Disclaimer: I want to be the very best that ever owned Pokémon… but I'm not.
Chapter 1: A Smart Alec
Ten months, 27 days, and… in another minute, 6 hours.
That's how long it's been since my 'master' caught me, and it's… been an interesting time, to say the least. I wish I could say something about the first few weeks, but… suffice it to say it's kind of blurry. Even of my initial capture, I can only remember flashing Leaf Blades, the hard Tackles of a Pokémon's shell, and immensely huge flashes of hot, searing flame.
I didn't go down without a fight, let's say that. Though to be honest, if I had to belong to anybody, there's no trainer better.
Name's Medici. Self-appointed nickname, mind you, not one that my dear old 'master' decided to give me. I'm a Meditite that doesn't meditate, which means I probably won't be evolving anytime soon… but that's ok. I've always been wary of evolving… I mean, can you really guarantee that you're the same person when you come out the other side? Yeah, I didn't think so. And yeah, I just read your mind. It wasn't that hard.
A lot of people say I'm freakishly powerful. I, however, am certainly not conceited enough to believe this. On the contrary, everybody else is just freakishly weak. I mean c'mon people get with the program! Willy nilly silly old Pokémon…
Let me see… a little more about myself… uh… when I'm not meditating (which is all the time) I enjoy playing my triple-neck guitar (thanks to my psychic prowess, I can play on all three necks at the same time), doing aikido with my trainer (I hold back), and taking long walks on top of the cliffs of Cliffkiln while pondering classic Existential questions. Who am I? What's my purpose? Why am I the way I am? I'm told it's perfectly natural for someone who suffers from Amnesia… and no; this doesn't have anything to do with raising my Special Defense.
But, right. Plot. Um… I guess the first plot-related thing that happens on my front is the first time I met Amber. A girl I hadn't seen in town before, dangling her legs over the mighty cliffs, staring out as if she hadn't a friend in the world. Human too, by the way, with some of the darkest distinctly red hair I'd ever seen… though to be completely honest I've never been very far outside of town (or so I remember) so… don't have much to compare it to.
My 'master' has taught me that, when you see somebody who looks lonely, you should talk to him or her, regardless of the situation (have I mentioned how nice a guy he is?) And while I've never been the most comforting person to be around, I figured oh well, what the hell. Why not give it a try?
"Hey," I called. She didn't turn her head in the slightest, but I could tell from her brainwave patterns that she could hear me. "Haven't seen you in town before, what brings you here?"
"Looking for a friend," she said distantly, watching the waves crash at the foot of the cliffs.
"How on earth do you not have friends, looking like that?" I offered, hoping a compliment could snap her out of whatever funk seemed to have taken hold of her.
"Is that really the best pick-up line you could come up with?" she asked disdainfully.
"Whoa, whoa, easy there, princess," I laughed. "Us Pokémon have standards too, you know. Just because we interbreed with other kinds of Pokémon doesn't mean that…"
"Pokémon?" She turned her head quickly, and her eyes widened slightly as she realized 'Holy Crap! That's not a man; it's a Meditite!' Never gets old. "Sorry," she said quickly, averting her gaze. "I… I shouldn't have assumed that you were…"
"There's no need to think you're discriminating against me because you assume a Pokémon can't speak English," I pointed out. "Makes perfect sense to me, I'm just… how you say… a genius. Plus I've been told I'm handsome enough to garner human attention, so I can't say I'm surprised that you thought I…"
"You're funny, really," she said flatly. "But… I'm sorry. I just really can't do the whole 'laughter' thing right now. The effort's appreciated nonetheless, though."
"Well don't think it's stopping there!" I said cheerily as possible. "If you're looking for someone, you'll need a tour of the town, won't you?"
She sighed, but put on a smile to try and show she was grateful. "That's fine, I guess. But first… have you ever met a boy with short blonde hair, a tad overweight, wearing a stovetop hat?"
"What kind of person wears a stovetop hat in this day and age?" I said, furrowing my brow.
"I'll take that as a 'no' then," she said with a sigh, straightening up and brushing herself off. "Well… I suppose I will need to hit the town then, won't I?"
"Hey, if you say so," I shrugged. "C'mon, I'll introduce you to my teammates."
