-The Legal Stuff:-
1) I am not affiliated at all to Game Freak nor to Nintendo, nor any other companies that write/produce Pokémon.
2) I do not own any part of Pokémon.
-A Waiver:-
1) I am not following any storyline already created, not a game, not the television show, my storyline is completely original as far as most characters go and as far as what is going on with the plot.
2) The only thing I borrowed from the game (I just started playing Crystal Version again) is the Gym Leader's names and their Pokémon, the city names, route names, and a couple of Team Rocket situations. I think I also mention well known people like Professor Elm and Professor Oak.
Basically…storyline and main characters are of my creation, the other stuff I borrowed from Crystal Version.
-And finally, the story. (: Enjoy!-
Chapter Seven:
Who Are You?
Eevee trotted happily beside me, chirping to herself. I kept glancing down at her as she sang her high-pitched barking song. I reached my arms over my head as I yawned, and I tousled my wavy hair with my hands as I stretched. This is why I always straightened my hair after it dried, I hated the wavy, ruffled look.
My mom always told me it made me look more girly, that I looked more like my sister. I'd make a face and straighten my hair faster.
I brought my wrist up to my face to glance at the time. It was after two in the afternoon, I quickly counted on my fingers how many hours I had been walking. "Five hours!" I hissed, throwing my hands up in the air.
"Vee!" She barked, her eyes narrowing as she smiled up at me.
Out of nowhere, a pokéball flew through the air and bumped Eevee on the head. She let out a high pitch cry and hurried to quiver behind me.
"Why didn't that work?" A young boy in a pea green, button-up shirt and khaki shorts with a green cap on top his head ran out of the grass and towards me. "Hey! Move! That Eevee is mine! Move!"
I grabbed Cyndaquil's pokéball off of my belt. "Cool off there Killer, that Eevee is already spoken for," I snapped at him.
His eyes quickly narrowed at me. "I threw my pokéball at it, its mine!"
"Is it in the pokéball?" I asked, arching my eyebrow at him.
He looked down at Eevee huddling at my feet. I could feel her cowering and shaking against my ankles. "Well no, I must have missed it."
I replaced Cyndaquil's pokéball to my belt and bent down to scoop up Eevee. "You got her right on the head. She's my Pokémon, you can't catch her."
The boy stared at me, looking extremely angry with me. Finally, his eyebrows pulled up in confusion. "Aren't you a little old to be just starting out as a trainer?"
My eyebrow rocketed up onto my forehead, then I pursed my lips at him. "Ready to keep going?" I glanced down at Eevee in my arms. She licked my chin in response and I smiled as I set her back on the ground. "I'll take that as a yes."
I turned my back to the young boy and continued down Route 29 towards Cherrygrove. As long as I kept up this pace, it couldn't be but another hour or so to Cherrygrove.
"Hey!" The boy called after me and I rolled my eyes. I heard him run to catch up to me. "Are ya heading to Cherrygrove?"
"No," I hissed.
"But Route 29 leads to Cherrygrove," he said matter-of-factly.
"Oh really?" I didn't try to sound interested at all.
"If you don't know where you're heading, why are you a Pokémon trainer?" The kid asked with a quick scoff.
"Will you do me a favor?" I turned to him and asked.
He stopped next to me and stared up into my face. "Sure!" He said excitedly, seeming pleased with my request.
"Stay," I held my hands up, palms out towards him, "right…here."
He stared at me, nodding his head furiously. "Okay, okay," he agreed with a huge smile. "For how long?"
"Until I'm well outta sight," I hissed, dropping my hands and heading down the path. I heard Eevee bark before she caught up to me and trotted on the path just ahead of me.
I didn't hear the boy run after me for several moments, which actually surprised me. Could he be that dumb?
"Hey?"
When did he run to catch up with me? I arched my eyebrow as I glanced at the boy now walking hurriedly next to me. "What?"
"Can I go with you to Cherrygrove?"
My shoulders sagged as I stared down the path ahead of me. "Why?"
"If you have to know," the boy sighed.
He remained silent for several moments and I finally glared down at him. "Yea, I do!" I snapped when I realized he wasn't going to say anything else.
"Oh, sorry," he said with a nervous laugh. "I didn't know you wanted to know, my bad. Well, I'm not a very good trainer, and I only have one Pokémon," he explained. "And I battled a Rattata just a few minutes ago, it totally wiped my Pokémon out!"
"So now you're Pokémon-less?" I finished for him.
"I'm Pokémon-less," he agreed, his head drooping in despair.
"So you're using me as protection?" I snapped, clenching my hands into tight fists.
A huge, broad smile suddenly covered the boy's face. "Exactly!"
I stared over at him for a moment. "Go away."
The smile fell off his face and he stopped in the middle of the path. "I can't! I'm too scared!" He hurried to catch back up with me. "And you seem strong! And you have…" He paused as he counted something, "seven Pokémon? How!"
"I have three," I muttered. "The other four pokéballs on my belt are empty."
"Oh," he looked down at Eevee. "Why is she out of her pokéball?"
