Aspertia city; Protagonist's house; 6:34 AM
Detached hazel eyes stared into mine, alongside a topless visor that kept the bangs of his shaggy brown hair out of his eyes.
That was all I really cared about in my appearance: my hat and my eyes. Other than that, I wore whatever I could as long as it was comfortable. Nonetheless, I continued the overview of my appearance in the mirror.
The cyan and black undershirt was hidden by a blue short sleeved sports jacket. It was Autumn, but the weather wasn't cold enough to warrant wearing a full blown jacket. Above the orange and black running shoes, the figure had a pair of knee length shorts atop yet another black and blue article of clothing: spandex, in this case. It was topped off by a single strap rectangular shaped bag slung across his backside.
"As usual," I grunted out, finishing the scan over my attire, "Nothing new."
My clothing wasn't very interesting to me. However, the bags under my eyes were. "That thrice damned beast," I grumbled under my breath. It had wanted to sleep in the same bed as me, and I wouldn't even dare entertain the thought. In the end, I ended up staying up all night as it would even hop onto my lap if I tried to sleep on the floor.
Needless to say, it was a long night. The fact I wasn't a morning bird didn't help out a single bit.
I shook my head; forcefully snapping my eyes open. Opening my bag, I stared down into it, checking for the third time that everything I needed was on hand.
Too bad I couldn't take my Wii, my TV, my bed, my electric water boiler, my laptop or the stove.
I blinked at my long list of soon to be missed items. My mouth twitched in mirth, and a slight chuckle found a way out of me. It looks like I was too dependent on modern day applications. I guess living in the wilderness with a wild beast will solve that, sooner or later.
Picking myself up, I glared down at Damnation, who was still asleep on the bed, snoozing without a care in the world. I kicked the side of the bed, calling out to it. "Oi. Wake up."
The oshawott jerked up and off of the bed in an instance, confused for but a moment before turning into a disgustingly small bundle of joy. "Come on, you little Damnation. Time to leave."
It looked like it was going to stick to my leg, and I wasn't going to let that happen any time soon. Grabbing the pokéball from my pocket, I fumbled around with it. Pressing the button at its front simply made it enlarge. Doing so again would minimize it. It also had no buttons other than the front one, which was rather baffling to me. How was I supposed to put the creature back into it?
Unintentionally, my grip on the ball tightened at the thought of Damnation clinging onto me for the rest of the journey, and just like that, the ball popped open.
Staring down at it, I blinked rapidly. Working on a hunch, I glanced between the ball and my hand, before shutting it once more. Applying pressure on the top part resulted in another successful opening.
"Alright… that's how you release them. Now how do I put them back into it?" I questioned, eyebrows furrowing in thought. Maybe it required the reverse action? Shrugging as I had nothing else to work with, I awkwardly applied pressure to the bottom – the white – half of the pokéball.
A beam shot out of the ball, directly towards the blue otter. Engulfing it, the white light seemed to analyze into red, decomposing Damnation at a fast pace while I stared at the process, alarmed. Within a few seconds, the pokémon went from being right next to me, to being safely confined in its pokéball. I grinned at my success, beginning to hum a small tune as I walked out of my room.
"Thank God for my visor," I called out in relief, adjusting my visor to keep the sun out of my eyes. Today was an unnaturally hot day, and I was taking my time getting to the gate leading to Route 19.
Glancing across the scarcely populated streets, I couldn't help the envious frown that developed. There they were, casually going about their daily lives.
Without being forced to train monsters.
I thought myself justified in my envy, but I still didn't like being envious of anything. Shaking my head, I wiped the frown off my face and began to concentrate upon the pros of this disaster. For one, I was going to get into better shape, depend on myself and see the rest of the continent.
Casting a look down at my pocket, I rolled my eyes. 'Well, not fully depend upon myself, at least.'
