"Aren't you the Champion?"
"Yeah, I was." Adrian huffed, this boy was starting to irritate her.
"What do you mean was? You were the first one! And probably the best one! Your Incineroar is so strong and-"
"Yeah yeah, thanks but," Adrian looked off to the side and grimaced slightly, "I have family stuff I need to do."
"Oh," the boy's face dropped.
"Yeah!" The former champion tried to skim past the awkwardness, "Which is why you were gonna trade your Haunter for my Vickavolt, right?"
The boys face perked back up but he didn't look happy, "Yeah, right... But you have to promise to call him Marty when he evolves!"
Adrian huffed again, "Alright I promise, kid." The boy smiled, and sat his pokeball on the designated area. The steady chatter of the Pokémon center drowned out, as Adrian placed Vickavolt's pokeball down. She felt bad, but this was better than having Vickavolt kill. The little bug would lose his identity.
"Alright it's done. Bye Marty." The boy was pitifully waving at the pokeball Adrian now held. She looked at him with a confused expression, before just accepting her situation.
"I'll take good care of him."
Suddenly the boy ran and hugged her, he couldn't be older than eleven. He let go, and looked up at her with determined eyes, "I'm gonna champion one day," the boy's demeanor switched to bashful, his mind finally catching up with his actions, and he peered down at the tiled floor of the Pokémon Center, "s-since you have to go."
Adrian chuckled, "What's your name?"
He looked up at her unsurely, "Canaan."
"Well Canaan," the Fortright grinned, "when I come back, I expect you to be a Champion."
Canaan gave her a toothy grin, and nodded profusely, "I'll make you proud!"
"Well you better get going, kid." Adrian brushed off nonexistent dust off her windbreaker. Canaan smiled widely, and waved at her as he ran out of the Pokémon Center. The former Champion sighed, some more hopes and dreams she was responsible for.
The Fortright inspected the pokeball holding Marty and immediately got an eerie feeling. Adrian frowned, and hastily clipped the pokeball on her belt. She decided to go out, get a soda, and then introduce herself to Marty. (She tried not to laugh at the name, and failed)
Adrian walked out of the Pokémon Center, and once the little grocery store down the road was in her sights, she started a languid pace towards her destination.
Time ceased to exist as the warm Ula' Ula winds whipped through her hair. She almost forgot where she was going as she got lost in her mind, imagining different scenarios of meeting her dad and grandfather.
Everything was apples, peaches, and pie until something collided with her boot-clad leg. She looked down, and saw a young, blazing-blue eyed child staring up at her, star struck. He had sharp, elfish ears, a heart shaped face, and a snaggletoothed grin. His mop of loosely curled, not-quite-white-but-not-quite-silver hair flew around as he shook his head furiously.
When he finished his little stunt, he was back to staring at her.
"Hi! My name's Dan! Are you Adrian Fortright?!" Adrian felt the urge to laugh at his overly exuberant attitude. A smile slowly made its way to her face, "Yeah, that's me."
If possible, Dan smiled even wider, "Hi!"
Adrian looked down at the boy, he couldn't be older than six. "Aren't you gonna pick up your bags?"
"Oh!" The boy scrambled to pick up his belongings. "Where are you going? Can I come with you?"
"Um, sure. I'm just going to the grocery store."
Dan made a sour face, "You're the Champion, why do you need groceries?"
"I was the Champion. Even if I still was, Champions need to eat, Dan." She started her slow pace back towards the store, Dan hurriedly walking after her.
"You're not the Champion anymore?" Oh Arceus, he was gonna cry, she could hear it in his voice. "Why?" Adrian frowned, he was acting like she told him his Terrier had just died.
"I have family stuff to do." She said, carefully not looking him in the eyes.
"Well maybe I can come with you and help a-and then you could come back and be the Champion!" Dan wondered out loud.
Adrian walked through the sliding doors of the grocery store, and halfway dreaded the cold air. "No, I won't ever be being the Champion again, Dan..." He went quiet and the Fortright tried not to notice.
