Episode 03 – "Breaking the Mold"

Thomas Planer – Kay's father – sat in the living room, looking over some papers placed on a low, wooden table. It was night time. Kay and Teppo were already asleep by then, but he still needed to look over their budget for next month. Whether it was good or bad he didn't know, however. Instead, he was feeling rather distracted over something his daughter said earlier after she had returned from a long trip to the city. Seeing Kay somewhat exhausted and Teppo's bruises and bandages made him worry if something happened to them, but as usual the girl never told him exactly what happened.

She probably didn't want her father to worry, he thought. That girl was too nice sometimes for her own good.

But it was what she said during dinner that took him by surprise.

"Um, Dad…" she asked, speaking up during the meal. "Is… Pokemon Battling fun?"

'Pokemon Battling'. He never heard her ask him about something like that before. Of course, he himself didn't know for certain if the sport was 'fun' – he was never into it as well and very much ignored it throughout his life.

But he saw her before she went to bed earlier: alone in the living room with a newspaper planted flat on the floor. He could tell that she was reading the Sports section, and he noticed from the look on her expression that she was absorbed into something. And when she left for bed, he decided to look over it as well just to see what could have caught his daughter's attention that much.

And wouldn't he know it: the main article on that section was none other than on Pokemon Battling, complete with a clear picture showing a Pokemon Trainer getting his hand raised in victory.

"….."

But he couldn't help but smile to himself.

"It's so rare to see that girl that interested in something…"

The next day, on her way to school, Kay let out a little yawn. She slept pretty late last night, which wasn't a surprise to her because her mind was pretty clouded from the events of yesterday. The Pokemon Gym; the prodigy Inez; the cruel and sadistic Sodo; the thrilling Pokemon Battle between Teppo and Blaze – she couldn't stop thinking about them. In fact, she was even sure she even dreamt about it.

But at the same time, she actually wondered if all of that even happened. It was unrealistic in her head, but she assured herself that she will forget all about it soon enough.

That was, until she accidentally bumped into someone.

"Ah, sorry…" Kay said. "I wasn't-… ah."

And her eyes suddenly widened comically; it was that woman from the Pokemon Gym! And the blonde man was with her! They seemed to be wearing jogging attire, and next to them were two different Pokemon: a Toxicroak and Manectric.

"Oh, hey…!" the woman greeted, smiling down at Kay. "Almost didn't recognize you in your uni-…"

And Kay suddenly and quickly bolted past them!

"Eh? She ran off?!"

"… what the hell did you do to her?" Parker asked, looking at the direction Kay just ran off to.

"I didn't do anything! … hey, wait a minute. I recognize that uniform…" And she turned her head to look towards the same direction.

Meanwhile, Kay was still running, worried that those two would give her chase for running off so suddenly like that. She didn't even know why she did it – it just happened on instinct! After some time, she stopped to catch her breath near a lamp post, hugging her bag close to her chest. "That startled me…" she muttered to herself. "… ah, I think I might have come off as rude." She looked behind her. "Should I go back and-…" But she shook her head and straightened herself up. "No, no… I have to get to school."

But she didn't feel at all better at school either. Because she had to deal with other problems.

"Yep," said Terry. "Looks like that's all of it; it's about time!"

"See?" Vicky asked. "Told ya you could make it in time if you ran."

Just another day when Terry and her two friends were in school, Kay thought as she was once again forced to become their errand girl and get them stuff from the school's canteen. They didn't even thank her for it and simply dismissed her like she needed their permission to leave. The rest of the school day went on as usual, but Kay still couldn't get the image of Teppo and Blaze battling out of her head.

Eventually the bell rang, signaling another end of a school day, and that meant Kay can go straight home to Teppo and help out at the farm. However, on her way towards the front gate, she could see several students staring at the side after walking past it. The only thing Kay could make out first was one of them asking his friend if 'she' was someone's girlfriend.

"She's a real beauty," whispered his friend.

Kay blinked and upon stepping out of the gate, she turned her attention to the side. To her surprise, it was none other than…

… Inez!

"Ah." Her sharp sapphires turned towards Kay, slowly pushing her back off the wall. "There you are."

