Disclaimers: Does not belong to me.
Notes: First go at a pokemon fanfiction; humor me.
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Chapter Five: Never trust a stranger (trust us; they're evil beyond all comparison)
Three days later and Mitsuko was definitely not in the happiest of moods to be in. This was not, by any fault of the child herself (aside from the fact that she had been suspicious of being direction-deprived for a long time now), but the fact that everything looked the same to her. One could not expect to know where to go when all they had in terms of landmarks were trees, bushes, and other plant-related items (otherwise known as vegetation).
Of course there was a road that told them where to go, but only as long as they went in the right direction. There were two ways to go. Since she didn't want to go back to New Bark Town (sure that the other remaining starter pokemon were wrecking havoc there, if not having already taken over the place), she went the other way.
The most interesting decision Mitsuko had been forced to make during this three-day trip, of course, was her wondering if it was possible to eat a Pidgey for breakfast. This was, by no means, supporting cruelty towards pokemon, but the very fact of nature and, well, they were food, right?
Of course, she had yet to see one pokemon eat another; a small disappointment for the girl, but she was sure it would happen one day.
So her journey now seemed to consist of the following: walk, walk, run into trainer, walk some more, more annoying trainers, run people over by bike when the likelihood of losing came into existence (and it wasn't like she could afford to lose her money anyway), run into crazy bug pokemon and a couple of other related things both day and night, and then having fun watching Flame burning poor, innocent flora.
The fourth morning – peaceful as it was – did not last very long as an outburst caused a number of flying pokemon to scatter indignantly.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" scrambling out of her tent indignantly, she threw her alarm clock at the nearest tree, which was two feet away from where she had set up for the night. It hit the trunk with a thud as she sat down heavily, blinking. "Ah… I can't see anything."
Returning to her tent, and ignoring the angry squawking that came from the tree she had attacked, Mitsuko scrambled about to prepare for another long, pointless day. It took her less than half an hour to find her contacts, change and repack her tent, but then she was forced to spend about an hour trying to work out what she was supposed to eat for breakfast, make sure her bike was working properly, and that Flame hadn't died off on her.
Once she managed to pull herself out of that little scenario (which seemed to involve the burning of a Caterpie, but whatever) she was forced to move on, because if she didn't, she might as well admit insanity and go to an asylum… if they existed. And there was no way she was about to call her mother for help (one time had been more than enough, and she had no intention of calling until a month or eight had passed).
"I am… here," she mumbled to herself, referring to her in-built map while straightening her bicycle, "and… the next town is… there. And that's…"
Mitsuko stopped herself before she hit her head against the handles of her only means of efficient movement, "I can't believe this…"
She was beginning to realise the worst part of being forced out of home at the age of ten was that the trainer-to-be soon became people-deprived. It was little wonder the strongest pokemon master became that way; being lonely affected people differently and that… she already knew she wasn't going to end up like that, and she pushed the thought away.
Swinging onto the bicycle, Mitsuko made one last check that she hadn't left anything important behind, and then pedaled off as fast as possible. This meant just avoiding the running over of a random ground-dwelling pokemon, and seeing if she was capable of ramming into a tree at about a million miles per hour.
Seeing as no one was capable of getting to such high speeds on a bicycle (of all things) Mitsuko never managed to get to the ramming-into-tree part of the ride.
A few hours later and the raven-haired girl was feeling very proud of herself. Not only had she scared a couple of enthusiastic pokemon trainers by nearly running into (and over) them, she had avoided the unnatural want of people battling each other and against her. She could never understand as to why anyone in their right mind would endorse violence against pokemon be a right form of character building and a part of life.
While she wondered over this (as well as the mere concept of human nature in all its strange and obscene forms), she decided a break for the time being was best. And she was horribly lonely; even talking to Flame would prove more interesting than a whole lot of vegetation as such. The fire pokemon seemed relieved to be allowed to roam around free, and did just that, taking a bite out of a Catepie while it was at it.
Mitsuko leaned back against the trunk of a one of many trees, contemplating where the hell her life was going for about the billionth time since she had begun to dread the coming of her tenth birthday. The mother had been so enthusiastic when she had turned eight, screaming something awful that went along the line of 'two more years. Two more years, etc' and preparing for just that.
Something about a mother forcing her daughter to learn life-surviving skills at the age of eight had to be insane. Then again, she was sure she'd been better off than her brother; who had nearly been gnawed to death by a Rattata on his first real journey.
Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by an unfamiliar voice close by.
"So, a new trainer then, hm?"
She opened one eye and replied coolly, "Oh, you can suddenly tell by just looking?"
