The gardener had been right, there were indeed a great many grass Pokemon out and about, basking in the sunlight after several cloudy days and scattered storms. A group of sunflora and bellosom frolicked in a nearby meadow, while a couple of hoppip floated by high above them. Fortunately, they hadn't seen any particularly dangerous grass types like vileplum or parasect. James and Growlie's walk continued without incident, making their way down the driveway to the main road from Celadon to Sunnytown. It was a good few miles walk providing both of them with exercise. The only major hold-up occurred when Growlie decided to have a bit of fun with a vulpix that was sunbathing on a rock. When vulpix had had its fill, it wandered off toward the woods.
When James and Growlie got to the end of the driveway and the gates leading to the estate, he looked out along the road. Apart from a single truck, there was nothing as usual. It wasn't a particularly popular road, with most vehicles being cargo trucks or other commercial vehicles. Most people who lived in the towns along the road didn't have much cause to travel and spent most of their time farming or ranching.
The two of them turned around after a few minutes and began their walk back to the mansion. They hadn't gone far however when they heard the sound of a car behind them. Turning around curiously, he instantly recognized the limousine. Dread filled him and he briefly considered running off the driveway and hiding in the grass, but there was no chance that the driver hadn't spotted them by now. Bracing himself, he stopped and waited for the car to pull up beside them.
As soon as the car had stopped a window lowered and Jessiebells face greeted him. The morning he had considered pleasant mere moments before, had immediately become his least favorite of the week. It was strange though, Sebastian would have told him of Jessiebells coming and forced him to dress properly and await her at the mansion.
"James darling, how delightful," Jessiebell said giving him her best smile.
Upon seeing Growlie however, her smile seemed to freeze, and a couple of moments later it looked like her smile was being forced. James could sense her distaste for Growlie under the surface.
"I was just on my way to meet with your parents. Please, allow me to drive you back to the estate." Jessiebell sweetly.
James felt ill suddenly.
"No thank you Jessiebell, I'm in the middle of taking Growlie on his walk, and I'd prefer to get the exercise this morning," James said politely, making sure to give her a faux smile.
Jessiebells eyes lingered on Growlie, and he could practically see the disdain in her eyes.
"How delightful, I love a man who takes his and his Pokemon's health seriously. Very well, I will see you at the estate." She said, rolling up the window and her driver resuming his drive.
James watched her leave and then sighed. Any day where Jessiebell was involved was bound to be a bad one. There was no helping it though, so he resumed his walk with Growlie, who glared at the retreating limousine. Growlie was as fond of Jessiebell as James was.
James just sighed and turned to Growlie.
"C'mon boy, let's get this over with..." James said resignedly.
So the two of them set off back to the estate.
When James and Growlie got back, the limousine was parked but with no sign of Jessibelle, meaning she was inside, probably already talking to his parents. The two of them looked at each other, James shrugged and they walked through the front doors.
"Ah, Young Master James!" Sebastion said, as soon as James opened the door.
"Miss Jessibelle and your parents are in the drawing room, You're to join them immediately," Sebastion said, and whisked James away, Growlie trotting behind them.
Sebastian took them through the halls to the drawing room, where his parents and Jessibelle were already seated. Tea and crumpets were placed on the table in the center of the room alongside various papers.
"Young Master James has arrived," Sebastian announced.
"Excellent!" Jessibelle said brightly.
"Good morning James, how was Growlies walk?" James's father asked.
"It went well, the grass Pokémon are out in force now that the rain showers are over," James said.
"How lovely! I'll have to take a walk and look at them for some drawing references later." James's mother said.
During this time James took a seat in an armchair positioned between Jessibelle and his parents. He poured himself a cup of tea, grabbed a crumpet, and began snacking.
"The lovely day aside, it's time we get to the topic of this meeting," Jessibelle said.
"Umm... what is the topic of discussion?" James asked with trepidation.
"Our marriage of course!" Jessibelle said smiling.
James's heart sank, he was afraid this would be what the meeting would be about.
"Yes, you're nearly 16 and so we must discuss when the marriage will be." James's mother said.
