“Metagross, Meteor Mash the ground, let’s shake things up,” Steven ordered, and I watched in awe as the entire stadium erupted in an explosion of dirt and metal. I had seen earthquakes cause less damage than this, and the challenger looked completely out of his depth as his Blaziken was swept up in the tide. Though instincts did kick in, eventually.
“Holly, if you can find footing, kick off and jump out of there,” And in a feat of incredible acrobatics, Dad’s Blaziken soared into the sky and lands on a large spike of stone jutting out of the ground. Dad raises up his arm, and a gem starts to glow. I lean closer to the screen.
Click. And it all goes black. I turned very slowly to see my sister staring down at me. I pouted.
“You already know it’s way past your bedtime,” she said, setting the remote down on our tiny end table and shooting me a glare.
“But Evvvvveee,” I complained.
Eve shook her head.
“No buts. We’re going to be busy as all hell at the store tomorrow. Besides, you’ve seen that same fight how many times?” she asked.
Not enough.
“But dad’s so awesome in that though. AND it’s my birthday. You’re seriously going to make me work a shift on my birthday?” I asked, my voice sounding whiny, even to my ears.
Eve scowled before tapping the top of the TV.
“Bed. Now. We have to get up early as fuck to finish May’s cake,” Eve said.
I groaned before standing up and started aggressively moving the covers on the couch.
“I’m going to at least get off in time to go to her party, right?” I asked. Eve didn’t say anything. “Right?” I asked a bit more aggressively.
“We need to get everything prepped for the Pokémon Center order the day after tomorrow,” Eve said, looking apologetic.
Fuck, I forgot about that.
“If we bust our asses off, we...” Will probably still be at a minimum, late. “Regardless, bed,” Eve said before crossing her arms.
“Fine,” I grumbled, pissed that I wouldn’t even be able to enjoy my birthday at someone else's birthday party. “You really can’t keep treating me like this. I’m seventeen tomorrow, I’m not a kid anymore and I can make my own choices. You’re not my mom.” And I regretted the words as soon as they slipped out. Eve’s stern frown turned into an angry scowl.
“BED! See if we even celebrate your damned birthday tomorrow. Fucking cursed day that it is.” She mumbled the last part.
I winced. I... that hurt. I turned away from her and rushed out of the room, trying to hide my face.
“Ah, fuc-” I don't hear the rest of what she says and slammed the door to my room behind me.
“Stupid, annoying, pain in the ass.” I started to tear up as I slammed down onto my bed and pulled my Torchic plushie up to me. A bunch of stuffed Pokémon dolls lined my shelves, mostly from my favorite shows, but my favorites were within grabbing distance for bad days. I looked up at the posters of gym leaders I hoped to one day square off against before burying my face in the plushie. “S’not... my fault...” I jumped a bit when I felt a weight pull me towards the left side of the bed. An arm pulled me into a soft embrace. “Go away!” I yelled angrily.
“I’m sorry.” Still shaking, I felt the weight shift and Eve started to get up. “I shouldn’t have-” Eve cut herself off, before frowning and turning toward the door.
“Wait...” I called out. I sucked in a breath, calming down a bit, before sighing. “I’m sorry too.” I sat up and stared at Eve’s face before looking away. Back to being stoic. Legends above, would it kill you to just feel something. Anything. “I was being a brat.”
“Right... well, have a good night,” Eve said. She all but fled the room.
Groaning in frustration, I turned around and punched the pillow. Turning to my alarm clock, I blanched at the time that stared back at me.
“Oh god, I'm going to be a zombie birthday girl tomorrow. Well...” I looked down. “I guess later today would be more appropriate.” I pulled the covers over my head and sighed. “Happy birthday, Lea.”
----------------------------------------
“... and make sure those donuts are out of the oven,” Eve ordered.
I groggily shook my head up and down before walking away from her. I listlessly opened the walk-in freezer doors, hoping the frigid air would wake me up, and grabbed the speed rack.
I idly wondered how many seventeen-year-olds even knew what a speed rack was, before wincing, my skin grabbing the cold gilded bars for the first time this morning. Guess that’ll work for a wakeup call. The damn thing caught on the door drain on the way out again, and I all but shoved it to get it out.
