Chapter 2: Cracking the Shell

The Squirtle, about a dozen of them, continued to frolic in the pool, splashing and grunting with jubilation. But the noise seemed to be muted to Cody as he looked at the ing, and grunting with jubilation. But the noise seemed to be muted to Cody as he looked at the pokeball in his hand.

"So… you want me… to go down and try to catch a Squirtle?" he questioned. It was a stupid question, but he was legitimatelty stunned.

"Yes, it's simple. Just go down there and toss a pokeball. Then you got yourself a pokémon." He made it sound so easy. "Try it! It should be simple. Easier than catching a Machop. I had to fight Flex with a seven-foot pole so he couldn't snap my neck."

Cody could tell that Laurence was subtly bragging about how hardcore it was to fight a Machop. He looked down at Flex, who was trying to snatch a butterfly out of the air. The little pokémon had just beaten a boulder several times its size earlier, but he looked harmless then, even with his bulging muscles.

"Yeah, how the hell am I supposed to catch one of them without a pokémon of my own?" Cody asked again. "And don't tell me to fight it myself. There's a whole clan of them down there, and I don't want to fight them all."

Laurence chuckled as he slapped Cody on the back. "I knew you'd be a wimp, but you got nothing to worry about. I've been bringing Flex down here to train, and we've been playing with them after we're done working. They're only hatchlings, and they love attention. Not to mention they spend all day eating minnows or whatever these things eat, and now they're pooped. Just go down there, play with them a little, and then toss a pokeball at the one you like best."

It seemed too easy, but Cody knew that Laurence wouldn't lie to him. Laurence knew how much Cody loved Squirtle, having cited them as one of his favorites. But there was still a gaping hole in this plan.

"Okay, even if I catch a Squirtle, there is no way my mom will let me keep it, let alone leave home with it. Not after Derrick," Cody pointed out. "Even if I brought it home, it wouldn't suddenly change her mind."

"Cody, we all need a little push out of the nest, and maybe this will change her mind. Just tell her that if you can handle this, you can handle training. Apparently, Derrick could. He's probably…" He trailed off as soon as Cody gave him a dirty look.

Cody's face cooled up. In his mind, he became determined to catch a Squirtle and finally do what he had been waiting to do for years.

"I'll give it a shot," Cody flatly stated, "but I'm bringing Flex down too, just in case they go berserk or something."

Laurence nodded, and he made some motioning towards Flex. As he was doing this, Cody took off his guitar case and laid it next to his rollerblades that he had been carrying over the grass. He didn't want any of his stuff getting wet. Flex walked through the brush and sat down near the pool on a flat stone. The Squirtle stopped playing for a moment, and they all muttered amongst themselves and to their friend who had returned to the pool. But when Flex did not make any movements, the turtles went back to playing in the water.

Now it was Cody's turn. He inched towards the water, trying not to make any sudden motions. But the Squirtle noticed his presence, and they froze once more. They all stared at the new interloper with huge eyes, murmuring amongst each other. Cody started to observe each turtle. Each one had a slightly different skin, shell, and eye color. He counted them. There were fourteen, and they were all different sizes too. There was much diversity in the species and Cody wondered if they were siblings. Or maybe they just stuck together for safety. They were reptiles though, and reptiles typically weren't maternal creatures. Or was the Squirtle species different?

All of a sudden, the smallest Squirtle stepped forward, waddling up to where Cody was standing. Cody bent his knees and looked into the eyes of the tiny turtle. All of the Squirtle were smaller than what an average Squirtle would be (they were all hatchlings after all), but the one who approached was barely even a foot tall. Cody felt misplaced looking into the pokémon's eyes. They were exceptionally deep, much more so than he expected. But he let his guard down.

The Squirtle suddenly sprayed water at his face, causing Cody to fall back. At this sight, all the Squirtle in the pool roared with what sounded like laughter and the Squirtle that had sprayed Cody fell on its back with grunting laughs. Cody was stunned form the sequence of events, and wiped the warm water out of his eyes. Over the roar of the Squirtle, he could also hear Laurence busting his gut from behind the bushes. He was never gonna live that moment down.

