftly pick up a few. "Apricorns?"
"Yeah," She tossed him a Friend Ball, throwing a few more into the basket. The white Pokemon swept a few over with their nose and paws, smiling a little at her. "Is this an Absol?" She had never seen an Absol with that sort of bandanna before. Then again, all she had seen of them were books anyway. "Aren't they-"
"Doom-bringers?" Ash laughed. "They've got that reputation, but it's more that they're warning people. Sora's my mobility assistance Pokemon. She's supposed to protect me when I'm in danger, predict and help me avoid obstacles in my path, help me move, obviously, and carry me to safety, should I need it. That's what the bandanna means."
Maisy closed her basket and went inside slowly, now feeling the red eyes on her back as she went inside. She shut the door when the Pokemon were inside, sitting on the familiar cushion to watch the scenery rush by. "Aren't they supposed to be," she paused, puzzled. "Smaller?"
"Can't go on a trainer journey with something smaller," he said gravely, playing with his slightly oversized red and black hat. "Yep, I'm crazy, I know." His fingers twitched and she saw a walking stick leaned against the window. Vince made a little noise in his throat that Ash glowered at him for and Maisy shrugged.
"Nah, it's what you want to do."
Ash grinned even wider than before. "And that's not crazy?"
Maisy swung her legs back and forth. "Well, I'm doing the same thing, and I don't have an Absol to save me."
The two of them laughed. "is that a request to go on an adventure?"
Maisy pondered this. She was used to being alone, or around adults. "Yeah," she said after a few moments. "I think it is." She paused again. "If my dad will sign the dumb forms, anyway."
"If he doesn't, you'll come with me anyway." His voice sounded almost cocky and Maisy laughed.
"You sound like Grandpa Kurt. 'Do what you want, and everyone else will pick their sides. If they pick the right one, you'll get farther.'"
"You're related to Kurt?" Ash whistled. "No wonder you're fleeing towards a journey."
Maisy winced. The April family wasn't exactly known for its peaceful family relationships. Ash saw her expression and raised her hands. "Hey, it's not my business, sorry. It's not like no one lacks a skeleton in their closet."
She nodded and smiled a little, settling back to look at the rapidly passing trees. He took her hint and fell quiet, brushing Sora's head with a stray hand. Vince leaped to her lap and curled up there, decorating her black skirt with thin red and orange furs. Ash shrugged at her, and she gave up on worrying about it.
An hour passed peacefully like this. Then Ash's Absol let out a cry and reached up with her giant paws to pull them both to the floor. Ash grabbed something from where it was sitting near his feet, along with his walking stick and Maisy gripped her Teddiursa's ball and her bag for dear life.
The air was silent, and Sora cried mournfully again as a moment passed.
More silence, and Maisy almost lifted her head from the floor.
Then there was a loud crash, and they all felt the train carriages careen to the right, off of the tracks and towards the trees below.
