RIN

The light awoke her from her fallen slumber. She was clumsily wrapped in a field of blue wool sheets and was trapped in a strange, moderately-lit room. Iruel sat up to reassure herself that her rescuer was not in any ways, a sexual predator. Her clothes were intact yet her items from her bag were scattered on the jungle floor. Some cash laid around as if to hint the perpetrator was about to take the money but decided against it. Iruel shuffled through the mess her rescuer had made by the possessions he took from her bag. If it was a 'he', of course. Her spheres were missing although that wasn't too big of a deal. If her savior hadn't done anything to her by this time, he or she would not do any more.

A CD player, a change of clothes, mouthwash, sun block, wallet, a bag of sunflower seeds, a towel, and her index laid amongst the greater mess. To her humor, the rescuer had left the tampons and menstrual medication in the bag. Her aid was definitely male.

The door suddenly opened as she met eyes with a young boy about her age. Immediately the air of contradiction came into play. His hair made him seem more suited to be a resident of Flicker than she was. She immediately decided she liked him the moment she saw him.

"I'm not interrupting you?" he asked carefully. His head seemed to sway with every word he spoke. "I swear I didn't do anything other than carry you here." He insisted. "You believe me, right?"

"Thank you."

A mother's voice echoed in the hallway. It already had her assume that this was his residence and they were in a town.

"Rin, is she awake?" Holding onto the doorknob, he withdrew his head into the hallway to return the call.

"Yeah." His head returned. "You want to meet my mom? She thought I—you know, the wilderness and none watching?" He then did a humorous imitation of his mother. "Boys these days. They think they can do whatever they want because society doesn't punish them for it!"

"Of course you didn't do anything." Iruel smiled. "I'll go meet her." The boy pushed the door open and strolled down the hallway without waiting for her. Before she met up with him in the hallway, she stuffed some of her belongings back into her bag before catching up with the boy in the hallway.

"Name is Rin Akai." He glanced back at me.

"Iruel Engla." Iruel grinned as supportively as a grin could offer.

"Your wallet tells me you're going to PT Academy." He said. The most surprising part of his honesty was about rummaging through her bag. He didn't seem to be ashamed at all. "I'm going there this term. You have your five badges?"

"No. I need one more. I was hoping to obtain my last from Verulean." Iruel shrugged indifferently and seemed to imitate Rin's gestures. "I wasn't lucky the first two times."

"They say third time is the lucky one." He gave her a thumbs-up motion. "Mom, this is Iruel Engla. She's going to PT as well." Rin introduced with a polite bow. The woman was dressed in a colorful yellow. She carried an air of motherly playfulness that other mothers would never reveal. Iruel had already found a strong liking to her. The mother's hair was tied into one braid, which seemed to take off a few more years to her age. To Iruel's judgment, Rin's mother would be one of the mothers where anyone could truly mistaken her for an older sister.

"Wonderful!" her voice sang like chiming bells across the warm, small kitchen. "My, how you have such wonderful pets." She clapped revealing Iruel's pokemon in the garden to be feasting on raw nutrients.

"Thank you, ma'am. Is there any way I can repay—"

"Oh, nonsense! Your hospitality and attitude is all that's needed." Her laugh imitated a splendid harp ready for an excellent performance.

"I would like to reassure you that your son, Rin, did not do—"

"I know that, dear. He's only your age and I remember when I was that age. If boys were too shy to say 'hi' to girl, he's not capable of doing any more." His mother patted her son's messy, scarlet hair. "Show her around the house, dear. I'll make breakfast and you can tell us more about yourself."

"Thank you, ma'am." Iruel bowed before Rin motioned her to follow along. "How old are you?" she asked eagerly.

"Fifteen. Like you." He shook his head. "I'm born in January."

"July."

"The bathroom is here. My room is over there down the hallway and Mom's room is further there." Rin shrugged. "Anything else you want to know?" Iruel nodded.

"May I see my pokemon out there?"

"Yeah. This way." He waved his hand motioning her to follow. He certainly seemed to lack in the world of chivalry. However, his gestures and personality ran in a tranquil, calm manner that Iruel happened to like. She took a very good guess that he was may be a very good listener and the reliable advisor to his friends. "I liked your Torchic. It burnt half of the garden." Rin laughed for the first time. His laugh resembled his mother. It was something pleasant that she wanted to replay in her head a few more times. "Mom thought it was funny. At least the ashes will help the soil."

The boy opened the rattling door to the garden where nearly half was darkened by her Torchic's flames. In the soil's drenched atmosphere was a swarm of Caterpies, Weedles, and Wurmples that decided to make it their new home. Iruel sighed and smiled feebly.

"I'm sorry?"

"Not your fault. At least it didn't set our house on fire." His feet slipped into a pair of dirty sandals. She searched for the cleanest ones and quickly caught up after him. "At least it doesn't try to burn me if I pet it. It's a cute thing. What are the other ones you have again?"

"I have a Vulpix, a Zubat, and a Vibrava. That's about it." She smiled weakly. "I thought you took them out."

"Yeah. They're gone at the moment." He shrugged like it was a simple occasion.

"They'll be back then." Iruel guessed. "They always do that when I let go."

"Rin! Iruel! Breakfast is ready!"

"Wow. She reminds of Mom already." Iruel grinned. Rin scowled shyly and walked back to the house ahead of her. When they arrived back inside, Torchic was the first to hop inside followed by Rin's clumsy nature. He sat in his seat where the Torchic hopped right on his lap like it had mistaken its owner's identity. "That's cute. It likes you already."

"Not funny." He grumbled but didn't bother to move the Torchic off of his lap. Iruel took her seat next to him and thanked his mother politely as she served wonderful pancake and eggs. "Thanks, Mom." He muttered. His mother laughed to herself which had Iruel to assume that Rin was showing his gratitude on purpose.

'He wants me to have a good impression, of course.' She gave herself an amusing thought. His mother, instead of teasing her son, looked at Iruel admirably. For some reason, Iruel felt safe that she didn't need to be afraid of a judgmental treatment.

"Where do you come from, Iruel?" his mother asked. "You can call me Merra."

"Flicker. It's on Cinnabar Island, several miles south of the main Cinnabar archipelago." Iruel explained. "A lot of recent trainers come from there." She shrugged slightly.

"You know, you and Rin should train together. It would be nice for you both to pick up tips from each other." Merra suggested. "He already has all of his five badges." Rin looked away when his mother mentioned that. She noticed but didn't seem to care.

"I have four. Almost there." The girl cheered calmly. "Maybe I can use the extra support before I can submit the rest of my application." As Rin's mother served the food on the table, Rin attempted to reach for his utensils but the large size of the Torchic suddenly pecked ferociously onto the plate.

"Stupid bird. Get off." He tried to shove but the bird's feet were glued tightly to his legs.

"Tor. Get off." Iruel looked at her little bird as it glanced at her and hopped from Rin's lap taking most of the food on his plate with him. "I apologize."

"Oh, don't worry. Rin is always like that." His mother laughed joyously. "After breakfast, why don't you two get started? The sooner we can finish her application, the better." And so it was. Nearly all of Rin's breakfast was obliterated leaving his mother having to serve cold cereal instead. With only three weeks left before she could attain a new badge, she thought for a while and pondered the idea of going to the prestigious academy.

It was good to go.