Sam sat on his bed, playing with the Pokéball Birch had given to him. Inside the ball was a Pokémon that was meant to protect him on his journey. He had no idea what kind it was since he had yet to open the ball. Truthfully, he didn't want to ever have to open it and meet his Pokémon. The thought of becoming a trainer revolted him. His mom called him down for dinner and he left the Pokéball on his bed and ran to the kitchen.
"So you're really going through with this?" his dad asked him at the table. Sam nodded and continued to chew on his steak. His parents had made his favourite meal for his going away dinner.
"Sam, you don't have to do this if you don't want to," his mom told him in a concerned voice, "there's a lot you can do here in Littleroot, you don't have to go on an adventure."
"Mom, I think you just don't want me to go because you're worried," Sam said once he swallowed, "I know that you concerned about me getting hurt, you can just say it."
"You're right, I just don't want you to get hurt so badly again," she said and her eyes started to fill with tears. Sam released a heavy sigh. He hated seeing others get sad, especially his mother.
"Mom, nothing like that is going to happen again," he promised her, "Birch gave me a Pokémon, just like you asked him to. I'm a lot safer than I was before."
"Speaking of which, what is your new Pokémon?" his dad asked curiously.
"I don't know. I haven't let it out of the Pokéball yet," Sam answered truthfully. Another bad trait that he had was that he just couldn't lie. It wasn't necessarily a bad trait just something that would get him into more trouble than if he just told a little white lie.
"Sam, you have to get acquainted with your Pokémon if you want to have a good relationship with them," he father said sternly, "you'll become much more effective as partners."
"I know, dad," Sam said angrily, pushing himself away from the table and standing up, "I'm going to go eat the rest in my room and then I'll see who my Pokémon is. Thanks for dinner."
He felt like kind of a jerk for leaving his parents at the table. Then again, he did have to see who his partner was. Maybe some food will make it friendlier. Sam hurried up the stairs and set the plate down on his dresser. He picked up the Pokéball and pressed the button to release his Pokémon. In a flash of red light, his partner materialized on the floor.
"Who are you?" they both asked in unison. Sam truly had no idea what kind of Pokémon it was. It stood at about three feet tall, was bright orange and its tail had flame burning on the end.
"Uh... well my name is Sam," he introduced himself, "and you are...?"
"My name is Pyro," it snapped, crossing its lizard arms, "doesn't matter though, you can't understand me."
"Pyro..." Sam murmured to himself, "fitting name for a fire type."
"Yeah, of cour- wait, what the hell?" Pyro changed direction in mid-sentence, "How did you know my name?"
"You just told me it," Sam said, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, but you understood me," Pyro stated, his eyes narrowing, "humans can't understand Pokémon."
Sam picked up his plate and sat down on his bed, "Clearly I just did," he told the lizard, which just confused him even more.
"But how?" he protested, "Did you learn our language or something?"
"Nah, I got a boot to the side of the head," Sam said with a grimace, "I'm just guessing that's what caused it because I sure couldn't talk to Pokémon before," he popped another piece of meat into his mouth, "what are you, exactly?" he asked Pyro once he swallowed. The Pokémon looked taken aback.
"What, can't you recognize a Charmander?" he asked in disbelief. When he saw Sam's blank stare he groaned loudly, "Oh, you've got be kidding me!" Sam asked him what was wrong and the Charmander let out a bark of laughter, "I got a trainer who doesn't even know what species I am. This is going to be one crappy trip."
"I'm not a trainer," Sam told him and the Charmander swore loudly.
"Are you serious?" he cried, "Not only do I have to protect your sorry ass but you won't even train me?"
"It's not that I won't try to train you, I just don't know how."
"That's not the point!" Pyro's voice was becoming really angry and his tail flame increased in intensity, "The thing is, I'm freaking huge for a Charmander. Most are only two feet tall but I'm at least a foot taller than that. I would have been so powerful in the wild and when I was caught by a good trainer, I thought I would become stronger than I could have ever hoped to be. But of course, the trainer gives me away to some scrub who can barely defend himself on a delivery."
"Well I didn't want you either, if that makes you feel better," Sam retorted in anger, "I never asked for you. If this job wasn't so dangerous, I would have never needed you."
"Please, how hazardous could this possibly be?" Pyro mocked. In response, Sam flicked on the light next to his bed, brightening his face. The Charmander recoiled at the sight of the human's scarred face.
"Do these answer your question, wise guy?" Sam demanded. He had gotten the right effect from Pyro, as the Pokémon was still horrified.
"What happened to your face?" he whispered. Sam's scowl grew deeper as the memory came back.