Glancing across the kitchen, I noticed Eve’s busy piping the finishing touches of Norman’s order.
“Wonder what a birthday party for me would be like?” I said to myself, before shaking the jealous thoughts out of my head.
“How the fuck is she so cognizant, she couldn’t have gotten any more sleep than me and that cake looks flawless.” The whole thing just pissed me off. May has a party celebrating the start of her Pokémon journey and I'm still here, two years after the normal starting age.
It wasn’t fucking fair.
I opened the oven and angrily grabbed the rack of donuts before ripping my hands away. I bit back a curse.
‘Grab some mitts, you fucking idiot.’ I thought angrily to myself as I flopped the pan on the table behind me. Thankfully, Eve didn’t notice. The last thing I needed was her riding my ass about not paying attention on the job. I winced at the pain as I slid the cookies into place, and angrily stomped toward the sink.
Stupid oven.
Legends above, that water felt nice.
The bell at the front of the store jingled and I rushed to the counter. Whoever this was was early as all hell, we just opened. Ah... of course.
“Hello, Norman. How are you today?” Speak of the goofball and he’ll appear. Come on Lea, be the face of excellent customer service I know you can be. Fuck, I thought that in Eve’s voice, I needed help. "Eve's putting the finishing touches on your cake now.” I explained.
“Thanks, you girls never disappoint,” he said before pulling up a chair from the table closest to the register. “Honestly, the most repeated complaint from May is that she won’t get to enjoy you guys’ donuts when she’s on the road.”
“I still don’t understand how she keeps her figure,” I grumbled. It honestly wasn’t fair. “When is she leaving?” I asked, dreading the moment it would finally happen. Today really was cursed, wasn’t it? Lost a mom and now a best friend on it.
Fan fucking tastic.
“She’s heading over to Littleroot tomorrow morning.” Norman said.
She’s getting a fucking sponsored starter? From the professor? How is that even fucking fair?
“You... mean she’s not getting a starter from you?” I asked.
Norman winced.
“Apparently, May’s not a fan of the Slakoth line.” Big shocker. “No accounting for taste in the newer generation of trainers,” Norman said with a sigh.
No, you were just a fucking a weirdo. An overwhelmingly competent weirdo, but still a weirdo.
“So she-”
“She passed the sponsorship exam with flying colors,” Norman interrupted me with a proud smile.
Why didn’t she tell me about any of this? Was that why she’d been dodging me for the last few weeks? Was she busy studying?
“Any idea what she’s shooting for?” Mouth, stop talking. This is your brain, stop engaging with the-
“I believe she’s leaning towards Torchic, actually,” Norman said.
I gripped the countertop so hard my knuckles turned white, and it took everything I had not to shout.
“R-really?” I asked. If Norman noticed anything about my sudden shift in demeanor, he doesn’t show it.
“Yup, you left an impression on her. Always raving about how cool your dad’s Blaziken was. She doesn’t really know what she wants to do as a trainer yet, but your stories made her a lot more confident about her journey.”
That’s it.
“Right, then. Uh... listen Norman, I’m going to check on my sister’s progress. Be right back.” I all but sprinted out of the room. "Norman’s here” I quickly shouted to Eve before closing myself off in the walk-in cooler. I punched the wall and yelled for a couple seconds before the pain receptors in my knuckles caught up to my brain. “Fuck!” My knuckles screamed at me as I shook my hand out.
Praise be that walk-in coolers were more or less soundproof.
Of course, May got a Torchic. Just... UGHHH. A sponsorship from the regional professor? Really? She gets to leave when she wants, she gets... she gets...
She gets to go on MY journey.
I finally calmed down enough to feel a few tears run along my cheek. Looking around. All the boxes made me feel small.
Why can’t I leave? I WANT to leave. But...
I can’t...
It’d just be Eve, and no one in Petalburg would work for what I do. Eve wouldn’t be able to afford it.
I already know I wouldn’t get anything for a starter, anyways. Birch doesn’t know me at all, he wouldn’t sponsor me, so I'd end up with Norman getting me a starter.
I’d end up with a worthless fucking Slakoth or a Zigzagoon and be doomed to wander the routes close to home as a nameless footnote in the trainer registry.
