Star Light, Age Seven, Chapter 22

The trip to New Bark Town wouldn't happen for another few days, so I would get to spend a bit more time with Mom in Pallet Town. What I hadn't counted on was just how dull these days would seemingly turn out to be. With Deneb on his way to Victory Road, or already there, I had virtually no one to talk to.

Mom was great and all, and since the little spat we had that night, we were getting along much better than ever. Before, she was strictly my mother, and I always saw her as such. Now, she was acting more like a friend, or at worst a big sister. It was both refreshing and a bit off-kilter, to be honest. But even then, she didn't know all that much about Pokemon, so what little we could talk about dried up quick. I most certainly couldn't tell her much about my travels, since that would only rattle her.

Speaking with Professor Oak wouldn't have been that bad were he available. Unfortunately, he was locked away in his lab those days as he prepared for the trip. For him, it wasn't as simple as packing a bag and being off. He had to make sure all his papers were in order, his aides knew what to do in any scenario, and a whole bunch of other stuff I didn't even pretend to understand.

"I'm sorry, Star. But you understand," he said to me at one point. All I could do was nod and walk off dejected.

And of course, Vulpix wasn't a chatterbox like me. So who did I have left?

My second day in town turned out to be a Saturday. Since I left, I hadn't kept track of the days of the week, so it was quite the surprise for me. Luckily, that meant that the kids still in school would be free to hang out with.

That morning, I looked out from my bedroom window, watching in awe as the wide open streets and pastures of Pallet were filled with kids. It was a world I had long since forgotten, and now sorely missed. Without thinking twice about it, I slipped into a dress and ran downstairs. Mom told me to be careful out there, as was the norm, and I was free to hang out with all sorts of familiar faces.

"Hey, guys!" I called out to the first random group of kids I saw. They looked at me for only a moment, then to Vulpix who was following me as usual.

"Who are you?" One of the kids asked, a boy in casual shorts who looked a year or so younger than me.

"My name is Star! I just came back home after a Pokemon adventure!" I said with a bright and vibrant smile. Perhaps a little too vibrant.

"Oh, really?" The boy said flatly. Not the reaction I was expecting, to be sure.

"So what do you want?" Another boy in the group said.

"Well, I just wanted to hang out, you know? It's been a while since I got to just relax." I said, scratching my arm.

"Don't you have any friends of your own?" Said the boy in the shorts.

"Yeah, we don't know you." Said the other boy.

"You don't have to be so mean to her!" Piped up the girl of the group, who had tried to stay out of this as long as she could.

"You want to hang out with her, go ahead! We're going to the beach!" Said the shorts-wearing boy, who was starting to get on my nerves.

Without even giving the girl a chance to respond, both he and his equally snooty friend walked off. Once we were alone, I tried to smooth things over by letting out an exaggerated sigh.

"Boys, huh?" I said, trying to make conversation.

"Umm... I should go. I'm sorry!"

And just like that, the girl also left me behind to chase after the two boys. But rather than feel angry or betrayed by the girl, I felt sad. I could feel my heart pounding loudly in my chest, a sensation of abandonment I hadn't felt in a long, long time.

~o~

"Hello, everyone!" I said at the top of my lungs on the first day of school. "My name is Star Light, age seven!"

But what I got in response was a few giggles. That did little to impede my seven-year-old self, though. I foolishly thought they were laughing with me.

"Thank you for introducing yourself, Star. Please take a seat."

My teacher that year was Miss Ashley, a kind woman who was just starting out as a teacher herself. Because of that, she found it hard to keep her class under wraps. And it showed in some places, with myself as a victim at one point.

Even at that age, I was a girl blissfully in love with Deneb Lucian, the boy from across the hall. I hadn't been fortunate enough to be in the same class as him since our first year in school, so that's probably why we never grew closer prior to the Pokemon adventure. So half the time, I would be off daydreaming about Deneb, and thus open to all sorts of mean pranks by the boys in my class. Apparently, my happy attitude when I introduced myself to the class didn't sit well with them.

Fortunately, they were mostly harmless pranks; nothing terrible like putting gum in my hair. I'd be asked to join a group of kids to play, only for me to show up and be told to leave because they already had enough people. This quickly became an annoyance rather than a painful experience from the frequency. Another mean-spirited prank was to tell me that Miss Ashley wanted to speak with me when she really didn't.

"It's okay, Star. Even if they are doing these mean things, it's better that you come to me. You never know if one day I'll really be asking for you!" She'd say with a smile and a pat on my head.

And of course, being a girl with glasses, that was also basis for poking fun at me. All those nasty 'four eyes' jokes? I've probably heard them all. One time, however, my glasses became a casualty of a prank.

In another instance of being called over to play with a group of the same boys as always, I ran over. After being turned away with a bout of snickering, I could swear one of them tripped me on purpose. Regardless, I fell over, and my glasses flew off my face. The sound of them cracking was one of the scariest things ever at the time.

I went over to pick them up, but the only thing left was the frame. The lenses were shattered beyond repair. At the time, Mom always warned me that if anything ever happened to my glasses, she'd do things I'd never be able to imagine even in my darkest nightmares. This all turned out to be a big lie just to keep me extra careful around my glasses, since kids are notoriously careless with such fragile things.