The other stepped closer, and she opened both eyes properly, using her arms to push herself up in a properly seated position. "Yeah. How many experienced pokemon trainers allow their pokemon to run around freely like that?" he pointed at Flame, who was having the time of its life.
Mitsuko could only raise an eyebrow, "Is there something wrong with allowing pokemon out of their pokeballs without the need to maim another one in the process?"
"A little touchy, aren't you?" he smirked; not a good sign.
"And I suppose you care?" she stood up, waving over to her Cyndaquil, who came instantly, and swung back onto her bike. He held his hands up at her.
"Hey, come on, don't be so grouchy. You looked a little lost and I'd thought I'd help. It isn't that big a crime, is it?"
Flame snorted. It could be interpreted in many ways to what it was probably thinking at the very moment. Either way, it was clearly unimpressed by the events folding out before them. Its trainer fully agreed before using the dreaded pokeball of doom and pocketing it.
"And you've been training… how long?" Mitsuko asked in a not-so-interested voice, leaning over her handles, bored out of her mind.
"Six years. I have seniority." He actually sounded proud of it.
"Hrm… right. But my father always did tell me never to trust strangers," she nodded, smiling innocently, before shoving her foot on the pedal and coming close enough to slam into the guy. He gave a yelp, toppled over (winded or shocked, either way) and was most likely to be eaten by a couple of Caterpies in the coming hours.
A blur of green and brown met her view as she sped on. Well, that was one of the few things that would keep her happy; the adrenaline pumping through her veins as she continued to a destination she didn't even want to arrive at, and the dreaded fate of trainer to spend their whole life on it and stealing money off other trainers who lost. That sort of stuff.
It was a regular happening, apparently.
The back of Mitsuko's mind already informed her that she was bound to go insane and kill thousands of people and pokemon in the coming years, and she didn't doubt it one bit.
That sort of stuff happened when one spent the next twenty or so years walking around, training, fighting, creating rivalries as such and no longer had a social life.
Of course, she had a lot of time to think about it, before it happened.
She suppressed a sigh; the insanity had already begun. What the hell was she on about?
Sadly, no one within her vicinity had an answer to that question.
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"Made it!" proclaimed an incredibly happy (albeit scary) Mitsuko as she slammed on the brakes upon entering Cherrygrove City. Needless to say, as much as she wanted to, riding a bicycle at deadly speeds in a crowded city was the last thing she wanted to be chased by the police for.
Bouncing off it, she was about to go off and see what the stores had to offer, but, as one would have it, a crazy old man grabbed her arm. Her natural reaction to such contact, of course, was to hit him over the head with her incredibly heavy backpack.
Then her conscience had to kick in and she had to feel sorry for the guy. The guilt, of course, had her sit there and wait for him to recover.
She did stay a good few metres away from him, of course. Just out of grabbing distance. One could never tell what crazy strangers ranging from all ages were thinking. Their minds were indecipherable.
"So, you're still alive then?" she asked, "How many fingers am I holding up?"
Mitsuko didn't even bother to hold up her hand as the old man stared at her, clearly thinking her insane… or at least very disturbed. He didn't often get a bag to the head when talking to new trainers. And they came by so often.
"I am fine, young trainer. You just surprised me, is all."
"How else was I supposed to react?" huffed the child, frowning at him. "Anyway, are you one of those beggars that need money and sit there and look sad for yourself so that other people pity you as soon as they enter this place?"
This particular speculation received another weird look. "I am a guide for new pokemon trainers. Is there something wrong with that?"
She crossed her arms, ignoring the look, "So you charge them?" Well, at least she could assume these people had jobs to make money other than going around and screaming at other trainers to battle.
"No," he replied patiently, although it sounded get generic, "These cities are large and most need some guidance when they start."
A smile, also quite generic, "Well, thanks for your concern, but I'm fine. I did grow up in Blackthorn, and that's the hotspot for trouble." When she got a confused look, she elaborated, "You know, gangs, fights, burnings of effigies, theft to the largest possible degree. I think only the Gym's been left unscathed because of the dragon pokemon flying around.
"Oh, it's not bad, once you've installed the tripwires and security, alongside weapons at hand and the occasional reminder for kids not to go out after dark." Mistuko added helpfully, as the old man began to look a little uncomfortable, "So I'm sure I'll be fine."
Satisfied that he was about to go off and start stalking her, she left him to mull over the awful truth of Blackthorn City.
Of course, being the child she was, it was very likely she was exaggerating.
…
Just a little, anyway.
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Having obtained a Sentret doll at one of the stores, Mitsuko was more than happy as she made her way to the pokemon center. As far as she knew, the rest of the day consisted of relaxing, having something to eat, calling her mother and dealing with the loud 'support' given to the cause, and then sleeping for a couple of hours on an actual bed.