A fate worse than death.
I sucked in a few deep breaths to calm myself down.
This wouldn’t be my life forever, I just had to keep reminding myself of that.
“...kind of surprised actually.” I heard Norman say as I opened the door. “I figured Lea as the type to make a run at the gym circuit. She’s so expressive whenever I talk to her about Pokémon.”
“She doesn’t want to leave me alone in the bakery.” Eve sets the cake box in front of Norman before switching her attention to the register. “I know she wants to leave, but... I’m happy she’s still here. Pokémon training has taken enough from this family.”
I winced at the declaration. I always knew I'd never get any support from Eve when I left, but hearing it still stung.
“Is there a story there?” Norman asked. “I’m sorry if me asking that is overstepping, but I think I've already stepped in it once today with your sister. I’d rather avoid making any future mistakes if I can help it.”
Eve is silent for a while. When Norman moves to grab the cake, she places her hand down to stop him.
“You already know Mom died giving birth to Lea, and our dad died on route.” Norman nodded along. “I tell people that Dad was on his way home, that he wanted to be here to see the birth of his second daughter.” Eve paused and swallowed. “Nothing could be further from the truth. That deadbeat prick abandoned us.”
Both me and Norman reeled back as if struck.
“D-deadbeat...” I whispered to myself.
“Dad cared more about battling then he did about his own family.” Eve pushed on. “I-I was the one in the room with mom when she died. She was... so happy to see Lea. Even if it was only for just a few minutes.” Eve started to cry, and Norman started to move behind the counter to give her a hug. This was the most emotion I had seen from Eve in a long time.
“You don’t need to say-”
“Yes, I do.” She pushed Norman away. “I need to get this out. To tell someone. I’m so tired...” She looked up to Norman. “So tired of lying...” She steadied herself. “You’re the closest thing to what a dad should be I’ve ever had. You always stopped by the house, you listened to me complain about Lea’s disgusting bathroom habits, you helped us keep the bakery, you...” she trailed off and looked to the side. “As far as Lea knows, Dad died on the trip home to a group of territorial Gyarados.”
That was what the league report said, it’d be damn impressive if that was a lie.
“The thing is, if he was coming home, he never would have seen them.” My eyes widened. “The conference was more important to him than us, and it got him killed.”
“What the fuck,” I whispered to myself. “This has to be Tauros shit, right?”
“That’s... hard for me to wrap my head around.” Yeah, no fucking duh. How do you figure out which way dad was-
“Dad last called us from the Pacifilog town Pokémon center. They found him dead on Route 130.” That... Where they found him was in the report... “Please, don’t tell Lea any of this.” Too late for that...
“But she really should-”
“I don’t want her to turn into me,” Eve said, voice breaking a bit.
I looked up.
“I don’t want her to hate him like I do. She’s...” Eve trailed off. “Last night, I had to put an abrupt end on a watch party from Dad’s greatest battles. Did you know he got to fight Steven Stone before he became Champion? It was the finals of the conference from the year before. Lea loves that fight, even if Dad loses. I don’t want to take that away from her.”
Eve...
“It’s hard to look at her sometimes. She reminds me so much of Dad. When he... was around....” Eve started breaking down a bit more, and I slowly backed away from the conversation.
My head was swimming as I wandered the back room. Dad abandoning us was just something I couldn’t wrap my head around. That... that was what I aspired to be. My dream was to reach the top like he almost did.
That dream felt a bit hollow now.
My whole body wouldn’t stop shaking... Damnit, I needed to sit down. Where?
Office. Right, there’s a chair in the office. I bumbled through the kitchen, mindful not to make too much noise and found my sister’s private little cubby hole. I sat down before cupping my head in my hands.
I just... what the hell do I even do with what I just heard?
What do I want?
I... I still want to leave. Does that make me a bad person? I still want to go on a journey and see the world and make friends and-
I mentally stopped myself.
My goal hadn’t changed, the reason did. Now it’s just for me. Did that make me selfish?
‘It’s okay to be happy.’ Words that May had once told me bounced around in my head. I wanted to live a life beyond that of a baker. That was my dream.
