Chapter 11: Blue (1)
Blue Leaf was a timid girl during her youth in Pallet Town.
Her parents moved from the Unova region before she was even born.
Thus, Kanto was and would always be her home.
However, the children did not take kindly of her.
The young adolescents bullied her.
There was no inherent reason as to why.
She was different than them.
That was all.
Her name, her appearance, her heritage.
She was bullied for all of that.
Until two boys came into her life:
A raven-haired boy with crimson red eyes.
And an orange-haired boy with emerald-green eyes.
"Hey, you alright?" the latter asked with a smile, extending a hand.
Young Blue observed the owner of that hand and stared.
Stared at his green eyes.
'How pretty,' she thought.
And she gave him her hand.
Whilst the boy unknowingly received her affection.
One bite.
That was all it took.
"Eevee, stop that!" Gary ordered, trying to calm his Pokémon.
"Pikachu, you too! Knock it off!" Ash following suit.
Ever since she tried to intervene in her friends' battle, she developed a phobia of Pokémon.
Scared to even touch them.
Although the white gloves from the two boys helped her, a nagging question always whispered at the back of her mind.
'Whoever heard of a Trainer scared to even touch Pokémon?'
She never wanted to be the greatest Trainer in the world nor a Pokémon Master.
She just wanted to explore the world.
But to do that, she had to be a Pokémon Trainer.
And so, she shoved that thought away completely.
Around 3 weeks had passed since the trio started their journeys.
Blue had met Gary in Cerulean City.
She recounted how much fun Pokémon Battles were.
Thinking back to her Gym Battle against Brock.
All the while petting Eevee on her head.
This did not go unnoticed by Gary.
Eliciting a smile towards her.
A blushing mess the girl became.
Reaching Vermillion City, Blue decided to one-up her friends again by challenging the Gym Leader, Lt. Surge.
She did not have much trouble against the hulking lieutenant.
This was thanks to her team.
Ivysaur.
Clefairy.
Vulpix.
Although lacking in numbers, the 3 Pokémon were well-trained enough to defeat the Gym Leader, earning her the Thunder Badge.
When Surge told her of two boys who had beaten him, she pouted, seeing as the boys had left her in the dust.
But at the same time, Blue was happy for them.
"Hmm? Bulbasaur?" she muttered, rubbing her eyes.
Bulbasaur was in front of Blue.
The green Pokémon extended a vine towards her.
She reached to hold it…
Before realizing she did not have her gloves on.
The vine violently slapped her bare hand.
The accumulated fear since her childhood resurfaced.
Uneven breathing, cold sweat.
The girl was panicking.
With the terror at its peak, she screamed.
"No!"
Blue woke up from her nightmare, Ivysaur worried at her side.
"Saur! Saur…" the Pokémon cried out, making sure his Trainer was all right.
Confirming her gloves were on, the girl patted her starter's head as if to say that she was alright.
But Blue knew she was not alright.
'Whoever heard of a Trainer scared to even touch Pokémon?'
She shook the thought away once more.
Blue then remembered where she was.
Pokémon Tower of Lavender Town.
She had come to visit the graveyard.
Then a purple ghostly creature appeared before her.
It was a Haunter.
"Haunt…" the Pokémon bowed timidly as if to say sorry.
"That was [Dream Eater], wasn't it?" she asked the timid ghost.
[Dream Eater] was a move that stole dream energy from sleeping Pokémon.
The Haunter nodded and beckoned the Trainer and her Pokémon to follow it.
Blue remembered what she had heard from the town's residents.
"Oh girly, there were a bunch of bad people in the Tower recently. Called themselves Team Rocket if I recall. Since then, we townsfolk became wary of travellers such as yourself. Do take, dearie," an old lady warned her.
The sentiment was shared with the Pokémon of the Tower.
'So Haunter was looking into my dreams to make sure I wasn't an enemy,' she concluded in her mind.
The ghostly Pokémon then offered a tour for the young Trainer around the Tower.
Then they reached the newer graves.
There, Blue and Ivysaur widen their eyes.
Unable to believe what they were seeing.
'It can't be…' the girl thought, unable to accept the reality before them.
A tombstone of a Raticate.
On the slab, was a familiar pendant.
Slap!
"But don't you dare talk about your Pokémon like that!"
Her object of adoration merely smiled weakly back at her.
'Raticate was badly poisoned. He didn't make it.'
'That was all Green said…' the girl thought sadly.
But for the girl, that was enough.
Cherished memories.
The weak smile the boy gave her.
Facing fears.
That was enough.
Eevee's loss.
Blue knew that Gary was barely holding himself together.
Chapter 11: Blue (1)
And as he left, Eevee was left under Blue's care.