A call of "Hey, Nate!" drew my attention to my left: towards the city's Pokémon Center. There, at the entrance of the Pokémon Center stood Bianca, waving enthusiastically towards me. I grimaced, shooting a glance down the road before turning to approach her.
I didn't need to move, apparently, as Bianca met me halfway to her and engulfed me in a greeting hug, catching me off guard. My body quickly went rigid, and I there stiffly, questioning if she was always this affectionate with people. Shaking my head, I re-focused my attention back onto her, just as she let me go. Thank God.
"H-Hi, Bianca," I spluttered out, diverting my gaze away from her and towards the Center. Heat crawled up my neck, and I felt embarrassed at my reaction to a simple hug.
She grabbed my arm, tugging me into the Pokémon Center. "I've been waiting for you for the past half hour, y'know! Looks like I guessed right about you passing through the Center!" She babbled on, "I've got lots to show you before you can leave."
The sliding doors to the Center closed behind us, and I immediately let all the tension leave my body as the cold air of the air conditioner hit us, banishing the dry feeling of heat away from us. Standing at the door way, I took in the Center's semi-familiar interior – Hugh would drag me with him to heal his pokémon from time to time – the Center was divided into three sections; the majority was dominated by a pleasant beige colored floor, leading us straight ahead to a counter – which had a bored looking nurse stationed there – and two stairs leading to a top floor. I couldn't see past the top of the stairs from this vantage point, so I didn't concern myself with it. To my immediate right and left, just a few steps away, the beige flooring abruptly cut off into a gray tile set. The right also had a counter, but it was colored blue, unlike the read of the counter ahead of me.
Two people were behind the counter, both looking quite bored; their chins were resting against their hands as they all but dozed off. The left section, on the other hand, had half a dozen or so people lounging around in chairs, reading books from the nearby bookcases or watching something on television – I couldn't tell what, exactly, they were watching due to my distance away from them. I never did have the best eyesight around.
Instead of forcefully being dragged around, I willingly walked next to Bianca, earning me a pleased hum from her. She got a raised eyebrow in return. I guess she is more observant than I give her credit for to have actually noticed that I was disgruntled about this whole damn plot to throw me into the wilderness. Well, either that, or she just likes the place.
"So, Nate, let's give you a rundown of the place! Right over there, at the red counter, is the Nurse. That's the main part of the Center. Just speak to her if you want your partners healed, alright? She'll get them patched up in no time at all!" Bianca rushed out the words, a grin plastered across her face. She said all of that in one breath, and I was amazed that she didn't even seem winded. Heh, now she really is excitable, "And, and… which next? Let's see… ah! That blue counter? Yeah, that's a good next choice," She nodded affirmatively to herself, continuing on, "That's the Pokémart. It used to have its own building and everything – years and years ago! Can you imagine? We were, like, ten or something! – but the Pokémon League eventually merged it into the Center to conserve space in the cities. Anyhow, they sell all sorts of things! Like, like, pokéballs, potions, antidotes, camping items and even pokémon food!"
As she slowly winded down from her speech, I wondered if her mouth was even linked to her brain. She could blabber on faster than I could think. Really, I didn't know how I even managed to understand her.
"And right there, in front of the Pokémart is the lounge. Most people wait there while their pokémon are being healed, or if they're just passing by town! That's about everything you'll need to know, Nate. But before we finish, here, take these pokéballs!" And with that, she reached into her bag and grabbed something – the pokéballs – and dumping them into my hands.
"Wait, wha—" Bianca cut me off with her ever-present smile, "Don't mention it! Just follow me and I'll show you how to use them," She quickly walked out of the Center and left me fumbling around with ten pokéballs in my hands. Huffing, I set them down onto the counter, glaring at the chuckling clerk, who had apparently witnessed the whole scene. After stashing the pokéballs in my bag, I followed Bianca outside.