I mindlessly started to move some papers on the desk around in a way that made some kind of logical sense as I came down from my freak out. Dad being a jack ass didn’t have to change anything about me, hell I'd be a better trainer then he ever was. Screw him.
I started to organize the various order forms for the next few weeks, so we didn’t get surprised when I stopped.
There was something missing, here. Usually by now, I'd have found at least two overdue bill notices. Frowning, I sat the files and order forms down and started searching through some of our older documents. Up to date, up to date, filled, up to date, all up to date. Everything had been processed already. Shifting my gaze to the fossil of a PC my sister used. I groaned as I started the boot process. Loading... more loading... and system update, what do you mean system update this fossil doesn’t need a system update, the only thing we use it for is to track budget and play Electrode sweeper when we’re dead.
Grumbling, I opened the filing cabinet and put away all my sister’s excess files. We didn’t need any of these, but sis was obsessed with keeping a written record of every transaction we’ve done for at least a year. Honestly, if she was going to stick to these archaic tax practices, the least she could do is keep her own space organized.
Bing.
Oh, good, the update’s done. Now then, the budget looks good, labor is close to nonexistent, sales are... good...
I saw white, for a single, clarifying moment. Then the world devolved into various shades of red.
I forced the chair back so hard that it slammed against the wall and ran to the front room.
“We’re. In. THE. BLACK!?” I snarled. “How the fuck long were you planning on keeping this from me, huh? Cause it’s already been way to fucking long! Two months... two fucking months...” I started to tear up, and Eve hesitantly started to reach out. “Don’t fucking touch me.”
Eve reared back as if she was burned.
“I... listen, Lea-” Eve started, and her voice just set me off again.
“Answer the fucking question!” I yelled.
Eve looked away.
“I... I don’t know, okay. It was... it wasn’t intentional at first. I wanted to make sure we were solid, and then... the longer it went, the easier it was to just not say anything,” Eve said. She was avoiding looking at me, so I got in her face.
“Right, right, easier to keep me trapped here, your own personal slave, barely paid.” I punctuated each word by getting closer to her, and Eve kept backing up until her back met the wall.
“Lea, that’s not-”
“DON’T PRETEND LIKE YOU CARE ABOUT ME!” I exploded. “I heard you,” I seethed. “I heard your breakdown with Norman, I remind you of dad, right? Is that why you ha-”
“I LOVE YOU, YOU STUPID IDIOT!” Eve screamed back. “I know you won’t believe me... not after everything... you left when I started crying didn’t you?” Eve asked.
I was struggling to find my voice, it’d been... a while, since I heard those three words.
“You... you remind me of the best parts of dad. His unending enthusiasm, his love of Pokémon, his... his kindness. As much as I hated what he did, I still love him. That’s what makes this so hard.” Eve took a deep breath and looked towards the front table, where-
“Oh, uh hi, Norman, uh, listen.” And now my face was red for entirely different reasons. Oh god I'm feeling a bit lightheaded. “We’re so very sorry about all of this, if you-”
“Lea.” Eve said, cutting me off. “You’re fired.”
I'm what!?
Eve went to the till and pulled out a white envelope, already sealed.
“This is your final paycheck, set at what it should’ve been these last two months,” Eve said, her voice shaking slightly as she offered me the money.
I hesitantly reached out and grabbed the envelope. I took a few seconds to steady my hands and opened it. Holy-
“The fuck kind of math were you doing,” I screamed, now mad at her for entirely different reasons. “This is entirely too much money. At minimum wage, the standard rate in Hoenn for two weeks would be-”
“The fact that you think you’re only worth minimum wage makes me hate myself more than you could possibly imagine,” she cut me off. “Starting your own journey with a Pokémon from Birch’s lab is fucking expensive, take the damn money.”
I looked down at the check before sighing.
“I... I don’t want a Pokémon from Birch.” I hesitantly replied. I doubted I’d be able to pass the sponsorship program even if I did. I don’t think Eve knew how getting a Pokémon from Birch worked.
“Bullshit, you’ve dreamed of setting off with a Torchic since you were five years old,”
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Norman wince as Eve finished. The fact that he hasn’t taken his cake and hightailed it yet is either a sign of unending bravery or unyielding stupidity.
