Chapter 5: A Failure Stands Tall
Location: Pokemon Center
Seth's POV-
Chikorita had taken a lot of damage. I grew impatient waiting for Chikorita's treatment. Yumi was rambling in an abnormally loud. She was talking to Eevee, but her voice carried. Everybody in the lobby could hear her.
"Will you be quiet?" I'd just about had it with her voice.
"Will you NOT be quiet?" Yumi responded with a coy, mocking smile.
Nurse Joy came out of the emergency room with Chikorita in her arms.
"Chikorita is all healthy now." Nurse Joy was elated to announce Chikorita's full recovery.
I then looked at Chikorita, who seemed fidgety.
"Aren't you going to get cozy with her?" Yumi continued her coy, mocking attitude.
The more uneasy Chikorita got, the more uneasy I got.
"Your jokes don't amuse me." I gave Yumi a side eye.
I received Chikorita's Pokeball from Nurse Joy and attempted to recall the Grass Type. Chikorita dodged it.
"What?" Again, attempted to recall Chikorita.
"Chi!" Once again, Chikorita dodged.
"I have no patience for your antics." I scowled as I tried to recall Chikorita multiple times, but my efforts were in vein. Chikorita then jumped into my arms and snuggled with me.
"Well, Mr. Sorry-I-Don't-Do-Cozy!." Yumi was having a field day teasing me. "Chikorita doesn't seem to be giving you a choice! Seems she wants to stay outside with you!"
"You're annoying." Yumi's attempts to fill me with happiness were becoming exasperating.
I put away the Pokeball. Trying to recall Chikorita was a wasted effort.
I told Professor Elm everything that happened through an online video chat. He referred to the boy who stole Chikorita and Cyndaquil as Noah.
After Yumi and I then left the Pokemon Center, my mind began to wonder again. I thought about what Noah and Zero had in common and compared it to what Chikorita and I had in common. I had set a new goal for my journey: To show that a failure stands tall.
Location: Route 29
We had been walking all day. I was still holding Chikorita in my arms. Yumi's rambling trailed off into silence, but only after a while. It wouldn't be long before she became talkative again.
"So how do you like cozying up to Chikorita?"
"I don't." I kept a straight face.
Yumi then grew curious and asked me why.
"The world is a cruel place. The more you open yourself up to someone in your life, the more vulnerable you are. That day..." The day of Zero turning his back on me kept popping up in my mind. "From that day on, I vowed to never leave myself vulnerable like that again."
"Oh." Yumi was disappointed.
Leaving New Bark Town, we were on the road for the rest of the afternoon. In the late evening, we made it to an isolated Pokemon Center where we and other beginning Pokemon Trainers spent the night.
During the ealry evening, Yumi asked me what I was talking about when I said the world was a cruel place. I told her how close I was to my brother Zero, and my mother, and how comfortable I became around them. All of that love was thrown away. I explained to both Yumi and Chikorita how I wanted to prove that a failure stands tall.
Later that night...
I stayed up to do some studying on Chikorita and its movepool with a book so I could start practicing strategies tomorrow. Yumi had fallen asleep. I then heard a scream from outside the Pokemon Center.
A little boy was panicking as I ran outside of the Pokemon Center, but it seemed nobody was causing any trouble. He was by himself.
"What's wrong?" Chikorita and I approached the frightened boy.
"You wouldn't happen to have a pokemon that can you Lucky Chant, would you?" The boy sheepishly asked.
He sounded as weird as he looked. He looked to be about eight years old. He had short red hair and wore seeing glasses. He had on a blue jacket and brown shorts. What was weird about him was that he was decorated with four leaf clovers on his wrists and neck. He even had four leaf clover prints on his belt.
"Why do you need Lucky Chant?" I questioned.
"Because I saw a Murkrow at night!" He exclaimed.
Murkow has always been known to bring bad luck to whoever sees one at night, but I didn't want to pass up the chance to capture my second Pokemon.
"Where did the Murkrow go?" I asked.
"I'm not sure. But don't worry. Murkrow usually find trainers to annoy them." He responded.
"Hmph. The name's Seth. I'll need to use you as bait for the Murkrow. In exchange, I know a trainer with a Pokemon that can use Lucky Chant." I negotiated with the eight year old without giving him room to decline.
Earlier, I had checked Yumi's Eevee on my Pokedex. The Pokedex read that Eevee could use Lucky Chant.
"My name's Jason. Uh...you told me you didn't have a Pokemon with Lucky Chant." It couldn't be helped if Jason was skeptical.
"I have connections." I responded.
Location: Roof of Pokemon Center
We made our way on the roof of the Pokemon Center. Everyone was fast asleep inside the building, so we kept our noise to a minimum. Jason used a flashlight as bait, waving the light in the night sky. I held Chikorita in my arms.
"I've been waving this flashlight for at least twenty minutes now. How long do I have to keep doing this?"
"Just be patient." I assured the eight year old. "Murkrow will appear eventually."
"I'm sorry, I think we should call it a night and forget the deal." Jason turned off his flashlight and began walking downstairs. "Man, I'm hungry."
Jason took out an apple to eat on his way downstairs. But then the apple suddenly vanished from his hand.
"Hey, where's my snack?!" Jason was as cranky as an old man.
I felt a thud on my head and was knocked on my knees. Chikorita fell from my arms and onto the ground. The apple that'd escaped Jason's possession fell in front of me.
"I found your apple Jason." I attempted to grab the apple. But as I touched it, I felt a beak biting onto my arm.
"Mur Murkrow." A Pokemon cried.
"It's Murkrow!" Jason was amazed. A wild Murkrow finally appeared.
I looked at Chikorita, getting ready to use it in battle.
"Chi..." But Chikorita looked at Murkrow biting my arm...This seemed to aggravate the Grass Type, as it lunged at Murkrow in my defense. "Chi! Chi! Chicori!" Chikorita flailed mercilessly at Murkrow in my defense. Once Murkrow was successfully pried off my arm, I went into the offensive.
"Chikorita, use Tackle now!" I called.
Either Tackle was critical hit, or Chikorita just didn't want me to get hurt. "Krow..." Murkrow was down in one shot.
I took out a Pokeball and readied to use it. "Pokeball, grab it!" I threw the Pokeball.
After a few rolls on the ground, the Pokeball clicked shut, confirming Murkrow's capture.
I had caught Murkrow - my first capture. I thought I'd be happier. I was supposed to be excited and doing some sort of weird posing sequence while saying 'I got a Pokemon', but my heart, or what I have left of it, was void of any positive feeling.
I retrieved the Pokeball as Chikorita gave me a worried look. "Chi? Chicori?"
"It's nothing." I responded.
"You know, I say Chikorita is really attached to you." Jason was somewhat envious.
"I guess so." I picked up the Grass type and held it in my arms.
"So I'll see you in the morning!" Jason took this opportunity to take him leave and get some sleep downstair.
I nodded.
I thought about what Jason said about Chikorita being attached to me and thought how I wasn't alone with Chikorita and Yumi keeping me company. I now feel the exact opposite of how I felt when Zero and my stepfather abandoned me. I was going to try my hardest to grow attached to Yumi and Chikorita like family, but not 'cozy'.
The next morning had arrived. I got Yumi's Eevee to use Lucky Chant on Jason. We said our goodbyes to Jason and headed started toward Cherrygrove City, which Jason told us about.
2 hours later
As we were walking, Chikorita and I were listening to more of Yumi's rambling. I then heard a familiar voice directed toward me.
"So how about that battle you told me you were expecting!" The voice was eager to engage me in what would be my very first Pokemon battle.
To Be Continued...