She grabbed the cold carbonated drink from the little refrigerator and caught a glimpse of Dan's sad, crestfallen face. He was still following her though. She paid for the drink, and walked back out of the store, Dan hot on her heels.
She crouched down to his level, and when she saw him crying, she immediately felt terrible. This family business stuff was already causing her trouble, she thought as she rolled her eyes.
"Dan, look," he finished wiping some tears from his cheeks, and met her gaze, "Can I come with you?" Adrian grimaced.
"Dan, I'm gonna be doing bad things."
"But I wanna be strong! Like you!" He said indignantly, his little fists clenched at his side. "I wanna be able to help my mom.."
Adrian frowned, they were both after the same thing in a way. Wanting to help their moms. She didn't know if she could refuse him now.
"How about, we talk to your mom about this, and if she says it's okay for you to go, you can come with me."
She grimaced at his megawatt, snaggletoothed grin, what had she just done?
. .
"Stand back, Dan!" The boy skipped back a ways away from her, she was about to release Marty and she didn't want the ghost-type to do anything to the pale-haired boy.
Adrian palmed the first pokeball on her belt, and threw it into the air. A red beam spewed from the contraption, and after a few seconds, Yori's green eyes were staring back at her.
"Wow! That's Yori! Your Incineroar!" Dan exclaimed. Yori reveled in the open adoration, and began to smugly grin while he flexed his muscles.
Adrian snapped her fingers a couple times to get her Pokémon's attention, "I traded Vickavolt for a Haunter," Yori's leveled state didn't waver, and the former champion couldn't say she was surprised at the lack of reaction, "so when I release him, he's gonna evolve. Can you protect Dan back there?" Yori crossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders. Ugh, this guy.
"Yori!" Adrian exclaimed indignantly. The big cat finally cracked a smile, and walked back to where Dan was, much to the boy's excitement. Dan started to jump and chatter animatedly around the cat. Yori looked down at him, slightly confused, before he did a 'go ahead' motion to his trainer.
Adrian threw another pokeball into the air, releasing her second most trusted Pokémon. "Woah! It's Bandicai! Hi, Bandicai!" Dan exclaimed from the back of the clearing. Yori was shaking his head at Dan's antics, and Bandicai was looking back at the boy confusedly. "Bandicai, I'm about to release a Gengar, can you keep me safe?" She asked. Bandicai nodded, and with a determined glint in her reptilian eyes, seemingly began slithering circles around her trainer.
Riding off adrenaline, the Fortright swiftly grabbed Marty's pokeball, and threw it in the air. "Cover your eyes, Dan!" The familiar red beam burst out of the ball, and was quickly eclipsed by the familiar blindingly bright light of evolution.
Two silhouettes flickered and flickered until they merged into one. The light died down, and there was no Pokémon in sight. Creases appeared in Adrian's forehead as she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She quickly glanced around the whole clearing, "Where is it, Adrian?"
"I don't know Da-" A terrified yelp interrupted her. Adrian looked back quick enough to break her neck. She grimaced, in the shadow of a tree she could clearly see the mirth-filled pink eyes, and eerie, Cheshire Cat grin of Marty the Gengar. Yori was poised protectively in front of Dan, who was obviously trying, and failing not to cower behind the big cat. Bandicai was standing at attention beside her and Adrian briefly wondered what she had gotten herself into.
She squared her shoulders, and braced herself, "Marty-" all at once, those big, laughing pink eyes were right in her face, and she swore she saw past lives in them. The big pink tongue waving around her escaped her awareness. Yori roared threateningly, and Bandicai hissed in warning, snapping her out of her trance. Knowing how Adrian was about new Pokémon kept them from attacking.
Marty eventually sat down on the forest floor, and looked curiously at all the beings surrounding him. A shiver ran down Adrian's spine, but she didn't let it show. Poor Dan's face was set in a permanent cringe.
