"Unnh…"

Something was working in my mouth, and I couldn't really tell if it was painful or not. Kind of dormant, at the back of my mind. I was drifting in and out of consciousness, surrounded by a calming sepia warmth. The memories of being punched were slowly fading, and the bird attack on Flame was long gone.

It felt like floating.

I had close to no recollection of what happened after I told Joy who had hit me. Inside, I felt like a baby; a stupid, helpless kid that couldn't defend himself. My mind was laughing at me, but my heart was saying something different: He hurt you and you needed help. You did the right thing. You did the right thing…

The warmth was pulled up around me and I shivered. A soft hand on my forehead stroked away any stray curls, comfort enveloped me and sleep arrived again.

I woke up to absorb the bright white of the ceiling again. Every bone in my body felt heavy but I had the motivation to get up and run until I collapsed. I turned my aching head - that kind you can feel all over, starting at the back of your mouth - to see Joy placing a bundle of blue and black on the table, then bringing me a plate. I tried to sit up, but she wouldn't let me.

"We put you under anaesthesia, and had a look at your jaw. You've been out for about two hours now. It's broken, but you'll be fine if you eat this."

So a magical food had sprung up suddenly and by consuming it, Darrell would indeed, become dandy.

Well, why not.

She propped me up gently and I tried working with my mouth. It was quite difficult to move, felt stiff, and my irrational phobia returned to me in a panic - oh my god if i move it and it pops out of place and breaks oh dear GOD - but I calmed myself down as soon as it began. On the plate was a strange-looking egg - it looked fried, but the yolk wasn't yellow. It was a glowing pink, the very centre a nebula of colour.

"It's an egg from my Chansey. They're nutritious and tasty, and they have a special ability to immediately fix any injury."

Well. I'd never heard about that before. I was sold. She helped me carefully eat the egg, it was difficult for me to open my mouth and chew, but when I swallowed the first forkful, the power began working within me. The only thing I felt was like the flavours of fruit exploding inside me, surging comfort and relief through my body. I felt my jaw knit itself back together, it was a fucking dream and I couldn't stop smiling - no matter how much the memory of the battle hurt me.

"Oh wow!"

"I've washed your clothes, and your Pokémon are healed. You might be able to battle the Gym Leader, after all!"

I thanked her about a thousand more times but she smiled at me, insisting it was nothing. I was grinning all while throwing myself back into my clothes, rejuvenated and re-inspired to continue on with my journey. I made a mental note not to tell my parents about the bad start I'd got off to. Worse things could have happened - Gary could have seriously hurt me, and I gave him that chance. I didn't sit and wonder why he didn't take it. I didn't care. I was still alive, still here…I still had my family, my Pokémon, and a region to conquer.

Gary Oak wasn't about to beat me - I'd have to die first.

Leaving the Pokémon Center was hard - I knew it was going to become my home away from home. I thanked Joy some more, and she bade me good luck. I strolled out of the Center happily, with Flame at my feet. The memory of the morning was fading and I was glad. I didn't want to remember it - and in a week, it wouldn't matter.

I wasn't going to do very well in a Rock-type Gym with a Fire-type and an Electric-type. Neither would any of the Flying-types I'd seen. But I wasn't too eager to catch a Caterpie, train it until it evolved, and then use it against the Leader. The other option was risk using the two I already had, and most likely be pulverized by him. I just wanted to get out of the area, and move on to bigger and better things.

"Welcome to the juu-ngleee! We got fun and-"

My phone was going off.

Bet it was my mother - and I was right. I reluctantly answered, wondering whether or not she'd heard about me little escapade in the forest earlier.

"Hello?" My jaw still ached a little, but the bruising had died down and only a small, green-lilac tint remained there.

"Darrell?"

Mother Dearest. Great, I was about to be subjected to a Mother Rant, on how I shouldn't have left without discussing it with her first - well, we had discussed it. Sort of. It still counted. I didn't want to talk to her, and if I was going to speak to anyone I wanted them to come in the shape of Joel or Eddie.

"Don't kill me, Mum, I'm in Pewter City, I'm not far-"

"I just had a call from the Pokémon Center there, they said you had a broken jaw! Are you alright? Why aren't you there now?"

"She fixed it, Mum, didn't she tell you? I'm fine. Honestly. I can speak fine and it doesn't even hurt much anymore-"

"Darrell, we want you home right now. You're being silly, dear."

Now she had the sympathy voice on, the one that was supposed to guilt-trip me back to the insufferable clutches of Pallet Town. No fucking way.

"You mean you want me home right now. Eddie wants me to be happy, and I have to go catch that dragon for Zack. Dad agreed with me, he said I've always been independent and I have, Mum. Can't you let me do this? Did you even read what I'd put on that note? Look, I love you, you're my mother but I have to get out of that place. There isn't anything for me there. I wasn't achieving anything at school, nothing I wanted to do in life, I've thought about this. It feels like I'm supposed to be doing it. I've got it all planned out. Don't worry about me. Don't. Seriously."

I heard her talking to someone else, wondering if she had even listened to me. There were a lot of crackles and shuffles and then I heard another voice.

"Hi, Darrell!"

"Eddie!"

God love him.

"Did you seriously break your jaw? What happened, bro?"

"Professor Oak's dickweed of a grandson thought I was a thief when I first met him, meaning we instantly hate each other. Shit happens. Then, he saw me again today, we battled and then he said I was a bad trainer and punched me in the face. He lost the battle, by the way. Sore loser if I ever saw one."

"What a fucker!"

I hoped he was in a different room. If we said 'crap' in front of our mother she almost had a heart attack. We continued talking, and he explained to me that he would convince Mother Dearest to leave me alone and let me do what I wanted to do. After about five minutes, the pain in my jaw began to stab a little.

"Eddie? My mouth's acting up."

"You better get moving, Mr. Big Trainer."

We bade each other excessive goodbyes as always and I was on my way with a smile on my bruised face.

The only way I was going to be able to beat the rock-hard Gym Leader, Brock, was to catch a Water Pokémon. There was a fair-sized pond on the outskirts of the city, a few people fishing around it. I walked over there with Ace, bounding along, knowing he would have the advantage to help me capture them easily. Also, he seemed to like the water, and it would be nice to have some quality time with him.

He dived right into the pond as I sat down near a young man with a mane of strawberry-blonde hair, layered like a 1980s thrash metal lover. He was fishing intently, but didn't look the part at all - long-sleeved black shirt, skinny blue jeans and white high-tops like my own. Ace was splashing about and the dude didn't appear to notice until Ace splashed a bit too much and water soaked both of us.

"Whoa! You're having fun, little man!" I cried out, half-laughing and shielding myself. The guy was laughing - thank God - and he looked at me. He had quite an angular face and lips in a pout. He actually looked like a nice guy - I'd been avoiding trainers on my way to the pond, with the slight fear they would attack me like Gary had done, even when I tried to push the thoughts away.

"He's yours?" he asked me, reeling in his line that turned out to be empty. His accent was different than mine but I couldn't pinpoint it. A sunny, vibrant accent that reminded me of coastal towns and the seaside and sunshine. "He's a cool little dude. I've been trying to catch a Water Pokémon for ages."

"You haven't beat Brock yet?"

"Nope, and I want a Water one to help. He'll be my third badge. I've been doing everything in reverse order. I'm from Vermilion."

"I'm from Pallet down the south and I hate it there. I left today. So glad. Don't go there."

"I'll make sure of that. And you've nailed yourself a Pikachu already?" he grinned. "Respect, man. I'm Dave."

Dave outstretched his hand for mine and I shook it, smiling at him. "I'm Darrell."

We spoke for God knew how long, mostly about music when he realised I was wearing a Maiden T-shirt. Underneath his jumper, he was wearing the same one. The conversation turned to Pokémon a few times, and then after we exchanged phone numbers, we were both silent for a good few moments. Ace was occasionally dipping into the water, quite happy with his swimming.