Suddenly, a devious grin crossed Cody's face as he looked at the Squirtle who were still getting a kick out of his humiliation. "Your mine!" he shouted as he lunged at the group of Squirtle in the water. Immediately, they all moved out of the way, as he splashed in the water. He felt his shirt sopping wet, sticking to his skin, but he didn't care. He quickly splashed a cluster of turtles who sat on a nearby rock. They responded by leaping into the water next to him, causing little splashes about his waist. Cody tried to snatch one with his free hand that wasn't holding the pokeball, but they were all too quick, and the ones he managed to grab slipped out of his grasp like oil. He began to laugh at their antics, having to stop every few seconds to catch his breath.

For the next ten minutes, Cody continued to play with the turtles, all who seemed to never grow tired of his presence. It's like their not even wild, he thought to himself through the commotion. Cody figured that he would have to choose one soon before it got to dark to get back home, but which one? They were all friendly and fun. And what about battling? How could he tell which Squirtle would be the best? The answer hit him in the face like a water gun. As he wiped the water out of his eyes, he looked across at the rock at the culprit. The little Squirtle who had started the game had sprayed him again. Then Cody knew for sure which one he wanted.

You, he thought to himself. You're the one.

He clicked the little button on the pokeball and threw it straight at the little buggers head. As is bounced off the pokémon's head, a look of shock crossed its face. The ball opened, and shot out light, enveloping the turtle, and pulling it inside. The ball began to wiggle as it sat on the rock until it stood idle. For several seconds, all the Squirtle stopped playing, obviously shocked by the light, and wondering what it was. But they soon forgot, and continued to roughhouse. Cody waded his way through the water, grasping the pokeball of the rock as he walked by. As he and Flex made their way back to the trees, Cody turned his head to see the Squirtle grunting at him, looking rather pleased. Funny, it was like they were saying goodbye to him, unknowing that one of their friends was leaving with him. But he was more concerned with the feeling that filled him up and left him shivering. He could barely believe that he had caught his first pokémon and he couldn't stop smiling.

As Cody walked back into the clearing, Laurence was giving him a slow clap. "You did good kid," he said with hints of approval in his voice. "Though it was hilarious how the little one spayed you in the face like that."

"Har, har, har, your so cute," Cody shot back with a sarcastic, but he was obviously in a good mood. "The little monster who sprayed is actually the one I caught," he said with pride as he held up the pokeball. He was trying to wring out his shirt, while Flex studied the pokeball that the Squirtle was caught in.

"Let's open it soon," Laurence stated as Cody put on his damp shirt. "Pokemon get nervous when they are first put inside those things. I guess I'd freak out too if I was converted to molecular light particle things."

"I can't imagine that's comfortable," Cody said as he rolled it around in his hand.

"It's actually supposed to be nice in there. They say that pokémon in balls are supposed to give pokémon comfort and what not. I don't understand it that much. However, you should still let the little guy out often."

Cody wanted to see his catch right then, and he was about to press the button when he figured it would be sweet to see how pokeballs knew to bounce back to the trainer that released them. He wondered how that even worked. Another mystery. He tossed the ball onto the earth, and it exploded with a burst of reddish light. The ball then bounced back to his hand like a rubber band. But he forgot about it once he saw the little Squirtle, crouching over and holding its head.

"Hey little guy, how's it going?" Cody asked in a sugary voice. The tone almost made him feel sick and he cold hear Laurence snickering. Cody knelt down to the little pokemon and tried to touch it, but upon seeing his face, the turtle yelped and pulled itself into its shell at a surprisingly quick speed.

"Congratulations Cody, you just taught him how to use withdraw," chuckled Laurence. Flex stepped forward and picked up the shell with ease and tried to look inside, only to get sprayed by some bubbles. He gasped and grabbed his eyes with his hands, rubbing furiously. Laurence ignored his pokémon's anguish as he tossed a tiny rock shaped object towards Cody.