"She's never been in a pokéball," I replied.
"Then why couldn't I catch her?"
"Holy Murkrow!" I shouted, throwing my hands up into the air. "Why are you asking so many freaking questions?"
His eyes blinked a few times, then smiled brightly up at me. "Because I'm curious! I wanna know!"
I rolled my eyes and shrugged. "Because she's my Pokémon, you can't catch someone else's Pokémon. I guess."
"Don't you know?" He asked.
"If I had known for sure, don't you think I'd tell you!" I yelled and he shrunk away from me as his eyes grew large.
"Gee, I'm sorry," he whispered.
I let out my breath slowly, I had no patience for this kid. Why did he decide to follow me? Why couldn't he have bugged Ashley? Or the other kid that got picked.
"You know, she's smaller than most Eevees," the boy quickly recovered from my capricious outburst.
"She was a runt," I sighed, deciding if I just did my best to ignore him, he would entertain himself with his little, pointless conversations.
"A runt? Didn't you catch her in the wild?" He inquired curiously.
"No," I answered.
We walked silently for a few moments, I enjoyed it enormously. Unfortunately, the quiet didn't last very long. "Where did you get her then?"
I slowly closed my eyes as I rolled my eyes. I was going to push him off the path and into the grass. "My parents."
"Where did they get her?"
I looked over at him, he was staring at me eagerly. "My parents," I sighed, "they raise Eevees."
His eyes grew huge. "What's your name!"
"Rowan," I muttered.
"Is your last name Eden?" He asked animatedly.
I let out my breath. I still couldn't escape it five hours outside of New Bark Town. "Yea, it is."
"Your parents own Eden For Eevees!" He proudly announced to me.
"Yea!" I barked at him, Eevee's ears flattened against her head as she stared up at me. "Tell me something I don't know!"
The young trainer once again fell silent beside me. "Your parents sold my Aunt Helena an Eevee, but they didn't like each other so she gave it to my older sister. At the time, she was about to leave on her Pokémon adventure."
"Fascinating," I muttered.
"Don't you like your parents' business?" The kid asked me.
"No, it's haunted me for as long as they've done it," I snapped. "And I would appreciate if you would stop talking about it!"
He stared at me, and I realized we had stopped in the middle of the path and I was leaning down towards him, glaring at him. He nodded silently in agreement and I snapped up and away from his face. I let my breath out, shoved the swathe of bangs out of my eyes, and stalked down the trail away from the maddening trainer.
After a few moments, he jogged up beside me. I ignored him, I was still angry. My parents' career choice was going to follow me for the rest of my life! Regardless of whether I was an accomplished trainer or not, I would forever be known as the Eevee girl.
"My name is Todd," the trainer said softly.
"That's just great," I murmured. Eevee was struggling to keep pace with my long, angry strides. Without missing a step, I bent over and scooped her up. I shoved her over my shoulder and on top of my backpack. I felt her settle and lay down on top of the bag.
"Rowan, that's what you said your name was, right?" He continued to press me to converse with him. I was trying really hard not to lose it with him.
"Yea, that's my name," I replied.
"Rowan," he snatched my hand in one of his and I fought the urge to rip my hand away from him and punch him directly in the face. "I have a really good feeling about you."
"Fabulous, what are you like ten?" I snapped.
"Yea, but that doesn't mean I can't have good feelings about something," he smiled. "I'm really glad I've met you, Rowan."
"Why?" I shook my hand, he wouldn't let go.
"Because," he smiled. "You're going to make one heck of a trainer! And I get to brag about the fact that I'm the first person who met you on your journey!"
I could see the top of a building through the trees. Cherrygrove was right around the corner! I almost couldn't contain myself, I wanted to run the rest of the way! But with Todd still walking beside me, I had to control myself.
"That's Cherrygrove!" He suddenly blurted out excitedly.
"I'm one step ahead of ya kid," I muttered.
"Aren't you excited?" Todd was smiling brightly as he stared over at me. "Aren't you ready to be there?"
I shrugged. "Yea, I suppose so."
"Well come on!" Todd grabbed my hand and took off down the path. I was going to argue, but at least this meant I got to run the rest of the way to Cherrygrove like I had originally wanted to. "I'll show you where the Pokémon Center is, then I'll go off on my way! You see, my mom lives in Cherrygrove, well just outside of it."
I rolled my eyes as I fought to keep pace with the energetic kid. We rounded a corner and I found myself standing on the outskirts of a city I had never seen. It was so much bigger than New Bark!
Todd halted and looked up at me, I could feel his stare on my face and I could see the huge smile he wore out of the corner of my eye. "Isn't this great?" He shouted. "I love Cherrygrove, I mean it's not small town like New Bark Town is, but it's not huge like Goldenrod City!"
"Where's the Pokemon Center?" I asked. I was willing to stick with this kid a little longer if it meant that I didn't get lost and look like an idiot.
"Oh," he snatched my hands up again and darted off into the city. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure Eevee was following. She was easily keeping up with Todd and I. "It's over here."
