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STORY OF A DREAMER - JOSIE
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CHAPTER FOUR
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When the net finally stopped rocking and I acknowledged that the person carrying me had stopped walking I allowed myself to open my eyes. For a moment darkness surrounded me before light appeared. As I peered through the netting I noticed I was in a huge room, rectangle in shape and with markings on the ground. Half of it was covered with water, with a diving board on one side, reaching almost to the ceiling. It was what I'd heard about from my father many times, a Pokemon Gym.
Then, I turned to look at my captor. He was tall, but then again I was only a foot high, a lot smaller than any human. He was wearing a black T-Shirt, torn slightly at the bottom with a huge skull painted on the front; it's blank eyes staring straight at me. His trousers were baggy and covered his feet, and they were ripped at the knees revealing pale knees underneath. Then I saw his face.
He had deep grey eyes, darker than any Pokemon I had seen, and they had a glimpse of excitement within them, he was looking forward to something. His black hair flowed to his shoulders, and had a slight wave to it. A chain hung from the front like a metallic plait ending just below the ends of his hair. His completed look matched perfectly the rough tone I had heard him speak in earlier.
"Come on out!" his voice boomed. I had no idea who he was speaking to, but at first no one appeared. As he shouted again though, this time even more loud, figures began to emerge from the shadows.
Pokemon.
The first one I saw was a Beedrill. It flew down from a beam on the ceiling and landed on the ground elegantly. Next came Houndour, skulking into the centre of the room from one corner. It was followed by three other Pokemon, a Sentret, Sandslash and a Togetic. From the swimming pool on one side of the gym, a Totodile and Quagsire appeared, and finally, a Spearow flew from the ceiling and landed on a perch. I was impressed; I'd never seen so many Pokemon in the same place before. I was going to be one of them? If I was, then my thoughts of being alone no longer mattered. Then I looked at the Pokemon again, more closely this time. At first they had looked happy, but now I looked I could see that this wasn't the fact. Some were shaking with fear; others had tears in their eyes. As I looked at the Spearow, the closest one too me I saw several injuries on it, and as I looked at the others, I saw the same. I gasped, and suddenly I wasn't so pleased about being a part of this. The Pokemon were in distress, that was obvious, and yet the trainer didn't seem to care. At the time I just wondered what was ahead of me.
"Houndour!" the 'trainer' boomed again. "Into the arena." I noticed the Houndour obeyed him immediately, most likely too scared to refuse.
"Good luck," it whispered to me as I was placed at the opposite end of the arena.
"Houndour, bite attack… NOW!" I saw its eyes widen. It obviously didn't think fighting me was the appropriate thing to do. However, it didn't seem to have much choice.
"Sorry…" it said sadly to me as it sunk its teeth into my side. I remained in its jaw for only a few seconds before the trainer shouted again.
"That's enough," he shouted. "Pikachu, hit him with a Thundershock." I gasped louder than I should have. If I had paid any attention to my siblings fighting when I was younger then I would know exactly what to do in this situation. However, in my current situation, I had no idea. I had to try though, I was afraid of what would happen to me if I didn't, so I braced myself and created the largest amount of thunder I could. It wasn't very impressive.
"Useless creature!" the trainer shouted. Getting a whip from the ground it soon made contact with my side, causing me to fly across the room and land with a crash further into the centre of the arena. As I recovered, I realised I was bleeding. Then, he turned on his heel and left the room, muttering to himself loudly.
"Are you OK?" Houndour asked, approaching me. I flinched, expecting another attack, but instead it licked my side sympathetically, causing some of the pain to disappear.
"Who is that?" I asked, panting heavily. "And why does he treat you so badly?"
"He's called Kern. He thinks it's the best way of training us. He doesn't realise he needs to earn our respect. I've been here three months and my attacks have hardly improved at all. When we don't please him, he beats us. I wish I could just attack him, but I know he'd only beat me up if I tried. I act tough, but inside I'm just as terrified as everyone else."
"That's awful!" I exclaimed. "Why don't you escape?"
"We've tried, a lot of times," Togetic joined in. "It's futile. I evolved shortly before I arrived here. If I hadn't then I would have been sent to the cages; Togepi isn't renowned for its fighting skills. My sister wasn't so lucky."
"The cages…" I prompted, not sure if I wanted to know.
"The place where he sends Pokemon which don't meet his standards. Pokemon who get sent there don't often reappear."
The Pokemon in the room became solemn. I suddenly became scared. Kern obviously hadn't been impressed with my skills. I got the feeling I would see the cages for myself sometime soon. I looked to the ceiling. Through a tiny window at the top I could see that it was pitch dark outside. I couldn't, however, see the moon. That devastated me. For the first time in my life I wouldn't be able to sit and watch the moon. I was trapped. A solitary tear left my eye and rolled down my cheek, finally dripping onto the floor. It wasn't left alone for long, for soon after, another one joined it. Soon, I had created a small puddle. I felt a sympathetic hand on my shoulder and as I turned round I saw Totodile, grinning at me. As I watched it took its hand from my shoulder and began to hop from one foot to the other. Despite my depression I managed a weak smile. Totodile dived into the pool and re-emerged on the other side. As it left the water it was still dancing, and as it joined us once again it hadn't ceased. I looked from one face to another. Then I had an idea.
"Spearow…" I began. "I don't suppose you could do me a favour?" As I explained the story about watching the moon Spearow slowly nodded.
"I'd be happy to," Spearow replied. I smiled as he beckoned for me to jump onto his back. As I got closer and closer to the window the moon came into focus. It was as beautiful as ever, shining bright blue through the thick clouds. Spearow dropped me off on the beam closest to the glass, and floated back down to earth, leaving me alone. Watching the moon gave me hope. Hope that I would escape from this prison. Hope that I would finally see my best friend, Butterfree again… Hope that I would be happy. As I stared out of the window, suddenly something blocked out the moon, something was outside the window. As I looked closer I realised it was Butterfree. I rose to my feet and moved as close to the window as I could.
"Butterfree!" I yelled. "Try and tackle the window."
I watched eagerly as she flew backwards and then launched herself at the window. It shook slightly, but refused to break. She tried once again, but the window still wouldn't break. After her fifth attempt I shouted again.
"It's no good…" I told her. "You'll have to stop."
"I'm sorry…" Butterfree spoke through the glass. "I told you it was safe and now here you are, captured."
"I told you not to apologise. You came to help didn't you? That's all that matters to me. Now, go, before you get captured as well. Hang around, I'll get out… somehow." Once again I began to cry. I was so close to the outside world and yet I couldn't escape, I could see my friend clearly and yet not hug her. Butterfree looked at me, a worried expression crossed her face, and I noticed tears in the corners of her eyes.
"Go…" I said again. "I'll get out, eventually." I tried to sound convincing, but in my heart I knew it wouldn't be that easy. When I looked again, she had gone. I was alone once again. Looking down at the ground I saw that all the Pokemon were sitting looking at me.
"I'm ready to come down now," I shouted, not bearing to look at the moon again that night. Spearow flew up easily, and slowly lifted my back down to the ground. Jumping of his back I retreated to one corner of the Gym and began to weep. The other Pokemon left me alone. It was probably for the best. I wanted to be alone…
STORY OF A DREAMER - JOSIE
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CHAPTER FOUR
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When the net finally stopped rocking and I acknowledged that the person carrying me had stopped walking I allowed myself to open my eyes. For a moment darkness surrounded me before light appeared. As I peered through the netting I noticed I was in a huge room, rectangle in shape and with markings on the ground. Half of it was covered with water, with a diving board on one side, reaching almost to the ceiling. It was what I'd heard about from my father many times, a Pokemon Gym.
Then, I turned to look at my captor. He was tall, but then again I was only a foot high, a lot smaller than any human. He was wearing a black T-Shirt, torn slightly at the bottom with a huge skull painted on the front; it's blank eyes staring straight at me. His trousers were baggy and covered his feet, and they were ripped at the knees revealing pale knees underneath. Then I saw his face.
He had deep grey eyes, darker than any Pokemon I had seen, and they had a glimpse of excitement within them, he was looking forward to something. His black hair flowed to his shoulders, and had a slight wave to it. A chain hung from the front like a metallic plait ending just below the ends of his hair. His completed look matched perfectly the rough tone I had heard him speak in earlier.
"Come on out!" his voice boomed. I had no idea who he was speaking to, but at first no one appeared. As he shouted again though, this time even more loud, figures began to emerge from the shadows.
Pokemon.
The first one I saw was a Beedrill. It flew down from a beam on the ceiling and landed on the ground elegantly. Next came Houndour, skulking into the centre of the room from one corner. It was followed by three other Pokemon, a Sentret, Sandslash and a Togetic. From the swimming pool on one side of the gym, a Totodile and Quagsire appeared, and finally, a Spearow flew from the ceiling and landed on a perch. I was impressed; I'd never seen so many Pokemon in the same place before. I was going to be one of them? If I was, then my thoughts of being alone no longer mattered. Then I looked at the Pokemon again, more closely this time. At first they had looked happy, but now I looked I could see that this wasn't the fact. Some were shaking with fear; others had tears in their eyes. As I looked at the Spearow, the closest one too me I saw several injuries on it, and as I looked at the others, I saw the same. I gasped, and suddenly I wasn't so pleased about being a part of this. The Pokemon were in distress, that was obvious, and yet the trainer didn't seem to care. At the time I just wondered what was ahead of me.
"Houndour!" the 'trainer' boomed again. "Into the arena." I noticed the Houndour obeyed him immediately, most likely too scared to refuse.
"Good luck," it whispered to me as I was placed at the opposite end of the arena.
"Houndour, bite attack… NOW!" I saw its eyes widen. It obviously didn't think fighting me was the appropriate thing to do. However, it didn't seem to have much choice.
"Sorry…" it said sadly to me as it sunk its teeth into my side. I remained in its jaw for only a few seconds before the trainer shouted again.
"That's enough," he shouted. "Pikachu, hit him with a Thundershock." I gasped louder than I should have. If I had paid any attention to my siblings fighting when I was younger then I would know exactly what to do in this situation. However, in my current situation, I had no idea. I had to try though, I was afraid of what would happen to me if I didn't, so I braced myself and created the largest amount of thunder I could. It wasn't very impressive.
"Useless creature!" the trainer shouted. Getting a whip from the ground it soon made contact with my side, causing me to fly across the room and land with a crash further into the centre of the arena. As I recovered, I realised I was bleeding. Then, he turned on his heel and left the room, muttering to himself loudly.
"Are you OK?" Houndour asked, approaching me. I flinched, expecting another attack, but instead it licked my side sympathetically, causing some of the pain to disappear.
"Who is that?" I asked, panting heavily. "And why does he treat you so badly?"
"He's called Kern. He thinks it's the best way of training us. He doesn't realise he needs to earn our respect. I've been here three months and my attacks have hardly improved at all. When we don't please him, he beats us. I wish I could just attack him, but I know he'd only beat me up if I tried. I act tough, but inside I'm just as terrified as everyone else."
"That's awful!" I exclaimed. "Why don't you escape?"
"We've tried, a lot of times," Togetic joined in. "It's futile. I evolved shortly before I arrived here. If I hadn't then I would have been sent to the cages; Togepi isn't renowned for its fighting skills. My sister wasn't so lucky."
"The cages…" I prompted, not sure if I wanted to know.
"The place where he sends Pokemon which don't meet his standards. Pokemon who get sent there don't often reappear."
The Pokemon in the room became solemn. I suddenly became scared. Kern obviously hadn't been impressed with my skills. I got the feeling I would see the cages for myself sometime soon. I looked to the ceiling. Through a tiny window at the top I could see that it was pitch dark outside. I couldn't, however, see the moon. That devastated me. For the first time in my life I wouldn't be able to sit and watch the moon. I was trapped. A solitary tear left my eye and rolled down my cheek, finally dripping onto the floor. It wasn't left alone for long, for soon after, another one joined it. Soon, I had created a small puddle. I felt a sympathetic hand on my shoulder and as I turned round I saw Totodile, grinning at me. As I watched it took its hand from my shoulder and began to hop from one foot to the other. Despite my depression I managed a weak smile. Totodile dived into the pool and re-emerged on the other side. As it left the water it was still dancing, and as it joined us once again it hadn't ceased. I looked from one face to another. Then I had an idea.
"Spearow…" I began. "I don't suppose you could do me a favour?" As I explained the story about watching the moon Spearow slowly nodded.
"I'd be happy to," Spearow replied. I smiled as he beckoned for me to jump onto his back. As I got closer and closer to the window the moon came into focus. It was as beautiful as ever, shining bright blue through the thick clouds. Spearow dropped me off on the beam closest to the glass, and floated back down to earth, leaving me alone. Watching the moon gave me hope. Hope that I would escape from this prison. Hope that I would finally see my best friend, Butterfree again… Hope that I would be happy. As I stared out of the window, suddenly something blocked out the moon, something was outside the window. As I looked closer I realised it was Butterfree. I rose to my feet and moved as close to the window as I could.
"Butterfree!" I yelled. "Try and tackle the window."
I watched eagerly as she flew backwards and then launched herself at the window. It shook slightly, but refused to break. She tried once again, but the window still wouldn't break. After her fifth attempt I shouted again.
"It's no good…" I told her. "You'll have to stop."
"I'm sorry…" Butterfree spoke through the glass. "I told you it was safe and now here you are, captured."
"I told you not to apologise. You came to help didn't you? That's all that matters to me. Now, go, before you get captured as well. Hang around, I'll get out… somehow." Once again I began to cry. I was so close to the outside world and yet I couldn't escape, I could see my friend clearly and yet not hug her. Butterfree looked at me, a worried expression crossed her face, and I noticed tears in the corners of her eyes.
"Go…" I said again. "I'll get out, eventually." I tried to sound convincing, but in my heart I knew it wouldn't be that easy. When I looked again, she had gone. I was alone once again. Looking down at the ground I saw that all the Pokemon were sitting looking at me.
"I'm ready to come down now," I shouted, not bearing to look at the moon again that night. Spearow flew up easily, and slowly lifted my back down to the ground. Jumping of his back I retreated to one corner of the Gym and began to weep. The other Pokemon left me alone. It was probably for the best. I wanted to be alone…