"I was supposed to start this job two weeks ago," he recounted, "on the way to the lab, I had cut through the forest for a shortcut only to get surrounded by a bunch of goons from Team Rocket. They thought I had the package and beat me before they realized I hadn't retrieved it yet. Some Heracross found me and brought me to a hospital. My parents were told I had a better chance of staying in coma than recovering."
When he was done, Pyro stood there with a look of pity on his face. Sam smirked a little at his reaction.
"I... I'm sorry, I-I didn't know," he started but Sam cut him off.
"Save your pity," he told Pyro, "it's not your fault I got these. What is your fault is the fact that you're too quick to judge," he lay down in the bed and rolled onto his side, "you can have the rest of the food if you want. I'm not hungry anymore."
Sam tried to sleep but he just couldn't. He had the same problem the night before and was worn out. The room was silent and the only noise for a while was the sound of chewing, probably from Pyro eating the remnants of Sam's dinner. After what seemed like hours, Sam finally drifted into an uneasy sleep.
The early morning sun cast long shadows across the ground. Two figures stood at the edge of route 101, staring down the dirt path. A dry wind passed over them, disturbing the flame on the Charmander's tail. The cry of Taillow could be heard from the surrounding forest.
"So... we gonna get going soon?" Pyro asked, breaking the silence.
"I guess we should," Sam sighed and looked over his shoulder at Littleroot, "we need to get to Slateport in two weeks and I have no idea how far that it."
"You don't have a map?" Pyro stared incredulously at his partner.
"Nah, we didn't have one," Sam stated and started down the road.
"We are so going to die," the fire-type mumbled and ran to catch up to his trainer. They walked in silence for a while, and Pyro stared at his trainer's face. The scars etched into Sam's face were even more noticeable now in the bright sun than in the feeble light of his room. Every pink line could be seen clearly, even the ones that were partially hidden by his hair. He assumed that's why he was wearing a hat, to cover the scars, but the sun was shining right on his face, removing any shadows.
"Stop staring at my scars and watch for trouble," Sam ordered suddenly, catching the Pokémon's gaze, "you have a job, and that's to take care of any Pokémon how try to hurt us. We both know that I'm in no condition to fight."
"Stop being such a wuss," Pyro scolded him, "you got hurt two weeks ago. Any pains should be gone by now. I would definitely be fighting at this time."
"I was in a coma for a week, dumbass," Sam mumbled, but Pyro caught it. His flame flared at the insult. He was about to say something nasty at the human but a low growl stopped him. Both of them froze in their tracks, waiting for the source of the noise.
The grass on the edge of the path shook and parted way for a snarling Poochyena. Its fur was standing up straight and its teeth were bared. Pyro regained his senses and walked in front of Sam, his claws coming out. He prepared for a fight.
"You think you can take this guy?" Sam asked him.
"He doesn't stand a chance," Pyro growled, fire burning in his eyes. He lunged at the Poochyena, knocking it to the ground. It got up and ran at the Charmander. Pyro tried to evade but was hit by its head in his gut.
He skidded along the ground and got back on his feet. He charged the wild Pokémon and scratched it across the face, drawing blood that splattered across the ground. The Poochyena yelped in pain and fled the battle.
"Yeah, you better run!" Pyro yelled and started to charge after it. Sam placed a hand on his shoulder to calm the Charmander down.
"Not today, Pyro, we have other things to take care of," Sam told him and turned him back towards route 101. Pyro didn't resist, being tired out by the fight. Maybe if Sam had actually assisted him, he wouldn't have taken a hit. He hated to admit it, but he wasn't really prepared for how much the tackle would hurt.
"Why didn't you help me?" Pyro demanded from the human. Sam shrugged a bit.
"It looked like you were doing fine," Sam said, "I thought you could handle yourself in that fight."
"Yeah, well as a trainer you're supposed to tell me what attacks to use other than just standing there like a useless blob. How else are we supposed to get better?"
"I don't know what to do!" he shouted at the Charmander, "I never wanted to be a trainer. How could I possibly know that I was going to be in this situation?"
"No one knows what's going to happen to them! Life rarely ever goes the way you plan, so when it doesn't, you have to learn to live with whatever it throws at you. Two weeks ago, I bet you didn't wake up and say, 'Oh, today seems nice to get the crap beaten out of me'. No, it just happened and now you've got to deal with having a messed up face. I didn't think I was going to caught and become your partner, but I've dealt with that and I'm trying to get stronger. You're a trainer now, so instead of bitching and moaning about it, get better at being one."
Sam didn't respond. He opted for just fuming in silence other than retaliating. Deep down, he knew that Pyro was right. What he said was harsh but true. He was going to have to live with his past and face whatever happened later.