"Bribe it with that," he instructed.

Cody picked up the little object and noted that it was a pokemon kibble of some sort. He slowly held it out in front of the shell that was positioned in front of him. Suddenly, a little blue hand shot out and grabbed it, pulling it back inside. The sound of chewing began. Laurence tossed Cody another piece, who held it in front of the shell again. This time however, the Squirtle emerged from its fortress and tenderly took the goodie out of Cody's hand, and began to munch.

"Well, that seemed to work," Laurence said, now coming closer to get a good look at the little Squirtle. Flex would not come over, though. He still looked upset from being sprayed. "Do this whenever you get a new pokemon that is scared of you. Most of them seem to think with their stomachs."

"Yeah, he really seems to… wait, is it a he? How can we tell? It doesn't look that obvious."

Laurence pulled a book out of his pocket. It looked pretty worn, and some of the binding was breaking. He flipped through the pages, and after this stopped, he handed the book to Cody "Well, here's diagram for you."

Cody studied the book and then the lower part of the Squirtle's shell as it began to chew a third piece of kibble. "Looks like this one's a male. Wow… he really is a squirt… think he'll grow up okay?"

"Him? Sure, he'll be fine. Just feed him and train him, and he'll get bigger than all those other Squirtle he was with."

"Yeah, about that," Cody said with concern. "You think they'll be okay without him?"

"You worry too much," Laurence answered. "They'll forget about him and move on. They'll probably split when they get older anyways. They're just hanging out together because they're young and need protection."

"Yeah…" replied Cody, not paying much attention as he reached out and touched the pokemon's skin. This time, Squirtle did not recoil, but moved closer to his trainer. A small smile crossed the pokémon's face. It seemed strange that a pokemon had a similar facial expression for a similar feeling. His skin was made up of small scales, but they were so finely placed, that it seemed as soft as a human's skin, although it was much firmer. As Cody studied the tiny pokémon's face, he felt a strong connection with his new friend. It was a warm feeling that rested in his chest. Maybe that was what people felt for their first pokémon? All of his friends said they had a good connection with their first pokemon and if that was what he was feeling, he wanted the moment to last.

"Hey Cody, I gotta get going. I wanna leave early tomorrow, so I could use some sleep." Laurence stood up, and hoisted Flex up on his shoulders. "You gonna see me off tomorrow?"

"Sure thing," Cody answered. "I'll try to get there in time. You said you were heading out at 8?"

"Yeah. You know, you should leave soon too. You don't want to wait to long."

"What do you mean by that? You had Flex for six months. You could have left awhile ago," Cody pointed out.

"Yeah, but I was still in school, and I wanted to finish up the year. You still have the summer to leave. Plus, in your case, if you do want to leave, your mom may say no if you wait too long."

"Wow, your right," Cody replied, mulling over the idea in his head. "I better leave soon too. Too bad I couldn't go with you. That would be fun, right?"

"Sure, but I wanna go alone, maybe meet some new people," he replied. "Nothing against you or any of our friends, but I want to start my adventure of scratch, if that makes sense. You'd do best to do the same."

"Yeah, I should," Cody answered, picking up his new partner. The Squirtle wiggled until it got comfortable in his arm. He used the other to strap on his guitar case, and to carry his blades. He continued to talk with Laurence as they walked to the forest edge. It began to occur to him that besides tomorrow, it may have been the last time he'd see Laurence for awhile. It seemed weird. Even though Laurence was a grade ahead of him, they hung out almost every day since they were kids. It would be weird to be separated from him and his other friends. But he figured that that was what happened in life. One had to suck it up and move on.

"Well, be seeing you soon dude," Cody said as he held out his fist.

Laurence bumped it and replied with a nod and a smile. As Cody skated off that evening, with a baby Squirtle in his arms, he decided that he was ready for a new experience. And like his father, and like… Derrick… he was ready to dive straight in.

"Here it comes, just act cool," Cody said to himself as he sat on the garage steps, taking off his blades. The Squirtle looked like a young child in a new environment, looking at everything in sight, and touching everything in reach, grunting curiously as he did.

