"A First for Everything"
Growly stood, not moving, waiting for his master's command. Unfortunately, the master who he was counting on for orders was ducked nowhere other then under the nearest tree stump. The dog looked at the creature, studying it over and over, and it, as Growly had guessed, would not pose any threat.
The creature reared from all fours to just on its hind legs to have a better look around the area, where it could have sworn to have just heard humans. Its body couldn't have been much more than a foot tall, if that, for it was obviously a young creature of its specie. The brick-like patterns that covered its body were a light brown color, which turned to light beige on its stomach and snout, the only places where the outline was not showing. The jet-black eyes glistened in the sunlight that managed to creep through the brush of the thick forest. It raised one of its clawed paws to rub its chin, just under its tiny pink mouth. The stubby tail on its end wagged once and the creature looked back and made a clicking noise, which seemed to invite another thing to its side.
Growly glanced back at the three, two humans and a snake, and became a bit annoyed. Why were they cowering? It was just a baby sandshrew and its trainer. Nothing to be scared of.
"So, whaddya find, Sandshrew?" asked a kid of about 6. "Anything interesting?"
"Kojoo!" The sandshrew apparently had an accent, too, for this was the closest that it could get to saying its name. It let out a few clicks and then pointed its three-toed paw over at Growly. The boy who accompanied the sandshrew smiled, obviously pleased.
"Good work, Sandshrew! Now we're gonna catch us a growlithe!" The boy pulled a few pieces and tatters of things from his pocket, thumbing through them and eventually finding a glistening pokéball amongst the rubbish. "Alright Sandshrew! Ready when you are!"
Sandshrew nodded and trotted on all fours towards Growly, who immediately reacted by jumping away from its grasp. It leapt onto the side of one tree and with a great power of his muscles, leapt to another…and another…and another… Sandshrew chased after him closely behind.
"Enough playin' around with 'em! Sandshrew, scratch!" The boy, now obviously an underage pokémon trainer illegally raising this pokémon, was a very experienced and talented trainer. He smiled as the growlithe tried to repeat the pattern and met by the sandshrew, who luckily missed its target but cut down the tree instead.
The growlithe made an attempt to land on all fours on the ground, but faltered and landed on his side. The dog cried out in pain from the force that he hit, but knew that he was in for a real treat as he saw the sandshrew jumping into the air, aiming itself, positioning his still small yet still rather heavy body to put a devastating blow on Growly.
The growlithe saw the attack, and despite having already knocked the wind out of himself and banging his legs and side on the ground, made a jump out of the way for it. Growly gave an urgent look over to his trainer, who, unfortunately, was still ducking behind an old tree stump. The dog pleaded with his eyes to look over and see that a pokémon needed its trainer in battle, but gave up on that idea when a powerful scratch hit him from behind. Growly was knocked off of his feet, flying forward and hitting the ground hard, sending a shower of dirt over the area in front on him. The dog jumped up and raced toward the sandshrew, no longer just trying to avoid the battle. It pulled its head low and smashed its head into the sandshrew. Both the growlithe and the young trainer knew that this was only a tiny fraction of its strength, and the boy reconsidered sending the sandshrew on him.
"Stop!" James finally stepped in. "That's my growlithe!"
The young boy gave him a puzzled look and then smiled. "I knew it." He looked down at the growlithe who had just used an incredibly powerful takedown on his sandshrew. Even with its resistance, high defense, and obvious training over the expectations of its evolutionary level, Sandshrew was incredibly near beat, barely holding its consciousness. "No wild growlithe are that strong. And anyway, I've been going to this forest every day for the past year and 've never seen one wild here b'fore."
"Yeah, my growlithe sure is something," said James as he beamed at the dog.
The boy looked back up at the kid who was four years older then he was. "What were you doing back there?" The younger one was curious to hear the response.
"Uh…" James didn't want to admit that he was hiding, especially from such a little squirt.
"Who else is back there?" The little kid began to walk towards the tree stump as he saw movement around it. James jumped in front of him.
"Hey, who are you, anyway, kid?" James questioned the six-year-old, hoping to stall him long enough for Jesse and Ekans to get away from hiding. "And aren't you a bit young to train pokémon?"
"My name's AJ and what I do and how I train is my business," the boy said in a very rebellious tone.
"I can handle that," James said, looking at him and seeing AJ's thoughts through his eyes. James extended his hand. "I'm James, and somewhere around here is my partner, Jesse."
AJ gazed at the outstretched hand, not sure what to make of it, whether he should accept it or not, whether he should trust this boy who was hiding something. Slowly, carefully, AJ accepted the open hand. He gave it a firm squeeze and shook, and then dropped it.
"What are you doing this far into the forest?" James asked his new little friend. "I mean, where are you from that you can come here this early? Don't your parents get worried?"
