"Umm... these are all yours?"
I guess it was a pretty stupid question, considering all the Pokemon were living in his bedroom. He bent down to pat the Jolteon on the head.
"Of course. But most of my Pokemon are in a different room. In this house, we store a lot of Pokemon, because all beginning trainers who set out from Pallet and get accounts with us send their Pokemon here when they get more than six."
"Ah... okay. So what's that thing you're patting?"
"This?" Gary grinned and picked up the Jolteon (carefully). "This was my first Pokemon. It's called a Jolteon."
"Jolteon!" it squealed.
"It's cute," I said, and patted it too. Then I cringed.
"It gave me a static electricity shock!"
"Oh, you get used to it," he said, patting it, "I don't even notice it any more. It's to be expected from an electric Pokemon."
I cringed and took a large step back, where I tripped over one of the Vulpix.
"E-electric Pokemon?"
"You really are a beginner, aren't you," he sighed, "well, you'll learn most of what you have to on your journey. But yeah, this is an electric type. Uh, problem?"
I think he decided there had to be a problem by the way I was cringing away from it as far as I could get.
"I HATE ELECTRICITY."
"What are you talking about? We need electricity to survive."
"I still hate it. Get that... Jolteon... away from me."
I'd been raised on stories about people being struck by lightning. My dad would always tell me never to go outside in a storm. He didn't need to tell me that. I keep right away from anything which could hurt me.
"Umm, okay. Look, I just brought you here so I could lend you this." He pulled a thick book from his bookshelf and handed it to me.
"Thanks," I said, and felt stupid. I looked at the title. Pokemon training... a beginner's guide. I've never been a beginner in anything; all the things I know how to do I've been doing since I was little. This was going to be a bit scary.
"Look, the fact is, I can't raise all my Pokemon myself," Gary told me, as he led me back into the hallway, "I have over a hundred of them anyway."
I stopped short and stared at him. "Over a HUNDRED?"
"Yeah, and I wouldn't mind if you raised one for me."
"Oh... thanks."
I felt kind of embarassed at having to depend on someone I just met like this. I still wasn't sure why he was helping me so much, either.
He paused in front of another door. "Here's where I store my Pokemon. You can store yours here too when you catch more of them. There are a few I wanna keep for myself but you can mostly take your pick."
Then he opened the door and I swallowed hard.
Now, I'm the first person to admit that I can be a bit of a wuss. But I've always liked animals. This was different. These weren't animals. These creatures looked like they were specially equipped to cause as much damage as possible.
Gary didn't seem in the least afraid. In that room were dragons and creatures with sharp horns and Pokemon sparking with electricity, but he just nonchalantly walked in and motioned to me to follow.
I wasn't sure I wanted to do this, but then I remembered my dad talking about scholarships and opportunities and a future that wasn't mine.
C'mon, Aurora, I scolded myself. You're supposed to be adventurous. Get some experience so you can write a book about this some day.
I thanked my brain for nothing, and then stepped into the room.
"Well, have a look around," said Gary, before turning to one of the Pokemon I wouldn't have touched with a ten-foot pole. I found out later it was called a Rhyhorn.
I tentatively weaved my way around Pokemon before picking up one that looked cute. Its fur was warm and soft.
"What's this one like?" I asked him.
"Oh, that's a good choice," he said, "it's called a Flareon, and it's a fire Pokemon."
I cringed and dropped it. It fell clumsily and then looked up at me irritably before stalking away.
"Why do you keep doing that?" snapped Gary, "if you're gonna be a Pokemon trainer, you can't be scared of every Pokemon you see."
"I'm not afraid," I said lamely, lying through my teeth, "I just... have to get used to Pokemon, that's all."
"Well, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't hurt my Pokemon's feelings, anyway."
I could see the reason in that, and realised in surprise that this must mean Pokemon had feelings like people did. I'd have to keep that in mind.
I liked birds, so I looked in interest at a Pokemon with a pretty crest.
"This one looks okay," I suggested.
"Hmm... I don't think you could control it," he said thoughtfully. I took a step back, eyeing the innocent-looking bird warily.
When I stepped back, I tripped over yet another Pokemon. I picked it up and looked at it carefully. It stared back, its eyes shining.
"This is the one I want," I told Gary, with certainty. Even if he told me it was an electric or fire or whatever other horrible dangerous types there was, I was sure that this was the Pokemon I was meant to have.
"That's not a bad choice," he said, "but it doesn't have an element type, I should warn you."
"That's fine," I said, stroking the Pokemon's fur.