“Yeah, well... my worldview has shifted rather drastically in the last half hour,” I said. Eve winced. “Look I already know exactly what I want, I don’t even have to go that far to get it! All I need are a few poke balls and some suppl-”
“Absolutely not. You are not stepping one foot out of this town without a Pokémon or a guide!” Eve screamed. Norman was nodding along sagely.
“I’ll take Casey with me...” I said nervously. Norman looked confused, and Eve was channeling a Primape.
“You will, under no circumstances, attack a wild Pokémon with a baseball bat,” Eve grounded out. “Do I make myself clear.” Eve’s face promised death.
“Crystal,” I meeped.
“Umm... ladies,” Norman said.
“What.” We both turned to the new interloper in our argument, who was now rightly terrified.
“I... I’m escorting May to Birch’s lab tomorrow. It really wouldn’t be any trouble to take Lea with me. We can grab whatever Pokémon she wants to catch. It really shouldn’t be too much trouble if she already knows what she wants and it’s a Pokémon in the area.” Norman sounded more confident the longer he talked. “And we can get her registered at Birch’s Lab.” Now Norman looked a bit nervous. “You two could... maybe... even travel together?”
“She would be more than happy to.” Eve interrupted. She shot me a withering glare.
“Fine, but I'm not catching a normal type, and I am NOT taking this whole check. This is an absurd amount of money, and you’ll have to hire someone new after I leave,” I argued, daring her to tell me no.
Eve looked at me. She didn’t say anything, move or even blink for a good thirty seconds. I would not budge on this, fuck your mom stare. Damn it.
“I-”
“You will take eighty percent of this at minimum,” Eve said, her tone brokering no argument.
Score, I got to have some pride.
“That’s still more then I'm comfortable with, but I’ll take it.” I started to mentally budget out my trip to the mart. Here’s hoping they still have that camper special. Food, a sleeping bag, maybe a fishing rod if I have enough money.
“Excellent, then I’ll see both of you ladies tomorrow.” Norman shot us both a smile before grabbing his cake and making his way towards the door.
“Actually,” Eve started. “I have one last request.”
Norman stopped in the doorway.
“Could you take the gremlin with you?” Eve asked, shuffling in place a bit as she nodded her head towards me. “I know she’d be crashing your daughter’s party, but-”
“We’d be happy to have her. You too, honestly. You really didn’t even need to ask,” Norman said. A smile stretched across his face as he cut off Eve’s nervous ramblings.
“Eve, I need to-”
“I have a rather large amount of work I suddenly need to catch up on, and a few new things to take care of,” Eve interrupted. “I don’t have time to argue with you.”
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
I opened my mouth to protest.
“Shut up and have fun, Eve said, stopping me before I could.
“But I have to pack, and shop, and plan, and-”
“I said shut up.” Eve shot me a glare as she interrupted me again. “It should not be this hard to get someone to go to a birthday party.”
“It really shouldn’t, which is why you’ll both be there, right at six. That should be more than enough time to get everything taken care of.” Norman’s voice inflected a terrifying degree of insistence that put Eve’s earlier Mom stare to shame.
“...Yes, Norman,” We both muttered.
“Bye girls, see you both tonight.” Norman waved as he walked out.
The room felt heavier once he left.
“You should be heading out too, you have a lot to do in not a lot of time,” Eve said. I frowned as I looked down at my apron.
“This’ll be the last time I wear this, I...” I pulled my strings and turned to face Eve. “I still can’t believe how much has changed. That I finally get to leave home.” She winced at the word finally. “Are you okay? You sure you’re good with this?”
“I don’t understand...” Eh? “I just... you should hate me.”
“The hell you mean? Eve, we’re sisters, I’m not going to-”
“I’ve treated you like crap for the last two months.” Eve interrupted me. AGAIN. “We’ve been turning a full profit. Our debts are paid off in full. This whole time I’ve been lying to you, dreading this, taking all my stress out on you, and you... you’re acting like this is nothing. Like I haven’t been keeping you from going out on your own for the last two years.” Eve looked up to meet my gaze. “I just... I need to know why?”