"Surely this is all still premature," James said desperately. Nothing horrified him more than the prospect of his marriage to Jessibelle.
"Nonsense. The sooner the two of you tie the knot, the better off we will all be." James's father said, taking a sip of his tea.
"You mean the better off you three will be..." James thought, annoyed.
"Indeed! That is why I believe we should aim for the wedding to happen this fall. It's still early spring so that gives us plenty of time to plan out the event." Jessibelle said.
"An excellent suggestion, but we should have a backup plan for the winter or next spring in case unforeseen problems occur. No wedding happens without something going wrong. Especially when you plan for one to happen so quickly." James's mother said pointedly.
"A fine idea, thank you! I hope you'll continue to provide such sound advice in the future." Jessibelle said brightly.
"Oh think nothing of it, my dear, I'm always happy to help!" James's mother said delightedly.
James glanced surreptitiously at Growlie who was lying on the floor beside him, head resting on his arms, but his eyes were constantly on Jessibelle. Then he glanced at his father, who sipped his tea in relative silence. It was clear James's father was content to let the two women hash out the details.
For James's part, however, he could only sigh. He doubted his opinion would be consulted much going forward and that his presence here was more of a formality while his mother and... "fiance" worked out preliminary details.
The hours he spent listening to their inane planning, compliments, and backhanded compliments, were dreadful. He contributed little, as he expected, so he mostly spent his time thinking.
With a rough target set for his marriage to Jessibelle, the cold reality of his life started to hit him. He couldn't help but think about how things had gotten to this point. Oh, how he wished he had never fallen for Jessibelle's looks when he was a child. She'd become obsessed with him, and no amount of begging or explanation made his parents or Jessibelle understand his desires. Eventually, he had just given up, what was the point in repeating himself if no one listened to begin with?
Jessibelle aside, his parents actually believed marrying her was in his best interests. Given how disconnected they were from his life, it was no surprise. He spent less time with his parents than he did with the servants and Pokemon. They didn't know him in the slightest, while he had come to understand his parents quite well.
It wasn't that they were cruel or mean-spirited, they did love him, just in their own wealthy way. When it came to anything involving money, power, or politics his parents were geniuses, but when it came to individual people outside of those spheres, they were quite obtuse. Yet, you couldn't outright hate them because you never got the impression they did it out of arrogance or petty cruelty for their enjoyment. They paid the staff well, and were plenty willing to delegate responsibility to people they understood were experts in their field. Newer staff members had told James his parents were the best rich people they'd ever worked for. Which, wasn't saying much considering what most were like, but still it made him a little proud to be their son. In the end, however, they didn't understand people, which also meant they didn't understand their son.
Eventually, he could stand it no longer, and excused himself, saying he had some personal affairs to attend to. Which for him, amounted to taking care of Growlie, wandering around the estate grounds, and daydreaming. Neither his parents nor Jessibelle objected.
He let out a loud sigh as he walked down the hallway, hands in his pockets, and slumped forward.
"Growe...?" Growlie said, worry on his face and he nuzzled into James's legs.
James couldn't help but smile, despite his depression. He reached down and patted Growlie's head.
"Don't worry Growlie, I'm all right..." James lied, trying to cheer up Growlie.
Growlie saw through the half-hearted lie however and let out a whine and got up on his hind legs to lick James's face. James bit his bottom lip, then embraced Growlie tight, taking comfort in his soft thick mane. Tears fell from his eyes into the mane, as Growlie nuzzled into his face and neck.
"I'm sorry Growlie..." James said, his throat thick.
"I just can't stand it... It's like I don't exist like I'm just some doll for my parents and Jessibelle to move as they wish..." James whispered.
He opened his eyes and looked out the window beside them, the big blue sky seemed to stretch for eternity. He'd heard stories of children, as young as then, going off on adventures with their Pokemon. Seeing the world, and who knows what else. He'd daydreamed about such adventures, imagining him and Growlie going off, discovering new Pokemon, places, and people, and maybe doing things no one else had done before.
He stared out the window, idly stroking Growlie's mane, and then it happened.
