A. Note (11/19/21): Thank you for reading this far into this story. I just wanted to take the time to make this acknowledgment in reference to the from the last chapter. This story was originally written back in 2007, but as I mentioned, I had extremely unsupportive friends who anytime they'd get upset with me they would immediately start to trash my writing ability. I'd get insults like "you're so dumb for writing a dumb Pokémon story" or "You'll never be a bestselling writer like this other writer". It's so funny, I was just twelve at the time and that stuff hurt so much, but now looking back at it, I realized I shouldn't have shared what I was writing with those former friends. I should have just written for myself and for the people who did like this story, who would message me and tell me how much they enjoyed. This story had several different names in the past because I didn't know what exactly what to name it and my former friends kept arguing with me over what it should be named. There were also things that happened in the story that I didn't want to happen, but I kept being pressured to add things or risk losing a friend over it. I know yikes. I did attempt to try finding an archive of my old accounts but had no luck (Well, I'm lying since I did find one of my old stories archived, but just not this one). It's alright, I think right now I rather move forward than to hold on to strings that don't matter anymore. I do want to thank that one anonymous user who messaged me on tumblr and told me about how they read this story when they were younger and were happy to find me again. That meant the world to me because it made me realize that even when some people didn't like my story, that there were others who did enjoy it. Trust me, even one thoughtful message means a lot to someone. Just in case you were wondering, no I don't keep any contact whatsoever with those former friends. It's not that I ended on bad terms with them, but in high school I had finally started to learn to set boundaries and they were the first to go. There was no dramatic scene or anything, I just stopped hanging out and talking to those people. Yes I know, some of you may have wanted me to tell off those people, but as you get older, you realize it's just better to stop affiliating with certain people. I do like to think now I have a better circle of friends and people that care about me and respect what I do with my writing. On that note, I really did just want to thank Sinnoh for how much it helped me when I was younger. I adored the games and the anime so much when I was younger. I know my handle has me as a Johto fan, but who am I to not acknowledge other things that helped me. The DP remakes will be coming out today, I truly hope everyone enjoys their return to Sinnoh and I hope newcomers enjoy the Sinnoh region. And yes, I am excited for the games that will come out in January.
The pitter-patter sound of my feet echoed through the silence. I took a deep breath and turned around, slightly hoping he would be behind me, but I was alone. Roark really wanted me there. It felt so odd, people generally didn't want me hanging out with them. Then it hit me, he did say those lectures were boring, maybe he just wanted company. I felt a little pit in my stomach, maybe I was just there for entertainment. Ugh, I casually announced to everyone I met Celebi. Stupid. I'm so stupid. What's wrong with me? I squeezed me eyes and put my fingers to my temples, my hands were cold, but my head was warm. I'm such an idiot. A cawing in the distance interrupted my thoughts, it was tearing through my ears and I looked overhead. The sky was starting to set, a light orange and the clouds were a cotton candy pink. A Staraptor with several Starly flew overhead and continued to caw. They're probably getting ready to sleep for the day. Ugh, I wasted my entire day, I'm supposed to be in Floaroma already! I slide my hand into my pocket and pulled out the platinum watch, it was sleek and cool to the touch. Maybe I can go back in time and start the time I was at Jubilife I thought, then I realized I was in the past already. That's right, that's why I had been with the younger Roark that day. Idiot. I popped open the top and changed the dials. Hurry. Put me in the future already. As I fiddled through the dials I began to walk, hoping I didn't slip or trip over anything. A strong breeze engulfed me, I shivered and tried to remain calm. Come on, take me back to my time. I thought as I squeezed me eyes again then I felt my body slightly drop to the floor.
"Celia?" asked a raspy voice. I opened my eyes and saw Jane, her black hair was fashioned in a bob and she wore large cyan colored glasses, the frames in a peculiar, squiggled pattern. She wore a beautiful mint green dress and laughed.
"Still trying to get the hang of the watch?" she asked. "Looks like you forgot the time limit. You're lucky that group over there didn't notice you." She added then pointed. There was a group of campers in the distance sitting around a fire. They were clapping their hands and singing. Oh great, I didn't consider if possibly I'd be around others were I came back.
"Ugh! The same thing happened at Jubilife!" I grunted and Jane frowned. "Some lady saw me and was chewing me out." I explained, but I felt my heart drop, what if the watch would have been taken away. "Someone saved me though." I assured her and she gasped.
"A knight in shining armor for Celia?" she joked. I thought of Roark, the younger Roark. He had a nice smile; his hair was so silky and pretty and his red eyes shimmered. My cheeks began to burn, then I remembered. That's the Roark in the past, the one in this time was older.