"Hi, Marty- Can I call you Marty?" The former champion asked tentatively. The Gengar just looked at her, his eyes now calculating and eerie, and his grin just mischievous instead of manic. Adrian took that as a good sign.
She took a deep breath to steel herself, "Okay, Marty, I'm your new trainer. You listen to me, and we can go far together, hm?" The Fortright explained, a hint of fear dripping into her voice, she pulled her bookbag off of her back and looked for some poke-beans, "Together we're gonna hurt people, and cause them problems, and y'know just stuff like that. Just listen to me, and we'll be fine. Sound good?" Adrian held out a handful of poke-beans. Marty stared at her with his unchanging expression for what seemed like years. The anticipation bubbled in the air, before finally, Marty ate the poke-beans.
The teenager breathed out a sigh of relief, Arceus.
When Marty was done eating, Adrian reached out a hand to pet the Gengar, but stopped right before she touched him. He just looked at her hand with that same mischievous grin. Taking a chance, she tentatively ran her hand over his coarse fur, then scratched behind his ears. (How did he hear out of those things anyway?) Marty made a little crowing noise, and smiled at her, his expression promising mischief.
"Can I pet him too?" Before she knew it, Marty was gone, and Dan yelped in fear from across the clearing. Yori was laughing and pointing at the poor boy. Adrian tried not to laugh, but when Bandicai started chittering in her own way of portraying amusement, the laughs finally spilled out.
A little chill went down her spine, and a quick glance behind her showed that Marty was the one responsible. His pink eyes peered at her from her own warped shadow, but that didn't really put her off. The chill up her spine didn't go away, and the temperature felt like it had dropped at least ten degrees. She returned his mischievous grin, she could get used to Marty. A Pokémon that could chill in your shadow? Now that was cool.
She walked over to comfort Dan, they had stuff to do.
. .
"So this is where you and your mom live?" They were standing in front of a little run down shack. It was small and quaint, but noticeably old. The whole thing was crafted from a dark wood, probably from the trees surrounding it.
"Yeah," Dan scratched the back of his neck, "me and my mom don't have much."
Adrian sympathized with him, "If it makes you feel any better, we're kind of in the same situation," The pale-haired boy looked up at her with a confused expression on his face. Adrian shrugged and delved deeper into what she meant, "My Dad had..." she did air quotations, "died before I was born. We didn't have much, so she shipped me off here, to be with one of my cousins. When I became the Champion, she thought I'd have a lot of money so she quit her job.. turns out I don't so, I have to get money some other way."
"Is that where you're going? To get money?"
Adrian sighed, might as well tell him the specifics. "Also turns out, that my Dad isn't dead, and his side of the family sells drugs. Drugs aren't... the best for people, but they make a lot of money. So I'm going with my Dad and grandad to learn to sell drugs to get money for my mom." The Fortright inwardly cringed at how she sounded.
Once again, Dan looked at her with that confused expression. "What's a drug?"
Adrian grimaced at the acute feeling of a chill going up her spine, and looked over her shoulder. Her shadow was thrashing. After a couple of moments it's calmed down, and Marty's pink eyes opened halfway. They held each other's gaze for a minute before the Gengar made his little crowing sound, and closed his eyes. Weirdo, like who sleeps in people's shadows..?
She turned back to Dan and offered a probably-not-reassuring smile, "Sorry, Marty was being weird," she shrugged, "but a drug is something people do to feel a certain way." Dan still had that darned confused look on his face, Adrian huffed. "Like crushed Marowak bones. People snort it and it makes them... hallucinate and feel like they're floating or... something."
The pale-haired boy's face lit up, "I wanna try!" He exclaimed. The Fortright deadpanned, of course you do Dan, of course you do.
"No, because it's addictive. And when you get addicted, you'll do anything for it. Things you never thought you'd do." She had lowered her voice to a condescending tone, trying her best to have Dan look at drugs in a negative way. She must've gotten the results she wanted because Dan's expression grew uneasy as he gazed at the ground.
