Standing in place, Clara shifts her talons nervously as an audience isn't normal for her. I, on the other hand, sit with astonishment and confusion across my face.
"Clara, is that you?" As this defies Earthly logic, nothing could be analyzed in this situation except the superstitious thought of magic. I look to Holly to verify that I'm not the only one seeing this. She just gives me a nod, approving what I'm seeing is real.
Turning to me, she says, "Yes it's me. Who else could it be?" She's starting to get frustrated. "I transformed right in front of your eyes and you still ask such a question?" Even with her beak, she perfectly articulates human speech with ease.
Even more confusion is brought upon me, "How are you able to speak? You are a Pokémon. Pokémon aren't normally able to speak except to pronounce their name."
This time, Holly speaks up, "That's when this comes in handy." She's showing me a necklace around her neck with a pendant shaped as a feather. "Human and Pokémon share identical pendants, allowing the Pokémon to understand any language you speak. On the other hand, you aren't able to understand any Pokémon speech."
Intrigue sweeps through me as I turn to Clara, who still has a frustrated look in her eyes and her body language. I look up and down Clara's body, trying to find the identical pendant Holly showed me, only to be replaced with curiosity as the pendant isn't on her. "Where's her pendant?"
Again, Holly explains. "When a Pokémon changes into their original form, the pendant is absorbed into their body. Only when they are in their humanoid form does the pendant return to the outside of the body."
"She's right, by the way. I can feel the pendant's energy coursing through my body," though still a bit frustrated, she soon begins to realize that I'm truly curious about everything going on. Even as I know the reason behind her talking, it's still kind of disturbing with a Pokémon talking nonchalantly.
Clara returns to her nervous shifting from before and says, "Miss, may I go and change into my humanoid form now?"
"Sorry, Clara, I didn't know you were uncomfortable," Holly says apologetically. "You may go now."
I watch as Clara picks up her clothing with her beak and walks away in the direction of the living room, leaving me alone with Holly till Clara returns back. Silence envelops us as we drink our tea.
Why can't I just strike up a conversation when I'm alone with a woman? It's not like I'm uncomfortable around her, but it has never been my forte to just be sociable with another. Ugh, being an introvert definitely has its downsides, especially when it comes to being sociable with others.
Holly breaks the silence by setting down her cup. "So Nate, do you mind telling something about yourself?"
Thank you for breaking the silence!
I set my cup of tea down on the table as she finishes her question. "Aren't we going to wait for Clara to get back? She did want to hear my story, did she not?"
As if by coincidence, Clara walks into the dining room in her humanoid form. She looks the same as before, but this time wearing a different top and bottom than from before. There the pendant was, dangling from its chain around Clara's neck.
"Where would you like me to start?" I asked, pouring some more tea in my cup.
"Let's start off with who you are first, then we'll move on from there," Holly tells me.
What's with all this commotion? It sounds as if a man is pleading for his life next door.
I get up from my deep slumber and start stretching my small body. My pointed ears twitch to detect for any further noise as it becomes silent.
Why's it silent? Did the man die or something?
Suddenly the door opens and a large bird enters, closing the door immediately. A white light engulfs its body, and from it emerges a humanoid Pidgeotto, completely unclothed.
Unfazed with the whole situation, "Pika-pika pi-pika chu?" Clara, what's going on?
She reaches for a necklace hanging from the wall with a feather pendant attached to it and puts it around her neck. "Apparently a young man has suddenly appeared in the house and Holly wishes to show him some hospitality." Clara puts on a T-shirt and a pair of shorts. "Of all the people she could've shown hospitality too, she chooses the one who surrenders immediately instead of standing up and defending himself."
Clara starts to open the door before turning to me, "Holly wants me to come back to her as she talks to the young man. If you want, you can come."
Curiosity overtakes me as I'm somewhat interested in this person but my fear of strangers is holding me back from going with Clara. "Pika pi-pi pika-ka chu."Clara, you know I have a fear of strangers.
"I know you're scared, but come with me. I think they're in the dining room and you can hide behind the couch, out of sight."
"Pi~! Pi-ka pi-ka!" Ooooh! Great idea!
I start to follow Clara as she heads out the door and goes downstairs. My little yellow paws scurry to keep up with her. As we turn left into the living room, she points to the half circle couch, directing me to go there. I follow her directions and head to the couch while Clara goes to the dining room.
I wonder who he is? He must be someone special.
"Okay, that makes things a little easy." I sigh in relief as I wasn't asked to explain how I got here right away. "My name is Nate Mendoza, sixteen years old. From where I come, I am a high school student in the public education system. I'm a little bit athletic, as I ran cross country and track, but never enjoyed competition. Currently though, I'm in the show choir where I sing and dance, but I can play piano and guitar to accompany my voice. Academically, I'm in the top ten percent in my grade and the school I go to is a high ranking high school."