Like a bolt of lightning, the solution came to him in a flash. The idea was insane though, what if he ran away from home? Was it even possible? More ideas ran through his head like wildfire. He had Growlie, so wild Pokemon wouldn't be a problem. He could get a map, and map out a route to get to the nearest port. He had money, he could get a ticket to Hoenn. From there he could get a map of the region and then map out a route to his grandparent's estate.
His grandparents always knew what was best, they could help him. He couldn't risk his parents finding out though, so he couldn't call them ahead of time. At least not until he was far enough away. IT would likely take his parents several days to realize he was gone and have someone go after him. By then though, he would hopefully be far enough away.
The more he thought about it, the better the idea sounded. Growlie, picking up on James's sudden shift in demeanor pulled his head back, licked his face, and gave a quiet bark in question. James jumped from the unexpected lick and was pulled from his thoughts. He looked at Growlie, grinned, and hugged him tight.
"I've decided Growlie, I'm running away!" James said, firm in his decision.
Growlie tilted his head to the side, panting slightly.
"I'll run to PopPop and Nanny, they always know what to do!" James said, every word of his rebellious plot spoken aloud strengthening him.
Then the thought of abandoning his parents came to him. He didn't hate or dislike his parents. He loved them very much, despite them not being very good parents. He looked at Growlie. Maybe... maybe he should leave Growlie behind, to keep an eye on things, and make sure things didn't get too crazy without him. He wasn't sure what to do, guilt weighed on his soul, but he had to get away. He couldn't see any other solution to his problem, if he stayed, he was doomed. The more he thought and stewed on it however, the less obvious the answer became.
He sighed, he needed to put more thought into it. Besides, he would need a couple of days to plan everything out anyway. So he and Growlie started back down the hallway, he was famished, and it was just past lunchtime.
When he and Growlie walked into the kitchen, it was to see the cooks having their lunch break.
When Leonard saw him and Growlie enter, he immediately stood up.
"Young Master James! I thought you were with your parents and Jessibelle, I just had lunch sent to them." Leonard said, frowning. The other two chefs exchanged a look, a question look on their faces as well.
James just pulled out a chair from the table and plopped down into it, joining the trio of chefs.
"I'm sorry, but I just had to get away. My parents and Jessibelle have finally decided to move my engagement forward." James said morosely, one hand idly scratching Growlie, who sat beside his chair. Following his eagerness to run away, the depression settled back over him. Making him feel morose and drained.
Leonard and his assistants all looked at each other. It was no secret to the staff (minus Sebastian) that James disliked Jessibelle a lot. With a wedding being decided upon, they could only imagine how he must feel.
"We're sorry to hear that James, if there is anything we can do to help make you feel better, don't hesitate to ask." Said Marian, the assistant cook.
An idea occurred to James and he immediately perked up.
"Actually... can you three keep a secret?" James asked, hopeful.
The three chefs nodded immediately.
"Well... I've decided to run away to Hoenn, to my grandparents." James said conspiratorially.
All three of the chefs looked shocked at the idea, like him such an idea sounded crazy.
"Are you sure Young Master James?" Leonard said, turning serious.
"It's not going to be as easy as you probably think. There aren't any buses that come anywhere near here, and Sebastian is the only one who drives the Limosuinne. You'd need to go on foot, and it's a fair distance to the nearest city, let alone port."
James took a deep breath and nodded, Leonard's warning helped make his decision regarding Growlie.
"Yes. I plan on taking Growlie with me and going north to Cerulean." He said firmly.
"North? That would take you through the forest, there are a lot of wild Pokemon in the forest, like Ursaring or Beedrill. It's extremely dangerous, especially since Growlie has no battling experience." Leonard said, giving another warning, the other two chefs nodding in agreement.
James hadn't thought of that, but it didn't matter. He was running away, one way or another.
"It hadn't occurred to me, but I'm going, and I was hoping you three might help me," James said.
Leonard met his gaze and held it for a few seconds before looking at the other two chefs. They nodded at him, and he turned back to James.
"Of course, we will help. We'll make sure you have provisions to last you on your journey. I'll also talk to the other staff members, by the time you are ready, the whole mansion staff will be behind you!" Leonard said.