I don’t talk for a while, mostly because I didn’t really have an answer. I was so mad earlier, but it all just felt... distant. Like I couldn’t connect with the feeling anymore, looking at how my sister looked now.
“You had that envelope ready to go.” I finally settled on. “Me finding out how I did. It hurt. Especially after the dad shock. Which we are not talking about.” I firmly stopped Eve from interrupting again. I didn’t want to think about that can of worms. “But you were ready to say goodbye. I have faith you would’ve told me on your own at some point.” I smiled. “I guess, what I’m trying to say... is I love you too, you fucking idiot.”
Eve doesn’t react, not immediately. She slowly inched towards me, grabbed my hand...
And pulled.
“Ah!” Eve hugged me. Hard.
“I’m sorry. Thank you. That... that means more than you could ever possibly know.” I hesitantly put my arms around Eve and returned the hug.
“You’re forgiven, and your welcome.”
“You leaving scares the crap out of me. You better call me every time you get to a new town,” she threatened.
“This isn’t goodbye yet, so stop acting like it is,” I complained. “We can have a meltdown and traumatize Norman at the town gate tomorrow, and not a second before that.”
Eve’s response to that was something that I hadn’t heard in an exceedingly long time.
She laughed.
----------------------------------------
I took a deep breath and smiled, happy to get outside, away from the noise.
Parties fucking sucked. Glad I knew that now. I appreciated what Eve was trying to do, but I knew none of these people. The local gym leader’s daughter leaving home to start her career as a Pokémon trainer was enough to bring the whole damn town out to party, and I had better things to do with my time than watch May get mooned over.
...I wanted to switch places with her so badly.
Click.
I swiveled my head to make sure the crowd wasn’t swarming the back yard and had to choke back a laugh as the birthday girl herself snuck out of her own party.
“Salud.” I raised up the small glass of punch I was nesting. I couldn’t stop the laugh this time as May did her best Buneary impression and leaped a good three feet in the air.
“Legends, don’t do that,” May said before turning her head my way. “Surprised to see you out of the apron. You look nice.”
“What, this old thing.” It really wasn’t much. Eve wanted me to look nice tonight, but we really didn’t have dress... anything. “Besides you won’t be seeing much of my apron anymore.”
May looked down.
“Right, cause I'm leaving tomorrow.” Why the hell does she sound sad about that? “I’m still nervous about that. I’m going to miss this place, and I'm really going to miss you, but I'm still excited to meet my starter.”
“Well, I guess there’s that too, but that wasn’t what I meant,” I said with a smirk. “I got fired today.”
“Your own sister fired you?!” May said with a scandalized expression that was currently making my night. “That’s terrible, what the hell did you do?” She tilted her head to the side. “And why do you seem so happy about it?”
Legends above, she was so fun to mess with.
“Wellllll. Let’s just say you’ll have a plus one on your trip to Littleroot.” I smiled. “The bakery is making enough money that Eve can hire someone and actually pay them a legal wage, so... in a weird way, this is her birthday present to me?” Honestly, the whole thing sounded a bit weird without context.
“So, you’ll be coming with me to Littleroot? Cool.” May said, looking slightly jittery.
Dream come true and all she says is cool. That’s... not like her.
“Wait, today’s your birthday?” May asked.
I hesitantly nodded.
“We’ve known each other for years. How is it that I'm just now figuring out we share a birthday?” She sounded hurt. Right, I guess it’s weird for other people.
“We... don’t usually celebrate my birthday that much. For personal reasons.” Personal reasons, Mom dying giving birth to me, Dad dying around the same time, Sis shutting out the world for most of my early birthdays, so I don’t get too excited for them... “I guess it never came up as a result.” I finished lamely.
“Right. So, since you’re coming with, does that mean you’re picking one of the starter Pokémon from Birch’s Lab?” She pressed her fingers together and shifted in place as she asked.
“Unfortunately, we can’t afford a sponsorship from the lab, and I doubt very seriously I could pass the exam on such short notice. Plus, Birch doesn’t know me from a hole in the wall, so I very much doubt he’d pass up someone else for that one random baker starting her journey a full two years late.” I sighed. “Nah, I'll just have to settle for a wild catch we find on the road between here and Littleroot. There’s actually a few I really want, but as far as starters go, it looks like you’ll have your favorite fire chicken all to yourself.”
