Hey guys! :) It's Peanut/Butter, whatever tickles your fancy. I'm here to say that I appreciate the comments and am actually surprised to find people already putting this story as a favorite and asking for alerts. Love you guys! I also wanted to ask (and I hope you reply in a review or PM) how long you'd like for each chapter to be. ;D I'll do my best to have each chapter just the right length. Enjoy the read!
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Oh sh—
"Hey! It's you again!" She ran over, arms flailing around wildly, pigtails greatly resembling two dog ears flapping around.
How rabid.
She stopped just before she hit me in the face with one of her outstretched arms. I frowned at the unsightly thing. She huffed and puffed. I looked at her, wondering where in the world she came from. I mean, didn't she just leave a while ago? I guess she really doesn't have a life.
"Yeah, it's me," I replied, "and it's you." I groaned as to show her how I was so not pleased to see her again, but she looked at me expectantly, ignoring the obvious hint, or unaware of the obvious hint. The latter seemed more possible for the dense girl.
"Hi! I was kind of thinking I'd pass by you, seeing as how you were glued to the lab. Did you get what you wanted?" I immediately flushed, was she onto me? I tried to act innocent, but I am honestly a bad actor and it was hard to concentrate with the many troubling things floating in my mind.
Does she suspect me? Does she know? Will she care? What will she think of me?
Pause. Rewind. My eyes widened.
"Will she care?" and, "What will she think of me?"were so not what I was leaning towards when I meant "troubling things." I stared at the "she" in question. The brainwashing freak. She is totally manipulating me!
She frowned. "No I am not," she said defiantly.
That means you are a brainwashing, manipulating freak! …Although I do have a problem in muttering things aloud while thinking of them.
"Yeah, you do," she said. I furrowed my eyebrows.
"Oh," I said, sounding stupid for the first time in my life. And in front of a girl like her. Because of a girl like her. I felt inferiority pounding at my brain, screaming, "She is owning you! You are worthless! How can you be swayed by a troll like her?" I agreed. How could I, out of all people, be swayed by her? I felt like giving myself a punch to the solar plexus, but then changed my mind because wouldn't that hurt so damn much?
Focus, Silver, focus!
And I did…on Ms. Naïve's face. Her eyes sparkled in a way I didn't know drab ebony-colored eyes could and her smile was the same as always: cheerful. She looked pretty happy, which made me feel more confident that she didn't know about any of what I did. I let out a sigh of relief. Until I saw her eyes trail down to my right hand at my side. I quickly hid it behind my back, but not quickly enough.
"Is that a…Pokeball?" she asked, looking a bit confused.
"No," I said faster than the time it took me to hide the Pokeball behind my back. I was stuck in a ditch, but hey, no use outwardly saying to the world, "Yes, I stole this Pokeball!" I continued. "Why, what's it to you?"
"Oh, nothing," she said, "It's just that I never saw you with a Pokeball when I first met you…"
She remembered the details of when we first met? I thought to myself, No duh, genius, it was only a few minutes ago! And erased the idea that maybe it was something of an important event to her.
"How would you remember whether or not I had a Pokeball on me? 'Cause I don't recall you doing a body check on me."
She looked like a kicked dog. "No, it's just a coincidence I'm sure, but—"
That was it for me. That last word before I interrupted already proved to me that she was suspicious and that I was caught between a rock and a hard place. Unless…
"Go!" I clicked the button on the Pokeball and stood back. Out of the flash of brilliant light made the appearance of a… What is that?
It stood on its hind legs, looking around through slit eyes. "Cyndaquil?" it questioned, puzzled at the new change of surroundings. It turned to me, its new Poketrainer, and seemed to know that I was going to take care of it for the rest of its life. I didn't plan on wasting any time, but it seemed I had no choice when it started rushing to me in joy and chirps.
--
"Ack!" Red-head yelled, the Cyndaquil ending up on top of him. It seemed overjoyed to be with him. I felt warmth in my heart, but then again, is Red-head really the culprit? I didn't want to even think about the possibility. If I did I felt put down, and an ache in both my head and heart.
Don't think about it, Lyra. But really…I've never studied about such a pokemon…
It was before I started heading back to New Bark Town that I got a call from Professor Elm exclaiming that someone had stolen one of the two Pokeballs I left behind containing one of his newly-found Pokemon. The memory was ingrained in my mind, forever seeming vivid and clear with Prof. Elm's panic-stricken voice and plea.
While I thought, Cyndaquil kept on with its unconditional loving on top of sprawled Red-head, nudging and licking and sending out bursts of fire. My Chikorita, which I named Remy after I found out it was a male, felt ecstatic to find another Pokemon in his midst and ran over to the Cyndaquil. I found it adoring until I saw the Cyndaquil show signs of sneezing. It huffed, paused, huffed, paused, huffed even more and then paused.
That is not good.
It was trying to hold back a sneeze. I could tell. I hurriedly ran over to Red-head and Remy, picking Remy up and alerting Red-head by saying into his ear, "Be careful! I think it's about to sneeze!"
He tilted his head to the left, removing his face from the grass and dirt. He didn't seem to get what it meant, his-I-don't-care-if-you-care look on his face. In otherwise, a pretty neutral and what I assumed was normal look for Red-head. I explained further.
"It's about to blow!" I yelled over the constant huffing coming from the Cyndaquil, becoming louder and louder each time another one came around. "Both snot and fire!" I added just for safety reasons. His eyes widened for the second time I saw him that day. I blabbed on just for poking fun's sake. "You better get your face and body out from beneath this Cyndaquil or you. Are. Toast." I smiled. "Seriously."