Not only that, but she wouldn't have to be paranoid about pokemon coming to steal her stuff and gnawing at her tent.
The nurse in charge was happy enough to provide a single room, but as Mitsuko reach for the keys, a person in a lab coat and thick-rimmed glasses stepped towards her quickly, followed closely by an older man in a similar lab coat.
Mitsuko was beginning to wonder if she had some sort of 'stranger' radar that drew them to her. Well… at least they weren't as bad as some of the shady individuals back at Blackthorn.
"Mitsuko, right? Received your first pokemon about four days ago?" asked the one with glasses.
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, throw her bag at him and run off simultaneously, "Er… yes, that would be me. Is something wrong?" Maybe she was being charged, and no one had ever mentioned that beginning pokemon training cost a lot of money.
"Ah, that is…" began Mr Thick-Rimmed Glasses, but the Grey-Haired one but past him and took an extra step forward for good measure.
"You left abruptly, and we had no means of contacting you on your pokegear," he explained simply, and held forth something that was rectangular and red. Mitsuko stared at it, not comprehending. "It's a pokedex. Every trainer has one, and they second as identification of the trainer themselves. Pokemon thieves are everywhere, you know."
"Okay…" she accepted the odd plastic thing and pocketed it, while a couple of pokeballs were shoved in her direction by the assistant (she assumed).
"So they give you a starter pokemon, a pokedex and extra pokeballs," Mitsuko rattled off dully, "do they include a 'how to' guide for new and confused trainers as well?"
The assistant did a double-check of his lab coat and shrugged, "We seem to be out of those at the moment."
Mitsuko resisted the urge to hit him over the head once more.
Grey-Headed one (who then identified himself as Oak, in which case the black-haired girl was forced to hold back a comment on such a last name), then commented in a matter-of-fact-tone, "You took your time to get here. We've been waiting for the past two days. Did you lose your way or something?"
"Oh… yeah, of course," she pulled out her pokegear and jabbed at it, calling her mother. Anything to get them to understand she didn't want to speak to them anymore. "Hi, mum. How's it been?"
"You're alive! You should have seen Taro against the gym leader! It was so sad!" sobbed her mother.
Uh-huh.
The assistant coughed nervously, and held out a slip of paper, "Well, this is Professor Elm's number. We'll be going, I suppose."
She nodded, only half-paying attention to her mother's rants and they left. Retreating to her room, she cut across her mother by the effective means of screaming. At least it would get her attention.
"Yes, Mitsuko, dear?"
"Oh, I was just wondering if I could talk to Taro, that's all."
"Of course."
As soon as he was on, Mistuko grated out, "How. The. Hell. Do. You. Deal. With. The. Strangers."
"Oh, that?" he sounded quite happy, despite the pounding he'd received at the gym. "You get used to it, I suppose."
Mitsuko gave a resigned sigh and flopped back on the bed. "Great. Just… great."
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And… finally another chapter done. And it's odd. I don't know, but I believe my writing's getting worse o.O Why, I do not know. I suppose the problem lies in the fact I really need dialogue to get things moving, but this was… just a little too weird, even for me. And it's supposed to be funny. Is it really funny, or is my odd sense of humor making it worse?
And we see Mitsu's violent side once more XD A plus, hopefully?
Had to fill in some holes I just realised I had (aka her pokedex's non-existence) and now I can plod on some more. Cherrygove and the route to Violet City don't hold much, as far as I know, so the next chapter should mention the next week (or two, depending) briefly before cutting right back to the chase.
On the bright side, that also means new characters I'm sure everyone will come to love… or hate. They'll be a great influence on our cynical ten-year-old, trust me. (and the rating will probably go up due to language… that's it, really. Everyone okay with that? You have been warned now.)
Thanks for reading, really. And the comments. And support. Surprised that anyone reads this, really :). Hopefully the next chapter will be better XD (sadly, no promise that it will come out any faster. This one has been sitting in my USB for a while now...)
(And no, we will never see that guy Mitsuko nearly ran over in the beginning of this chapter. He's a stranger, we no longer have to think about him XD Then again…)
marthawolfer: Mm… who knows when she'll finally kill someone. By accident! Accident, I mean… okay, maybe not XD Pokegears are probably created to endure hardships, this one more than most ;) Thanks for the review.
Tomoyo Kinomoto: lol, thanks for the comments XD It's nice to see people actually enjoying my weird-way-of-ranting-why-10-year-olds-shouldn't-be-out-at-such-a-young-age :) Mitsuko would probably question Ash's intelligence as well if they meet XD It'd be all-out fun for her.