Adrian shrugged nonchalantly, "That's why you don't do drugs, Dan. Understand?"
After a grumbled response from the little boy, Adrian began marching towards the little shack, Dan in tow.
. .
"You want to do what with my son?" Dan's mother asked in a ice-cold, venomous tone. She was the picture of agitation, her arms were crossed tightly, silver brows furrowed together above narrowed, purple eyes. All of the wrinkles in her face were amplified as she frowned, but the Fortright couldn't find it in herself to be intimidated.
So Adrian however, didn't cringe like her first instinct screamed at her to. She merely closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, and tapped on her arm rest a little quicker.
The woman had seemed nice enough when she opened the door and greeted her and Dan with a smile. She seemed sweet when she offered to bake cookies, and spoke about how Dan loved to watch Adrian battle on their little rickety TV, and she seemed interested when she asked why Adrian relinquished her title.
On the other hand, when the former Champion told her story, the second she mentioned her father being a drug dealer, her expression soured like a bad memory had just resurfaced. The worst part of all was that the whole time Adrian was telling her story, Dan was sitting next his mother on the couch with a hopeful look only a child could have.
"I want to bring him with me so he could have a future," Adrian said with an even tone. The woman's mouth opened to retort, but the Fortright didn't plan on stopping there, "He wants to help you Ms. Noria. And I know drug dealing isn't the safest or most humane career of choice," the mother scoffed and kept her level glare, "but it's still a future. A future that I don't think Dan would have here." Noria opened her mouth again, not done yet!
"I really sympathize with your son. I told you, I didn't grow up with my Dad, and me and my mom didn't have much, just like Dan. My goal here is to help him, and to help you, Ms. Noria. Dan really wants this." Adrian finished, her voice slightly giving away the emotions she was feeling. Noria's expression softened, not a lot, but enough. A shiver ran down Adrian's spine, subtly reminding her of Marty's presence.
"So you mean to tell me a six year old can decide whether he wants to sell drugs or not?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, but a six year old can decide whether he wants to help his mom."
"Yeah mom I," Dan was twiddling his thumbs uncomfortably, "I don't want you to have to live here- and Adrian can teach me how to be strong!" The pale-haired boy finished, looking into his mother's eyes with a earnest expression that visibly softened her angry visage.
Noria's expression crumbled even more, before she quickly threw a hand over her face as a soft sob escaped her. She wiped a couple of tears that had escaped, and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Do you promise to keep him safe?" The mother asked, voice filled with emotion.
Adrian frowned, but sighed in defeat and nodded solemnly, "Yes ma'am," she offered Dan a smile, he grinned back nervously, "I haven't known him long at all, but I can tell he's a keeper."
That seemed to do the trick, and she laughed. It was a sad laugh though, but at least she wasn't crying. A sharp tingle-no jolt ran up her spine this time, freaking Marty.
"Alright," Noria sighed in defeat, "You can go, Dan." Dan oh Dan, oh Dan. That boy was probably the happiest he'd ever been. He jumped and cheered and whooped and jeered, then ran over to Adrian, asking about a Pokémon. She told him she'd get him one, and then his mother pulled him back over to her, lecturing about 'being careful' and 'listening to Adrian' and such.
Now, Adrian tried to sit still in her seat, but when a Gengar is moving around in your shadow and making it feel like someone's dropping ice down your shirt, sitting still isn't easy. The shivers stopped all at once, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see coarse, deep violet fur, pink eyes, and a sinister grin. Marty looked at her out of the corner of his eye, and started laughing as quietly as he could... which wasn't quietly at all. Right when Noria and Dan looked over, Marty was gone, but the familiar spine-tingle was back.
The mother and son looked confused, before a look of recognition crossed Dan's features.
"Oh," he shrugged and rolled his eyes, "That was Marty."
Noria shot an annoyed look at Adrian, but all she could do was shrug. Marty was Marty. (She pretends she can't hear him laughing).