Surprising Holly and I, Clara is the first to speak up. "So, you're like the top dog at school, right? You've got so much going for you: you're smart, you're athletic, and you're musically talented."
I start to laugh. "Ha! Me? Top dog?" as I point to myself. "That could never happen."
"But why? You've got so much going for you," There was confusion in her tone as to what I said.
"First of all, those three things you just listed don't a make person popular. They help, but it's not a guarantee. Secondly, my introverted behavior prevents me from being socially outgoing. Due to that, I have many acquaintances but few friends. Lastly, I don't wish to be popular. Being on the sidelines is fine for me." Finishing the last sentence with lackluster, I know all too well that I'd like to be a little more outgoing.
"So sociability defines the popularity of a person, regardless if they're smart, talented, or athletic among other things?" Holly asks, a little surprised; not because it's true, but because she caught the lack of conviction in my last sentence.
"Unfortunately, yes, it's true. If only things are done by merit instead of popularity, student government wouldn't be such a joke," apparent disgust shows as I mention my school's student government.
God, if it wasn't a damn popularity contest, maybe the school would be a bit better.
Holly and Clara glance towards each other as they both notice the disgust in my voice but don't say anything, leaving me in relief so I don't have to explain myself.
"Now that we know a little bit about you, how does Pokémon relate to your life?" Holly asks while Clara perks up, eager to find out.
"Yeah, how does Pokémon relate to your life?" Clara eager to find out as her tone of voice changed from indifference to enthusiasm.
Okay, another easy question; I just have to take it a little slow.
"This may be a surprise, but Pokémon don't exist in the world I come from," I say a little apprehensively, trying not to insult Clara, as she's a Pidgeotto.
Astonishment lit up in their faces as they are truly amazed as to what I just said. "Pokémon don't exist in your world?" they both ask at the same time, a bit too loud to be a simple question but one of pure curiosity.
I smile inwardly as they both seem so eager to listen to my tale. "Yes, Pokémon don't exist in the real world where I come from. They exist in the virtual world through video games. The games are very popular worldwide, appealing to all age groups though its targeted range is for kids several years younger than me."
Calmed down from her recent astonishment, Holly asks, "So how do these games work exactly?"
"First of all, you start off as a ten year old kid in one of five regions depending on the game you choose: Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh or Unova. I personally have only played in Kanto, Johto and Hoenn as the two other regions never appealed to me and I don't have the means to even be able to play them."
"Okay, I know of Kanto as we are currently in Johto. I have heard of Hoenn as a rumor, but never looked into it but the other two, Sinnoh and Unova, they're completely new to me," both are intrigued by the game's mention of the regions, especially Holly, who's starting to believe I may be telling the truth.
"Which town are we in?"
"New Bark Town."
Hmm, the hero's starting point, just like the game.
"Continuing on, you, the ten-year-old, are given one starter Pokémon of three: fire, water or grass, to start your journey across the region. You travel the region, catching wild Pokémon, defeating trainers, gym leaders and the Elite Four, and bring down a criminal organization or organizations, depending on the game. As we are in Johto, the game depicted the criminal organization to be Team Rocket, if I'm not mistaken."
The moment I mentioned Team Rocket, both of them lose their previous enthusiasm to listen to my story. Holly looks down while Clara looks around nervously.
Genuine concern, with a hint of interest in my voice, "Um, are the both of you alright? Is something the matter?" Still no response as they continue with their previous activities.
Something's definitely not right here. In the games and anime, Team Rocket was depicted as organized criminals who stole Pokémon and exploited them for their own purposes. There must be more to them than what I was originally told of. Clara and Holly do not wish to speak to me about this as they got uncomfortable when I mentioned the name.
Trying to lighten the mood, I say, "Uh, how about we go to the most important part of my tale, how I ended up here." As upon hearing that, both Clara and Holly leave their nervousness behind, returning to the eager interest they previously showed when listening to my story.
"I'm just going to start from where the action begins." They both nod, too interested to say anything. "I was returning home from a fairly typical day at school and I notice a small package on the front porch. It had my name on it with no name of who sent it. Of course, I didn't open it right away, knowing all too well that when a mysterious package arrives, more than likely, that person's life will change drastically. Well, I didn't open the package till hours later after doing my homework and when I opened it, a ring was inside." I show them the ring on my finger, noticing that the ring has changed slightly, it is more vibrant, no longer the dull color before.
"It's a pretty ring," Clara says, entranced by the ring.
I go back to telling my story, "So after opening the package and taking out the ring, I look it over and notice on the inner band there is a phrase. It says 'Your dreams will come true'. Naturally, I didn't believe any of it, but still, I put the ring on before heading to bed. I do faintly remember dreaming of the Pokémon world, but never expected it to be real. When I woke up, I was in the room you found me in. Well, that's my story. I know it's a little much to believe, especially the traveling to a different world, but that's the truth."
