Due to lack of interest and my own inability to remain reliable to my readers, I will be posting whatever I want whenever I want, which will probably be few and far between. I mainly write for myself when my schedule allows, which is rarely, and if you enjoy my writing, I appreciate you greatly. If you don't, then don't read it. I have spent many nights flipping through fanfics to find the perfect one and have never left a negative review, because what good does that do? Tell a writer when they're doing well, or back off. We don't get paid for this, we just enjoy writing (and sometimes reading too). So, join me on my journey, or go find your own. That's my New Year's Resolution.
And also, I like the name Sift, so if you don't, you can find another story. Like I did when I read Graceling and found out the guy's name was Po. Po is a bad name for a sexy character, in my opinion, so I stopped reading the series. It's that easy! If you like my stuff, I'm super happy and would love to hear about it. If you don't, there are literally hundreds of thousands of other stories you can read. With that, here's Sift in his next chapter, switching back and forth between 1st and 3rd person hopefully in a way that makes sense:

Chapter 4

A Birthday and a Battle

On my 14th birthday, I left home. Most children with their minds on the Pokémon League left between the ages of ten and twelve. I had never intended to leave, or if I did, to go very far. I had seen myself joining the Day Care center up the road in the town one-over. My aunt made it known soon after she discovered Umbreon that my luck with Pokémon meant I had a bigger destiny than our little town could hold, and she frequently encouraged me to pursue larger goals. My cousin Gary had been buried in books since he moved into his own room and rarely spoke to me. He made it known that he was going to become the greatest scientist of our age, of any age! With dreams of grandeur and fame, he proclaimed he would record every Pokémon known to man, current, extinct, legendary- all of them. I kept my thoughts to myself. No one had ever been able to record every Pokémon- it was too daunting a task. When he started bringing scientific equipment into the house, my aunt really pushed for me to leave. Gary intended to build a lab in the house, and we really didn't have the room for it. But I imagine all this is becoming boring, isn't it? If you're still with me, I'll cut the rest short. Gary basically kicked me out of the house to take over my room, and my aunt did nothing but encourage me to leave. I realized later my connection with Blue and Umbreon made her uncomfortable, since I never captured them. Neither of them remembered that it was my birthday until I had a large backpack stuffed with my earthly belongings and I stood on the porch ready to leave just after lunch. It was then I realized it no longer felt like home, and that I could find people, or Pokémon, who cared more about me elsewhere.

"Happy Birthday, Sift. See ya 'round," Gary scoffed, unsure how to feel about his cousin leaving. Sure, he'd wanted to kick him out, but now there would be no attractive piece of ass in the radius of fifty miles. Their aunt proceeded to nearly scream in agony.

"Oohhhhhh! I can't believe I forgot! Sift, you can't leave today, we must celebrate!" She grabbed at his arm and he pulled away.

"It's not a big deal," Sift said, trying to be humble even though he'd been hurt all day. "Independence is a good gift, anyhow." She raced into the house to find something to give to him and threw some items together in a paper bag.

"Here, take this at least. It'll get you at least to the city." Sift peered into the bag to see a few Pokéballs, several cans of Repel, and some money.

"You know how I feel about-"

"You never know," she said firmly, closing Sift's hand tightly around the bag with her own. "Just… please. For me. I'll feel safer knowing you have them." Blue and Umbreon wrestled in the yard, waiting impatiently for Sift. They knew from the way Sift looked, acted, and smelled, that something big was happening today, and they were anxious because of it. Sift took his backpack down to one strap and stuffed the paper bag inside.

"Fine. Thank you. Good luck with your encyclopedia-thing, Gary," he said, trying to leave Gary with good words.

"It'll be called a Pokédex," Gary corrected. "And I'm going to stop using my middle name." He took a step forward, realizing as his younger cousin left that it might not do well to have a bad reputation leftover from their childhood. He stuck a hand out, and Sift flinched before realizing it was to shake. "When you tell people about me, tell them… I'm not as horrible as I used to be, and that my name is Samuel."

I wanted to shake his hand. I wanted to forgive him in that moment for everything he'd done to me for the past four or five years. I still regret turning my back on him, but our beliefs and values were so drastically different, and they still are, such that I cannot imagine what it would have been like to shake his hand.

"I will tell them nothing but the truth, if they care to know about you, I said defiantly, stepping down the porch into the yard. Gary- Samuel… I guess, now? Clenched his fist and glared at me.

"Fine. I'll do the same when they ask me about you." He eyed the Pokémon rolling in the yard together. I realized in that moment he knew exactly what I did with them, and what they did to me.

"I'm so glad you boys aren't fighting anymore," our aunt smiled, hiding tears behind a crumpled napkin. I let her believe what she wanted and walked away without another word, knowing Blue and Umbreon would follow. My memory of leaving town is fuzzy, because I never looked back, and I walked as fast as I could without running. Once we were out on the path, I sprinted away from town, blinking away tears. In that moment, I felt like I never had to worry about Gary's bruising hands or my aunt's disapproving side-glances every again. I could forget every painful night spent wishing she would wake up and catch him in the act. I could be out here in the wilderness between towns, loving my Pokémon freely.

