For what seemed like hours, the older man spoke and spoke. My head ached from the annoyance of his ramblings, but my heart made me smile from the bliss and compassion he had in his words. He was an avid collector of many rare specimens in his youth, he travelled through Johto several times and made so many friends during his travels, but time got away from him. He was left in his old age alone with no family and only the company of his friends. He was Mr. Pokémon, the enthusiastic and eccentric individual who dedicated his time to any "rare findings" of all things Pokémon.
"Would you like a lemonade? Or would you like a soda like you youngsters prefer?" he offered shoving random drinks in my face.
"I'm fine. A water will do." I assured gesturing the other drinks away. It's not that I did not appreciate the sentiment, but I felt like this old man I just met was doing too much for me. He had already given me a Pokédex had just ordered from Professor Oak, all the way from Kanto. Literally days before I had been overhearing how expensive Pokédex from people's whose whispers were far too loud at the library. I looked at the Pokédex, a beautiful light blue that reminisced the sky on a beautiful afternoon.
"I have a favor I'd like you to do." He began as he returned from his kitchen and went to a cabinet in the room we were in. "In here, I have this obscure collection of stones I collected so many years ago that I can't remember where exactly I found them." he said as he pulled out a pine box that was worn from age opening to reveal these stones with a single inscription on them. The stones twinkled a silver and gold where the symbols were itched. "You see these here? They resemble the markings of Unown. There are many different forms of Unown. You can find some in the Ruins of Alph, south west of Violet City not too far."
"I assume you're planning on venturing there?" I guessed as his smile turned into a frown.
"Not quite. Have a look at this." He replied as he placed his leg on the coffee table and revealed a giant surgical scar on his calf. "I'm old. When stuff gets old, it needs maintenance and replacing. Unfortunately, not much can be done about my leg." I could tell he noticed the smile leave my face; he changed the mood with "I think you would have more fun if you went on this adventure instead."
"What? Why is that?"
"Well, I asked around. Elm had mentioned he had a neighbor that was introverted." He confessed with a nervous smile. "I actually had a dream a few days ago. I saw someone collect all these Unown tablets and they looked so happy. I think that someone is you. I just kept thinking of that neighbor kid Elm mentioned and when I came to look at these tablets, that were originally just rocks, then they had markings on them that glowed."
"So these were just plain old rocks?" I asked confused.
"Yep. I'm sure you've heard of people taking sand in a bottle from beaches they visited, well I took rocks from the ruins I visited." He laughed out as he closed the box and handed to me. "This is yours now. I'm too old to do this."
"Okay. Thank you." I said as I took the box, I just couldn't help but feel as if this was a tad too much to do to a total stranger. "The world is full of delightful discoveries ready to be made." He said, which echoed through my ears on the walk back home. Chikorita nudged my shorts and pointed towards a pond nearby.
"Is something over there?" I asked as I tried to reach over to pat his head, but he dodged and ran straight to the pond. He began taking big gulps of the water, and I felt terrible that I didn't ask for a bowl of water at Mr. Pokémon's house. "I'm sorry, I should have considered if you needed anything while we were there, and he was shoving refreshments in my face." I said as he looked away and picked up a rock at our feet. I took the rock and it glowed and revealed a new Unown symbol, the "F". At the moment, I pulled out the box from my bag and dumped out the other stones. Mr. Pokémon had five and I just found another. The previous stones where the "I", "N", "E", "R", and "D". I arranged them together and just kept thinking what would my journey be. Unknowingly, I spelled out the word "end". "What no? This is just a mistake." I said out loud nervously feeling a pit in my stomach. Chikorita gently shoved the three other stones to what I spelled out, now making the word "friend". "Oh? You think so? Can you understand this?" I asked surprised as Chikorita rolled his eyes and walked away. Of course he couldn't, unless someone taught a Pokémon to read they wouldn't be able to. As we walked in silence, I kept thinking over and over in my head how those stones spelled out "friend" and how Mr. Pokémon mentioned he made so many friends in his youth. He didn't have any family though, well not one he made. I shudder at the idea of dying alone and not having a family. I had no siblings and my mother wasn't close with hers, so I knew no other family besides her. I hope that I can make one special friend during this journey. As we made our way through Cherrygrove, I saw a familiar face in a crowd of people in the markey. His eyes were deep red and menacing and he ran straight up to me with a grin.
"Battle me." He spat at sarcastically as he glared at my Chikorita. "I know I can easily defeat you. My Pokémon needs the experience."
"Okay." I answered unsure if it was a good idea or not. He sent out a Cyndaquil and I commanded Chikorita to come forward.
"Cyndaquil, use Ember." He screeched out as small fire balls were released from the Cyndaquil's mouth that barely left a scratch on Chikorita. He retaliated by slamming into Cyndaquil with a Tackle, and the battle ended with I as victorious. The red hair boy fell to the ground with the biggest shock on his face and grunted as he punched the ground.
"Don't do that, you'll hurt yourself." I snapped as he looked up and his piercing glare tore through me. I wasn't sure what to say. I know Chikorita battled other Pokémon on our way to Mr. Pokémon, but I didn't expect him to get so strong. In the distance, the word "silver" was being shout out as the boy's glare turned into fear and he ran the opposite direction. I turned away to the shouting and saw a group of men walking around with bells. Another said "gold" while another said "crystal". It appears they were being given out in the market. I went to all three of them and received a bell from each one. They glistened in the sun and I just kept thinking of that boy. He looked so crush from his defeat and just ran away without a word. No matter I thought as I continued on to New Bark. I wanted to get to Elm and my mother right away.