He led me across the city and towards a cluster of buildings. "The mart is right up there," he pointed up a short street. I saw a small building just around the corner. "And the Pokémon Center is right up here!"
He stopped just in front of the Pokémon Center building. There was a large pokéball across the doors, and I could see into the building through the foggy glass doors. "Oh okay, thanks," I said to him.
"Hey, no problem," he smiled brightly at me. "I'm going to get my Spinarak all healed up," he held up a pokéball that expanded in his hand. "You coming?"
"Actually, I'm going to run to the mart," I pointed back towards the building he had pointed out to me.
"Oh," he nodded his head. "I gotcha, well then Rowan," he smiled and shook my hand, even though I hadn't offered it out to him. "Good luck on your journeys and don't forget about me!"
"I don't think I could," I replied. Todd smiled widely at me then hurried off towards the Pokémon Center. I narrowed my eyes as the irritating, young boy darted away from me and towards the building. He pushed open the door and disappeared inside after throwing a wave over his shoulder at me. "Even though I want to forget you," I sighed as I shook my head. I turned and headed back the way I had just come.
"I don't even know what I need at the market," I glanced down at Eevee. She smiled up at me, her eyes squinting as she grinned. "Or if I need anything."
I walked down the small street and into the building. The door clanged shut as the bell overhead announced my arrival. "Welcome to Cherrygrove Mart!" The cashier shouted across the mart at me. I glanced around, it appeared as though I was the only one in the building.
"Thanks," I muttered back.
"You a trainer?" He asked as I walked between the aisles, seeing if there was anything that caught my eye.
"Uh, yea," I answered. He must be extremely bored.
"From New Bark?"
"Right again," I murmured, picking up a spray bottle. It read: Antidote, across the front of the label.
"I've had a couple of New Barkians coming through here," he nodded thoughtfully.
New Barkians? I thought, is that what we are really called? "Yea, there were three of us that left today."
"You're all pretty old as far as trainers though," he shrugged.
I arched my eyebrow. I wonder how much information I could get from this guy about Ashley. "Do you know if those other trainers are still here?" I asked.
"Well, the first was a girl, about your age," he said, scratching his chin as he thought about it. "She got here maybe an hour ago."
"Is she still-"
"And then there was a boy, not twenty minutes after her," the man said to me, pointing in my general direction. "Nice kid, the girl not so much, but he was nice."
"I could have told you that," I murmured.
"Hmm?"
"I said are they both still here?" I called out a little louder so he could actually understand what I was saying.
"Oh," he scratched his chin again. "The boy said something about staying at the Poke-Center tonight."
"And Ashley?"
"Who?"
"Oh," I mentally clapped my hand against my forehead. "The girl, what did she decide to do?"
"Oh," he replied, then shrugged. "She bought a couple of potions, a few antidotes too, some pokéballs."
"And?" I pressed. "Is she staying in Cherrygrove tonight?"
He shook his head and I swore to myself. "I had a brief conversation with her while checking her items out, not a very friendly lass whatsoever. She said she was going to continue on."
"Damn," I hissed as I looked away from the cashier and clenched my fists tightly. "That means I have to leave right now too."
"Poor thing, I feel bad for her," he shook his head. "Suppose to get a pretty bad storm tonight."
"Says who?" I asked.
"My shoulders," he chuckled, rubbing a palm against his shoulder blades.
"Oh," I nodded. "Well you have been very helpful sir, I'll see you around perhaps."
"Where ya headed?" He called out.
People here seemed to life off gossip more than people did in New Bark. "The Pokémon Center, you said trainers could spend the night there, right?"
He chuckled to himself. "Well I didn't say that, but it is true. It is open for trainers to spend the night, safe from the elements and wild Pokémon."
I smiled. "Thanks."
I snatched Eevee gently off the floor and headed towards the door of the mart. I glanced over my shoulder at the man leaning against the counter. He seemed extremely bored as he stared down at an opened magazine. "My name is Rowan," I called out to him. He glanced up and smiled at me.
"Nice to meet ya Rowan," he said. "I'm Steven."
I smiled and ducked out of the building. I had decided, unlike Ashley who was rude and unlike the other boy who seemed a bit forgettable, I wasn't going to be like either of them. I was going to be kind, and considerate, and one damn good trainer! People were going to remember me, no matter what!
Author's Notes: Chapter Seven: Well the good news is I haven't gotten anymore hate mails about the mistakes my computer/the site has made. People get so ballsy over the internet, because its not face to face. My problem is that I'm extremely defensive and I become easily angered.
So again, I want to apologize to the person who sent me that hurtful review. My reply was just as bad. But I'm going to move past it now because I don't need to dwell on it. I hope someone out there has read the beginnings of my story and actually likes it. I would very much enjoy hearing from you all.
A warning: This is not a direct following of any Pokémon story/series/television show or game. It is my own version of Pokémon. I know I keep saying this, I just want it to be clear. Haha. (:
Enjoy this chapter and Subscribe and Review/Comment. (:
