(This is now, finally, in first person. Love me. It might be confusing, and I'm sorry, but I write better this way. So, how do you think the story's progressing? And for the record, I suggest you go look up Pokemon Special Manga. Why? Spoilers can't be revealed. But just do. Okay? I know it's a little short, but new chapter tomorrow, promise! I don't own Pokemon, just my OCs.)
I stared at Eevee. He stared back. I didn't say anything else, just kept walking. He had refused to stay in his pokeball, and trotted after me happily. I had rolled my eyes, but complied, because, well, what else could I do?
The other kids had started recently, and all were milling around, itching for a fight. I tried to ignore them. But I failed. "BATTLE ME! BECAUSE I'M GOING TO BE A POKEMON MASTER!" Some short ten-year-old shrieked, waving a pokeball around.
I sighed. I looked at Eevee. "Go, I guess." Eevee shook his head. "Name! I want a name!" I stopped. It wasn't commonplace, but when did I care? I shrugged. "If that's what you want... Jack, quick attack!" He brightened up, and sped at...
"Dratini, go!" The boy wailed. I gaped. The gender gap SUCKED. Kids shouldn't be starting with Dragon Pokemon. Or, little titholes who attacked random trainers shouldn't start with them. "Use Dragon Rage!" Jack was speedier than I gave him credit for; he slammed into Dratini, before being sent back.
"This is bullshit!" I shrieked. "Why do I get the goddamn Eevee?! Jack! Get off your ass and DO something, Arceus damn you!" He rolled his eyes at me, and tackled the Dratini.
"Hey! Let's have a Double Battle!" Another overeager kid squalled, throwing out his pokeball. It was a Tyrogue. Which Jack was weak against.
Again, this is bullshit.
"I only have one Pokemon." I told the idiot boys, clones with their crewcuts and caps. They grinned.
"Who cares? Go Tyrogue! Use Double Kick!" I felt like screaming. These kids were little shits, honestly. Who lets little kids go on journeys?
Jack was getting his ass handed to him. I'd checked his moves, and he had nothing that worked well against Fighting-types; his strongest moves were Shadow Ball and Bite, but... I got it.
"Jack! Dig!" I told him. He burrowed his way down. "Jump into the hole!" I winced. Hadn't thought that one out completely. After a few minutes, they dragged out a bruised and bleeding Jack. The boys were laughing at my pokemon...
"FUCK YOU!" I shrieked. I raced over to them, and proceeded to kick their asses. I smashed my fist in the brown-haired one's face, and kneed the other one in the crotch, giggling evilly.
...Perhaps there was something to that 'Johto Madness' idea.
The Tyrogue and Dratini were going at him pretty bad, however. I felt so guilty... I jumped off the kids. "Jack! Run!" I scooped him up, and sped off like the hounds of Darkrai were on my ass.
I set him down near Viridian. "Well. That went well." I said sarcastically. He nodded, and mewled at me. I rolled my eyes. "Okay. Our first order of business is to get to Viridian Forest. Then I want another pokemon, because if everyone's starting with fucking Dratini, I need some more." Jack nodded.
"And you." He flinched, afraid I was going to yell. I sighed. "Weren't too bad. You had a disadvantage, is all." He brightened up. I flipped open my pokedex, and checked the area around Viridian. Pachirisu, a squirrel pokemon from Sinnoh, populated it, along with Pikachu.
I liked Raichu and... grudgingly, I admitted to liking Pachirisu. It was cute, is all. I hated myself. First a shitty Eevee, then this thing... though it would be an asset against the Water Gym Leader; the new one, Kristina.
I looked at Jack. "We should get going." I set off, Jack padding along beside me. It wasn't long before I encountered another Trainer, this one another male.
"Want to battle?" He demanded, and before I could refuse, he'd tossed out a pokeball. Kids, right, gotta love 'em. Jesus. It was a Tyrogue. The thing sat there, waving its hands in the air. I sighed.
"Jack! Dig!" He dove underground, and just like before, Tyrogue dove in. But Jack had already buried his way back up again, and came from behind to Tackle the brute.
"Double Kick! As much as you can!" Tyrogue, with the advantage of hands, punted Jack around like a soccer ball, heaving him up in the air only to go at it again. I growled in annoyance. He didn't know any attacks that could fix this situation, nor did I have another pokemon. And he was still so tired...
He was already past fainting, and was now bleeding heavily. His frail body heaved, and he coughed up blood. "Leave him alone!" I cried, the words sounding weak even to my ears.
"Ragnarok, Hyper Beam!" A female voice yelled. I looked up. Jack's eyes had closed from pain, and when the beam struck, and he was blasted back, he whimpered. He didn't even open an eye to acknowledge my presence. He was weak. Honestly, why couldn't I just have a Charmander? I was already fighting this goddamn League, who CARED about gender norms?!
But my savior, my savior, had made her appearance. Her head was shaved, the fuzz dyed a mellow forest green. Her leather jacket flapped in the wind, and it appeared to be about five sizes too big for her. A plaid skirt and white tank top completed her crazed-punker-lunatic-child-of-Beezlebub image. She strolled up to the kid, and stepped on his hand.
With her steel boots, I figured this would hurt; I believe it did, as he started to wail. "Leave the fox alone, huh? Go train somewhere else. Leave the kid alone." A huge Gyarados behind her seemed to agree with this sentiment. The kid scowled at me like it was MY fault, and left.