Once outside, I was surprised – and irked – to see my mother chatting with Bianca. I tentatively walked up to them, and Bianca waved cheerfully at me, despite the fact that I was only a meter away from her. Before she could talk, however, my mother began speaking, "Honey! There you are, Bianca was just telling me about how she was going to show you how to catch a pokémon! You left before I could wake up, but I wanted to wish you good luck on your journey! Remember to stay in touch, okay?"
I stared at her incredulously, was she really pretending that she would miss me? She was the one who was sending me away in the first place! Shaking myself, I coldly addressed her, "I don't need your good wishes, and I really doubt I'll be free – and bored – enough to call you during this oh-so wonderful journey." I basically spat out the last few words, before briskly grabbing Bianca's hand, and leaving my wide eyed mother behind.
A glance at Bianca showed me that, for once, she was speechless. I simply shook my head and slowed our pace down once we left the block behind.
"Shouldn't you be the one dragging me around?" I wryly asked, letting her hand drop out of my grasp. That seemed to jerk her out of her startled silence, as she gave a shaky grin and took the lead.
At the exit of the city, which led to route [NUMBER HERE], Bianca showed me through the city's entrance gate, which also served as a toll booth. I already knew of the place, due to multiple camping trips, but of course, Bianca saw it fit to still tell me all about it.
"You might know that this is the entrance into the city, but it also serves as a lookout post in case of rampaging herds of pokémon. Of course, that hasn't happened in a very long time, and all the pokémon around Aspertia aren't really," she hesitated briefly, "well, strong. So no one has anything to worry about in the cities. Non-citizens of a city have to pay a small fee to enter the city, as well as register in the entry log."
She paused, taking a long glance at me to make sure I was keeping up.
As she spoke, we had stopped outside the entrance's entrance. That apparently gave someone ample time to find us among the street's thin crowd.
"Hey, Nate! Wait up!" A high-pitched voice rang out behind me. I blinked at the familiar voice, Turning my back to the city border, I craned my neck down to take a look at Hugh's little sister, Candice. She was panting rather heavily, with her hands resting against her knees. It was rather obvious that she had been running for a while.
"Hey, squirt," I slowly began, an eyebrow arched at her, "What are you doing here?" I questioned carefully. I always had to be careful with my words around Candice, as she utterly adored pokémon. While I may hate the creatures, I refused to talk anything against them in her, or any child for that matter, presence. She, as were most kids, was rather sensitive and took words harshly. If I began to badmouth pokémon, I just knew that she would burst into tears. And I have no need for a weepy eight year old – no matter how cute – on my hands.
"Hugh left already! But he left before I could give him my gift," She mumbled the last bit rather glumly. "But then, then I had a great idea! I had two copies of the gift I wanted to give him, so why not give one to you too? See? It's an amazing plan! All you have to do now is deliver Hugh his gift!" She cheerfully finished off, once again bouncing on the balls of her feet.
She was obviously reluctant to reveal what exactly the gift was, but I asked anyway.
"Uh… why don't you just leave it to be a surprise?" She asked, having lost her hyperactive posture at the question. I simply nodded, as I wasn't in the mood to bug it out of her with Bianca still there. "Alright. Take care," I flashed her a small, fake smile and turned on my heel to approach the gate.
"And that, Nate, is how you catch a pokémon!" Bianca finished off with a grin, playing around with the pokémon's new pokéball, seemingly at ease with the fact that she had just had a half hour long "battle" with the patrat. And by battle, I of course mean her tracking down the pokémon and playing with it for twenty five minutes, and spending the next five minutes beating it into a pulp. All in all, a sickening event.
I couldn't see myself doing that, not in a thousand years. "Yeah… right, awesome." I stumbled away from the ticket of trees, following the newly-risen sun's light to the main path.
"Well, I'll be leaving you now, Nate! Remember to look out for wild pokémon, and take care of yourself!" Bianca called out, waving for the last time as she headed in the direction of Aspertia. I simply nodded, gulping warily as I stood in the middle of the path. Looks like it's just me, now.
"Well," I glanced down at my belt, "Just the beast and I."