"….?!" And Kay suddenly and quickly-

"Don't run," said Inez, freezing Kay on the spot right after the latter spun around. Inez looked at her with an annoyed expression, soon crossing her arms over her chest. "Honestly… Tessa was right; she warned me that you were probably going to do that." She then casually walked past Kay, before saying, "Anyways, come with me."

"Huh…?"

Inez turned around, looking at her with a pair of serious eyes. "I want to talk to you. About yesterday."

For once in her life since a very long time, Kay was walking away from school with someone. Sure, Inez wasn't someone she would call her 'friend', but it was a nice change of pace. The walk with her was quiet, with neither of them saying much to each other aside from Inez asking if Kay wouldn't mind entering a café with her.

'So this is what it's like to be hanging out with someone else after school', Kay thought to herself, slowly calling for a little smile on her face.

But…

'Why do I feel so much pressure?!'

It felt like she was going to get a scolding!

They sat at an empty table, with both sitting directly opposite of each other. It had been a long time since Kay stopped by this sort of place so she pretty much ordered something simple and cheap – to be specific: a simple fruit juice drink. However, Inez herself just ordered a glass of water – strange, because Kay assumed she would order something 'more'. As they waited for their drinks, there was an awkward silence between them – though the feeling may not be mutual from Inez's side.

'So tense…!' Kay thought, before attempting to break the silence. "There… sure are a lot of people here, huh?" Kay asked, flashing a nervous smile.

"Hm…?" Inez shifted her eyes towards her. "Yeah, I guess so."

"…." Then after a bit more time had passed: "… how's your Combusken doing?"

"He's doing alright in his Pokeball."

"…." As the awkwardness went on, Kay felt her image of herself happily chatting with friends in a café shatter like glass. Eventually though their drinks arrive at the same time, and after bowing her head politely to the waitress, Kay picked up her glass. "T… Thank you for the drink." And she raised the glass to her lips, taking a nice, slow sip.

But then Inez asked, "So are you avoiding the Pokemon Gym by any chance?"

"….?!" That startled Kay, and she coughed on her drink – to which Inez sweatdropped to. "W, Where did you hear that?"

"Hmm…. Well, I heard it from Sodo yesterday," Inez pointed out. "He was going non-stop all evening shouting 'that brat ran away'." Kay almost felt like her whole body shrunk from shame. "'… 'how could she just run off like that'…" Again, Kay shrunk. "…. 'wait until I find her again'." Then she looked Kay straight-on, with eyes piercing right through hers. "… then Tessa told me you ran off as soon as you saw her this morning."

'So Tessa was the one from earlier…' Kay noted.

"Well?" Inez asked, crossing her arms before leaning against her seat. "Are you? Avoiding the gym and all?"

"W, Well, I wouldn't say 'avoiding'…" Kay flustered. "It's just… after what happened yesterday, I… wasn't sure what to do so I…. uh… That is…" There were literally swirls in her eyes as she continued to stumble on her words. "Sorry if I… uh…"

Inez sighed, and turned her head away. "… no, I think I should apologize."

"Huh…?"

"I wasn't mad at you for that Pokemon Battle yesterday. I can understand that… since I walked away so quickly without even saying a word… may have rubbed off on you differently." Kay blinked. "In fact, I was satisfied with it. And it's been a long time since I've felt so fired up because of a Pokemon Battle. So don't misunderstand…" Inez finally looked back at Kay. "Though you lost, you showed great promise. If anything, it'd be nice to see how far you'll get in the future."

Kay had to blush at that – aside from her father, no one had praised her like that in a long time. "T, Thank you very much…"

"So please accept my apology. I didn't mean to scare you away like that."

"What? No, no, no, no…!" Kay quickly waved her in front of her. "You… You got it all wrong!"

"Oh…?"

"I didn't run away because of that Pokemon Battle… To be honest, I… actually enjoyed it too. And I haven't seen Teppo that lively before. It's just…"

"Hm…?"

"… that man, Sodo, scares me."

Inez sweatdropped at that. 'Damn that guy…' Inez thought, recalling something Sodo said earlier. 'He told me that she ran off because of ME. I'll get him later for this…' "Don't worry about him," said Inez, letting out a sigh. "He acts like a jerk… but he didn't mean any real harm. In fact, he was really looking forward to you joining the gym as a Pokemon Trainer."