"Don't say stuff like that." I snapped. He was older, I couldn't and shouldn't even think of it. I noticed a fenced up area nearby and walked towards it. Inside stood an arrangement of several pastel colored flowers. How pretty. I guess who ever planted them, didn't want someone to pick them. Is that what I'm doing? Trying to protect myself? I looked down and imagined I was a flower in the gated area, just there, no one could hurt me.
"Well, tell me. Who was it?" Jane asked as she put her arm on my shoulder. Her grip was gentle, I knew she wouldn't hurt me.
"It was someone in the past." I pointed out as I turned to face her, she was still smiling.
"Okay. Well, who are they in the present?" she singsong in a goofy voice.
"Ugh." I grunted and took a deep breathe. My face began to burn. "The Oreburgh Gym Leader. Roark." I gritted in between my teeth and I heard a loud squealing.
"I know who you're talking about!" Jane screeched and started rummaging through her bag. She pulled out a magazine that had the Pokémon League logo and started to flip the pages and showed me a picture of Roark. "He's not much older than us anyway. And look! He has muscles!" she pointed out and I felt to my ears turn red. It was a photograph of Roark in the Oreburgh Mine, he wasn't wearing his jacket, only a black shirt slightly drenched with sweat. "Ah you're staring." Jane teased and I looked away from the magazine.
"Stop! He's like an adult!" I snapped and she fanned her hands.
"Barely, he's not much older than us. Eighteen, that's not bad." She explained as she skimmed through the article on the next page.
"I'm twelve. That's a six year difference!" I clarified and she giggled.
"Well, I'm ten." She announced and I gasped. "I think he looks nice. And if it's past him, maybe he looks cute for a ten or twelve year old."
"It was six years in the past, so he must have been twelve too." I guessed then looked at her. We had a similar frame, and the dress she wore looked so nice. "I thought we were the same age. We look the same age." I sadly let out.
"I look mature, and you look young." She joked and stuck her tongue out. "Don't feel bad, we're still young." She said as she placed the magazine in her bag then looked up at me. "I don't think what you did is bad, it was with younger him."
"We're just friends. Nothing happened." I snapped and she giggled again. It was a squeaky gentle giggle; I couldn't find it in me to be angry with her. She was younger too, what type of example would I be setting for her.
"It's okay, kids can get crushed on adults. It's harmless."
"Can we just drop it!?" I asked annoyed and I saw her grin disappear. It tugged at my heart; I shouldn't have snapped at her.
"Okay." She said quietly then looked down at her feet. "Thank you for making it. The party's tomorrow." She explained.
"Are we close by Floaroma?" I asked looking around and she began to walk away. Jane turned back to me smiling and lifted her hand to the opposite direction. I approached her and saw there were flowers planted nearby. Next to her, I realized we had technically been on top of a hill and stretched down were more fields of flowers and a town in the far distance. The sun had just been setting and the sky was purple with hues or orange, many lights had already been turned on in the town, and there were so many patterns of pastel colors everywhere on the buildings.
"Why does the town look like a cotton candy mess?" I asked nervously.
"They're actually all covered in flowers." She corrected. "Floaroma is known for that, flowers everywhere. There's even street poles engulfed in flowers."
"So, just flowers everywhere?" I asked and Jane nodded. "Why is that?"
"There's a legend about a Pokémon and flowers with Floaroma Town." She said as she began to walk down the hill and signaled me to follow. I carefully began to take steps, I didn't want to step on any flowers, now there was another Pokémon associated with a place. "Apparently the place was baren, but because of someone's kindness to this Pokémon, so vegetation started to grow, and flowers started to blossom everywhere. I've been told it's the Pokémon of Gratitude." Jane said then looked back to me, she began to walk backwards, grinning.
"That lecture I went to yesterday with Roark, the teacher there kept naming Pokémon associated with places." I revealed then her eyes widen.
"Wait, you're not using you're real name with him? Right? It may be six years in the past, but what if he remembers." She questioned as she stopped and stood in front of me, she looked so concerned.
"It's okay, he was calling me Cece, so I guess that's who I am now." I answered and she smiled.
"Did he come up with that?" she joked.
"No, I guess he didn't hear correctly or something." I mumbled and she laughed.
"I think it suits you." She assured me as we entered the town. Jane waved her hands to the scenery. I saw so many buildings that looked like cottages with their wooden exteriors all lined up with flower beds and wall planters aligned to doors.
"It feels like a fairy tale here." I gushed as I looked around mesmerized, all the homes looked so fancy. Nice houses, two stories high with so many flowers and decorations. "I'm guessing you come from rich people." I accidentally slipped out and she grinned.