The scene I'm about to describe will sound almost sickeningly like a date. First I'll bring up the fact that Cliffshire was having it annual Autumn Festival, and the streets were full of open-air booths and crunchy, brown and orange leaves that whipped off the nearby trees and rode the wind in wild currents and… all other sorts of nice, autumnal imagery.
"What kind of festival is this again?" Amber asked, though I didn't actually know her name just then.
"It's kind of a… Autumn/Harvest/Attract Some Tourism festival," I explained. They apparently do it every year… wouldn't know of course. Haven't been here that long."
"I'll take it you were caught recently?" she asked.
"Nah," I dismissed, waving hello to the MetalGross, the local Metal band that I jam with on Thursdays. "Just after it was over last year, apparently."
"Apparently again?" she mumbled under her breath.
"Yup," I nodded.
"Care to explain why?" she pressed.
"Already did," I dismissed. "It's not my fault that you can't read my mind."
She stopped walking for a minute, and was trying to decide to herself (or so she thought) whether it was worth putting up with me to learn more about the town. She eventually shrugged and continued walking as we came across Shelligan's booth.
Shelligan, of course, being my trainer's unfortunately named Squirtle. He didn't give Shelligan that name, of course, it came from the trainer who had him before. But hey, that's show biz.
And using said show biz talents to their full potential; Shelligan was wowing the crowd of tourists (relatively small when compared to past years, I'm told) with various juggling and acrobatic tricks… simultaneously, no less. I didn't yell to him like I usually would while he was keeping seven dishes, five china cups, and a running chainsaw up in the air while balancing on a unicycle, though. Don't say I've never done anything considerate.
"And moving right along from Shelligan…" I said after I'd let her 'ooh' and 'ah' with the rest of them for a little. "There's a swords exhibition up ahead in the field outside the bank being put on by another one of my compatriots."
"Your trainer?" she asked.
"No, no… nothing predictable like that, what do you think we are?" I laughed, pointing her towards the demonstration.
Inigo, Leaf Blades sticking out of both arms, was slicing away at logs in midair as usual when we first lay eyes on him. Even though they weren't shining in the setting sun or anything like that, every eye in a fifty-yard radius was on the tiny Treecko and his slashing, near-dancing blades.
"I've been told by reliable sources that it was this little guy who dealt the final blow," I commented.
"What final blow?" she asked.
"Maybe," I responded.
"That… that's not an answer," she grumbled.
"Want me to call the WAAAAHmbulance for you?" I sniped back, pointing towards the post office. "If the guy you're looking for's a criminal, his picture will be in there. Not saying you associate with criminals, mind you. That'd just be mean."
"Look, are you going to try being funny all day or actually help me?"
"I'm not allowed to do both?" I asked, beaming broadly.
"All right, look!" she yelled, stopping suddenly and looking me straight in the eye. "I really do appreciate what you're trying to do, Meditite…"
"Medici," I corrected.
"Medici… really?" She shook her head, continuing. "My point is, I don't intend to spend a whole lot of time here, so if you can just point me to… a town hall or an archive or… some place that keeps track of people that go through here, that would…"
"But we're already here!" I interrupted suddenly and triumphantly, passing my hand over the large collection of booths filled with watermelons, apples, and the like. "This is the central farmers market. Nobody goes in or out of this town without his name being passed along the gossip lines here." I smiled, and floated up to her eye level. "You're welcome, ma'am. Anything else I can't help you with?"
Her mouth stood agape for a minute, but she snapped out of it quickly enough. "Um… no, I don't think so, actually." She paused for a minute, and then managed to say "thank you," though I could tell she really didn't think I deserved it.
"Already said your welcome," I smiled, landing back on the ground and walking away. "Oh! And if you see a guy with a Cyndaquil on his shoulder, be sure to say hi, huh? That'd be my trainer." I waved. "See you! Maybe! If our paths happen to cross again which has a semi-decent likelihood seeing as how small this town is!"
I didn't realize it then, but that conversation of ours? Turned out to be a lot more important than it might have seemed.
Author's note:
That's better. I was reading this over and noticed all the grammar mistakes/unrealistic transitions. Now everything is better! If I can figure out how to upload this in place of the other one, that is.