Glomp.
“OHMYGOD. THANK YOU. I’MLOOKINGFORWARDTOITSOMUCH! I CAN’T WAIT TO TRAVEL WITH YOU! EEEE!” Ow. My ears. My back.
“Mercy. Please. Can’t... breathe-” And just as fast as it started. It stopped, and a very red-faced May was back to shuffling awkwardly in place.
“I’m sorry. That was... uncalled for. I was just really REALLY happy.” She looked away. “But are you sure? I know you really like Torchic because of your dad, and I’m sure we could figure out something-” I cut her off with a hug of my own.
“I really don’t deserve you as a friend. I want you to know that. Keep the damn bird.” My green-eyed monster moment in the cooler came to mind, and I did my best to stomp out the feelings of guilt. “Besides, if I can get your dad to agree to a little bit of hunting, my planned starter is going to be way more badass than yours.”
May raised her hand to feel my forehead for about four seconds.
“I’m not-”
Then swiftly slapped me once.
“Ow! What the hell?” I complained, rubbing my face and glaring at her.
“Okay, so you’re not sick, and you’re not a cleverly disguised Zoroark masquerading as my best friend. I don’t really know of an effective way to check if you’re being mind-controlled by a Malamar, do you?” May asked. Rude.
“If I did, and I was, would I tell you?” I asked with a scowl. I also did my best to ignore the fact that I had no clue what either one of those Pokémon were.
“Fair enough, I guess we’ll never know,” she said with a smirk. “Though now I'm curious, what on earth is local that you’re so excited for?”
“You’ll find out tomorrow when I tell your dad.”
“Okay, now you’re just being petty. I know it’s not a Zigzagoon, you hate Zigzagoon. You’re not a dog person so Poocheyena is out. Surskit is cool until it evolves, then it’s generic moth bug type number fifty-five, so that just leaves-”
“Stop overthinking it and be surprised ya big nerd,” I interrupted her.
“Fine, spoil my fun.” She leaned back and just let herself fall onto the grass. “I’m happy, ya know? I was worried I was going to be going on the journey alone. I... To be honest the plan was to use Torchic to catch something cool, smuggle you out of your house in the dead of night, and give you the fire bird...” she trailed off, and I took the opportunity to join her on the grass.
“You do realize that would never work, right? As Birch’s sponsor you’re expected to always keep that Pokémon with you. Besides, I’d still have to get registered, and I would have felt terrible leaving Eve like that.” I smiled at her and grabbed her hand. “It all worked out without you resorting to defrauding Professor Birch and helping me run away from home.”
“Yeah...” May looked away. “I just... really didn’t want to travel without you.”
“Well, you’re stuck with me for the long haul, so get used to it.” I smiled as May looked away. “Besides, someone had to tag along for no other reason than to feed you,” I joked.
“I can cook just fine, thank you very much.” She sniffed in mild protest as I poked her side. “I just won’t have to, now that I have the best baker in Petalburg coming with me.”
“Shameless flattery will not get you free cookies, just an FYI. I can’t exactly cart around a portable easy bake oven.”
May pouted in response.
“Well, what if-”
“Are you two literally ditching your own birthday party.” Eve grouched from the entryway. Busted.
“This is May’s party. I’m just a shameless moocher basking in shared glory,” I said. It didn’t matter that the glory was still being focused on May. I still got to have my moment, dammit.
May elbowed me.
“Quit sharing and take the whole damn limelight. All of dad’s friends are boring as hell,” May complained.
Fat chance of that happening. Legends above that was a depressing thought.
“What do you expect, he’s the ‘Normal’ Gym Leader. I’m fairly sure it’s in his contract to be boring,” I said. May giggled.
“So, neither one of you want presents, then?” Eve asked.
Wait, what? And May’s gone, though I did have a lovely May shaped dust cloud to remember her by.
“That’s what I thought. Hurry your ass up too.” Eve said.
“Why exactly am I hauling ass to watch May open her birthday gifts?” I raised an eyebrow up at Eve as I slowly pushed myself up from the ground.