"My grandma worked very hard to have what she has." Jane began and spun around, walking down a street. The sound of her heels clicking on the brick road started, I looked down to my shoes, just some flats, nothing special. She even dressed more mature than me. "People work hard, they do it to help their children, so they don't have to work as hard." She added then looked back to me. "I guess I'm lucky for the things I have." She said then frowned. "I hope I didn't make you feel bad or anything."
"No, I'm alright." I fibbed. My life was nothing glamourous growing up. I assumed wearing nice sun dresses was the norm for her, along with living in a nice home. My stomach began to ache, I shouldn't think this ill of someone who has shown me nothing but kindness.
"I have some extra dresses; I can give you one to wear for the party tomorrow." She offered and I felt my face brighten up, but a pain shot through my stomach. Is this karma?
"Are you okay? I heard that." She asked nervously.
"I'm fine, my tummy's just acting up." I assured her and she pointed to the right. I turned and saw a familiar red building, only this time it was decorated with various flower beds and hanging pots. The Floaroma Pokémon Center, but it looked so festive. "Is there a party in there?" I joked and Jane laughed. Then I remembered, the PokéGear was to be shipped to this Pokécenter. "I asked my dad to send something hear." I pointed out with the echoes of my stomach growling. Was I hungry? But I ate so much earlier.
"They sell a different dessert every day, I think today was cherry cobbler. Let's go get some." She suggested as she took my hand and lead me to the Pokécenter. It's like she knew what to do. Jane was just like Roark, they barely knew me, yet cared for me. I jerked my hand away; she stopped and pursed her lips together.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked.
"We're friends." She said shocked. "Is something wrong?"
"I just don't understand why you guys can do so much for me! You barely know me." I let out, it hurt so much to say, my head was facing the ground, like I wanted to barf. I looked up and saw Jane's face, she was so hurt.
"We're friends." She repeated, I could hear her pain in her voice, the guilt made me feel worse. "And you know, even if you didn't get that watch from Celebi, I think we still would have met and talked to each other." She clarified, then turned to the sky. It was slightly cloudy, but already so dark. The moon shined so brightly. It was so silent, despite the night being young. "I did see you a few times in Sandgem Town, you were always getting the newspaper or taking out the trash by the lab. I wanted to go talk to you, but you looked busy." She said then smiled nervously. Those words sentences through my ears. There were other ways I could have met Jane. Other ways I could have became her friend. Maybe in another scenario, it was Mesprit that could have led me to Jane. Or maybe, we could have both received started Pokémon from Professor Rowan and met like that. I kept pondering the different possibility then realized something. Stop. Stop thinking of all the things that could have happened because they didn't. This happened instead. I heard it, it sounded like those words came from my mother. I could see her there, her long flowing light purple hair and her deep wine colored lips. It took me back to several years ago, when one day I had broken a potted plant because I felt like I was being followed, while it had been the echoes of my mother's footsteps in the house. My mother told me no one was following me, that I should have just spoken out and asked who was there, but I didn't. She told me those exact words when I was putting out scenarios of being followed around. This happened instead. And there was nothing that could have stopped it. I cleared my throat and Jane stared at me.
"You're right. We are friends." I said. "I'm sorry. This stuff." I began then reached into my pocket. I felt the watch, so cool to the touch, but felt it ticking. "It's new to me."
"That's alright." She said as she smiled once more. "I just hope we can get to know each other better." She added and turned around. "Let's go the Pokémon Center." She said.
When we arrived at the Pokémon Center, my package still hadn't arrived, much to my dismay. Jane assured me that I would be more than welcomed to stay at her grandmother's home until I package arrived. She named various activities we could do and said that there wasn't a rush to my Pokémon journey, to take it easy. She was right in a way, I set off on this journey to really get away from home and keep myself busy. We were severed a delicious dinner at the Pokémon Center, complete with the cherry cobbler. It was nice, I ate every single bite and Jane laughed. I had become so accustomed to bland food my father cooked, that it amazed me anytime I ate anything else. However, much to my annoyance, people kept interrupting Jane and I's conversation. People would ask how was her family doing and I would just sit there and watch them chat. I sat and smiled politely. I didn't know what else to do. Finally, Jane turned to me and had a suggestion.
"Hey, how about we skip to another time so we can have more privacy to hang out?" she offered, I ended up nodded my head without thinking. Before I knew it, we were outside changing the time to our watches. Wait, couldn't we just go to her grandma's house and hang out in her room? We were in a different time, the streetlights had different light bulbs that weren't as bright, and some benches were painted different colors.
"So, Floaroma just has a few minor changes?" I finally let out after walking around in silence for a while. We walked around so many fountains, that trickled loudly, and Jane's heals clicked on the payment. Flowers at every turn if they weren't potted they were lined up in flower beds. The town was so beautiful and calm, even in another time. We were right in front of the Pokémon Center again, the paint was faded on the window panels, but the Pokécenter still looked so pretty.
