My memories were interrupted by a shove on my shoulder. I snapped my eyes open to see the young girl looking at me with sad eyes. I sat up and matched gazes with her.
"I'm so sorry," she half sobbed. "I fell asleep in the middle of your story! I'm sorry!" She seemed to be on the verge of tears. I chuckled a bit at the situation.
"It's alright," I said with the nicest tone I could muster. "It doesn't bother me." She sniffled and wiped her eyes. "Now where were we?" That seemed to do away with any sadness as she happily sat back in her spot with a bright smile.
As I restarted my sugarcoated story, the memories took me back once more.
Rylan's disappearance controlled the news all over the town. Papers showed off his picture with headlines that struck worry in many people. Even the regional news was giving stories on the situation. It went on like this for a few weeks before dying down.
The guilt never left me, though. I continued to watch T.V. and check the internet for any signs of him. The result was always the same. A month had passed with nothing happening to help the case.
Unfortunately for me, the next few months weren't easy around the house, either. My parents were still on edge from whatever phone calls they had been receiving. There had been multiple instances where I had worked up the courage to ask about it, but the result was always the same. We would scream at each other until somebody gave up and walked away.
There were some positive moments, though. For one, I took Flare to be healed by Joy for the first time. This usually wouldn't seem that great if my situation hadn't been different. The Charmander hadn't battled or anything. I was simply worried about his color. The yellow-golden tint had me thinking he was ill.
As I released Flare for the nurse, I saw a look of utter shock appear on her face. My stomach sank at the sight. Normally, when I nurse was shocked, it wasn't a good thing. These worries soon dissipated when she spoke.
"Where did you get that?" she asked. Her tone didn't seem negative.
"I, uh, found him abandoned," I replied. "He was on route 43."
"Well this is quite incredible." I looked at her in confusion. "Don't you realize what you have here?" I shook my head slowly. Her surprised attitude had me disoriented. "This little guy is a shiny Pokémon! They're very rare. You are quite the lucky boy!"
I looked at Flare in fascination. He was a shiny Charmander! I knew what shiny meant from word of mouth, but I had never actually seen one. It was quite an incredible thing to discover.
After learning of Flare's rarity, I spent a majority of the next month battling. I found myself winning a good handful of times. Ty was up to level nineteen while his partner was at a solid fourteen. I was beginning to feel confident in my team. Of course that feeling went away whenever I returned home.
One particular day stands out in my mind. It was the later part of spring, and I was in a particularly bad mood. Allergies were bothersome, my mind had decided to worry about Rylan, and my father had received another phone call.
Once he finished it, I walked on over to him and demanded answers. My voice had gained a harsh tone from all of our previous fights. He shook his head and sighed heavily.
"Why do you keep doing this?" he asked rather forcefully. "How many times do we have to tell you before this can end? These calls are aggravating enough! I don't need you to be poking and prodding me about it!"
"Then just tell me!" I said sternly. "I just want to know what's going on! You and mom haven't been the same since these damn phone calls!"
"Don't you use that language toward me! I am your father! You will do what I say! That is that! No more argument!" I turned on my heels and darted for the front door. This was all too much for me.
My cell phone was whipped out immediately. It was time to fulfill a promise I had made awhile back.
Cyan's blue-green eyes looked at me with sheer joy. We were standing in front of her grandmother's restaurant. She was elated to finally receive a call from me. I had felt guilty about not calling sooner, but that soon faded as she began talking.
"This is gonna be great!" she exclaimed. "Let's not waste time, though. We should get right to battling!"
"What?" I asked, confused. "You want to battle me?" I took a step back in shock. I didn't want to battle my one friend. It might cause some unwanted grudges.
No, silly! We're going to team up for some double battles!" I looked at her with a blank expression. Double battles were news to me. "You know! It's when two Pokémon battle two others! We can team up and be the best ones out there!"
Before I could give my thoughts on the whole thing, I was being half dragged into town. Cyan was relentless when it came to getting what she wanted. We were soon going from place to place, looking for a potential opponent.
She soon found a boy who appeared to be a couple years older than us. He nodded as she offered him the challenge. I soon found myself on route 44 in an open clearing. Cyan was to my left in a battle stance. Our opponent stood across the clearing with some confidence. This could turn out to be an interesting matchup.
"Go, Croakie!" our opponent yelled. He flung a Pokéball that burst to reveal a funny-looking thing. I recognized it as a Croagunk. It seemed to be well trained as it began showing off some acrobatic movements. Any worries were washed away as a looked to see Cyan smiling rather happily.
