Thanks to Arnob for giving me a good kicking to get this chapter up. Enjoy.
How many times have you looked back in your life and wished things could have gone differently? That you could have acted differently? Even now I wish I could go back and could shake some sense into myself and not utter the harsh words that would set me on my path. I had always been independent and not one for asking for help unless it was my last resort, stubborn might have been a better word for it.
Cody, sweet energetic Cody, he tried so hard to talk to me as we left Pallet town to start our trek to Viridian. Jiro had pushed past the small crowd of people that had gathered to see us off and was who knew how far ahead of us by now but Cody stuck with me. The crowds thankfully did little more then ask us each which pokemon we had each chosen and why. I gave a half hearted reply that it was fate or something just to shut them up and let me past but Cody was happy to talk to the reporters on the merits of Charmander. He would have more then likely talked the day away if he had not seen me making my way down the path that would lead to Viridian. I didn't turn round as I heard his feet hitting the graveled path but that was not about to discourage him.
At first he tried to cheer me up with jokes and then with what he hoped to catch along the way, all the while avoiding mentioning what had happened in the Lab.
"So then the Jinx said to the Machop…"
"Cody please. Just…just leave me alone." I didn't want jokes; I didn't want to be happy and cheerful. I wanted to shout and scream. To have a temper tantrum at everything that wasn't fair. Why me? Why couldn't this have happened to some other kid? Cody unfortunately could not see my young temper building and instead tried to comfort me by placing his hand on my slumping shoulder. I would think back later and guess correctly that Cody came from a large family and so was used to giving comfort. I on the other had was an only child and getting hugged by another kid, especially a boy, did not really help to calm me.
"GET OFF! Just get lost. Take your stupid Pokemon and go" That caused a reaction and while I had kept walking Cody had stopped, I had upset him and for that I felt bad even if he had been annoying me. The enthusiastic lad had told everyone he knew that he was going to pick Charmander as soon as he had learned about the three starters long before he had been picked for the program and he had had to defend himself on his choice countless times. As I said before, Charmander is not a bad choice it was just not the best choice.
"Karan you can't just leave me" he called, but this was not a plea, there was something else in his voice, an aggression and finality that made me turn around and stare at him. My arms lay crossed at my chest as I stomped one foot to the ground so hard it hurt.
"And why not?" I remember feeling myself snap at that point. Why did people feel like they had to tell me what I could and could not do? So what if I was only ten. I was old enough to look after myself and if there was one thing all this amounted to was to prove the point that I was capable of standing on my own two feet –forced or not I was going to control my own fate from now on.
A grin spread on the spiky, blonde haired, lad's face as he reached for his Pokeball and enlarged it.
"Because you are going to have to battle me first. Noven GO!" I remember watching his Pokeball being tossed to the ground before the red energy was released and it sprang back to his hand. A young Charmander shuck its self off before lowering its head and waving its flaming tail side to side behind it. It was that moment that made me realize that this was real, that the Pokeball at my side really did have a Pokemon inside it and this was not just some big game. It might seem silly now after all that had happened to me but up until that point but it had in truth been just TOO big for me to take in. How would you feel if at ten years old you went from school and a life of simple pleasures to suddenly being flung out into the world with a gun and told to survive? Would you really believe the gun was real if you did not use it?
With my hand shaking a little I reached down and clasped my own Pokeball and enlarged it in my hand. It expanded like the demonstration ones in school but this one was heavier and slightly warm. I was reluctant to release the Bulbasaur inside and have one more reason to believe this was really happening. I remember holding onto it like I was holding on to the last chance I had to wake up and find this was all just some big dream.
The Charmander growled and looked back as his Trainer as if trying to get Cody to hurry her up.
"What are you scared now that you don't have a type advantage?" That had been a little uncalled for but considering how I had been treating him up until this point it was understandable.
"We are Trainers now so we have to battle when we meet" Looking back now I admire how much Cody held everything together. He had after all been ripped from his own home the same as I had and even though he clearly saw this as an adventure and a dream come true I still wonder and admire how much he took everything in his stride.
"Jiro didn't, he just up and left" I think I said this in an attempt to get Cody to do the same. Instead Cody looked at me with confidence and complete faith in what he was doing.
"I'm not Jiro" His smile shocked me at that point and I looked down at the Pokeball in my hands. Gently I tossed it to the ground and watched it open before almost dropping the ball again when it returned to me using the DNA it had stored from my touch to locate its 'owner'.
The Bulbasaur that had formed in the place where the ball had hit was compact and squat with a wide mouth and four stubbly legs. The bulb on its back was attached by roots and blood vessels or so I had learned from my lessons but neither could be seen.
