- 4 -

"Placid"

"Now that that…fiasco is over with." Professor Oak let out a long sigh. "Here are the things you need for the journey ahead."

I felt special; I had beat Citrine in a battle (only because I had an advantage), and I was chosen to go on a special mission by Professor Oak! I just hoped I wouldn't end up messing everything up in the process. He turned to his desk, grabbing a folder and a tablet.

"I assume you'll be taking your camera, right?" I nodded, Cal was currently holding it because…well, he just went and grabbed it, that's why. He handed me the folder first. It was yellow, nice- favorite color there. "These are just some papers for reference. Some of them detail locations of harder-to-find Pokémon, some of them are passes you can use to get to places someone might not normally get to spend much time in, such as the Safari Zone, and an application for your license renewal and an application for a passport."

"Passport?"

Professor Oak shrugged. "You never know."

I… I guess he had a point.

He handed me the tablet next. It was barely thicker than the folder itself, which was pretty thin already. "This is what you can take notes on. Record as much data as you can, along with the pictures. My assistants will work with you more on this aspect of the project, combining your data with the data we currently have in order to make the next version more accurate. It's pretty durable…" He proves its durability by bending it in front of me. It bends in to a perfect curve, before flipping back out. "…But if it gets damaged somehow, call me."

I nodded, taking the tablet. It slid perfectly into the pocket of the folder. "Anything else I need to know?"

He shook his head. "That's all, for now, I suppose. I would recommend stopping by your house and saying goodbye to your mother before you leave, at least." He rested a hand on my shoulder, gently. It stung a bit from Citrine's terrible grip earlier, but I didn't flinch. Maybe I twitched a bit, but I didn't flinch. "Don't just hide in the woods all day for Pokémon. Some Pokémon live in urban areas, you know. Get out, be social, try to make friends. Take advantage of this opportunity, but remember to do your work as well."

Wow, my mentor was giving me a lecture on making friends. Thanks, Professor Oak. I nodded for a third time, nonetheless. "Yessir!"

"Alright, Leo. Your adventure is about to begin. Good luck out there!"

It was. It was starting.

A dream come true. I turned on my heel, slid the folder into my bag (which was already packed), and grabbed my camera, ready to face the world.

Unfortunately, as soon as I took a step outside I fell flat on my face. My sneaker had become untied. But that's okay, no one saw it and Cal totally didn't laugh at me for it. Well, maybe Cal saw and laughed, but I was okay! Really! And what better way to start a new adventure than Leo-style?

Route 1. It's a short route full of basic Pokémon that I'm sure the lab has a ton of data on, along with the few surrounding Viridian. I wrote down basic observations of the Pokémon on the route before breaking out the camera.

Oh, it was still stuck on the picture-viewing mode. It was still stuck on the burglar. Their face looked even more hilarious in this instance, for some peculiar reason. I didn't delete the picture; I just switched modes so I could take pictures of the Pokémon.

And that was the rest of my day. I took pictures of the Pokémon on the route until I ran out of storage (that's how I do it), and by the time that happened, the sun had climbed over the horizon and was shining golden through the slightly-color-changing leaves. I couldn't help but take a picture of that, too. Hey, my Portfolio doesn't have to be all Pokémon related.

I began to make my way to Viridian as that picture was snapped. Cal was out of his Pokeball after a nice nap after his tiring battle (and the few he had to fight, wild Pokémon can be a bit aggressive sometimes, I know) and he was floating and enjoying the warm sun, even if it made his visible form fade a bit.

That's what I found so cool about Ghost-types. Did you know, if a Ghost-type doesn't have a lot of mass as a physical body, shining bright lights onto them distorts and fades the physical body a bit? That's really the reason why Ghost-types aren't out a lot in the day, along with evolving to become nocturnal, they can't be seen well in brightly lit places. In deep forests and urban areas, it's easier to live, and that's what led the Gastly line to mostly adapting to more urban settings, like cities.

Sometimes you can still find Gastly out in the dark, but that's at night.

Walking through the route, with just the sounds of the Pokémon echoing through the late afternoon air, the smell of changing seasons (despite the trees not showing it) …It was great. I could get used to this.

Of course- I never have gone further than Pewter. And that was on a trip with Mr. White. Who, might I add, has a level forty Heracross. Nothing messed with us that time, but this time it was just me and Cal against the world.

Or so I thought because just as I could see Viridian in the distance, I heard a screech, and someone fell out of a tree in front of me. I halted in my steps. It definitely wasn't an acorn. It was a kid, maybe my age. Their hair was dyed blue, you could tell because their roots were still brown. "What the hell?" They screamed, sitting up. And then their Pokémon (or what I assumed to be their Pokémon) fell on them, forcing them back down. "I hate flying-types so damn much!"

The Pokémon—Bulbasaur! —grunted in agreement. She shook her head, trying to get the leaves out of her bulb, before noticing me. Her eyes widened, and she chirped at me in excitement.

"Hey, girl." I squatted down as she ran to me and rubbed my leg. So, this must've been one of the trainers who came before Citrine—which means that neither of them chose Charmander willingly, now that I think about it.

"Di, come on, don't just…" The person finally noticed me. "Oh, did I fall in front of you? Sorry."

"You're f-fine!" Social interaction? Welcome back, anxiety and nervous stutter! "Are you o-okay?"

They nodded. "Yeah. Pidgey, man. A flock of them are brutal." They stood up and brushed off their jeans. "I'm Aster, by the way. Do you now Di?"

"I work—I work with the Professor, a-actually," I said, raising my camera to show what I do. I hated explaining things.

