The forest of Viridian was calm and still. Only the sounds of insect that inhabited the woods of the place broke the magical silence.
On the soft grass, someone was sleeping.
A blonde girl with an androgynous appearance. Her outfit consisted of a yellow dress-shaped tunic with greenish tips, over a long-sleeved black T-shirt, blue tights, and purple boots. Underneath a straw hat she hid a ponytail.
The leaves on the trees fell, burying her body. Yellow, however, didn't mind at all the fact, since she was still asleep, letting out snores which made the leaves float, leaving only her face showing.
She felt her body being touched by vines.
She slowly opened her eyes, getting used to the morning light. It was Sauro, her Bulbasaur.
She noticed that Chuchu seemed to be having a heated argument with him. Kitty watched as she flapped her butterfly wings.
"Pika Pika!"
"Bulbasauuuuur!?"
"Pika Pika."
"Bulba!"
Apparently the reason for the argument was the fact that Sauro had been trying to wake Yellow from her sleep, as Chuchu had clearly ordered him not to disturb her while she was sleeping.
Yellow sat on the floor, rubbing her eyes. "Already arguing at this time of morning?" she asked.
The two turned to face each other.
Since Yellow knew herself by people she had that inexplicable power to understand the feelings and language of Pokemon. When she was just a baby the girl had been abandoned in that forest in a basket, with only a handkerchief and a bottle. Who were her parents? She had no idea—and she preferred not to know. After all, a person who abandoned a child to die in a hostile place like the Viridian Forest could not be a good person.
Despite the fact that all the odds of survival were against her, somehow, Yellow survived, being taken care of by the forest Pokemons as if she were one of them. A girl, whose clothes on her body were no more than rustic attempts to protect herself from the cold and dirt that pervaded the place according to the seasons. Created as if she were a wild Pokemon.
She had learned to hide in the woods and avoid contact with the humans who passed through there. Savage as a Beedrill. Sneaky like a Venonat. Hard like a Metapod. Fast as a Pidgey.
When she turned 9 years old, she'd decided, for the first time, to leave the forest to discover the outside world that, for her, until then, was completely unknown.
"Today I'll be leaving for good. There is a world of possibilities that I still need to know. I appreciate you taking care of me, and I promise that I'll be back as soon as possible!", she said in the language of the Pokemon, saying goodbye to the inhabitants of the forest.
Carterpies, Venonats, Weedles, Beedrills, Venomoths, Pidgeys, Oddishs and Bellsprouts.
Her real family.
When she arrived in Viridian City, she discovered new things. She knew that this unknown world was ruled by something called "money". Pokémon were used for purposes of interest to the top leaders of the chain of that society, being used for the entertainment and ambition of those called "Pokémon trainers" in successive battles, often fighting to the death. Stored in tiny spheres. They were also eaten by them, knowledge that terrified her. The mere idea of feeding on the remains of a Pokemon was unthinkable to her, almost as if she were committing cannibalism.
Humans. Beings filled with sordid feelings such as envy, greed, lust, hatred, thirst for revenge. Despite being frightened by that conflict between worlds, Yellow was also intrigued and curious to know more about those beings.
After living for a while in alleys, eating leftover food thrown in the garbage and observing the daily life of the city's residents from afar, she had been approached by a woman.
She wore a type of black outfit that covered her entire body and carried a bag full of lunchboxes with her. She later found out that this type of person was called a "nun".
"Come here, don't be afraid," she had said. Despite that, Yellow didn't understand anything she was talking about, after all, she still hadn't mastered the human language.
Yellow hid for a moment in the darkness, hesitating. Then she took a step forward and grabbed the lunch box. She opened it in a rustic way and, upon smelling the smell that came from inside, began to quickly eat the food with her bare hands.
"What's your name?," asked the woman.
Yellow just growled.
"I see, so you can't speak. Something extremely curious, if I may say so," said the woman even though the girl didn't understand anything she had said.
The woman kept visiting Yellow regularly from that day forward.
Eventually she gained her trust.
Yellow doesn't remember well when she ended up in that orphanage. Neither when she learned to speak and communicate using the language code of humans. It was the kind of thing that just seemed to happen.
Within a year, she was fully adapted. The children and caregivers at the orphanage were already part of her family. She had learned to read, write and master the language. Also to behave in accordance with the current social norm. She had befriended Chuchu and Kitty, the Pikachu and Butterfree who lived near the woods of the orphanage. But sometimes, during the silence of the nights, she found herself daydreaming in the orphanage's dormitory as she stared up at the moon in the night sky, thinking of the family she had left behind in the Viridian forest.