Kay gulped. "T, That's… another reason why I ran out yesterday." Slowly, she lowered her head, avoiding meeting Inez's eyes but still maintaining a weak smile. "I… really can't see myself becoming a Pokemon Trainer. There's just no way someone like me could do something like that with Teppo…"

"Obviously it will be difficult at first," Inez pointed out. "But who knows, maybe you'll get used to it."

"There's impossible…" Kay added. "I'm… not really someone that strong. A lot of people have called me 'weak'; I even get picked on at school... Teppo may be strong, but with me as his Pokemon Trainer...? I just… don't think I'm cut out for something like that."

"…" Inez's expression turned into a frown. After some time, she slowly stood up from her seat. "… I'm heading out."

"Ah… but…"

"So is that all you're going to be?" Inez asked. "Are you really that fine living that way? 'I'm too weak to do this'… 'I'm too weak to do that' – only cowards would say something like those. I could tell from our spar that your Tepig was more than eager to battle for you… but it seems its owner doesn't understand its feelings."

"…!" That was a blow to Kay.

"Your Tepig chose to fight, but you chose to run. I'm sorry for your situation… but if you're just going to let everyone walk all over you, then we have nothing more to discuss. The least you could do was have a better reason to not consider taking up Pokemon Battling."

"….." Kay lowered her head again.

"Here I thought I found someone interesting… but it seems I'm mistaken." Inez backed away a little from her. "Pokemon Battling doesn't need someone like you around."

With that last cold statement, Inez turned away and soon headed back out without saying another word or even looking back. Kay, on the other hand, was left alone at the table, feeling like she just completely disgraced herself.

"I'm home…"

Her greeting was definitely the weakest it had ever been that time, and she walked up to her house feeling like a Golem was sitting right on her shoulders. Not to mention it was very much late in the evening! Even Teppo, who greeted her arrival, sensed something was off with her, and it looked up at her with worry. Kay would stare down at her Pokemon, recalling Inez's words about how it was willing to stand up and fight for her.

Then her father stepped out of the kitchen, with a newspaper in hand.

"Kay, where have you been?" he asked. But her father could definitely tell that his daughter was feeling down by just getting one look at her. In fact, he quickly noticed the puffiness under her eyes. "….." But he just watched as his daughter walked past him. It was an unusual sight of her in that form – normally, even in the worse of days, she would always come back with a smile on her face. But this was not going to continue any longer. "Kay."

His voice and expression turned stern – two things that Kay rarely ever see her father use. Though she was nervous, she slowly turned around to appropriately face him, but she kept her head down to hide her own expression.

"I know something is going on with you," said her father. "I don't know what exactly that is, but as your father I won't just stand here and see you behaving this way." Kay tried to raise her head, but seeing her father's angry face scared it back down. "If there's anything bothering you, you should go ahead and tell me."

"…"

Her father narrowed his eyes, before he stepped towards her. Kay – fearing the worst – closed her eyes, bracing herself for whatever that would come to her. But instead…

… she felt her father's hands gently falling on her shoulders.

"Keep your head up." His voice became gentle once more, and as she looked up at him, his stern face was already replaced by an assuring smile. "I'm sorry if I've upset you, Kay; you have been helping me out ever since your mother had passed away and not once have you ever asked for anything in return. But no father would willingly take over his daughter's life for his own selfish needs." He chuckled a little. "I know you're just trying to help and I appreciate it greatly. But perhaps it's time… for you to find something that you yourself want to do? Your mother would have wanted it the same way."

"…. But… I'm not as strong as her…."

"Nonsense!" Thomas quickly corrected. "You're the strongest person I know and your mother would have said the same thing. So please don't worry about me… You should go out there and live your own life, and I will always support you no matter what. And you know that Teppo will do the same thing for you too."

"…." Kay thought about it, but it didn't take her long. Her eyes lit up with determination, and she looked her father straight in the eye, giving him a firm nod. "I'll be right back, Dad! Teppo, do you know what I'm thinking?"