Still, once I realized what had happened, I broke down in tears. I remember the rest of the kids running away from me, fearful of being blamed. After Miss Ashley had pieced together what had happened (I was too busy bawling like a baby to be of any help), she called Mom and everything was sorted out.

"It's okay, baby. It was just an accident." She said to me during the car ride to Viridian City to have the glasses replaced.

"But it wasn't my fault, Mommy!" I pleaded with her. "It wasn't my fault!"

"Sweetie, I'm not blaming you. We just need to get them replaced, and you need to be more careful next time, is all."

"So, you won't do things to me in my nightmares?" My younger self had misinterpreted Mom's statement, naturally. Makes me wonder how I ever got to sleep at night.

"Of course not, Star! I just wanted you to be careful!" She assured me.

Well, after that day, things seemed to turn out for the better. My tears had earned me sympathy from others in the class, and I made a few friends the next day. Those same boys that always pulled pranks on me, however, remained aloof and mean. And every time I'd ask to play with them, they'd turn me away.

It got to a point where every rejection was as a dagger through my young heart. So I worked to make myself as appealing as possible. Perhaps that's where I adopted the attitude of a people-pleaser. But that's just my random thinking.

~o~

I threw myself on my bed back at home.

Mom was surprised I had returned so promptly, but I dared not tell her what happened outside. To think, I was turned away by a bunch of kids younger than me. And it got to me. I looked to Vulpix, who didn't quite understand why I was feeling the way I did.

And as if to help me out of my funk, she barked at me. This got my attention, so I raised my head towards her.

"What is it, girl?"

She barked twice more.

"It'd help if you started talking, or something."

She growled, then barked again.

"Why can't I be like that girl from the comics and just understand what you're saying?" I sighed.

This time, Vulpix barked, then walked over to my bag. She scratched at it a few times, making sure my attention was on it. Curious as to what she was getting at, I walked over to the bag and opened it. Inside was the container where I had my lunch from the day I faced Giovanni, and my Pokeball belt. I looked down at Vulpix.

"What about this stuff?"

She tilted her head, then went digging in the bag. She pulled out the Pokeball belt. I took it from her, and looked at the five Pokeballs closely.

She was telling me something, alright. I didn't need those kids' approval. I had proven myself by not only embarking on an adventure, but collecting the eight badges of the Kanto region. Before today, I hadn't let anything get me down and keep me down. I wasn't about to let some kids from my hometown turn me into the quiet little girl who sat alone in the corner.

It was like Sabrina had said. That was my fear, to be the kid left behind. I couldn't let that fear become a reality. I turned to Vulpix.

"Thanks, girl! I can't believe you figured it out for me!"

But Vulpix hadn't done anything of the sort. She had been busy eating the leftovers from inside my bag the entire time I was solving this for myself. I let out a good laugh, then closed my door for a moment.

I got undressed, slipped into one of my bathing suits, and then threw a different dress on over it. Those kids said they were headed to the beach, and I sure wasn't going to let them stop me from enjoying my time back home. Vulpix knew that the bathing suit meant the ocean, so she declined to follow me this time.

I went downstairs, said goodbye to Mom, and made for the beach.

~o~

As expected, the beach was packed with kids. Sitting atop a high chair was a lifeguard, ever-vigilant and ready to rush out to someone's aid at a moment's notice. While I was probably one of the older kids there, I easily fit in with the majority of them. I had always been a bit small for my age, which is probably why I'd always been the target of pranks. Still, I confidently strolled onto the beach in the direction of the group of kids from earlier.

"Hey look, it's the Pokemon girl." Said the boy with shorts once he saw me. I noticed the girl of the group looked away, probably a bit ashamed of her actions earlier.

"Why don't you leave us alone?" Said the other boy. All I did was smile wide.

"I'm not here to bother you three. I'm just here for the beach like everyone else."

I dropped my towel onto the sand, and slipped off my dress in one quick movement. I had gone with a one-piece swimsuit, the kind any kid would wear to the beach. All the same, I noticed both boys blushed a little when I suddenly threw off my dress. After spreading out my towel, I neatly folded my dress and left it on top.

"Well, maybe I'll see you guys in the water!"

And with that, I walked away. My head was held high, my confidence soaring. There was nothing that could go wrong at this point; I had conquered the fear Sabrina informed me of back in Saffron City.

I jumped into the ocean, and let the current push me along for a moment.

~o~

"What were you thinking, Star?" Mom yelled at me, tears in her eyes. Though I was sure there were tears in my eyes as well, all I could do was smile.

"I don't know, Mom," I said, trying to hold back the giggles. "Guess I just forgot my tube."

As you might recall, I couldn't swim. And in my haste to make a point to myself and those kids, I jumped into the ocean without any floatation devices. I ended up nearly drowning within seconds. Fortunately, the lifeguard noticed and fished me out just in time.

And while I was pretty sure those same kids were laughing at my utter idiocy, all I could do was laugh it off. Mom even got angrier at me for it. After all, I had almost died, and there I was trying my best to contain the giggles.

"It's okay," I said to her yet again. "It won't happen again. Never again."