"Let's go, Psyro!" she shouted. Her Ralts was released to the battlefield. He eyed the enemy Pokémon and took a fighting stance. Our opponent seemed to flinch at the sight.
"Uh, go, Lecto!" He tossed out another ball. This time, it released a small, yellow thing with a plug on its head. It was an Elekid. That narrowed down my choice for a Pokémon.
"Let's get 'em, Flare!" I shouted. He was released and let out a ring of fire to gain an intimidation factor. Both the opponent and Cyan stared in awe. I had never shown her my new teammate. Suddenly my guilt for ignoring her came back.
"When did you get that?" she asked in amazement.
"I got him a few months back. He was left on route 43." She nodded and smiled at my accomplishment. It sent a surge of pride through me.
"Let's see what he can do then!" Her confident attitude gave me some hope. We could actually win this battle. My thoughts were soon interrupted when our opponent found his voice again.
"Lecto, Thundershock the Charmander!" I gulped and hoped for the best. Luckily, the attack didn't seem to hinder Flare's confidence.
"Use a Smokescreen!" Black smoke suddenly billowed from my Pokémon's mouth. It hit the Elekid and began to surround it. Soon enough, it was completely engulfed in the fumes. It seemed as though Flare just kept on smoking the foe out.
"Croakie, Faint Attack the Ralts!" That caught my attention as the second Pokémon seemed to disappear momentarily before striking Psyro. It seemed to hit hard as the little psychic fell to the ground. Cyan wasn't fazed, though.
"Psyro, confuse that Croagunk!" Her Pokémon obeyed as it gathered itself and raised its small arms. The foe was soon writhing as the psychic attack hit. My eyes were wide as I watched it fall unconscious after the hit. Cyan grinned in confidence. "Those double weaknesses will kill ya!" Our opponent grumbled and returned the fainted Pokémon.
"Don't get too cocky!" he yelled. "Go, Missy!" He flung out another ball that released a strange floating thing that had one hell of a hair-do. It was unmistakably a Misdreavus. My confidence fell once I heard Cyan gulp. I knew what that thing could do to Psyro. "Now, Lecto, try a Shock Wave!"
I heard the Elekid begin to crackle. Soon, a wave of electricity burst from the cloud of smoke and hit Flare. He fell to the ground with small shocks running around his body. He slowly got back on his feet and let out a small roar.
"Ember!" I yelled. Flare nodded and began to power up. What happened next stunned everyone. His tail fire grew to twice its normal size as he opened his mouth to attack. He let out an Ember that was larger than any I had seen before. It entered the smoke cloud and hit the foe hard. The Elekid was thrown out of the cloud and to the ground with multiple burn marks. Flare returned to normal and let out a satisfied growl as the foe slipped into unconsciousness.
Cyan looked at me, expecting an explanation, only to get a shrug of confusion. It seemed as though my little shiny Charmander had some immense power. Why would that man ever want to get rid of it?
"Damn!" Our opponent cursed as he returned his Elekid. Our agreement before the battle was to use four Pokémon. That left one more for him to use. "Go, Wally!" He tossed his last ball onto the battlefield to reveal a bulbous blue Pokémon that could only be identified as a Wailmer. It was my turn to gulp as our opponent had now exploited one of Flare's weaknesses. "Missy, Astonish that Ralts. Wally, Water Pulse the Charmander!"
Those commands finished off our first pair of Pokémon. It didn't falter Cyan, though, so I refused to show my surprise. I released Ty while she let out her former Bellsprout that was now a Weepinbell. It was her turn to show off a new Pokémon. Luckily, we had an advantage: our opponent was too busy laughing at Ty to focus.
"Bellsy, put the ghost to sleep!" Cyan commanded. He did so quickly with a Sleep Powder. The Misdreavus was out like a light.
"Ty, Tackle the Wailmer!" My command was confident, but my intentions weren't as my Magikarp feebly bounce off the foe. It hardly seemed to do anything. This only sparked up some more laughter.
"Wally," our opponent said between cackles, "use Rollout!" I gulped as the large Pokémon started to roll toward Ty. It wasn't very fast, but it still hit rather hard. Unfortunately, the attack wasn't over as the Wailmer gained momentum. It hit Ty again before losing its speed.
"Ty, Tackle for the eyes!" I felt rather mean to say such a thing, but it was my only strategy I could use. He hit the foe and did a little more damage than his last hit. Sadly, it still didn't do much damage at all.
