A/N: Right, so please, just get to reviewing. Oh, and Josh and the other boy are the only characters I own in this whole thing. And Vulpix's name, which is anything but original.

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Chap. 1: Matt

written by Sandal that Stinks

Life in Celadon City was hard, especially if you were an amateur juggler and Pokemon trainer. And Josh wasn't talented at any of the two.

Relying mainly on the support of tourists and shoppers, Celadon's government was not democratic in any way. Only one rule existed there, throughout the town, displayed by the high-rise buildings and huge shopping centres: money means power. And thus, rich people were attracted to the place like flies to light.

The casino, the luxurious hotel, the mall, and even Celadon mansion: all these things had been built to invite tourists, rich tourists. Josh had thought of using this to his advantage, and so had left the orphanage with nothing but a few cents and juggling balls. His plan, however, had failed him severely.

Standing on the big plaza at the town entrance, he gazed at the rich crowd standing in front of him. They were waiting, many of them very impatiently, for his performance to begin.

If I'm lucky, I'll get a few cents from four or five of them.

He was bitter, understandably. It had taken him almost three years to learn to juggle with six objects; three years of daily practice, first with three, four, five and then, at last, with six freaking objects! And what for? For the entertainment of the wealthy. No! - for the entertainment of the selfish, naive, pampered, stinking rich cubs.

And many of them are hardly younger than I am...

His sixteenth birthday, or rather, what he believed to be his sixteenth birthday had just passed. Which meant that it was already half a year that he had struggled on the streets of Celadon.

He threw his three juggling-balls into the air, began tossing them systematically one after another. Three was easy: his eyes were still focused on the crowd in front of him. His way of showing off. After several moments of what he often called 'blind tossing', he nodded at the Pokemon standing at his feet. The anxious, obedient Vulpix threw the Pokeball, the one that Josh had bought just the previous day, at him.

Not the best timing, but it will do. Thanks, Vulps. He smirked and nodded slightly, showing his partner the gratitude she deserved. He could easily have asked her to throw the other two balls along with this one, but he wanted to build up the tension a bit.

His eyes left his Pokemon's, travelling back to the crowd in front of him. There were many children, perhaps the eldest of them 10-year-olds, who were staring, amazed, at his performance. And then there was one or two teenaged guys, around his age, he guessed, who tried to act cool in front of their girls, by showing disinterest in his juggling. The girls, however...

Every so often, he caught himself gazing longingly at the rich adolescent girls, wearing colourful summerdresses, either joking around while walking around the plaza, or munching at their lunches on the wonderful hotel terrace.

That was perhaps the best part of his 'job': he loved impressing the girls. And many of them Iwere/I impressed. There were times, though, when he wished that admiration was not their only feeling for him. He craved for friendship, perhaps even love. But, as he was a mere Celadon juggler, it was obviously not meant to be.

As he juggled around with the four balls, throwing them and catching them as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and contemplating his spectators, he suddenly caught sight of a boy, around his age, standing right in front of him. The boy, dressed in somewhat rich, stylish black clothes, did not try to hide his awe. Instead, what Josh saw in his eyes was the closest to friendship he had ever experienced: he simply knew that, if he approached this person, he would be welcomed as a good friend.

Suddenly, the Pokeball nearly slipped from his hand. He managed to catch it and throw it back into the air quickly enough to keep the momentum of his juggling, but the shock made him realize that he had actually drifted away from his work. He looked at Vulps, who was still staring at him with her big eyes, and nodded. Once again, he received the fifth ball just as the red-and-white Pokeball left his hand. While juggling with four objects was quite simple for him by now, five was quite different: he actually had to concentrate, so much that he began chewing his lip. It was an old habit of his that he had picked up at the orphanage when learning to read. He found it much easier to concentrate when moving his mouth in some irrelevant manner.

Wanting to get over with his performance, he nodded one last time, ready to increase his speed to place the sixth Pokeball into his circle. After nearly missing two balls consequently, he decided it was enough and threw the juggling objects into the basket at his feet, one by one.

Sweat was running down his forehead, but he did not care. All he wanted was to see into that boy's eyes one more time, just to make sure he had not been mistaken. While Vulpix made it's way through the audience, nudging each one of them, asking in her own, cute way for some money, Josh picked him out through the scattering crowd. The boy was still looking at him, then stepped forward, hesitantly, as it seemed to Josh.

"Hey, that was some awesome juggling there."

Right, he must have been thinking of an opening line throughout the whole performance, was perhaps what Josh would have thought if he had not been so amazed that this boy had actually come to talk to him. Thus, the only response he managed was a slight widening of his eyes.

"What, did I say something wrong?"

The boy had obviously sensed his astonishment, and picked it up as irritation. By then, Josh had actually managed to cast a smile on his face.

"Thanks. Not many spectators talk to me after my juggling, so I swallowed my tongue for a second there."

At this moment, Josh was actually cursing his high-pitched, childish voice. Why couldn't he grow up faster? The boy, however, took no notice. Josh's smile had lightened the mood, making the boy feel more at ease while talking to this stranger. He held out his hand after laughing, a laugh that sounded quite convincingly honest, seemingly reaching to the conclusion that Josh was worth introducing himself to.

"My name's Matt. Matthew, actually, but everyone calls me Matt. My dad owns Celadon Mansion, but we only stay here once a week or so, since we go to school at Viridian."

Josh's eyes widened as he took Matt's hand. The owner of Celadon Mansion, speaking to him? Just then did he realize that Matt, with his blackish, spiky hair and deep, brown eyes, did not look as foreign as most tourists. His accent, however, was... different.

But since he had been wishing for a friend for so long, he decided that this was the one opportunity not to miss.

"So Matt, huh? Sounds cool, if you ask me. I'm Josh."

"Josh..." Matt seemed to ponder over the name, seemed to twist it this way and that in his head. "Josh, is that short for Joshua, or something?"

"No idea. I've just been called Josh all my life, so I guess that's my name."

Both boys paused.

"Say, when you say 'we go to school', you don't mean your father, do you? I take it you've got siblings?"

Matt burst out laughing so abruptly that Josh was stunned for a second. What a piercing laugh! A second later, he joined in, accepting the fact that his joke might actually have been that good.

"No, no. I've got a younger sister. She's fifteen now, and to be really honest -" Matt lowered his voice, whispering as if whatever he was about to say was utmost confidential. "To be honest, she's a sight to behold. Not seen a girl as graceful as my sister in my whole life."

Leveling his voice back to normal, his smile returning, he continued: "Pity she's my sis, really."

This time, it was Josh's turn to crack up. "Hey, Matt, make sure you introduce me some time."

"Sure thing."

Just then, a siren-like noise interrupted their conversation, like it interrupted any activity in the whole city. Matt's face paled, his smile wiped away almost instantly. "Oh, snot. I've gotta go back. See you around, Josh, and nice meeting you!"

Before Josh could answer, the boy ran off, towards Celadon Mansion, from which, as Josh realized now, the siren had sounded. Puzzled by this, Josh reached down to pat Vulps, who had already stowed the money and the Pokeballs into Josh's pouch, and licked herself clean during the boys' conversation.

"What an odd person that is, Vulps... I wouldn't mind him as a friend, though."