Disclaimer: I do not own or have any association with Pokémon. This is fanwork and I do not profit from this.
I had left town early the next morning, not bothering to check in with the traveler's store. Viridian Forest had welcomed me in again with fog and coldness and a herd of Caterpie. It wasn't long after I had somehow made it through the stampeding bugs that a branch whacked me in the face. Then, of course, a wild something decided to poo on my hat. The Sigilyph had wandered off about five minutes after we had entered the forest, leaving me to face the dangers of tripping and falling into poison ivy, nearly losing my Pidgey twice, and sneaking around a sleeping Weepinbell. I silently wished the odd creature would return to me soon; the world seemed rather lonely without it there.
Between danger and missing the Sigilyph, I spent my time considering names for my Pidgey. It was popular for trainers to name Pokémon based on certain characteristics they had, but calling her "Beak" or "Feathers" wasn't exactly cutting it for me. "Wimp", as accurate as it was, didn't seem like the right name either. My older sister had a Flareon named Flare, but the name Pidge just sounded stupid. Plus, my sister moved to Unova to take part in musicals. Instead of doing something cool, like being a trainer or coordinator, she chose musicals. No way was I going to follow her lead in anything Pokémon-related.
I angrily kicked a pinecone down the path. She and my mom had left four years ago, leaving an eight year-old me and my dad behind. They visited when they could, but for the most part they were gone. It was because Kanto was running so low on jobs, they had said. They needed to support the family somehow.
I had been expecting a divorce, but my mom and dad still remained married. They still loved each other more than anything; that much was obvious when she visited. She sent checks.
But she had left me and my dad behind.
And you left your dad behind, too, a little voice in my head whispered. You're just as bad as her and your sister. You broke your promise. You left someone.
I had no choice, I argued back.
Sure.
I didn't even realize I was crying until my Pidgey gently rubbed her head against my face.
"It's okay," I said, and pulled her off my shoulder to examine her. "I'm fine. You need a name, though."
"Pidg-eeee!" she trilled, as if agreeing.
"How about…" I trailed off, considering what would really suit her.
She had no interesting parts in her actual name, she had no interesting attributes, and she was a rather pathetic battler, but…
I shrugged, and just set her back on my shoulder. She was kind of sweet, I guess. Sweetie or sugar sounded like a name for a lover though, which was just… ew.
"Alise?" I ventured. The little bird chirped. "Alise," I repeated. It sounded right. "Your name is Alise now," I informed her.
Alise chirped again and happily settled down in the crook of my neck.
I continued on, feeling rather accomplished.
Of course, I ended up tripping over a tree root and landing face-first into a prickly berry bush moments later.
The Sigilyph reappeared for lunch, and afterwards followed me as I continued towards Pewter. It was eerily silent as it stared at me.
I did my best to ignore it in all its creepiness and continue forward, but I was still grateful it had returned.
I set up camp hours later, and had a rather uneventful night, followed by an uneventful day, followed by another uneventful night.
I couldn't see how my journey could get any more boring until the fourth day of my journey through Viridian, when a swarm of Venomoth flocked overhead, followed by multiple gunshots.
Psychic force threw me against the ground, and the last thing I saw was the Sigilyph staring down at me.
I didn't know how long it was before I woke up to water being dunked on my head. I shot up, immediately checking my surroundings. The Sigilyph hovered mere inches from my head. Alise dozed away on a pile of leaves. The path I had been following before was nearby, as was my map and bag.
"What happened?" I demanded, still slightly panicked.
The Sigilyph shrugged, as if it had nothing to say.
"Was anyone hurt?"
It looked over at a tree, and I spotted a Venomoth corpse rotting away in the upper branches. I flinched as I noticed the bullet hole through its abdomen; it was rather bloody. I could faintly smell its rancid poison drifting through the air.
"Nobody has come for it?"
The Sigilyph shrugged, and I scooped up Alise and the messenger bag. I felt rather uncomfortable leaving the Venomoth corpse behind, but there was no way I could get it down from the tree, and if I did I'd have no means of carrying it. I didn't exactly know the thing when it was alive, anyways.
But still…
I shook my thoughts away and we continued on, but I noticed the Sigilyph constantly looking around, as if making sure nobody else was around to cause harm.
Two days later, I reached Pewter. I checked the calendar, and was rather relieved to discover that I still had a couple days left to deliver the letters and package.
But, as it was early evening, I decided to get some food first.
A shabby little Hoennese restaurant caught my attention, and I happily treated myself to roasted Mareep.
The atmosphere was happy and busy, despite the restaurant's obvious state of disrepair. People bustled in and out, and the smell of food and alcohol was overwhelming.
There was a small group who stood out, though. They were seated at the table behind me, all dressed in black, muttering under their breaths about something. They looked rather angry, and eventually one of them slammed his fists on the table before storming out.
Nobody noticed the door slam.