Oh, you work for the Professor Oak? You must be really smart! Give me some knowledge? Uh, no, sorry, I just take pictures, but I can tell you that fire-types and water-types have glands in them that allow for the dispersal of fire and water, but they don't usually mature until levels six, seven, and so on…

"Oh, that's cool!" Aster said. He paused. "…You wouldn't happen to know the way to Viridian, would you? I'm a bit…lost."

"U-uh, yeah!" I didn't bother questioning why he wouldn't know the way, because, who knows! This kid could be from a totally different part of the world, for all I know. "I-I'm heading there. J-Just- um, yeah, follow me. It's this way."

Obviously. Duh. Ugh, I hate myself sometimes.

Aster followed me blindly, and a bit…loudly. Bulbasaur (Di, now) was returned to her Pokeball and instead of walking silently through the golden hues of the setting sun, the background noise of the forest surrounding us peacefully, Aster started…talking.

And for once it wasn't that bad.

"So, what do you do for Professor Oak?" I lifted the camera. He smirked, rolling his eyes. "Not what I meant. What's with the camera?"

"Oh! Um, I help out in t-the lab w-with the camera. I work with the- the technology, I run errands, and I take the p-pictures people need for their research." I cleared my throat. "Sorry, it's kinda boring, I- I know."

"It's not boring!" Aster said. "I find it… interesting. It's different, you know? Most people who work with the professors are, like, wanting to be a scientist or a professor or something one day. But you're different. It's different, it's cool."

I blushed. I'd never been told something like that before. That what I was doing was different, was "cool". I'd heard that it was a stupid job, that it was a nerd's thing, that I should find something better to do with my time, that even taking on the gym challenge was a better use of my time than fiddling with my camera in the woods. My mom, Citrine, friends, strangers, they all think they know what's cool and what's not for me.

Aster was the first person to think what I was doing was cool, just in general.

I'd been silent for too long. I made it awkward already. Aster was looking at me, a bit concerned. "Uh, sorry! It's just, u-uh nobody has ever really said that to me. It was a bit- a bit jarring to hear, that's all."

"Oh." It appears he didn't have any words to counter that. "Well, I think it's cool."

"T-Thank you." I glanced ahead. I could see the outskirts of the city already. The sun had begun to dip, and the light was fading pretty quickly now. "Um, do you need to k-know where the Pokémon Center is?"

The good thing about living in Viridian is that I had a key to a small apartment I shared with my mom, so I didn't have to be in a public place like the Pokémon center. Though, they usually provide traveling trainers with mats and blankets to rest in, which is good, but that's a lot of people in one place.

"That would be great! Thanks, um…"

"Leo!" I hadn't even given Aster my name yet? Inconceivable! Well, that was even more awkward. I'm pretty sure I have a crown in the back of my closet that has "King of Awkward Conversations" written on it, and I'm due to be getting a new one soon, seeing how this is going. "S-Sorry."

"You're fine," Aster said.

After dropping Aster off at the Pokémon Center and waving farewell, I headed back to our apartment. It was a bit dinky, but Viridian was a bit of a dinky city as well. I released Cal again as the city became dark and the street lights went on, because I felt like it, okay? It wasn't like I was super paranoid or anything in the dark.

Plus, Cal enjoys the night air. It's refreshing to him. And whatever makes him happy makes me happy, too.

I got to my door and dug out my key. The house was quiet, as usual. I opened the door carefully to find a dark home.

"Mom?"

No response. I set my bags down by the door, ready to take them out the next day, and turned some lights on. The same old furniture, the same television, the same kitchen greeted me. Nothing new.

"Moomm?"

Still, no response.

I sighed. Knowing her, she was out again. I probably wouldn't even see her when I left tomorrow morning for the biggest adventure of my life. I didn't know where she was, and I couldn't bring myself to care.

Now, wait. Before you go on and attack me, you'd probably need some context. My mom never had a stable job in the 49 years of her life. She was a massive drifter and met my dad at some bar (I think, I don't know the whole story myself) and the next morning she found out she was pregnant with me. And the only reason she got an apartment was that his family was a rich one and my dad paid her off to keep their one-night stand a secret.

Something to that extent. My mom's still a drifter and leaves every few nights for either job opportunities in Pewter or to bar-hop with friends, ending up passed out in someone else's house. It's been this way since I was 12, I'm fine.

No, I'm not fine but I'm used to it.

"Guess no goodbye from her, huh?" She wasn't home earlier, either. I'd just assumed she was out at one of her part-time jobs.

Cal nuzzled me, comforting the empty feeling in my heart.

"I'm fine." Liar. "Let's just get to bed. A big day tomorrow." Not a lie, though I wasn't exactly tired.

A/N: Enter Aster! I LOVE writing this character so much, you have no idea. Just a bright little ball of sunshine, most of the time, which I feel like foils Leo's personality and it makes them a rather dynamic duo. You know that Aster's going to come up again, I shouldn't have to even say it, hahaha. Though sometimes I do like to throw in random characters every now and then to spice things up, and I live by the idea that if you run into someone, they'll never really leave your life, and maybe one day you'll meet them again in the future! Wouldn't that be pretty neat?

Leo's favorite color being yellow is something I find interesting in both him and me (because I, too, am an anxious ball of stress like he is, but also likes yellow). Maybe it's more of a reflection of a person that he could be? Or that he could have been? I'm reading too much into this, I'm going to start psychoanalyzing myself and the purpose of these author's notes are to just explain parts of the chapter that I won't be able to in the future or hint at later chapters.

Leo has parenting problems, go figure. I wonder if that has anything to do with his repressed trauma and anxiety?~

Next time; Leo and Aster cross paths again.

Trying to fit in a bit of review responses, too, here, so let's try this thing!

Another Useless Mightyena: Hopefully that'll come soon! I have about 14 chapters pre-written already where that doesn't happen yet, but stay tuned!