Umbreon kept pace with me easily, but I quickly stopped running when I realized Blue had fallen behind. I wanted to get as far as possible in one day, maybe make it three towns over by nightfall, but it never happened.

"Stop right there, twerp!" Sift froze. He had come across a young boy in rolled-up shorts that looked way too small for him, and he had been about to greet him. He closed his mouth and raised a brow. The Young Boy in Shorts also froze when he realized the boy he wanted to challenge was accompanied by two free-wandering Pokémon. He swallowed and regained his confidence, rolling a Pokéball between his long, skinny fingers. He was much smaller than Sift, maybe eleven, and had fluffy blonde hair under a backwards baseball cap. "I challenge you!" He got ready to throw the ball.

"No thanks." Sift turned to keep walking down the path. The Young Boy in Shorts raced to run in front of him.

"Hey! That's not how this works! You have Pokémon! You have to battle me!"

"Kid, I would take you down. I'm twice your size." Sift knew what he meant but played ignorant, hoping he could just walk away. Blue didn't like the way the little boy was acting around Sift and eyed him.

"Have you seriously never battled before, twerp?" The Young Boy in Shorts spun his hat around to the front and held the ball up. "You can't turn me down!"

"Why not? It's not a law. It's just a social construct."

"Wha- but- no! I choose you, Wiggly!" He tossed the ball down, and the Butterfly Pokémon burst forth. She was much smaller than the average and had clear marks on her wings from frequent battles. Sift backed up.

"I don't want to fight," Sift tried to say firmly.

"You've got money, don't you?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Wiggly, use Gust!" Sift couldn't speak as the Butterfree pumped her wings powerfully, knocking Sift onto his back. Umbreon growled as her trainer was attacked and jumped forward, but Sift grabbed her and pulled her back.

"No! I don't want you two fighting!" Blue wrapped a limb around his ankle protectively and moved forward despite Sift's protests.

"Battle me!" The Young Boy in Shorts demanded.

"No." He stood back up and held still, chest and chin high as he faced the almost three-foot insect Pokémon. Wiggly glanced back at her trainer, confused. She had never battled two Pokémon at the same time before, and she was even more confused by the fact that she didn't see a Pokéball anywhere on Sift.

"Butterfree!" She cried aggressively.

"Shuuuuckle," Blue growled dangerously.

"What is that goofy thing?" The boy pointed at Blue.

"His name is Blue," Sift said, bending down to stroke his shell and calm him. Blue warned the Butterfree, and the trainers watched as the Pokémon communicated. Butterfree backed up towards her trainer as she realized the two opponents had never been captured and that they followed Sift freely. She felt disarmed and confused.

"Wiggly, they forfeit their turn! Use Gust again!" But she didn't move. "What! Did you Confuse her? What did you do!"

"I didn't do anything. I told you, we don't want to fight. And she doesn't, either."

"You don't know anything! Wiggly, return! Go, Kakuna!" Sift rolled his eyes and walked away.

"You can't walk away from a battle! That's against the law," the boy snickered.

"I never engaged in battle with you!" Sift shouted. Umbreon fed off his anger, hackles raised.

"You Confused my Butterfree!"

"No, I didn't," Sift groaned.

"Kakuna!" The Pokémon cried, ready to fight.

"Besides, what are you going to do with that thing? It's in development. It's not supposed to fight."

"Kakuna, use Tackle!" The Kakuna didn't move.

"I'm done talking to you. Don't follow me." Sift walked away, even though Umbreon and Blue were still eyeing the young trainer warily.

"Kakuna, what are you doing?!" The Young Boy in Shorts eventually Returned the Cocoon Pokémon and chased after Sift.

"I said don't follow me!"

"Wait!" He was out of breath from frustration and jogging. "Why aren't your Pokémon in balls?"

"I don't believe in capturing Pokémon," I said with a huff.

"Why? It doesn't hurt them. It's the way things are."

"What if I shoved you in a ball and forced you to fight for money?" I said, towering over the boy. "You think Wiggly likes the scars on her beautiful wings? You think Kakuna likes that you don't even know what moves he has? It's abuse." The Young Boy in Shorts took a step back. "Do whatever you want. But don't ever challenge me again." Sift finally got away from him, walking quickly down the path with Blue and Umbreon trailing behind him. Sunset was fast approaching, and they weren't even close to the next town. Sift sighed and reached down to pick up Umbreon, noticing she was tired. She curled up and purred happily. Blue trucked along contently beside them until Sift found a cluster of trees in short grass that he thought would make a good campsite.

"We can camp for the night and go to town in the morning," Sift explained, knowing the two Pokémon understood his tone, if not his words. He pulled a tent out of his bag and started working on setting it up when Umbreon heard a slithering sound in the tall grass at the edge of the clearing…