"You gonna name it or what?" asked Cody who seemed less intent on the battle now and more on just getting to know his Charmander who was currently enjoying his head being stroked. The orange lizard pokemon made cries of affection and excitement as it danced around between each moment of petting. For a 'bad choice' Charmander was surprisingly cute.
I remember I fumbled a bit at the moment. Since the bus ride and finding out I would not have a problem picking Squitle I had decided I would call him Laken but that name hardly suited the grass type Bulbasaur.
"Um I guess Orchid would work" Orchids were my mother's favorite flowers though at the time I did not want to tell Cody about the reason for my choice and thankfully he never asked.
The Bulbasaur turned and looked up at me at that point, its big wide face looking happy. I admit I got lost in the moment, the realization that I was a real Pokemon trainer and this was my partner. It was Cody again who brought me out of my daydream and back to reality.
"Lets battle then. Noven use Scratch" Neither I or my Bulbasaur were able to react in time as the Charmander used its much greater speed to hit Orchid while he was still looking at me causing thin gashes that soon started to prick with blood along his right thigh. The Bulbasaur yelped in pain and turned to face it's attacker but the Charmander had already move out of the way and was waiting to be told to attack again.
"Cody that wasn't fair" I was angry again and shocked that the boy who had been trying to be my friend would attack the Bulbasaur from behind when we were not ready. He didn't even look sorry for what he had just done.
"This is a battle Karan, that means we have to fight. You had better do something quick or it will happen again" Cody looked to be completely enjoying himself and his Charmander looked equally pumped as he clawed the ground with its feet and swung its flaming tail from side to side. I was very thankful at that moment that the Charmander was young enough that its tail would not burn.
"Orchid Tackle" I shouted my command quickly when I realized that though Cody had warned me he was not about to slow his assault. The thrill that leapt through me when the Bulbasaur listened to me and ran towards the Charmander is indescribable even today. I guess it is like suddenly finding out you can control lightning or move things with a simple word. It was power in it's rawest form. The thrill however did not numb the pain when I watched Cody's Charmander rake it's claws once again into the young flesh of my Bulbasaur as it hit the lizard with its body.
Orchid was now on Cody's side while the Charmander Noven was by me. The two circled to the right as we both looked for an opening. Impatient to get this over with and to prove myself I called Orchid to tackle again while Cody countered with another scratch. Waiting till Orchid got close enough Noven struck the Bulbasaur clean across the face which caused the young plant pokemon to close his eyes and almost miss his target. Thankfully the Charmander was too close to get out of the way even with his opponent blind for the moment and he was knocked back and unable to press the advantage he had just made.
Both pokemon broke apart and circled again. Orchid was bleeding on his face and his thigh though neither of his cuts looked too deep. The Charmander on the other hand looked fine apart from his heavy breathing and how his tail sputtered. I was surprised to find that I was enjoying myself, the battle got my heart pumping and I could see Cody looked the same. This time I waited till he made the first move.
"Scratch Noven" The Charmander dove forward with a cry while Orchid stopped and watched him come strait towards him.
"Dodge it Orc" Bulbasuar however are not as nimble as Squitle's and he was not able to dodge completely out of the way of the attack. His movement however threw Noven off balance leaving his back exposed. Quick to see the advantage I called Orchid to tackle him before he could regain his footing. The hit was a good one as Noven's face was sent to have a very personal meeting with the ground.
"I call it" Cody tossed his Pokeball and withdrew his Charmander. "You are better then I thought" he said smiling as he shrunk his ball and attached it back to his belt.
"Um thanks" The fact that the battle was over was strange. I had been really enjoying it and both Pokemon could have gone on a little longer. Sure a win was a win but this felt a little hollow. Orchid on the other hand seemed happy with himself and was bouncing around like a green beach ball.
Cody laughed.
"I was talking to your Bulbasaur. Though you weren't half bad. You gonna come back to town and patch him up before you head off?" I saw then what Cody was doing. He was giving me the option of sticking with him or going on alone. If we had battled any longer I would have had no choice but to go back with him and heal up Orchid but this way…this way he could offer me the choice.
"Thanks Cody" I smiled then. The battle had helped me vent my frustrations and forget about Jiro. He was right as well; Bulbasaur was not bad at all though I knew I had to change my tactics to deal with his slower speed.
"I'm going to keep going but I look forward to seeing you as we go along" There was no doubt in my mind that Cody would not catch up at some point; I looked forward to it to.
"See ya then" He smiled and turned back to town "Just promise me you won't beat the gym before I get there to watch k?"
"Deal" I said with a nod pulling Orchid back into his Pokeball.
And so as quickly as we had met the three of us split up…though certainly not for the last time.