Glimpse into the Pas
(Day 12 - Rye's Perspective)
Black hair hides his eyes, as he lies on a large bed, a Torchic curled up beside him. Torchic twitches in her sleep, poking the youth who only recently turned 15 in the stomach. The youth grumbles, eyes opening a tad. Drearily looking down at his Torchic known as the chick pokemon. Torchic shifts again, the youth, Rye, laughing a tad.
Sitting up, he stretches, gazing warmly down at Torchic. "Time to wake up Talya." Torchic, or Talya, as he named her shifts in her sleep, chirping unhappily. Rye pats her head, amused by her clear struggle to wake up.
His Z+ band vibrates, Rye's eye twitching as he sees the caller ID. 'It's too early for this.'
Forcing a smile to cover his lips, he picks up the call, a screen appearing from his Z+ band, showing a face he didn't really want to see so bright and early. "Dad, what now?"
"You could at least smile and act happy I'm calling." The man on the other side of the phone says with a laugh. Black spiky hair, clear black eyes that shone with warmth and laughter, he didn't look his age of 43, looking more like a young man in his early twenties.
"I'm busy." Rye shrugs, looking away, eyes settling on his precious Torchic who had curled herself into a ball and fallen deeper into the world of dreams. A helpless smile momentarily flickers over his lips. 'Lazy little chick.'
"We both know I'm busier than you, so don't be like that Rye." Rye's father says with a "tsk, tsk".
Rye rolls his eyes at the man. "I am busy Dad, unlike you who runs off and abandons his work, I'm doing everything I can to achieve my goals."
The man's expression softens. "I know, you're doing amazing kiddo."
"Right, so I need to go wake up Talya, she's being a sleepyhead." Rye says, about to hang up the call.
"Wait, I wanted to share some info with you. It'll help with your goals." The man says, pulling on a red jacket.
Rye glances at Talya again, sighing. 'Guess she gets to sleep in.'
"I promised not to interfere with your decision to make a special unit in the seventh division, but I wanted to give you some info." The man states, Rye raising his brow at that. "Do you know how there have been more and more people contracting pokemon at younger ages?"
"Of course I know." Rye says, poking Talya with his finger, getting a sleepy peck in response.
"There's three rather peculiar ones that I thought you'd like to know about." The man says, settling himself into a chair, the wall behind him black, making his red jacket stand out.
"If you're going to tell me, just tell me." Rye says when his father pauses for dramatic effect.
"First, a young man in Kanto, his name is Ash Ketchum. He is already an elite pokemon trainer, his pokemon consisting of a Pikachu gifted to him by Professor Oak, and a Caterpie and Pidgey he personally tamed and contracted. He's currently attending the Pokemon Academy, which I wish you would've attended." The man adds as an afterthought, getting a pointed look from Rye.
The screen had changed from showing Rye's father to showing a youth, currently 16 with a cheeky smile. Beside the picture is some basic data. '16, resides in Kanto, 3 pokemon, parents names…'
"He's a good kid based on reports from his teachers, perhaps a bit too trusting when it comes to pokemon, but he's proven himself to be quite the up and coming trainer, even besting Misty, the youngest daughter of the Waterflowers." The man sums up, Rye nodding as he takes in the data.
"Iris Atalia, a very talented and fierce girl. Currently 17, she is a lover of dragons, one pokemon away from being an elite, she has an Axew gifted to her by her village and a Drilbur she tamed herself." The image this time showed a beautiful girl with a wild air to her as she sat up in a tree, an Axew on her shoulder.
The image changes once more, Rye's eyes narrowing. 'I've seen him.' "Lucryn Rykar, honestly I know little to nothing about this kid, but it's been confirmed by his current guardians that he has at least three pokemon, which classifies him as an elite level trainer." Rye's father shares, smiling as he continues. "I won't give you all the info I have, but within the previous few weeks he received new guardians, Steven and Lance, both Master class, currently serving as Division Majors within their respective military divisions."
Rye's eyes widened. 'So his guardians are those two…' Gazing at the image, he confirms it. 'There's no doubt, this is the child I met yesterday.'
"His current age is 13, considering the look on your face, you've already met him. Not surprising considering he enlisted in the same research division as you." The man says, grinning at Rye's slightly surprised expression. "Can you guess why I specifically chose these three?"
Rye didn't need to think about it, he already knew the reasoning. "They all came from nothing."
"Bingo. They had no backers, not really, yet there they are, shining brighter than many children who have backers. Perhaps they had some help along the way, but in the end, the effort they put in, no doubt extraordinary. Not that those with backing don't put in the effort." The last bit was added when he saw Rye's eyes narrowing dangerously.
"Right. So why show me this." Rye asks, the screen changing from Lucryn to his father who lounges on the chair.
"Why? Because you're building your own special unit, aren't you?" The man asks, laughing as he reaches out, grasping something off screen.
"You feel I should recruit those three?" Rye asks, raising a brow.
The man smiles, his hand that had gone out of the camera's view returning, holding a familiar red cap. Placing the cap on his head, the man stands, his aura changing rapidly from casual and laid back to confident and powerful. "I simply wanted to show you something interesting. I'll call you again later Rye. Remember, if you want something, go get it. I believe in you, my young elite."
With that the call disconnected, the image of a confident young man wearing a red cap, eyes confidently looking forward filling Rye's head. Reaching over, Rye grasps his own red cap, similar to the one the man wore. Putting it on his head, he pulls it down. 'Dad, there will come a day I surpass you.'
Ruffling Talya's feathers, Rye frowns. 'If I want something, go get it, huh.'
"Wake up Talya, we've got some research to do." Rye says, standing up and twisting his hat so it's backwards. 'I will achieve my goals.'
Pokemon Ranks Explained:
Pokemon handler - Those who have uncontracted pokemon
Trainer - Those with 1-2 contracted pokemon
Elite - Those with 3-5 contracted pokemon
Named elite - Top 1,000 elites within every military division are known as Named Elites
Master - Those with 6 or more contracted pokemon
Named Master - Top 100 masters within every military division are known as Named Masters
Unique Titled Masters - Given a unique master title by the Division Commanders