"That means you won't have advantages in battle."
"That's fine," I said, not caring. I didn't really care about winning battles, I was just trying to get away into a world that let kids be free.
"Let's head out then," he said, and we were back in the hall again.
***
I headed down the trail, the heavy book Gary had given me weighing down my backpack and weighing down me also. I didn't care. I had a Pokemon. And I had left Pallet.
I was still carrying my new Pokemon. It was about only a little smaller than my backpack, but surprisingly light. Besides, it was cute. I thought we should get acquainted.
"So, your name is Clefairy?"
It nodded and whistled.
"Why are you called that?"
"Clef clefairy."
"Where do you come from?
"Fairy."
"What attacks do you know?"
"Clefairy, clef clefairy."
To anyone watching, it would seem we were having a good conversation.
I had no idea what it was saying.
But now that we were away from Pallet, I could at least find out a bit more about it.
I sat down at the side of the road, opened my book to the index and searched for my Pokemon's name. It was there, and I turned to page 67.
I remember that page number because I ended up turning to it rather a lot.
"Clefairy... the fairy Pokemon. This normal-type Pokemon is rumoured to have come from the moon."
Clefairy looked at me with its innocent eyes. I sighed. "The moon... this sort of thing seems to be my lot in life."
***
After another hour of walking, I was already tired. Two hours of walking and I was ready to give up. I've never been too into sports.
Clefairy, however, was full of energy. I was quite annoyed at it. It kept jumping around, occasionally running right in front of my feet so that I'd nearly fall over it.
It was hard to get too angry at it though. Clefairy was my only friend now, so we had to get along. I wasn't sure what to make of it, but it didn't seem to mind me. Nor did it seem to particularly like me. It took more interest in its surroundings than in me.
"Let's call it a day, okay Clefairy?"
It was still full of energy and didn't listen. Instead, it attempted to climb a tree nearby.
"Clefairy?"
Completely disregarding my existance, it jumped from the tree. I just managed to catch it.
"You're very hyperactive, aren't you?"
It looked at me and blinked, before pulling out of my arms and tumbling onto the path again.
It ran a few paces and then looked back at me.
"Fairy?" It pretended it was going to run forward, and I knew what it was asking me.
"I'm not going to race you. I hate sports."
It pouted and looked at me with sad eyes.
"Emotional blackmail," I scolded, but I didn't want Clefairy to get angry with me from the beginning. Besides, it had been a long time since I'd ever been able to play, like a normal kid.
I was tired but it didn't matter. Clefairy and I raced, giggling, along the path to Viridian City...
***
That night, Clefairy and I lay under the night sky with the fresh night breeze blowing over us. It was wonderful. I felt free, even though I was a bit worried about someone finding me. I wasn't going to go back home. I even had a Pokemon to defend that decision.
I looked up at the night sky at the familiar stars. Finally, I was allowed to look at them without having to identify certain ones, or remember how old they all were and which type... these stars, like the ones I sometimes saw in my mind, were just like friends, and they twinkled with friendliness as opposed to the cold detachment they used to hold.
While I looked at the stars, Clefairy, I knew, was looking at the moon.
"G'night, Clef," I told it.
"Fairy," it agreed.
But neither of us went to sleep for a while. We just lay there, looking up at the sky.
***
I woke the next morning - at 11am - to see no sign of Clefairy. I sighed and stood up painfully.
"Clefairy!" I half called it, half groaned it. As I mentioned earlier, I'm not a morning person.
"FAAAIRY!"
It suddenly jumped down on my head, scaring me half to death. I lost my temper.
"CLEFAIRY, DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN, you HEAR me? I only just woke up!"
It nodded, with a little sweatdrop. At once I regretted my words, remembering that Pokemon had feelings like humans, but maybe they aren't so quick to take offense. That's a good thing.
It whistled and spat something in my face, where it stuck. I pulled it off and threw it into the bushes. It was a cherry pip.
"You know where to get food?" I asked hopefully.
Clefairy nodded eagerly. My face brightened. "Excellent! You're great, Clefairy!"
Well, Pokemon have wild instincts. With one, I could never starve. I followed it as it ran before me. It pointed, happy that it had won my approval. But I facefaulted as I saw what it was pointing to.
A sleeping traveller - wow, I'd found someone who slept in later than me - and beside him, a bag with a couple of cherries spilled out of it.
Clefairy rubbed its stomach and before I knew quite what was happening, dove back into the bag and out again, munching on cherries.
So much for wild instincts.