"And you… keep looking cute. Mom loves cute," Cody said, though the Squirtle ignored him. Once he was ready, he picked up the little turtle and walked inside. The house was warm from the summer heat, and fans spun from the ceiling, though they didn't affect the temperature. Lex, the Hitmonlee that belonged to Cody's father, was sitting at the counter drinking lemonade through a straw. He turned his head as Cody walked in, and stared at the little pokémon in his arms. Cody's attention turned from the fighting pokémon to the noise coming down the stairs.

"Oh Cody, you're home. Thank God, I was getting worried. You know how I get worried when you don't show up after dark," his mom said as she walked into the kitchen. She was in her mid-forties, and her dirty blonde hair was already beginning to gray, most of those grays being Cody's fault. She didn't look directly at him as she walked in, so she didn't see the visitor Cody was holding.

"Oh come on mom, it's not even dark yet," he responded, while picking up an apple out of the fruit bowl, and taking a chunk out of it. Squirtle tried to reach for it, so he picked up a smaller apple and handed to the turtle, who began to crunch it into pieces. Cody didn't know if Squirtle were okay eating apples, but he figured that fruit can't be bad for them.

"Well, I'm just happy you're alright. You know how dangerous it can be out there with…" she stopped in the middle of her sentence since she was then looking at the Squirtle who busied itself chewing on the apple. A look of shock crossed her face as her mouth hung agape. "Cody… what is that?"

"Mom, you know it's a Squirtle," Cody stated quietly. Stay cool, he thought to himself. Need her approval on this.

However, his mother was still not approving, judging by her frantic facial expression. "Where did you get it? More importantly, how? Wild pokémon are dangerous, you know! Wasn't it Laurence who almost got mauled by a Makuhita?"

"Machop," Cody corrected. "And he wasn't hurt. He tired it out with a stick or something. Besides, this Squirtle is harmless. He's only a baby. But I want to train him like I've been-"

"Oh, I can't handle this, RANDY! Get down here! Your son has something to show you!" she yelled. But nobody responded. "Stay right there, young man!" she snapped back at Cody, and then she stormed out.

"You should have acted cuter," Cody said to his new friend, and he placed him on the counter, as he leaned back and thought of how he would convince his mother to let him leave. No easy options came to his mind. He knew his dad would want him to go, but he didn't want to pit them against each other. However, that might be the best option, awful as that sounded.

During that time waiting, the Hitmonlee had been sipping his drink, not really paying attention to the yelling. The Squirtle waddled up on the countertop to where the bigger monster was. Lex stopped drinking, and moved its head closer to the new arrival, staring curiously at him with his huge eyes. The Squirtle backed up slowly with fright and tripped over a wooden spoon, falling on his back.

"Hmph," grunted the Hitmonlee, as he stood up and walked away. He wasn't very interested in the Squirtle after all.

Suddenly, Cody's mother burst into the room, dragging his father. He actually looked kind of excited in a good way, unlike his mother, who would probably sprout a few more gray hairs overnight.

"Look Randy. Cody went out and captured a wild pokemon! He could have got killed!" she yelled out as Randy approached the tiny Squirtle sitting on the counter.

"Mom, you're overreacting, I never said I almost got killed. They were all hatchlings," protested Cody, though his words went unnoticed.

"Oh, he's such a puny little guy," his father said, chuckling some. He picked up the little Squirtle who immediately popped into his shell out of fear. "Really Tiff? This is the monster who tried to kill our son?"

Cody's mother's face began to turn pink. Partly from embarrassment, and partly from anger. "Well, maybe he was safe, but I'm not letting another child leave with pokémon!"

"Why not Tiff? He's responsible. He makes decent grades. He could probably get his G.E.D. now if he took a class. Let's give him a chance. We've talked about this before."

"No, I can't Randy," she said, tears coming to her eyes. "I can't forget Derrick. I don't want to lose another child." She tried her best to hold back tears, but a few broke through. Cody wasn't phased though. Or at least he was trying not to be. But he felt a little bit of rage grow inside of him.

