Day 1 of the First Year

It was raining that day. I didn't expect the rain, nor did I want it. I had expected my first day out, my first day free, to be a sunny, beautiful day. The sun would be shining, the breeze would be gentle, and the clouds would be drifting lazily over the sky. There would be warmth on my skin and hope in my heart. But, instead, the skies had been overcast. There was a chill in the air and the wind was howling. And within the first hour of my freedom, the rain was pouring in torrents.

I was shivering and cold, crouching in an alleyway behind a dumpster, my breathing heavy and ragged as the ice that had frozen me to my bone finally began to melt away. Angel was gripping my arm tightly as I rode out my attack and the gentle touch of her mind soothed me on the way down. I came back to the world, the smell of waste and rot invading my nose and the acrid taste of the city on my tongue. It wasn't a huge city that I had lived in, but it still had all of the wonders of dense human civilization. It was full of trash, alleyways, people, and, worst of all, policemen. While I didn't know the exact amount of time, I guessed that I had been gone long enough for my parents to have noticed. They would have alerted the authorities immediately. I couldn't risk being seen by anyone.

Angel's touch disappeared and I knew that, at least for now, I was no longer in danger of an attack. I took another moment to rest, feeling the strength, or what was left of it, return to my muscles. We needed to get out of the city. I couldn't keep dodging people and hiding in the shadow for the rest of my life. We couldn't live in alleyways, behind dumpsters, and in every shadowy corner we could find. I wanted to be really free and I couldn't be anything like that if I was anywhere near people. It sounded dumb, but I had to take to the wilds.

One more deep breath and I began to get up from my spot. With the help of Angel and the dumpster next to me, I managed to get to my feet. I was exhausted - we had been running for what seemed like hours, crouching in corners, and stressed over everything. This had been my third attack since leaving home. Not that I could tell how long it had been. Time wasn't important to me right now.

"Are you okay to move on?" It was Angel's voice, speaking in my head. We had learned to communicate telepathically a long time ago. Living together in a small room for three years had created a bond that seemed to transcend any barrier. "Yes, I'll be fine. Let's go - we're almost to the gatehouse."

I looked both ways before emerging from behind the dumpster and continuing our careful trek through the alleyway. As we approached the end, I threw my soaking wet hood back over my head and walked right onto the street while keeping my head trained on my feet. Angel hung back and I could feel her mind still connected to me - she would teleport to and fro, staying in dark places to not be seen at all. She would attract too much attention, especially with me.

There were other people along the street, not many, as it was quite a storm. Some were walking like me - heads down, covered with jackets and coats, others holding umbrellas. The was the one good thing about the rain - I could hide my face and nobody would question why. Some people sprinted down the sidewalk, covering their heads with whatever they had - backpacks, jackets, their hands...and as much as I wanted to run as fast as them, I couldn't attract any kind of attention like that. Movement always drew the eye.

I felt my connection with Angel go fuzzy for a second and then it reappeared not far in front of me. Probably another alleyway or some kind of empty container. I could feel her disdain for having to travel like this and I couldn't help but mirror her discomfort. I hated this, having to hide, having to act like some kind of outlaw. My heart was thumping in my chest, the anxiety messing with my nerves. And stress like this was what always triggered attacks the most.

The sooner we were outside of the city, the better.

I tried to keep myself calm but it was very difficult when there were so many stressors around. Sirens blazed in the distance and I wondered if they were coming for me. Exclamations from the people around me made me flinch, wondering if they had noticed who I was. Anyone who's eyes rested on mine made my heart skip a beat as I wondered if they had seen my face. I could feel Ralt's anxiety through our connection and I knew she could only feel that way because of me, and because she knew that I could have an attack at any time.

"Oh, my phone's going off. But I had it on silent?" I was close enough to a group of women that I could faintly hear their conversation. "Yeah, mine too."

"Mine's out of battery. What does it say?"

"Oh, it's an Amber Alert. A teenage girl with a Ralts has run away."

My heart leaped in my chest.

"Are you serious? Kids these days just don't appreciate the lives they have. I wish that my parents had given me a Pokemon when I was her age!"

"I know! This generation is going to ruin things for everyone."

I wasn't listening anymore. I could only focus on my racing heart and the pain in my chest. Everybody knew me now. Everyone was looking for me. They probably sent a picture of my face they probably sent my name if anyone saw Angel we would be caught. If anybody noticed me I would be caught. If anybody saw me having an attack that would be it. No freedom. Back to my room. Back to Hell.