I watched the group for a while longer. Something seemed eerily familiar about them, but I couldn't figure out exactly what.
I paid and left for the Pokémon Center a while later. I'd deliver the stuff tomorrow; I was exhausted and sleeping in an actual bed sounded rather nice.
It was hard to convince myself to get out of bed the next morning, but I did. There were a few things I had to attend to.
I was careful to make sure that Alise and the Sigilyph were still asleep before slipping into the bathroom with my messenger bag. I pulled out a smaller bag of toiletries and pulled out a contacts case before carefully pulling my current lenses off my eyes. I then switched them out with the contacts in the case.
It had taken quite a long time, but I had convinced my dad to get me two pairs of contacts, so I'd never have to go without them. Not even when I slept.
He had told me that people wouldn't judge me if I didn't wear them. After all, I didn't even need them to see; my eyesight was fine. He said it was a waste of money.
School had taught me otherwise. He finally caved when he saw a band of bullies chase me home, calling me a freak.
I winced as I looked in the mirror. My hair needed to be dyed again, too.
I carefully placed my other pair of contacts on my eyes. I figured I could go another few weeks without changing them; they were some of the best on the market in terms of staying uninfected.
With that task done, I pulled out my hair dye. This always took longer to do, but it was almost as necessary as the contacts.
I went ahead and rubbed Vaseline into my hair to stop it from staining. I honestly couldn't care less if the dye permanently changed my hair, but when my mom was still here she insisted that I never permanently damage my hair. She said it was beautiful the way it was.
I had always talked back and told her the word was "handsome" for guys, and my hair was just scary to look at.
I followed the rest of the dying procedure and showered.
I made sure to carefully put all my things back in the messenger bag, and checked how I looked in the mirror.
I looked normal now. My eyes appeared dark brown, my hair nearly black. My skin was pale, but there was nothing I could do about that.
I walked out of the bathroom with confidence.
Nobody would be making fun of the red-eyed, white-haired albino boy today.
It didn't take much time to deliver all the letters, but the package was giving me some trouble. There apparently wasn't a Dr. Zager working in the museum anymore. He was leaving Pewter soon, but nobody knew where he lived. I did get quite a few questions about the Sigilyph trailing behind me, though. Most of which I just answered with "It's complicated." I got the impression that the said psychic wouldn't appreciate me telling its story of the poachers and the desert prince to everyone I saw.
I eventually returned to the post counter in the Pokémon Center and asked where Zager lived. I explained that the only address on the box was the Pewter Museum, but he wasn't there.
The woman looked him up in the database, and informed me that he lived in the outskirts of the town near the route heading towards Mt. Moon. I thanked her and left.
It took quite a while to reach the house that was supposedly his, and I wasn't sure whether or not I was right. It was a run-down trailer home that stunk like rotten eggs and acid. If he was a Dr. Zager, couldn't he afford something a little classier? I raised my hand to knock, and then paused.
"Sigilyph, I think it'd be safest if you hid," I said, turning to face the psychic. "I don't like the look of this, and you're rare and stuff, so…"
It flew off without a word, and I turned around and knocked on the door.
"Yes?" the door flung open, and I barely stepped back in time to avoid getting smacked by it. The man behind it was short and squattish, with a scraggly white mustache and hair. He wore a thick pair of glasses over eyes with dark bags under them. His face was all wrinkly, and he wore a lab coat that might've once been white, but now was covered with all sorts of stains.
"Um… I have a package for you," I said dumbly, reaching into my bag and pulling it out.
He scowled down at me before grabbing the package and reading the address on it.
"This has the Pewter Museum address. How'd you know to bring it here?" he demanded.
I paled and resisted the urge to run away. This guy was terrifying. "Um… I went to the Museum and they said you didn't work there anymore, so I went to the post counter and looked your address up in the system," I babbled.
"I was going to be at the museum up in two days to pick it up," he snapped. "You didn't have to bring it here."
I wilted under his gaze. "Sorry sir. It's standard procedure to look up the address to ensure mail gets delivered."
He sniffed. "How'd my address get in the system anyways?"
"We run a monthly check and stay informed via real estate companies to know when people move," I all but squeak.
"Take it out."
"I…I can't, sir…"
His glare worsened, and I felt Alise tremble along with me.
"Who do I go to to get my address out of the system?" he demanded.
"The mail counter, sir."
"In the Pokémon Center?"
"Yes."
"You're going with me to there, then," he growled, and disappeared into his house. I faintly wondered if I should run for it while I still could, but he appeared seconds later and stormed out of his little trailer home. I followed him quietly, unsure of what was going to happen.
People in the town gave me sympathetic looks as I remained at the angry man's heels. It didn't take long to reach the Pokémon Center.
"Can I help you, sir?" the woman at the post counter said as he marched over to her.
"Yes. You can. Tell me how my address got in your system," he snapped. I looked up at her, silently begging her to let me escape.