"Tep! Tep!" The Tepig was jumping around eagerly.

"I'll try to be back as soon as I can! Come on, Teppo!"

The girl put her school bag on the floor against the floor and went straight for the door. The Tepig, feeling pumped up, shot a tiny flame out of its nose before running after her. Thomas eyed the bag on the floor and then towards the entrance, smiling to himself.

"That girl… She really is like her mother."

Kay and Teppo ran out and past the fields, hoping to catch the next bus to the city. 'Teppo was trying to tell me to stand up for myself, but I…!' She shifted her attention to Tepo, who continued to run next to her. 'I can't stay weak anymore…!' she thought, continuing to run with all her might. 'I WON'T stay weak anymore…!' But the girl unfortunately tripped over a rock on the side… and she winced as she felt her knee scrapped. However, the image of her Tepig continuing to stand back up after getting knocked down over and over again flashed in her head. 'I will find out…' Pushing herself to fight the pain, she got back on her feet and continued in her haste.

'… I will find out what it means to be 'strong'!'

"Alright, that's enough for today!" the Gym Leader said, standing near the punching bags where Sodo, Inez, Sodo's Machop, and Blaze were. "That was good work, all four of you. Now get your Pokemon some rest. Especially you and your Pokemon, Inez, since your Pokemon Trainer Test is just around the corner."

"Yes, sir!" both Sodo and Inez said in unison – though with less energy from the former.

"Oy~!" Coming from the other side of the room, Parker came waving to them, with Tessa following him not far behind. "Another good workout day, huh? We could hear your Pokemon hitting those bags from across the room."

"Looks like Inez is definitely ready for that test!" Tessa added, before recalling something else. "Oh, right! What ever happened to that girl from yesterday? Did you find her in her school?"

"Don't bother asking," says Inez, draping a towel over the back of her neck. "There's no way someone like that will ever become a Pokemon Trainer."

"Eh…. Is that so."

"Pokemon Battling is not an easy sport." The old man – the Gym Leader – once again spoke up. "You have to be able to pit your Pokemon against others', meaning you have to be ready to put its life on the line every time it steps into the Battle Ring. It takes a toll on the Trainer in more ways than one, especially when they share a close bond with one another – it's why many choose to drop out before they even get started. I'm sure that the girl must have thought over it." He let out a sigh. "It's a shame, of course… but if her heart and mind aren't up for it, there's really nothing we can do."

However, Sodo was about to say otherwise. While everyone paid attention to the Gym Leader, he caught sight of a certain someone running past the windows near the entrance. A smile slowly found its way on him, before he said the words, "I wouldn't say that, Old Man."

The front door slid open hastily!

And everyone else in the room turned their attention to it.

A girl stood at the door, leaning against it after pushing it open with what energy she had left. Her face, hands and uniform were covered in dust, and aside from her skin glistening with sweat her pants for breath made it obvious how physically drained she was. Her hair was a mess; her fringe all tangled and sticking to her forehead; her knee was scrapped. A Tepig stood in front of her, its chest rising and falling from its own fatigue. Nonetheless both of them each had a look of fiery determination in their eyes.

Tessa and Parker were obviously surprised, but the other three kept their cool.

"I've…" Kay finally said between breaths. "… decided…!"

The Gym Leader's head perked up at that.

"… I want to be a Pokemon Trainer!"

FazzEagle: And so the Prologue Chapters are finally over! In the next chapter, we will enter the next phase of Kay's development on becoming a Pokemon Trainer: the training! In this chapter, the purpose was to show just how loyal Kay is to her family, how she puts others' needs first before hers, and that she doesn't wish for anyone to come to any harm because of her mistakes or incompetency. It also serves to differentiate between Kay and Inez's characters: one is soft-spoken and would rather keep to herself, the other will freely speak her mind and prefers to take the initiative, showing a more matured persona. I have to admit though: the Inez character is growing on me more than I first thought.

Also Kay's look will soon debut a new look in the next chapter - look forward to it!

Side note: I wonder if I should start taking in OCs like I did back in my previous Pokemon fanfic? Might be tricky since this story will focus more on battling than the romance (though romance WILL still be around - just not so much).