There was a sudden shift in the connection as Angel teleported some ways in front of me. "You're going to have an attack. I'm in an alley that you can hide in."

I tried to control and steady my breathing to try and hold it off but I knew there was no use. Once Angel could sense it, it would come, no matter what. And my head was still racing with fear and worry. We were so close. We couldn't lose everything now!

I willed the women in front of me to move faster but it seemed that they wouldn't go past their casual walking. I wanted to sprint ahead, push past and dive behind cover but I knew that would look extremely suspicious, especially after their recent conversation. Patience. I had to have patience. They'll move. I began to talk to myself, willing myself to stay calm, stay calm. Be patient. They'll move. Stay calm. Don't think about it.

"Hurry!"

My chest suddenly tightened and a strange tingling sensation ran across my back. My head began to spin and feel light as something seemed to clamp around my heart. I tried to suck in breath but nothing was coming. I couldn't breath. I couldn't breath! Why weren't they moving faster?!

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the women passed the alley that Angel was hiding in and I dove to the side, barely able to stand from the pain in my chest. I followed her presence and staggering behind a brick wall where I collapsed onto the ground, curling into a ball as I gave into the attack.

I felt Angel's hands tightening around my arms and the world began to go spotty as I feebly tried to breathe. Something was pressing on my heart harder and harder to the point where it felt like it couldn't even beat anymore. My entire chest and back was burning with pain and my jaw locked painfully. Everything was spinning from the lack of air and my body shivered with the effort it took just to function. The darkness was pressing around me, squeezing my entire form smaller and smaller and smaller, crushing my, freezing me, destroying me.

It could have lasted a year or more and I wouldn't have told the difference. It could have been a few seconds and I wouldn't have been any wiser. I was focused on trying to breathe, trying to stay alive. My body convulsed as my brain struggled to keep itself awake. The black spots in my vision were growing bigger and bigger as my heart clamped tighter and tighter before, finally, everything began to weaken.

As soon as I could I gasped and breathed in all the air I could get. It burned my lungs but never before had breathing felt so good, even as I descended into a fit of coughing as the attack wore out. I sensed worry from Angel as she released my arm.

"That one lasted a long time. Did something happen?"

I gulped in as much air as I could, trying to calm down my suddenly racing heart. "They're looking for me. I heard some women talking about it."

Angel nodded and leaned forward, her arm reaching out to wipe away a tear that had begun to fall down my face. "We knew this would happen. It just means we have to be more careful."

I nodded and, after a moment more of rest, dried my eyes and climbed back to my feet. I was still shaking from the pain but managed to get my hood back on and step back onto the street. My shivering could probably pass as being cold from the rain so I didn't try to quell it. That would make everything even more difficult.

We began our system again, me walking and finding my way through the city while Angel teleported from shadow to shadow. It seemed to take forever to finally reach the gatehouse and, when we did, my heart dropped to my stomach. Usually it was pretty easy to leave the city - It was just a spacious hallway that connected the city wall with the outside world, creating a stark contrast between urban and wild while also keeping any dangerous Pokemon outside of the city. However ,there were guards now, obviously there to check people as they walked through the doors A couple of Mightyenas were also there, sitting still besides the twitch of their nose, they eyes were narrowed as they observed the streets. They were on the lookout for me.

"Angel, what are we going to do?"

There was a hesitation and a small cut in our connection before she responded anxiously, "I don't know. I just tried to teleport through the gatehouse but there's something blocking my way. They knew we would be coming."

With no other option, I walked up some ways and concealed myself behind the wall of a nearby building that jutted out a bit. I tried to think of a way to get in - simply walking through wouldn't work - the Mighyenas would figure me out or the guards would recognize me. Probably both. We couldn't teleport through, Angel had already tried. And we definitely couldn't fight. Those Pokemon looked intense and I doubted that Angel would be able to stand up to them at all.

Suddenly I realized that I could feel a barrier on my connection to Angel. I could still feel her there but I couldn't sense her thoughts or feelings at all. I probed through it but found no response. "Angel?"