"My parents aren't home yet," AJ looked down at his feet. His eyes had died down from their former lively selves. He apparently didn't want to talk about it, for he let his eyes light up as he rose his head again and continued. "This is only about two miles north of Vermillion City. About half a mile that way," AJ pointed south "is a large open field that separates this forest from the boundaries of the town."
"Really?" James said, not truly sure whether he had a tone of sarcasm in his voice. "Well, why are you out here?"
"I wanna be a pokémon trainer, of course," AJ began, "and Officer Jenny has been watching me like a hawk ever since I started to buy pokéballs from legal trainers. Age shouldn't matter. It's skill that counts."
"I can see that," James replied, admiring AJ's sandshrew. "He sure looks…uh…healthy."
"Yep. I started training him about a year ago."
"If you know where this city is, kid," Jesse stepped out from a different corner of the forest, opposite where James had started, "then could you take us to it?"
AJ looked at her, trying to think her over, and then down at her ekans. "You must be Jesse," AJ said as he glanced up at her. "I'm AJ."
"Cut the small talk, small fry." Jesse was her usual rude self. "Take us into the city."
"Okay, okay," AJ signaled them with his hand. "This way." AJ carried the injured Sandshrew in his arms. As he walked, he sprayed it with the liquid of a small, semitransparent, red-and-orange bottle, which, on contact seemed to bring the creature to its powerful self.
{[NEXT SECTION]}
"Here it is," AJ said proudly. "Vermillion City."
James was about to thank him when his comrade walked off, all on her own, not even thinking to say anything to their escort. "I'm sorry for this," James apologized, "and thank-you!" James raced off to catch up with his friend, leaving the six-year-old confused and alone, watching as the nice boy and snobby girl disappeared into the downtown area of Vermilion.
"Jesse!" James cried after her. "What are you doing?!"
The girl turned around and looked back at James with an expressionless gaze. She watched as he jogged to her side in an urgent attempt to realize what she was up to. Jesse looked James in the eye and he realized that she wasn't going to do somehting that she was proud of, something that she had to no matter how little she enjoyed it. His jaw dropped at the thought and he just stood. "What's going on?" The boy questioned the look in the girl's eyes. "Are you in trouble?"
"I soon will be. And there's nothing you or I can do about it," Jesse said with a solemn tone. She glanced down at the black gloves on her hands as if she hated them, then turned away, closing her eyes in disgust. "We just need to, because there's no other way." She looked up at him with a great pain in her eyes. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't be dragged into this," she gazed apologetically into his eyes, which suddenly seemed to look in pain, too. "You don't have to be. You can go back to Pokémon Tech if you want, you don't need to live like I will…" She trailed off, knowing what she had to do would hurt them both, but not as bad as not doing it at all.. This would be his only chance to get out, his last chance to leave the life that would come. "Please, just think of what'll happen to all that you have."
James looked at her and felt a great sorrow, knowing that she didn't want to do this alone but would be forced to if he left. He looked for the answer in two places: his mind first, warning him not to leave all that he already had, for if she was so concerned then it must be more trouble then it was worth; his heart second, telling him to follow his feelings for her, his feelings for freedom, and his feelings for himself, for ultimately they would be all that truly would ever shape anyone's life in the end. "Jesse, you know that I can't go. I'd follow you forever, and if you can survive it, then surely I can to, so long as I'm with you."
Jesse was knocked back, shocked at his response, hoping so much greatly that he would just leave, for he shouldn't be taken down with her. It was how she had known life to be, and she also knew that it wasn't how his life to be. She opened here mouth and puckered her lips as to speek, but the words just wouldn't come. She closed her mouth again, giving up hope on her tongue, and signaled for him to wait behind a fruit stand full of ripe oranges. Jesse followed him behind, slowly losing that numbness that kept her from speeking. "Just watch. I'll meet you down that alley in a few hours, after everyone's new again."
James nodded, looking blankly into Jesse's face, not sure of what she was going to do.
"Good," she said, stepping out from behind the shadowed fruitstand and into the burning, noontime sun.
Slowly, James watching her, Jesse walked confidently through the crowd. She combed through all the people, suddenly seeing something that she was after. Unhurriedly she ambled over to one person who she seemed to be watching not the face, but the thick pocket in the back of their denim jeans. Little by little she outstretched her hand, careful to make sure that no one saw her. James sat watching, completely in disbelief. Was this really true what she was planning to do?
Author's Notes: Ah! Too many stories! Too little time! I can, unfortunately see my quality lacking for the quantity that I need to meet my self-set deadline. I know that after this is over…if I get enough reviews on chapter 10, then I'll make the next portion of this story. I have gotta make one story every day 'til I leave which doesn't give me much more then half-baked ideas. I think that I'll re-write them later… I can't think of too much more to say. And to Charles "RocketBoy" Reilly, I'd like to say sorry for being out of my mind while reviewing your "Baka!" story. Anyways. Until tomorrow, I'm blasting off again!
PokeMaster
Mangartist@vizmail.net