Wowzers. I'm pretty slow at updating. But…at least I'm updating in the first place right? Right?
…Yeah, I'll stop letting you guys down in the future sometime, I promise. :(
Read, Review, or Enjoy! Seriously, any of those three are fine. All three is the best!
Sandgem Town. It was just a speck on Sinnoh's map for many trainers. At least, that's what I remembered it being years ago. Walking down the shore and looking onto the town, it was just as quaint and small as I remembered it.
I unconsciously ran my fingers through my silver hair. As a child, I always loved the color. I wondered what it would be like to have silver hair. Now, I cursed it. It was nothing but another sign of what happened to me.
"Soaking wet…" I sighed. I tried wringing the water out of my hair, just in time for a gust of wind to blast me. You would think that it would be a good thing to get helped by nature's blow-dryer, but did nothing more but make me shiver. The only plus side was the sun, a warming beacon and a stark contrast to the otherwise dismal cold I found myself in.
I sat down on the sand, curling up my legs and huddling up for more warmth, resting on the sand and letting the sun and breeze try to dry my clothes.
"Mommy! The beach is so awesome!" A shrill high-pitched voice shot out from my right. I turned my head immediately, seeing a small girl and her mother some way down the shore, most likely having just walked over the dunes.
"I can't have any peace…" I sighed as I turned away and headed back to the main part of Sandgem. It was mainly a straightforward sandy path to town. Even better was the lack of people on the way.
Multiple thoughts ran through my mind as I walked. Why did I just leave?
"Because people are scary."
You sound like a kid.
"But I've been through so much."
I stilted the running dialogue with myself there. I couldn't even dare to think people could be trusted anymore. I couldn't let my guard down.
I quickly walked through the rural paths of the town, basically meandering. I saw few people along the way, another perk to it being early morning. I made sure to avoid them the best I could, however, often taking sharp turns or turning around.
As I walked along, once again being diverted to my left, I noticed a familiar building close in front of me. My heart started to pound harder, getting nervous as I got closer. It was Rowan's lab. Rowan taught me the basics of a Pokémon journey, and the two of us developed a small friendship. It didn't really matter now, though. I'd had enough run-ins with "professors" and "scientists". Two stories tall. Rowan's lab really didn't look too different to me. It still hugged a forest, and it still didn't really look like a lab to me. I slowly made my way to the building, coming up to the back side of it. After all, trees offered good cover, and since Rowan's lab was hugging the forest, I took advantage of the fact. As I reached the back wall, I focused my hearing up to the window above me, hearing some muffled voices. I smiled at my ability to do so, thinking of one of the few benefits to the torture I'd been through. All of my senses had been heightened, especially hearing. My hearing range was great, and it could even be improved further when I focused it on one point.
Just hearing a few mumbles couldn't satisfy my curiosity, however. I rested my hand on my chest and took a deep breath. My body began to brighten, akin to an evolving Pokémon. Envisioning myself as a Starly, I could almost even feel the DNA in my body rearranging. My form started to shrink as my clothes started to collapse. The feeling was as strange as it always was, though it wasn't really a bad or painful thing. In the end…I couldn't describe an indescribable feeling. After only a few seconds, I squirmed out of my clothes in the form of the small bird and flew up to a branch right next to a window, trying to get a good view into the room. From the better position, I focused my hearing again, this time being able to hear clearly.
"-you really think they're ready?" a young male asked, talking to the familiar old man in front of him.
"Well, he's 16. That's an appropriate age for a trainer with as much skill as him," Professor Rowan replied, stroking his beard slowly. "Besides, we sent out four trainers at the same time. I'm confident in their abilities and friendship."
"Who are you talking about…?" I whispered to myself aloud.
"Well, Lucas is a smart kid, if not a bit too innocent," his assistant laughed.
At this, the two went back to work, so engrossed that they didn't notice me just perched on the branch outside the window.
After a small moment, I took off, headed in the direction of Route 202. I didn't know why. I knew that Lucas had left recently enough for Rowan and his assistant to still be talking about it.
Something just fluttered in my heart at the thought. I hated people. Lucas was a person. Therefore, I hated Lucas.