I miss you so much..., she thought, shedding tears.
"Time for breakfast," Yellow said, stretching.
Chuchu, Kitty and Sauro jumped on top of her.
"You guys are tickling me," Yellow said as she giggled. She rolled in the grass along with the Pokemons. "I love you."
As long as she was with her friends, she had nothing to fear.
When Yellow met Oak when he was visiting Ray of Light Orphanage, he was extremely impressed to see Yellow describing the abilities she possessed.
"Look at this," she said after demonstrating her healing power to him.
"Something never seen before, certainly!", he told Yellow while she was reporting about her power to understand the feelings and language of Pokemon.
When Yellow used her healing ability on Chuchu in a demonstration, he frowned. "Fantastic!"
She clasped her hands over a bruise on Chuchu's foot. Her hand had glowed and emitted a healing aura. In a matter of seconds, the bruise was gone from Pikachu's foot.
When she turned 10, she received a call from Oak.
"Yellow! It's been a long time since I've seen you, how are you doing? I see you've grown quite a bit since the last time I saw you," he had said from his laboratory in Pallet.
"Of course! And I'll grow even more, you can write it down!", Yellow had replied through the video call.
He chuckled at the tone in the little girl's voice.
"I have some news for you! Soon I will be handing out starter pokemons to some beginner trainers in Pallet. Gary, my grandson, and Ash, a son of a dear friend. As there are two, there will be one left," he explained. "So I thought I'd offer you the chance to pick one of them! What do you think?"
Yellow had jumped into animation.
"EBAAAAAAAA," she celebrated.
"I advise you to advance in your trip to Pallet, as the path, despite appearing to be short, is sometimes longer than it seems."
"Never mind! I can't wait to meet my new friend."
She knew from other children's comments at the orphanage that Kanto's starters, Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle, were extremely disputed. So the fact of choosing between one of them to be her partner made her someone extremely privileged.
That night, in the dorm, she had been bombarded with comments from the other children regarding the news that she would be leaving to begin her journey.
"Wow, I'm so jealous of you..."
"Have you already decided what you want to be? Trainer, coordinator, performer, caregiver, the options are so many..."
"I would choose Charmander, of course. Everyone knows Charizard is the strongest Pokemon."
The truth was, even she didn't know what she wanted to be. But whatever it was, she would do her best not to let anyone down.
When the day came, she left, carrying with her only a backpack on her back and her fishing rod. Chuchu and Kitty also accompanied her. Chuchu hated being inside her Pokeball, so Yellow always carried her on the shoulder.
From the front of the orphanage, all the children watched and waved goodbye to the girl.
When she arrived in Pallet she had stayed at the Oak family's house, waiting for the day of choice. There she met the professor grandson, Gary. A cocky, snarling boy who had completely ignored her presence.
"I'm going to choose Bulbasaur," she said after thinking through what her choices would be. She carried it in her lap and rolled it over, happily. "His name will be Sauro."
The plant pokemon had smiled. "Saur Saur!"
"It's a pleasure to meet you," he had said.
So she had returned to Viridian, determined to return to her home location before deciding which way to go from there. The forest.
However, now that she was here, Yellow realized that something wasn't right. That place that was once so familiar and cozy, suddenly caused a feeling of estrangement. The forest Pokémon were no longer friendly to her.
"You left us and outlawed on the human side," said a Beedrill who was her childhood friend when he was just a Weedle.
"The Yellow we know doesn't exist anymore, you're just a stranger to us," had told the elder Vileplume. "Go away from here!"
Everyone had turned their backs on her.
I'm still the same, she was trying to convince herself that she hadn't changed. Anguish consumed her as she saw her dear friends treat her with something worse than hatred: insignificance. She would rather have them call her the worst names and curses than act as if she didn't exist. It ached deep in her heart.
Yellow nibbled on a piece of donut she had brought with her.
Human food, she thought as she remembered the memories when she'd lived in the forest. Like the other Pokemons, Yellow only fed on berries. Realizing that she really had changed all of her habits, she dropped the donut to the ground.
She covered her face with her hands to hide her tears.
Am I really not the same anymore?
Chuchu, Sauro and Kitty were eating their berries when they noticed Yellow's sadness.
What's happening? Why are you sad?
They asked.
It's no use explaining anything, they'll never understand. She dried to tears, forcing a smile.
It'll be okay. And if it didn't, she would make it happen anyway.
She would regain her friends' trust at all costs. She still didn't know how, but she would do everything possible and impossible to make that happen.