"Come on, Mom, you talk about him as if he's dead or something," said Cody, trying not to fall into the tear trap she was setting.

"He might as well be!" she responded bitterlt. "I can't let you go. I don't want this family to fall apart any more than it already has!"

But Cody was developing a mental block to her emotions. The anger continued to grow. "Mom, I can take care of myself out there. Many trainers are younger than me and they can do it! And if it's about education, 70% of trainers get G.E.D.s and get into normal colleges and what not."

"It sounds like you stole that statistic from Wikipedia," she sobbed rubbing her eyes to make them less wet. "But I'm not as worried about that as much. It's just… I can't bear the thought of you going down the same road as Derrick!"

"Derrick, Derrick, Derrick, forget about DERICK!" he shouted with genuine anger now. "This is about me! Not Derrick!"

"It's like…" she paused for a second. "It's like you don't even care about him and what happened to him. I know you've been shadowed by the events that happened, but you need to understand that I'm not going to lose you too!" But understanding each other was gone now in Cody's mind. And then the rage burst.

"Look Mom, I'm sorry about Derrick! Do you think I don't miss him! I do! But I'm not Derrick! You promised me I could get a pokémon when I turned fourteen, and now I'm almost fifteen! I don't care how Derrick screwed up because I want to have my own damn story rather than reading the same one over and over again!"

The room grew quiet. Cody's voice had grown louder with each word, and now he stood there breathing heavily. The Squirtle had pulled himself into his shell, and he rocked in it with fear. His mother was now crying silently, tears streaming down her face. His father looked concerned, but not frightened or sad as he comforted his wife.

Finally, Cody's mother spoke, her words congested with tears. "You know what? I can't keep having this argument with you. You... you can go… just… be careful… and don't train too hard… and come home if you don't like it, and we'll enroll you in high school and everything and pretend it never happened."

"Mom, tha-"

"I want you to leave tomorrow," she interrupted, still sounding pretty choked up. "Only because I'm afraid I'll say no if you wait longer. Just promise me you'll spend at least one month of the year at home. I don't want you to leave us."

"I understand," Cody replied, breaking the quiet air with his words. With that, his mother slowly retreated to her room upstairs. Cody and his father stood in the room alone with the Squirtle, and his father's Linoone, who had just entered the room too see what the excitement was about. But when she saw nothing, she returned to the grass outside.

"I'll print up the enrollment papers tonight so you can go to the trainer's bureau tomorrow to get your license," his father said softly. "I have supplies for you too. Potions, pokeballs, pokechow, travel sleeping bag, camping stuff, and so on. I got it or you last year, thinking you'd be leaving, but when your mom said no, I stashed it. If you want more stuff, you'll have to buy it yourself."

"Thanks, Dad," Cody replied, looking up in the direction of where his mother had retreated. "You think she'll be okay?"

"Your mother? Yeah, she'll be fine. It's just… she still hasn't gotten over Derrick. But as long as you are happy, I guess she will be too."

Those words danced in Cody's mind as he walked to his room, carrying the Squirtle who yawned with eagerness to sleep. He wondered if Derrick was happy. Maybe he was. He wouldn't know though. They hadn't talked in years.

He brushed his teeth and slipped on an old shirt and boxers. Tomorrow, he would leave to become a trainer. He could barely imagine what fate would have in store for him. They say it took roughly three years to travel through Skitrex on the gym challenge. Three years seemed like a long time. But he was ready to take the challenge... that was, if he chose to take it. It wasn't necessarily about winning battles and becoming a champion for him. It was about the journey. Not the destination.

"Goodnight little buddy," he whispered to the sleepy Squirtle, whose shell he embraced in his arms. With a quick yawn, he drifted off to sleep, envisioning the world he would see as he dreamt that night.

This chapter was edited on 1/1/18. There may still be continuity or grammatical errors. If you notice any, please alert me in a review or a private message.