"We're just a few years in the past. Not much has been done." Jane pointed out which was drowned out by the sound of sliding doors and feet thudding on the ground. In front of us stood the receptionist panting, only this time she wore bright eyeshadow, and her pink hair was in a pixie cut. She smiled as she continued to pant.
"There you are." She said in between breathes and took a deep breath. "A young man has been waiting on a call for about an hour now. He asked for someone named Cece with pretty brown hair and purple eyes." She explained and I felt my heart flutter. Was it him?
"Who's going to be calling you right now?" Jane asked surprised. I followed the receptionist into the Pokemon Center, we made our way to the phone booths and saw him. It was Roark. He was reading a book while he waited, his red hair neatly combed as stayed focused on the book, unaware, I was watching him. I giggled, thanking the receptionist, and sat down. I cleared my throat and he looked up and closed his book.
"Cece, I wanted to make sure you arrived to Floaroma Town safe." He said smiling. How kind.
"Thank you. I've actually been here for hours now." I replied nervously, I was embarrassed at how much I must have left him waiting.
"That's good." He said then laughed nervously. "Well, I wanted to talk to you more, to be honest." He added and I felt my heart began to beat faster.
"Why was that?" I asked nervously.
"I'm going to go to Eterna City to visit my grandfather in a couple of days. I'm usually there about a week. Isn't Eterna your next destination? We can hang out there if you'd like." He offered and I felt my heart drop. Did he really want to see me again? We've only spoken a few times.
"She was probably going to stay at my grandma's house for a bit." Jane interrupted me then stuck her tongue at me. "But I don't know, maybe it won't be that long, and you'll see her in Eterna City." She teased.
"That's okay." Roark assured us. "I'm probably going to end up staying a while with my grandpa."
"It sounds nice." I said and paused. Think about what you're going to say. "Maybe we'll see each other." I said and Jane flashed me a smug grin. I stayed on the line a little longer with Roark, it was already late, but he still wanted to talk to me. We joked around, until he finally admitted to me something I had already forgotten.
"Cece, I'm not sure what happened between you and that assistant. She was looking for you after you left." He revealed worried, is this why he wanted to check on me?
"Her?" I asked confused. Why, what did she want? Oh no, did she see me use the watch?
"It's okay, I just told her you were busy and had errands to run." He joked.
"Who is she?" Jane asked quietly. "Is that who you were talking about earlier?"
"Uh. What did she look like again?" I asked nervously.
"She had blonde hair and was a little taller than us." He answered. "I don't think she'll come looking for you. She's the assistant to the Pokémon Trainer's school dean, she has to be like glue to him because of how much their workload and how time sensitive their scheduling is." He added as I felt some relief.
"That's a good thing." I said and then paused. I thought of the lady with strawberry blonde hair that was mesmerized by my watch. They didn't look that similar, the chins were slightly different and so were their frames. "I hope she doesn't try following me up here." I tried to joke, but in truth I was nervous they were the same person. But it's six years in the past. How could she remember me?
"Is something wrong?" He asked.
"It's nothing." I fibbed.
"Hmmm. You sure about that?" he asked then bit his lip. "You seemed really concerned about something."
"She just had a bad encounter with her. That's all." Jane interrupted. "My name is PJ. She'll be staying with me for a while. Maybe I'll let you borrow you her." She teased and I felt my face burn. Is she seriously doing this?
"Well, I hope I get to borrow her too." Roark joked. "It'd be nice to hang out again with you Cece." He added and I felt my head began to spin. This is too much.
"It's late, we should be heading back to my grandma's place." She said and we said our goodbyes. As we left the Pokémon Center in silence, all I could think about was how he wanted to see me again. My heart fluttered and his laugh continued to play over and over again in my mind. That's nice. I really did make a friend. Even if this is the past.
We reached a large two story house, it was on the corner of a neighborhood and had a blue tiled roof. There was a beautiful garden in the yard and several shrubs were planted by the house. Jane took my hand and told me to be very quiet, she led me to to the backyard, still on the side of the house. We made our way to a giant window and we peeked inside. A little girl with a black pixie cut sat in a chair reading a book, unfortunately it was upside down, but she probably wasn't aware. She stared at the book, I wasn't so sure what exactly she was looking at, but she looked entertained. The room was quiet bare, just the little girl smack dab in the middle.
"Is that you?" I whispered and Jane nodded her head. I looked back at the little girl, amazing. I never considered going back in time to see myself in the past. I pondered at what Jane must have been feeling watching her younger self. Is she wondering why is she lonely? What am I reading upside down? I thought of so many things, but to me, I felt so much peace watching the little Jane. It must be so nice seeing a you that you use to be.