Hideo yawned and slid out of bed with a sigh. It was late, too late for anything. It was the hour when the light of the moon made strange and playful shadows on the walls and yet he was awake. He made his way into the hall and tried to look just a little stern when he reached the room at the end of it. The glow of the lights made him fail. "Even Birthday Boys need sleep, Renji, " he said. Renji didn't answer. His violet eyes were fixed intently on the piece of paper he was drawing on. It was a hobby he'd always had a knack for. Hideo entered and smiled just a little. "Zubat Huh? That's pretty creepy as far as Pokémon go."
Renji flinched before donning a warm smile of his own. "Sorry, Dad. I know I should be sleeping right now, but I just can't."
Hideo looked around the stark little room. There had never been much inside but the walls were nearly covered with fantastically drawn pictures of Pokémon great and small. A look at the disheveled blue bedspread told him that Renji had at least made the effort to get a little shuteye, "Did you have another nightmare?" Hideo asked at last. There was the slightest amount of concern in his voice and the virid orbs that were his eyes softened.
"No. Don't worry," Renji answered. He was nearly finished drawing now. Zubat was one of the easiest Pokémon to sketch in his opinion, but fatigue made him forget whether it had any eyes. "It's just, I'm gonna be Twelve years old in a few days. You know what that means."
"It means you should go to bed. Trust me, you'll need about five days worth of energy if you're going to enjoy everything we've got planned for you. Your mother worked so hard. Ichiro is even flying in from the mainland."
"Do you think he'll bring me a Pokémon?"
"We've discussed that already. Ever since what happened your mother doesn't think it's a good idea. "
"One Year" Renji mused with a sigh. He placed his pencil down beside the drawing and crossed his arms. " I'm already one year behind on my Pokémon Journey. Ichiro and Garchomp get to go everywhere. Mom doesn't have a problem with that. She even has Pokémon of her own."
"A Pokémon Journey can start at any time. There isn't just one sort either. There are those who battle Pokémon, those who devote their lives to understanding their abilities, even those who dress them in funny little outfits, "Hideo laughed. We exist alongside them. When you think about it, there's no way to live in a world like this one without being on a Pokémon Journey. "
"Unless you're me. There aren't even any Pokémon on this island."
"That makes sense. It is fairly new. It'll be a while before any of them make their home here. That makes it the perfect place for you to recover and the perfect place for me to do my job. "
"I'm fine. I have been for a while now. Sure I have a little trouble sometimes but not being around Pokémon ever again? I never expected that and… and I know it isn't what he would want."
Hideo decided to wait a moment before speaking again. He'd detected a hint of deep sadness in Renji's tone despite the boy's best efforts to conceal it. He tried to think of something comforting to say but all the thoughts that were swirling in his tired mind were quashed by a single question, "Who?"
"Taro," Renji replied, pointing to one of the many pictures. On the wall. The Golduck it depicted looked much like all the rest save for a deep scar over its eye ."My first Pokémon. Don't you remember old man?"
"Right. Sorry son. In my defense, it is pretty late. Look, if you go to bed now, I promise I'll talk to your mother about it, Hideo said with a smile. It widened as he was pulled into a cordial hug. "You really mean it, dad?!" Renji exclaimed.
"Sure, I don't see why I can't turn on some of the old Aoyama charms"
"Old is right,"
"Says the kid with the white hair," Hideo laughed, ruffling the same. The gesture made short work of the boy's bowl cut. Anyone who had seen Renji afterward might believe he'd been sleeping for hours. "Now go to bed already."
Renji slipped beneath the covers in an instant. A deal was a deal. With a click, the lights were off and the door was shut. There was only the light of the silvery moon that poured in from the single window. "I'm making progress Taro " He whispered into the shadows. "Soon I'll be back on track and everything we wanted I'll earn for the both of us, he promised.
His eyes closed and he didn't notice the steely pairs that watched just outside the window or how each of them glistened with an eerie light all their own. He didn't see the forms that moved about in the pitch black shadows or hear a solemn voice whisper" Do you think we made a mistake?"
The question lingered in the night air before an answer came, " It'll take a while to be sure. It isn't for you to worry about either way. I'll keep an eye on things and let you know."
There was silence again–the kind that accompanied discontent–Then a quiet sigh. It told anyone who might have heard it that the answer was met with a bitter acceptance.
" I can take care of anything. You know that don't you?" Green eyes glistened and flashed with a calming light, "I can take care of anything."