"Caught anything at all, man?" I questioned him.

"Not a thing. One of my books says that there should be Pokémon like Poliwag here, but if I catch another Magikarp, I'll cut a bitch."

"A Gyarados would be completely worth it, though. I wouldn't mind one."

"Yeah, good point. But it's just training the thing up until it evolves…ugh. It's awful."

I gave him a look. Dave either had a Gyarados, or he just knew from a friend, or I was just being stupid. I was beginning to want to see what Pokémon he owned, especially if he had the power to beat Lt. Surge first. I let out Flame, and Dave jumped in surprise, then grinned at me.

"Feisty little dude, isn't he?"

"Loyal as anything, and I haven't even had him that long. His name's Flame."

"I should show you mine, shouldn't I?"

He let me hold the fishing rod while he fumbled about in his bag for Poké Balls - I sent a telepathic thank-you message to Joel, bless him - and brought out two. With a smile, he opened up the first one and in a bright flash, standing before me was a Jolteon, alert and expecting a battle, but calmed once it realised there was nothing to battle. My little Ace, curious as he had been when I first met him, was immediately enthralled by this new creature, and examined him by sniffing.

"That's Jett. He was my first. He's lightning-fast and a bit temperamental, but he beat Misty down all by himself," Dave explained, and at the mention of Misty, Jett turned and pounced into Dave's lap, staring at Ace curiously. "He's really protective, once you earn his trust."

He then released his second Pokémon, and both of mine ran to hide behind me. The Pokémon was a Haunter, and Dave simply laughed. I'd always been wary of Ghost Pokémon, but I was sure I had just been proven wrong. Dave wasn't scared, and there was no point of being scared. I reassured Flame and Ace, and they both nervously looked at it. The fishing rod in my hand tugged a little, and I absently pulled it back.

"That's Shadow. He won't hurt you, I promise," Dave laughed, noticing my Pokémon's expressions. "He's harmless…until you get him into battle! He won against Lt. Surge easily. I don't know if he'll be much cop against Brock."

I smiled at him, beginning to feel more comfortable with Shadow inspecting me carefully, looking at me and circling me. "He should be. Moves like Earthquake won't have any effect on him, and you can just confuse them."

Dave didn't have a chance to speak, for the rod in my hand tugged so hard that it pulled me right down, almost into the water, and he jumped up. Fear instantly tied my stomach back in knots and I couldn't help but cry out in frustration. Dave took the rod and pulled on it with what looked like all of his might, and I gathered myself together.

Remind me to go to the gym and work out.

Then remind me to go to the Gym and beat Brock.

"If this is a goddamn Magikarp, I swear to-"

Dave didn't need to confirm his statement - he was right. The Pokémon that had almost pulled me head-first into water had been a Magikarp. He burst out laughing, and I couldn't help but join him. The Magikarp was splashing about in the water, getting closer and closer to us.

"Should I catch it?" I asked Dave, standing beside him and looking at the helpless Pokémon. Was the awful training really worth the later Gyarados? I quickly weighed up all the pros and cons in my head. Sure, the training would be a complete nightmare but the result was a powerful Pokémon that would make a good addition to my team. And I had Dave, so we could simply battle a day away and train Magikarp up. Maybe even get it done today - it had just gone quarter past 1; Dave's Pokémon had to be much stronger than mine; I had gained extra freedom from leaving.

Yeah.

Magikarp was worth a Gyarados.

"Alright, Ace, you know what to do!"

Dave looked at me - but it wasn't condescending, he looked amazed. "You're going to catch it?"

"I want a goddamn Gyarados. And we need to battle, you know the stupid rule. Eye contact equals battle."

"Not necessarily. But alright, only because you are my friend."

I chucked a Poké Ball at the Magikarp and quickly gathered it up from the water, holding it shut tight. I wasn't exactly expecting it to break out - even though it seemed stronger than normal. Oh well.

"You're crazy, Darrell."

"I know. But you'll never guess what happened to me earlier today…"