.007 Squirtle "The Desire to be Born Anew"

They were always smiling at me, always having happy faces and never being pessimistic even though my situation seemed hopeless. At first I liked the way my parents were acting; it made me forget about the times they argued. Before I turned twelve, before we found out what exactly was wrong with me, my parents fought constantly. Even if I was in the same room as them I could hear them whispering, trying to disguise the fact that they were fighting.

Of course I didn't know what they were always 'discussing,' as they put it, but I knew the main concern was my 'problem.' When I first turned six I started getting sick; rashes would appear all over me, my face would swell up and I could barely see, and I would get a fever. For a long time my parents had to leave work to pick me up from school, take care of me, but normally I would be fine in the next day or two. However, it wasn't long before my parents were having issues with work since they were taking so many days off.

After third grade ended my mother decided to quit her job to devote all of her time to me and my strange affliction. It was the beginning of summer and my dad came home late from work one Thursday evening. He held out a Poke Ball and when I released the Squirtle within it, I became overjoyed. However, after only gently touching the blue skin of the creature I felt my throat collapse and my face begin swelling. My vision was darkened and I could only hear my mother screaming as she held me as my father was talking to the paremedics over the phone.

At the hospital the doctors were baffled; I was apparently the first recorded human to be allergic to Pokemon. I don't even need to touch them to have a reaction, but it's when I come in full contact with one of the creatures air can no longer pass through my lungs because of the swelling.

It's been a few years since then, I am fifteen and I am being taught high school classes through an online program. I make friends in random chat rooms, watch televison so much that I even sit through the dumbass reality shows, and play video games day in and day out. I used to collect plushies of Pokemon but after so many years of doctors promising to help me be able to cope with my alergic reactions I threw them out; they only reminded me of what I had to live without.

Although, still sitting on my computer desk sits a small figurine of Squirtle, something of which I seem to not be able to throw out. I first saw at a garage sale our neighbor was holding. I asked my mother for it because it reminded me of the Pokemon that was supposed to be my starter. For some odd reason, whenever I look at the glass figurine, I don't feel the same loatheness I hold towards the plushies or the other small statues. I even came up with a name for it: Rosie. Not terribly creative nor wonderful, but I like it.

Today marked the beginning of summer, and I mean that it was the first day of June that was over eighty degrees. During summer I actually did enjoy going outside in the backyard to spend time gardening; enjoying the pleasures of being around lifeforms that don't cause me to have an allergic fit. While I was tending to a bed of tulips I noticed a Pachirisu sitting among the flowers, curiously watching me from a safe distance. I put down the trowel I was using to dig up weeds and stretched out my hand.

I waited as the creature came towards me, only around three inches away from my hand. With my other hand I reached in the basket where I kept my tools I grabbed a familiar spray bottle with the label torn off. Keeping the bottle out of sight, but when the Pachirisu was close enough I pointed the bottle straight at its face and sprayed the repel at it. The creature, not anticipating this sort of treatment, ran through the flowers shrieking and vanished under the porch.

I gritted my teeth and went back to my work.

I was standing in the midst of nothing but darkness. I was neither cold nor warm. I was wearing my bedtime apparel but yet I did not have the feeling that I was dreaming. As I walked I felt that I was not moving but that the area around me was moving itself. My head soon became light and a feeling of dizziness swept over me for a moment.

You have a desire.

I heard the voice from inside my own head and yet all around me. "What are you?" I called back, looking for any sign of another being besides myself.

What? What an odd yet percise question. The voice chuckled a bit before giving another reply. I am the reason for all that exists.

"You are...?"

You are a person who has a desire. If you wish for a new life I will grant you one, but there shall be a cost.

I wanted nothing more than to be born as someone else, to be able to experience life that was being constricted by who I was now. Of course I was concerned about a cost of requesting my wish, but perhaps if the cost did not outweigh my current burden it would be worth it in the end.

"May I ask what this cost is?"

I cannot say, because the cost is decided by the desire. The desire I know, but the burden it brings with it shall be decided when the request is granted.

"You do not know all?" I asked, feeling disappointed.

I know outcomes, possibilities, paths that can be followed based on the decisions made. I cannot say what the cost is because there are too many desires in your heart.

Perhaps I no longer cared about all that I had in my current life, because I truly requested to be born anew and I was prepared to fulfill any cost I had to. When I felt myself slowly float upward, I could not help but ask for my savior's name.

I am the mother of the one who gave birth to this world and all others.

When I opened my eyes I was met with the blinding light of the sun. What I could understand was that I was laying on my back in a large field, and that there was someone standing over me.

"Hey! You all right?"

I squinted and rubbed my eyes until I could finally see clearly. The voice belonged to a Machop that was wearing a blue scarf around his neck. His face showed concern and confusion as he peered down at me.

"I've never seen a Squirtle this far away from Rub-a-Dub River before. Why are you out here?"

Say that again!

"What?"

Y-you said a Squirtle!

"I can't understand you. Your mouth is moving but there isn't any words coming out!" The Machop laughed nervously as he spoke.

I crawled onto my hind legs, peering down at my small hands. My new life had been chosen but I could no longer speak. I sighed and gently nodded to the Machop, wondering if Pokemon had any idea what sign language was.