"Bellsy, Vine Whip the Wailmer!" Cyan's voice surprised me as she had Bellsy change targets. It made sense, though, as I looked at the sleeping ghost. This attack hit much harder than anything Ty could do. The Wailmer tumbled back and seemed to be much weaker.
"Wally, Rollout again!" Luckily, this time, the attack missed completely and sent the foe into a tree. This gave me a chance to do something.
"Ty, Tackle the tree!" His trust in me was incredible as he followed the command without question. He leapt onto the Wailmer's back and flew into the leaves. I stood and hoped my strategy worked. Soon enough, I got the result I was looking for.
A group of tree dwelling Pokémon fell out of their home and landed on the Wailmer. They instantly began to attack the poor Pokémon in anger. Ty jumped back to the ground and flopped happily in front of me. Cyan shot me a look of amazement as the wild Pokémon knocked out the foe. That left one more to go.
"Bellsy, Vine Whip!" He whacked the Misdreavus with some impressive force that, unfortunately, woke it up. It was significantly weaker, though.
"Missy," our opponent yelled in frustration, "Confuse Ray!" I realized what was happening and decided to be noble.
"Ty, take the attack!" He, being the loyal fish he was, leapt in front of Bellsy and became confused. It was the best move in the situation as his Tackles would be useless against the ghost. That left Cyan to finish it.
"Bellsy, Vine Whip!" That was the last attack needed as the Misdreavus fell to the ground unconscious. Our opponent returned it in amazement. I cheered in victory and Cyan wrapped me in a quick hug. We had won a battle as a team! That was quite the experience for me.
The defeated trainer walked over to us with a surprising grin on his face. He handed us some money and offered a handshake.
"That was some incredible battling," he said happily. "I've never seen a Magikarp like that!" I beamed with pride and looked Ty. His flopping was off due to the confusion, but he seemed happy nonetheless. "You guys could be tough!" I looked at Cyan and she met my stare. The possibility of being a permanent team sounded interesting now. It could help me with my team's weak spots and give me someone to travel with.
After bidding our opponent farewell, we headed back toward the restaurant. Cyan found her grandmother and immediately retold everything that happened. Her excitement only made me happier with the victory. She then sat down at a table with me and offered a look of amazement.
"You have shocked me again!" she exclaimed. "You have to tell me where you got that Magikarp! It jumped in front of an attack without a thought! How did you think of the tree thing too?" She began spouting off questions rapidly. All I could do was offer a bunch of 'I don't knows.'
The battle was truly something else. For the first time in a while, I felt truly elated. I could actually become excited about the future and all its possibilities. I only hoped to Arceus that Cyan would be a lifelong friend.
After talking with her for some time, I reluctantly decided to head home. I had no desire to confront my parents, but it was getting late. I said good-bye to Cyan and headed out.
My fears of my parents were confirmed as I walked in the door. They had been waiting for me. I ducked my head to avoid their angry glares.
"Where have you been?" my father asked sternly. I held my staring competition with the floor. He sighed once I didn't reply. "You can't just storm out of here, Michael. You're only ten." I shot him a glare.
"I have Pokémon," I spat. "They are strong enough to protect me!"
"We know," my mother said. "They just aren't strong enough." I stared at her in anger. How could she say such a thing about my team?
"They are strong enough! We just won a battle today! Ty took out a Wailmer!"
"It doesn't matter!" my father yelled. "Do you want to end up like that Rylan kid?" That was the elephant in the room. I went silent in shock. "He had Pokémon imported from other regions! He still wasn't safe from danger! Now there are going to be some new rules around here." My eyes became pleading.
"Don't argue," my mother warned. "This is the way it's going to be." I lowered my stare.
"Now, first of all, no more talking back. We are your parents. You will treat us with respect. Second, you will not leave this house without our permission. We need to know where you are. It's just too dangerous for us not to. Finally, you will not battle with your Pokémon without our supervision."
My head snapped up. I couldn't have heard correctly. It couldn't be true.
"No," I said coldly. "I'm a trainer now. I can battle my Pokémon!"
"You will do as I say, young man! There are too many bad people out there who could beat you in a battle and put you in danger."
"I have two very strong Pokémon! They will protect me! I also have a friend who has a good team! I will be safe!"
"No talking back! The rules are set! No more questions!" With that, he walked away and pulled out his phone. I ran up to my room and slammed the door behind me.
How could they do this? They were practically saying I couldn't do what I love. I couldn't become a great trainer with my parents supervising my battles! There was no way I was going to abide by their rules.
As I remember that day, I only wish I had.