That was my logic for every person in the world. In my mind, they were only three exceptions, my parents and my brother. I hadn't even though about Lucas.
I started to see the path exiting out of Sandgem and the start of Route 202. Almost as fast as I made the decision to pursue, though, hesitation crept in my mind.
Why exactly was I doing this? Why was my heart beating so quickly?
No… I didn't want… didn't need human interaction. I kept on flying. I was just going to follow Lucas. If something turned up…I could go to him.
"I need to time to think!" I shouted to myself mentally as I flew down to the trees. I calmed myself, taking deep breaths. Good thing I picked a bird-like Pokémon…I've found them to have much better breathing and-
Wait. What was that off in the distance? I peered off into the distance from the tree I landed on. There was a relatively straight path near the tree I was perched on, so it was easy to see a happy-go-lucky girl bouncing happily down the path.
That and she had obnoxiously blue hair.
For some reason, I didn't move. Maybe it was fear. Maybe it was curiosity. Either way, she stopped right before reaching my tree. I backed off slightly, afraid she'd seen me.
"I see you little Starly~" the girl sang, looking straight up to me. My heart skipped as I flew off and flew back several yards, keeping an eye on the girl. "Lucky for you, I don't have any Poké Balls."
"Well, that's comforting," I said sarcastically, knowing that all she heard was "Starly" repeatedly.
"Hey Dawn!" a voice cried out from behind me. The rate my heart started pounded dwarfed every moment of the day. I didn't pause and descend out of fear, per se. I paused because I knew that when I turned around it would be-
"Oh! Hey Lucas!" Dawn called out, waving energetically.
I slowly started flapping my wings, turning as I gained air. There he was. Lucas hadn't changed much in two years outside of growing a little taller and looked more mature in general.
My attention changed from my childhood friend to the Pokémon to his side.
"Man…there's so many of you on this route…I'm getting bored!" the Turtwig said smugly. Great. The first Pokémon to actually talk to me for a while had to be a smug little runt.
I only glared at him, too confused to think much further than that.
"Weren't you way ahead of me?" Dawn asked, causing me and my fellow Pokémon to turn our attention to her.
"I forgot to give you guys Poké Balls when we left Sandgem," Lucas gave a nervous chuckle, scratching his dark blue hair. "Though, I should probably teach you how to use them first."
"Hey! I know how to use them!" Dawn pouted.
"Yeah…that was just an excuse. Use Tackle Turtwig!" Lucas shouted.
Without warning, Turtwig jumped at me, ready to obey his Trainer. I flew up a few feet, easily avoiding it.
"Having trouble?" I playfully asked. "You can't really fly, you know."
"I-I think I'd know that!" Turtwig retorted before jumping up again, a few feet too short once again. Taunting him, I flew back a few feet and lowered my altitude.
"T-That's unfair!" he cried out.
"You have no right to say what's fair or not…" I glared angrily. "If you'd gone through all of the things I'd been through, you'd be f-"
My sentence was cut off as I felt a sharp pain strike my back. My back felt like it was just set on fire. I snapped around to see a Chimchar. That explained the pain. It literally was fire! Just as I was about to react, another Tackle hit me from behind.
Everything started to fade out into darkness. I cursed at myself for transforming into a Starly. I was so worried about blending in that I made myself ridiculously weak. I turned slowly to Lucas before a familiar ball flew from his hand. The last thing I remembered before fainting was a red light enveloping me and my thoughts fading away with my consciousness.
For being so late, I felt as if this chapter was rushed.
The good thing is that I've actually got a schedule that allows me to write more!
To finish, let me comment on a few things. You'll noticed I used Dawn instead of Claire like I did in AEL. No, I didn't get rid of Claire. She's too awesome. Instead, I actually added Dawn to match Lucas so I could have both Sinnoh Trainers. Also you'll remember that I mentioned this is a remake, obviously. I am changing a lot of major things. This isn't me using different words and grammar. This is a full-fledged remake.
I smiled when I got 15 reviews in just one chapter. I seriously love you guys for dealing with this, and I'm sorry for all of the disappointment. I'm alive, you're alive, so let's all be happy! =D