After I end my story, there's a small silence at the table. Holly is the first to break it. "I've heard many a strange tale in my life, but yours tops them all. Even as bizarre as yours sounds, I'm strangely inclined to believe in it. The way you act and talk shows that you may not actually be from this world, or you're a really good liar, but I want to believe in the former as you seem to be a nice guy."
"Thank you," I say, pleased with her compliment. "Oh, I forgot. There's one more thing I need to mention." Both look at me in interest. "In the games, Pokémon only have one form, their original form. So when you transformed," I look at Clara, "I was really surprised, since that is only in stories written by unpublished authors."
"Well, that's kind of self-explanatory, due to the way you reacted to my transformation and how you didn't even recognize me as a Pokémon when I initially met you in my humanoid form." Clara turns around to the kitchen and notices the time. "Oh my, look at the time. We've been talking for ninety minutes and it's already ten PM."
"Since it's getting late, and I'm pretty sure you have nowhere to go, would you like to stay the night?" Holly asks me, grabbing the tea set and putting it in the kitchen to be cleaned later.
"I really appreciate the offer, and I hope I'm not imposing too much by accepting said offer."
"It's totally fine, and would the bedroom you appeared in suffice? It's currently the only room not being used right now."
"That's more than enough, thank you so much for your hospitality." I look down and notice that my clothes are my day use clothing: jeans and a green Hawaiian shirt. "I hope I'm not asking too much, but do you have a spare set of sleeping clothes?"
"Ah, yes we do." Turning to Clara, she said, "Clara do you mind grabbing some sleeping clothes and some day clothing for Nate tomorrow? Just set them in his room. We'll be up in a little bit."
Clara leaves the table and heads upstairs, leaving me and Holly alone again. This time though, I'm not feeling uncomfortable one bit as she basically knows who I am.
Today has been one crazy day. I'm pretty exhausted and need some sleep.
"Holly, today has been pretty exhausting for me, so I'm going to head to my room now, if you don't mind." I struggle to keep my eyelids open else I will fall sleep sitting in this chair.
"Ah, I was about to head up too. I'll go with you."
We walk through the living room to the staircase and head upstairs in peaceful silence.
"There's one more thing I need to ask," Holly stated.
"What is it?"
"What would you like for breakfast?"
Multiple thoughts hit me about breakfast: eggs, waffles, French toast. "I'll just have whatever you're making. You're already treating me to more than enough for someone you just met several hours ago."
We enter the hallway upstairs and my room is the second door on the right. We pause outside the door before I start to open it.
"Good night and thank you very much for everything." Genuine sincerity is in my voice as this is probably the kindest thing someone has ever done for me on such short notice.
"You're welcome and good night, Nate. Sleep well," she says as she closes the door behind me.
I see the clothes lying on the bed. Gym shorts and a plain white T-shirt: just my style. I undress from my current clothes, folding them neatly before setting them at the foot of the bed and changing into the sleeping clothes given to me. Fatigue sets in and I turn off the light and jump into bed, passing out immediately as my head hits the pillow.
Clara enters the living room, passing the couch. She motions her hand towards me as if to say "follow me." I oblige and start to follow her upstairs.
"Pi-pika pi ka-chu?" What do you think of him?
"He seems like an interesting guy and from what I can tell. He wasn't lying at any point in his story. Also, if Holly is fine with him, I'm fine with him. What do you think of him, Layla?"
"Pi-ka... chu." He seems... lonely.
We enter a room on the left and grab some sleeping and day clothes to put in his room. They look like the proper size, so we enter his room and drop it off on the bed. Clara starts to walk out, but notices that I'm not following behind her.
"Aren't you coming?" Clara asks curiously as I am not leaving with her.
"Chu. Pi pi-ka pi kachu." No. I think I'll stay the night in here.
A devious look is in Clara's eyes, but she leaves without saying a word. I, on the other hand, stay under the bed, waiting for Nate to come.
Two minutes pass, and Nate enters the room after saying good night to Holly. He starts to undress his clothing, leaving only his boxers on. I get a good look at his body, trying to stay as concealed as possible.
Well, he's definitely not a body builder. He's got some muscle definition but that's about it. Also, his abs are flat, and I can't see any definition.
I watch as he puts on the clothes we gave him and he jumps into the bed, turning off the light in the process.
I wait a couple minutes till I hear a rhythmic breathing knowing that he has fallen asleep. I crawl out from under the bed and start to hop onto the mattress. I approach his sleeping body and get atop of his chest. Tired from paying attentive throughout his whole story, sleep overcomes me as I curl into a ball.
He's so warm...