"Um…" she said, looking rather uncomfortable as she examined us. "Well, we get information from real estate companies and run a monthly check with the town roster."
He scowled. "Can you take my address out of the system?"
"I don't have the authority to do that, sir. I'd have to contact the higher-ups," she explained. "Why? Is there a problem?"
His scowl deepened. "Yes. There is. Give me a moment; make sure this runt doesn't escape."
I trembled as he marched away, and the woman frowned down at me with concern.
"What happened?"
"I went to drop off the package and he started demanding to know how I knew where he lived," I whispered, still scared out of my mind. "I don't see what I did wrong…"
"Doesn't seem like you did, but he apparently wants you to stay here. I have the police on speed dial; don't worry, you're not in danger," she said comfortingly.
I shrugged and waited.
Moments later Dr. Zager walked back over, appearing a little calmer.
"Okay, so this is the deal. From now on, this runt is the only one who delivers letters or packages to me, the Viridian Gym Leader Giovanni, Domino Anne, Butch Rogers and Cassidy Rogers. Understood? Any packages going to and from these people are to be carried by him and only him. Nobody else knows any of our addresses."
The woman nodded. "I'll be certain to enter that into the system. He'll be an assigned delivery boy, then. Keep in mind, you will still have to drop everything off here to be picked up and delivered by him."
Zager nodded.
"Come with me," he said, dragging me off. I sent one last pleading look to the woman, who gestured to her phone.
Police on speed dial. Right.
Dr. Zager dragged me into the phone room, where he had started a video call with four other people.
"This is the boy," he explained. "You can tell him apart by that blonde streak on the back of his head."
I probably would've had a heart attack at that if my heart rate wasn't already maxed out with fear of the crazy man next to me. How had I missed dying that streak?
"Um…" I mumbled, "Actually, I'm gonna have to dye that to match the rest of my head…"
I gulped as all the faces on the screen looked at me in slight amusement.
"Why? Makes you stand out," the bottom-left girl said.
I shrugged and stared at my feet.
Dr. Zager grabbed my chin and forced it up. "Fine. Take a good look at his face. He's not very tall, wears contacts I think, dark hair, bird on his shoulder."
I nearly fainted at the mention of my contacts, and I looked away as my face heated.
"Got it," the top right corner guy said, and then his screen went black. The other three nodded and the video call ended moments later.
Dr. Zager turned to examine me himself for a second before nodding in what seemed like approval and scurrying off.
I stood still, shaking, for a while before heading out to the lobby. The woman at the post counter looked over at me, and I just sighed before heading up to my room. That was utterly terrifying.
It was only five o'clock, but I ate a small dinner and passed out.
It had been a rather odd day.
I was in the middle of a desert, with the Sigilyph right next to me and the desert prince on the other side. He looked older, though, and his face was lined with wrinkles.
"Ambrosii," I heard the boy say, his voice deep and smooth, "promise me one thing."
The Sigilyph, Ambrosii, nodded.
"You'll always be a friend."
I didn't quite understand it. Friend to who? Good friends or best friends? Why did he need to be a friend?
"This world… It's full of hatred, Ambrosii. Jealousy, unfairness, anger and enemies. People pretend to be friends, just to stab each other in the back later. I've never seen a friendship as pure as ours, Ambrosii, and I'm sorry to say that it's not because of me. You, Ambrosii, are perfect. Be someone's companion. Make someone feel as if they truly have someone to confide in, and confide in them. It doesn't matter who, Ambrosii. It could be our enemies. It could be a Pokemon. A human. The most twisted person on this planet. But be their friend. Please."
Ambrosii looked over at him, with something that I thought was fear in his eyes.
"I can't die in peace unless I know that this world will always have the gift of friendship," the prince said quietly.
Ambrosii made an alarmed noise, like a shrill scrape of two rocks.
"I've played my part in the world, my dear friend. It's time for me to go."
The desert sun set, and my dream faded with it.
I woke up gasping, and looked around until I spotted the Sigilyph.
"Ambrosii?" I whispered, willing my heart rate to slow down a bit.
The Sigilyph nodded.
"We're… friends?"
He nodded again.
We sat like that for a while and just stared at each other.
"Okay then," I mumbled tiredly, my rush of adrenaline having disappeared. "Good night, Ambrosii."
I faintly heard stones rolling through a cave as my eyes shut.
Hello everyone. I might be able to get another update in tomorrow and/or the day after, but I'm not sure. Anyways, I have a couple questions for all of you readers.
Does the story seem like it's moving to fast? How is the main character coming across to all of you? Are the chapters too short? Does everything make sense? Do any of you want to be my beta? (I've tried messaging a couple Pokemon betas, but none have answered yet, so... if any of you are interested in being a beta, please message me!) Is there a character that doesn't seem detailed enough to all of you? Is there anything in this story that you'd like to see changed?
As a beginning fiction writer, I'd appreciate any help I can get. Bye for now!