He jumped up frantically, I stood back a good few yards away, a giggle caught in my throat, and the Cyndaquil sneezed. Its back was set ablaze for only two seconds at most, but what remained was a good number of feet in diameter flickering with the bright orange heat. I looked at the small Pokemon who caused all the mess and then the owner.
Can you really deny it any longer? I thought again, convincing myself that maybe I could deny it, but then would I feel better being disappointed in myself or this guy I barely knew? Of course it would be the guy you barely know, Lyra! Think effectively! But I didn't feel like he was just a guy I passed by less than an hour ago, I felt that maybe I could get to know him better. After all, I was the one who first approached him.
Ask him! my conscious finally told me.
"So you did steal it?" I asked, my heart clenching.
"Yes! I did it! I did it, okay?" he snapped. He looked guilty, but as if what he did was inevitable. I tried to figure him out, that complicated guy that made me so curious in him. All of a sudden he called out, "Tackle, Cyndaquil!" It did so reluctantly, charging at Remy in my arms. I succeeded in dodging the attack, but dropped Remy. He landed on the grass with his nimble feet, and then took a defensive stance. Although he may not look it, we trained a lot in the few minutes we were away from Red-head, and even if he fainted, I had a backup. I fingered the Pokeball hidden inside the convenient pocket of my beige bag. I had also caught a Hoothoot on my short travel.
"Cut, Remy!" I commanded. The Chikorita swished its head to the front accurately, the sharp leaf aimed at the Cyndaquil. Direct hit. I whispered an apology under my breath as it took a stance that was meant to be on the ready for an offense, but wavered, already looking faint, but not actually fainting.
"Remy, cut!" I commanded again. Remy chirped, and then swished its head again. It should've finished off the Cyndaquil, but…
--
"Stop it!" I reached over at once, and plucked the weak and already tired Cyndaquil off the burnt piece of grass. The swift leaf cut me, almost too thin a cut to be noticeable, but only three seconds passed before it opened and showed the fine and precise cut from the Chikorita.
"Ouch!" I held the Cyndaquil to my chest, glad that major damage wasn't done to it, but still pissed at the Chikorita, not so much the girl, though.
Why is that?
"If you know that it's already going to faint, that I have no more Pokemon, and you're going to win, why not just tell me so?" I asked angrily. I grimaced and looked inside the deep-set eyes of the petite girl. She looked really sad and self-conflicted. I didn't know why so at the time. Even if I did I bet I would have left all the same. I turned around and stomped off, feeling her gaze on me. My Cyndaquil stirred in my arms, and all I thought while heading to the Pokecenter was, I really hope he doesn't sneeze on me.
--
I heard the trees, grass, and bushes around me rustle and sway. Everything was quiet again, everything peaceful. The burnt patches of grass felt the pressure of the wind, and extinguished, ashes floating in the air and clouding my vision with tears. I stifled a cough.
"Chiko-chiko?" Remy cheeped. He looked around for the newly found playmate he just made faint. Sadness tugged at the sides of my mouth. I walked over and bent down, placing tender hands on his back, petting him. The ashes cleared out and were carried miles away by the wind only seconds later. I couldn't believe that I had just laughed at Red-head and his frantic actions only minutes ago. I sighed. Remy brought me back to seeing my surroundings clearly by alerting me with a chirp.
I was about to pick up Remy until I found something in his mouth. I took it, murmuring a thank you and flipping it over. I found Red-head, a genuine smile on his face, staring back at me. I flushed unconsciously and dropped it, shocked.
"That's--!"
That's Red-head, isn't it? No, who else would it be? Of course it's Red-head, but…he's smiling, actually smiling.
I really wanted to see him. I wanted him to just smile that gentle, lopsided smile in front of me right then and there, show me everything was alright and okey-dokey. Seconds passed before actual thinking came in.
I didn't know this guy. I didn't know him at all. I just met him today and yet I'm reminiscing?
I stared at the I.D. for a bit more, scanning his age, name, everything about him that was imprinted on that card.
Sheesh, the card knows more about him than I do.
And right then and there, even when I had convinced myself to do the exact opposite only moments ago, I felt disappointed in myself. I tucked the thin card in my bag and headed for the lab.
One thing I was sure of: I want to know this guy.
At the lab, everyone was panicking over something that didn't even happen to them, including the professor.
"So? He got away?"
"Yeah, he did. With the Pokemon, Cyndaquil."
"Any details about him?"
"Red—no, brilliant, red, hair." Not a lie, not a lie, not a lie at all!
"Anything else?" Professor Elm badgered.
"That's…" I hesitated.
An officer approached us, stern face and all.
"I'm afraid we'll have to put you in as a suspect, Ms. Lyra." He nodded his head down as if saying, "I'm sorry but your mom just died." I felt my face freeze.
"But—"
"As of yet we have no other people to have seen this 'brilliant red-haired boy' other than you. The Pokeball's disappearance was also not apparently witnessed by anyone so…" He nodded again.
"That can't be. But I left only a while ago…"
"Exactly," the officer added.
"I didn't do it, I swear," I tried helplessly. I needed help and support from somebody, anybody.
Please, someone help me!
"She's telling the truth. She didn't do it." A voice spoke up. It was Ethan.
He's right!
My heart sunk to the ground, relieved of all suspicion. I felt like hugging him, for goodness gracious--!
"And what do you have to support her defense?" the officer questioned Ethan.
Ethan replied, "I saw that the culprit had red hair, the kind that stands out way too much." I frowned.
That's where you're wrong.
The officer turned to me. "Do you happen to know his name?" I froze for a second before shrugging off the question.
"I'll just call him Red-head."