She turned to me. "Hey. Your Eevee's almost dead, so if you want him to live, you might wanna haul ass to a Pokemon Center." She nodded to a hovercycle whirring nearby. (Think of Wes' from Pokemon Coliseum) C'mon, I'll take you there."
I looked at Jack, and sighed. "C'mon, Useless." Though it was a cruel term, the tone of my voice betrayed my concern. He whisked his tail weakly. I recalled him, and practically threw myself in my savior's sidecar.
As we sped past scenery, she turned to me. "Name's Anna Montgomery. You?" I shrieked over the gears, "Olivia Kent! And this is Jack, the Useless Eevee!" She snorted in laughter, and sped faster.
I rushed into the Pokemon Center, and thrust his pokeball at Nurse Joy. "Some kid's Tyrogue beat him up, please help Jack!" She nodded mechanically, and handed the pokeball off to Chansey.
Anna looked at me as we sat down. "So, I take it you're a rookie? At this age?" I sighed. "They passed me over every year 'cause I was from Johto. And Professor Oak gave me Useless, and we set off, I guess." She nodded.
"Gary? I see... Did he say anything to you in writing?" I blinked. Then it hit me. She knew. I should've expected from the Gyarados, but I wasn't sure...
"He did. You're..." She nodded grimly. "Don't speak of it here. We'll talk later." Nurse Joy interrupted us.
"I recommend you capture another Pokemon; this one won't be in any condition to fight for a few days." I frowned, and took Jack's pokeball, nodding. She smiled. "We hope to see you again!"
And that got Anna going.
"Crazy bitch. It's like she WANTS to have Pokemon hurt. And what's with this 'We' shit? It's just her and those weird fuckin' Chansey. What the hell's with them, anyway?" Anna rambled on angrily.
I said nothing, just released Jack. He looked up at me. "Hi, Livvy!" I couldn't help but smile. "Hey, Useless. C'mere." I sat him in my lap, and placed my palm on his head wound. My hand glowed a soft white, and Anna stared in amazement as Jack's wounds healed quickly as anything.
"Whoa." She said quietly. "I see." I scooped him up, and gestured to the hovercycle. "Viridian Forest ho." She shook her head, and snorted.
"Kid, you don't know what you're getting into." I sat in the sidecar, and adjusted the helmet.
"Maybe it's better off that way."
We sped off, as the sun started to set. She growled in frustration. "Dammit." She braked the cycle in front of Viridian Forest. The trees stretched imposingly in front of us. "Dammit all to hell. Let's make camp, and you can meet the crew."
She started a fire, and sat down. I sat across from her, unsure of what to make of Anna. She smiled at me.
"I don't bite, you know." She selected five Pokeballs, and threw them out.
Ragnarok, the Gyarados from before, waved at me with a fin. The others were equally tough-looking and gender-nonconforming. Now I knew she had to be a part of the Resistance.
A Gallade with a scar running up one of his blades nodded at me. He was a strange color for a Gallade; he was a cerulean blue, just like Jack was a strange color as well. I didn't think much of it, however; since I have never seen a Gallade closely, I might be wrong.
He nodded at me, and smiled. "Wotcher, Livvy. Name's Akira." I blinked. "Hi." No one had ever called me Livvy before besides Jack.
A skinny, bedraggled Mightyena growled an acknowledgement at me. "Lucifer." I raised an eyebrow, and nodded.
A Banette with a cataract over one eye leered at me. He nodded. "Name's Jupetta. Pleasure, kid." I shook his hand, and smiled at him.
And finally, a Flygon with a cracked set of eye goggles, who flapped a wing in hello. "Hello. My name is Subakami." (1)
I nodded, and shook her claw. "Right, luv. Anna, what was wit' the sudden recall? Rude." Anna smiled at the Gallade. "Sorry, Akira." And then she did the most disturbing thing I'd ever seen.
She brushed her lips gently across Gallade's. I gasped. She pulled away, and sighed. "Right. You were raised against the backdrop of the League." I gaped.
"Pokephilia! But it's a... sin. Right?" I said softly. She shook her head.
"Now it is. It wasn't a long time ago. People married Pokemon all the time. No one saw it as wrong. But after the New Order League, marriage was sanctified only if it was a male and female human." She sighed in sadness, and leaned against Akira, who held her steady.
"Right. But they made the act of love a sin only because it suited their purposes. Buggers." Akira grumbled. Anna nodded.
I looked down at Jack. Falling in love with a Pokemon... how strange. Yet, I couldn't honestly see anything wrong with it. I mean, it's just love, right? No reason to be so uptight about it.
Jack smiled up at me. He purred, and I picked him up, stroking him. "Okay, I get it. Sorry if I insulted you." She waved a hand. "No prob, kid. Go to bed, alright? We've got some Pokemon catching to do tomorrow." I smiled.
I was finally on my journey. Just like everyone talked about. I'd had to wait another three years, but it was worth it, just to feel that excitement.
As we settled down, I asked her one last question; "How old are you?" She rolled over and spoke sleepily. "Sixteen, doll. You're thirteen, right?" I nodded. She seemed satisfied with that, and rolled over to start snoring again.
Jack snuggled down in my arms as we both fell asleep together. I looked down at him, and scratched his ear listlessly, liking the feel of fur between my fingers.
"Loving a pokemon... Well, why not? Seems like... something I might do..." I fell asleep at that, thinking of nothing else afterward.
(1)- Subakami, roughly translated, means something like Desert God, which seemed like a good name for a Flygon.