I prodded her for a few seconds before turning towards where she was hiding. What was going on? however, I was jerked back to reality, when there was a sudden loud bark. I looked up. The Mightyena were standing and growling at someone on the other side of the street. I watched as the policemen began pointing and shouting angrily, letting their Pokemon go to catch whoever it was. The two canine Pokemon sprinted towards the other side, their tongues lolling and their eyes wild with glee. I followed their path and, when I saw their target, thought that I was hallucinating again.

The person across the street was me.

They were wearing the exact same clothes except their hood wasn't up. And in their arms they carried a Ralts that looked exactly like Angel. But my connection wasn't coming from that Ralts, it was coming from behind me.

The stranger saw the Mighteyena run towards her and turned and fled, the Ralts still clutched tightly in her arms. The Policemen shouted and gave chase with their Pokemon leaving the gatehouse suddenly unguarded. "Now's our chance!" The connection opened suddenly and Angel's presence came closer and closer. I turned and was surprised to see her running towards me, out in the open and everything.

I didn't have time to think about it. I opened my arms to catch her as she leaped towards me, turned, and sprinted towards the gatehouse, swinging open the doors and running right through the carpeted interior.

There was a security officer at his desk but I gave no notice. And it seemed he didn't really care, only glancing up at me and giving me a strange look before looking back down at whatever he was doing. I didn't care. I was almost out.

I pushed through the door on the other side and found myself on the other side, finally outside of the city. It was a path leading through a wooded area but I didn't dare take a route that people would be walking through. I turned right and pushed into the forest, angling so that I was both going deeper into the trees and away from the city gatehouse. I needed to get away, far away, as far as I possibly could.

I ran as fast as I could for as long as I could. I had no idea how long I had been running before Angel's worried voice spoke in my mind.

"You're pushing yourself too hard. You need to stop or you'll have another attack."

"No!" I shouted aloud with what breath I could spare. "We need to get farther in!"

"Please, stop. You've been living in one room for three years, you're not fit enough for this. Besides, we're far enough in and they'll still be looking for us in the city."

This time I just ignored her warning and continued to run but eventually I began to slow down before coming to a halt and realized the truth in her words. I could barely breathe and my legs felt like jelly. We were in the middle of the forest, though, far enough in so that I couldn't even hear the sounds of the city anymore. All I could hear was the rain falling on the leaves and pooling on the ground. I was panting hard, my brain hyper aware of everything from the rush of adrenaline that had carried me all this way. But now I was beginning to settle down and come back to my senses. I had no idea were I was, but that probably meant that the police wouldn't either.

I gulped in a deep breath and collapsed on the ground, Angel hopping down from my arms as I released her. I sat in the mud, not caring anymore that my clothes were getting dirty. They were already thoroughly soaked through. A little mud wouldn't hurt them any worse.

I took a moment to catch my breath before casting my thoughts back to our extremely lucky escape. How had that even happened, anyways? One moment we had been hiding with no idea how to get out of the city, the next the police were chasing down some strange copycat of me.

I turned to Angel. "What happened back there? Did you do something?"

She nodded. "I met a Pokemon that was willing to help us. They lured the police away."

I had never heard of a Pokemon that could create images of people that both looked real and could move. Well, I hadn't really met a lot of Pokemon so I was sure that it was a possibility. If Angel could talk to me through my mind then there was a Pokemon that could create illusions too.

But that wasn't important now. I was grateful to the Pokemon that had helped us but it was now dawning on me. I had left the city. My life of living with my parents, of living locked in a room, alone, never leaving never seeing anything but the same walls, the same bed, the same person in the mirror...that was all behind me now. The life I had always dreamed of was finally right in front of me and all around. A life to do what I wanted, go where I wanted, and be who I wanted to be.

I was finally free.


Oh, hey, look, it's me. Writing another chapter. How long has it been? Half a year? Thought I'd given up? Nope. I just forgot to write more. Well, I would really like to finish this story since I do have it planned out pretty well and I really like this idea. I started this chapter in both 3rd and 1st person but I liked it better in 1st person so I think I will end up sticking with that for the remainder of the story.

Don't worry, we'll see that Pokemon that helped them later on. Also, I won't be doing this day by day or else we would be here forever and it would be super boring. There will be long time breaks between each chapter so we don't have to go through the details of her every day life living out in the wild.

Anyways, thank you for reading my story! If you enjoyed it, feel free to favorite or follow and if you have something to say I'm always open to comments and reviews! I'll see you all in the next chapter!

-SilverWinter