Meet Me at the PokeStop

Chapter Two

The Beginning

Claire stared down at the little creature before her, mouth open and green eyes wide in disbelief. Charmander, her new Charmander, the one she'd just caught, on her phone, was standing in front of her with a pokeball held lightly between it's tiny little digits. It's teal eyes sparkled in the late morning sun as it smiled up at her.

Barely able to wrap her brain around the fact that she was staring down at the real life version of an actual pokemon, Claire edged forward carefully, kneeling down before the Charmander.

It's orange skin wasn't scaled, but smooth and slightly pebbled; and the tips of it's little digits were teeny barely developed claws. Glancing behind it Claire eyed the small fire at the end of it's tail, feeling the heat it generated from where she knelt.

"Char-Char!" the Pokeball was offered to her happily. Looking from the offered ball, to the happy creature offering it Claire and with a slowly growing smile, she took it gently.

"Nice to meet you too, Charmander," Claire said with wonder in her tone.

The moment was broken by a car horn blaring a street or two over, making both Claire and her new friend jump in surprise. Now free from her moment of wonder Claire realised she needed to get the Charmander out of sight until she could figure out what the hell was going on. Which meant taking it back to her house and hiding a little creature with a constant fire hazard at the end of it's tail from her father. Fun times.

Looking around Claire decided it was lucky her father had chosen a house on a side street of North Hobart, rather than a regularly used one, because there wasn't a single person in sight. Turning back to the Charmander, Claire smiled at it and then swiftly picked it up after stuffing both her phone and the offered pokeball in her hoodie's pockets, needless to say the young woman was a little surprised how heavy the Charmander truly was. Swearing a little under her breath as she struggled to handle the creature without scoring herself some serious burns.

"Charmander?" it asked worried.

"It's okay, just need to get you back to my place, okay?" she told it in what she hoped was at least a mildly reassuring tone. Thankfully it seemed to understand and snuggled into her a little making Claire laugh a little.

The short walk back to her front gate was uneventful and she'd almost made it to the door when she heard the sound on a car traveling down her street. Panicking slightly, Claire hurried inside, juggling the Chamander while trying to open the front door wasn't fun, nor was the rush of adrenalin she had to endure for her efforts.

"Honey?" David called. He had moved to the living room by the sound of it, both good and bad, the stairs to her attic room were right next to the entrance to the living room.

"Yeah, dad?" she called. Trying desperately to sound normal and not like she was in the middle of the weirdest moment of her life to date.

"What's going on? You came storming downstairs a minute ago without a word, and then shot out the door," Claire could hear the tv going in the background, thought the sound was turned down. Apparently David was enjoying a rare day off by relaxing on the couch, watching daytime television.

"Uh, yeah, Playing Pokemon Go, outside game, on my new phone," she explained haultingly. As she talked Claire edged toward the staircase, hoping to at least get Charmander up a few of them and out of sight before David poked his head through the doorway.

"Pokemon, huh? That's that Pikachu game, right?" David asked vaguely. Claire took the last few quick steps to the stairs and transfered Charmander as high up the stairs without actually climbing any herself. Just in time too, as David had shifted himself off the couch to talk to her.

"Uh, yeah, yup, it's the Pikachu game," Claire confirmed awkwardly as she leaned against the doorframe. It was all she could do as the light from Charmander's tail would give her away if her father got too close.

"Huh, and how is it outside now?" David asked as he leaned against the back of their couch, arms folded. He eyed his very suspiciously acting daughter.

"Oh, it's on phones now, uses GPS locations and stuff, lotsa walking," Claire explained with an awkward wave of her hand.

"Huh, weird, good, I mean, might get you out of the damn house more, but still, weird," David frowned at her for a moment as though trying to read her mind. Of course, a mind reader David wasn't, so he shrugged at her and waved her off, heading back to his day time television. "Just stay out of trouble, for my heart, you know?" he asked as he sat back down on the couch. Claire rolled her eyes at him.

"Right, because I have a habit of getting into trouble," she answered sarcastically. With her father's laughter ringing in her ears, Claire turned back to the staircase and Charmander. "Come on, little guy, let's get you up these stairs," she murmured to her new companion. Charmander, despite being larger than she'd expected, did not have the nessisary leg length to be able to actually walk up the stairs himself, so Claire had to half carry the little wannabe dragon, being very careful not to get burned by it's tail the whole way up.

Once at the top Claire settled the Charmander on a chair, thankfully it seemed the little guy seemed to be understanding her worry about it's tail fire as he held it in his arms away from everything. Giving him a greatful, but apologetic smile Clair sat on her computer chair with a sigh. It didn't seem real, but there he was, her own, very, very alive and real Charmander.

"Charr..." was the soft, almost morose reminder that she was making a terrible first impression as a Trainer. Running a hand over her face, Claire rolled her chair over to the little guy and put a hand on his head.

"It's okay, and I'm sorry, I didn't even introduce myself," she started quietly. "I was, I was just a little surprised, I guess, pokemon aren't a-well, you guys are usually on the screen, not, you know, here," it was awkward. Explaining that until ten minutes ago, she'd believed Pokemon were just fictional beings. She couldn't exactly say that of course, probably bad taste, which is why it was awkward. "Anyway, um, I'm Claire- Claire Shepard, nice to meet you Charmander," she smiled at him. "I'm sure we're going to be good friends, just you know, maybe try to stay out of my dad's sight for now?" Charmander beamed at her.

"Char-Char!" he said enthusiastically as he launched himself at her. Claire laughed and hugged her new friend, her mind was still reeling, of course, but maybe this was the start of something awesome. She could research later, right now, she just wanted to get to know her new friend.

"Perfect," said a satisfied voice as she stared down at her new companion. The female Nidoran stared up at her, pokeball sitting on the ground next to it's feet. A slightly off-coloured Charmander stood beside her, a silent and loyal guardian. "And to think," the young woman said as she reached down to pick up the pokeball. Her fingers grazed the side of the Nidoran's face gently, "the game has only just begun,"

AN: Okay, so, second chapter. YAY! Claire and Chamander! I'm still deciding if Claire will be a Trainer who nicknames her pokemon or not. If she did, I have no idea what she would call him. If you guys have any idea's let me know, if I like it I'll be sure to give you a mention!

And oooooh, who was that at the end, with the female Nidoran? and the 'off-coloured' Charmander? Well, I DO know what she'll nick name HER pokemon, which is annoying. Handy though, at least I know what NOT to call everyone elses lol

Okay, Ima go now~

Thanks for the two reviews you guys! They made me smile!

RLK