Chapter 2
"Wake up, dear."
I see an old lady right in front of me. A tad on the large side, but her radiant face stands out despite her age. I slowly open my eyes and straighten my back.
"You don't want to miss your stop, do you?"
A rhetorical question if I ever heard one. I'm a little embarrassed now.
"Oh, of course not. Thanks for waking me up, lady."
She smiles and immediately cuddles her Snubbull that I only now notice. I take a moment to look at the scenery across the window. If we're close to New Bark Town, then this must be Route 29. There is a grassy patch not far from our position, and if my eyes aren't deceiving me, I detect a family of Sentret feeding a lone Hoppip. It's a heartwarming sight of the kind that always lifts my spirts up.
I hear the lady's voice again.
"You aren't a Pokémon trainer, are you?"
Is it that obvious?
"No, but I am on my way to meet Prof. Elm. I hope that he agrees to give me a starter Pokémon today."
"Oh? But only New Bark trainers are supposed to get a starter from Elm. You're from Violet City, aren't you?"
"That's true, but…"
I figure that it would be easier to show her the e-mail than to explain it myself. She looks confused when I take out my Pokégear.
"What's this, dear?"
"Please read it. It explains everything."
Confused, she takes out her glasses and holds the device up close. Of course, I remember the words by heart.
"Dear Kris,
Thanks for your interest in my research. I will be happy to meet you at my lab whenever you can visit.
Best regards,
Elliot Elm"
The old lady takes her time, even though there isn't much to read. Her Snubbull looks bored, eyeing me closely.
"I see. It seems that you managed to get Elm to take an interest in you. Whatever did you say to him?"
"Nothing much. Just that his ideas about the effects of Pokémon walking alongside their trainers fascinate me, and I would love to help him prove that he's right."
"Pokémon walking alongside their trainers? Why, my Snubbull is always around me. What's so special about that?"
"Are you a trainer?"
"Don't be silly, dear. My Snubbull needs to stay clean at all times."
"And you aren't on a journey, correct?"
She laughed a little too loudly.
"Of course not."
"So I don't think that the two situations are comparable."
"Whatever you say, dear. So I take it that your parents approve of your going on a journey as a new trainer?"
That… isn't really something I'd like to answer truthfully, and her calling me "dear" is getting a little annoying.
"Oh, yes. All of my neighbors have already left home, and my parents want the best for me."
I wish that were true.
"How wonderful. Well, if you're on your way to Elm's lab, I believe that the next stop is your destination."
"Yes, I know. Thanks so much for making sure that I don't miss it."
I reach out my arm to pet her Snubbull, who bites my finger.
"Ouch!"
"Oh, Nelly. That is no way to say goodbye. Apologize at once."
Nelly looks somewhat scared. Eventually, she comes closer and licks my wound that she inflicted. I wish I could say it wasn't a forced gesture. It's pretty cute, though.
Before I know it, the bus comes to a stop.
"Farewell, dear. Don't begrudge Nelly, now."
"I won't. Bye!"
As I descend from the bus, the windmills around the houses immediately get my attention. Kids are running around happily with a pair of adorable Teddiursa cubs following suit… The pastoral atmosphere is amazing. I guess it's true: The wind here truly is a pleasant sign of a fresh new start. And boy, do I need it. That lie I told that lady… It's a big one. Well, I am sure that Dad wants me gone, but he didn't seem too pleased when I told him about going to meet Elm. He called it a ridiculous idea.
"You stupid girl. You flunked all of your exams at Earl's academy… If your own teacher doesn't think that you have what it takes to be a trainer, why would a stranger waste his time on you? You're a failure."
I couldn't tell if Dad was drunk when he said that, but does it matter? I've learned that he is most honest when he can barely walk his way to the bedroom. I can never forget what he said when I was about seven years old…
"It is your own bloody fault that I lost her. It was you that should have died, but your mom paid the price for your worthless self. She died knowing that there was no point to your life."
No, no… I could never believe something so crazy. I did not ask to be born; Mom wanted me to live. I… will let her exist through me, and believe that I can make her proud.
Suddenly, I hear someone call out my name.
"Kris? Are you Kris?"
A brown-haired girl stands before me. She looks to be around my age, but taller. Her outfit is a bit unorthodox, especially that bulbous hat. I wouldn't want to wear that, but then again, kids at school would often mock my kippah. I appreciate the bold style.
"Yes. How do you know my name?"
"I am Prof. Elm's assistant. He told me that you were coming."
"Oh, nice to meet you! I didn't know he had such a young assistant."
"Well, now you do. How was your ride?"
"It wasn't too long, and I managed to get some rest. Hey, what's your name?"
"Lyra. And right behind me is Snout, my Marill."
The blue mouse emerges to give me a smile. I instantly approach him.
"Nice to meet you, Snout."
Lyra picks him up before I can touch him.
"Snout doesn't like it when strangers get so close. Sorry!"
But Snout seems pretty comfortable to me. I give him a kiss on the cheek, making him blush.
"Oh, that's okay. I already got one Pokémon upset in the last 10 minutes, so I figure that Snout here wants me to feel more welcome."
Lyra doesn't seem too pleased about that. Hmm, maybe she's overly maternal?
"We should really get going. Prof. Elm has other things to do today."
"Oh? Could I ask what he is busy with?"
"The new champion is coming back home. We are preparing a huge party to honor his victory. Exciting!"
"A new champion? I think I heard one of my neighbors talk about Lance losing to someone recently. Who is he?"
"Ethan. He's a childhood friend of mine, and I really do need to get going so I can arrange the party. And you must be eager to meet Prof. Elm, right?"
Ethan? I remember that name from the reports about Team Rocket being stopped. First they mentioned the incident in Mahogany Town, where Lance and a young boy helped foil Team Rocket's plan to force the Magikarp in Lake of Rage to evolve. At that time, the boy's identity was not disclosed. But a few days afterwards, it was revealed that his name was Ethan, and that he had singlehandedly defeated the entire organization at Goldenrod's Radio Tower. Apparently, they were attempting to contact their ex-leader as well as send out the evolution-inducing radio waves all over Johto. The latter would have been excruciating! Evolution is a gradual process, and according to experts such as Prof. Elm, forced evolution could result in a disease.
"Kris, are you with me?"
"What? Oh, yes. Let's go."
Ignoring Lyra's somewhat condescending tone, I start following her and Snout along the pavement. There are hardly any cars around and I am guessing that it won't take too long to get to the lab. But my mind is elsewhere: I hope I get to meet this Ethan. He is about my age, I assume. How amazing that someone so young could be so accomplished… I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous
"Don't worry. We're very close." Lyra shouted from ahead of me.
"Great. Say, how long have you worked for Prof. Elm?"
"For about two years. He asked me to be his assistant for the Pokéwalker project. You know about that, right?"
"Oh, yes. They told us about it at the academy. It's a project conducted all over the region, which was meant to determine if walking with Pokémon without battling could increase their potential. And you proved that it could!"
"Yep. You know your stuff, but it isn't that simple. We proved that growth is very slow when done this way, as in slow compared to regular training."
"Maybe you've missed something?"
"I think I know about this more than you do."
"Just thinking aloud, sorry."
As someone who doesn't share Ethan's lofty goals, I am not sure I want to even battle on a casual basis. As dad said, I have shown absolutely no affinity for battling. Something about battles simply gets me agitated. The journey I want to take… is one I need for a happier life. I just want to get away from Dad, and maybe, just maybe, understand Pokémon a little better.
And that means never letting Poké Balls separate us.