“Alright, in the spirit of us getting along for longer than one day and you leaving home on a high note, I’m going to just cut the surprise factor short. Here.” She chucked me a small box.
“Really starting to buy into May’s Malamar theory. Really would make the last two days make a lot more sense.” I pulled at the bow.
“Stop being a brat and open it,” Eve grouched.
“And she’s back. Well, what’s behind door number one?” I opened the box. “Knock off jewelry?” I joked as I pulled the bracelet out and started to spin it on my finger. “I’m flattered, but it really doesn’t go with my look.”
“It’s Dad’s mega bracelet, dumbass.”
I stopped, almost dropping the damn thing in shock before landing flat on my face to keep it from hitting the floor.
“What the fucking hell, Eve? This isn’t something you just give out. Do you have any idea how much this thing would sell for?!”
“Enough to buy a small summer home in Alola with about a half dozen scantily clad pool boys to cater to my every whim.”
I blushed bright red and felt bile rise up my throat at the mental imagery.
“The angry part of me kept checking auction sites, but I could never bring myself to make a post. I guess... the loving big sister part of me knew you’d need this one day, and I just... couldn’t ever bring myself to sell it.” She looked away. “So... uh, does this make up for seventeen years of shitty birthdays? The rangers took the keystone, something about the bylaws of his contract with them, so no mega ultra chickens anytime soon, but I think this’ll work with any stone, so-”
“Thank you.” I quickly hugged her to cut off her rambling. “And you don’t have anything to make up for in the birthday department. I kind of hate this time of year too.” I pulled back and threw the bracelet on my right wrist. “I’ll just have to make it work for me. Besides, May’s getting the fire bird, so I wouldn’t have had a use for the stone.” I’ll be keeping an eye out for any kind of stone I can find, though. This bracelet was a massive game changer for my plans. If my starter panned out, I knew exactly what kind of stone I wanted to get.
The only hard part was going to be finding the damn thing.
“Welp,” I popped. “Let’s go see the other birthday girl’s haul. Doubt she got anything as badass as this.”
----------------------------------------
“Why does the universe delight in proving me wrong?” I smiled as May continued to scroll through options.
If I wasn’t in front of her to act as a pseudo guide, she would’ve walked into at least two separate trees.
“Seriously, Rotom Phones haven’t even hit store shelves yet. How did your dad manage to snag you one?” I asked.
“Don’t know, don’t care. This thing is awesome,” May said distractedly. I frowned, before pulling her to the side a bit so she didn’t run into a signpost.
“Isn’t calling it an ‘thing’ a bit rude. There is a living thing in there after all.” I said, giving the phone a cautious glance.
The face that was on the back of the phone shifted up and shot me a wink before moving back into place.
“How does that not feel weird?” I asked.
“What, is the face doing things again?” She turned it around and was disappointed that Rotom had resumed its normal idle phase. “Everyone gets to see the Rotom do stuff but me. At any rate, Rotom is a genderless Pokémon, so, in general pronouns are kind of weird? There’s an option to name it in here, but I wanted to check out a few more options and I have no idea what to call it.”
“How about Alexa?” I suggested cheekily. May pulled a face.
“Ew, no.”
“Siri?”
“NO!”
“Cortana.”
“Stop pulling names from those shitty sci fi shows you watch. This isn’t an AI, it’s a possessed piece of technology, get it right.”
Rude. I grumbled at the slight on what was premium late-night viewing, before realizing that she knew what shows I was talking about. I filed that information away for later and fired off another name from one of my favorite video games.
“What do you think of Sergei?” I asked.
May stopped and thought about it for a second. Good sign.
“Do I get to know the reference?” May asked. “Most of your ideas are references to something dorky.”
I glared.
“You gave me the game!” I shouted.
“Oh! That one. Hmmm... Let’s see...” Bing. “And Rotom likes it. An odd name, but it works,” May said before putting the phone away.
Norman was already waiting for us as we approached the town gate.
“You girls ready to go?” Norman asked before pushing himself up from the gate. He moved to look over our backpacks.
“I made sure I got all the camping essentials and I made sure to limit May to one stuffed animal.” I said before he got the chance.
Norman beamed as May glared at me.
“She’s exaggerating.” May complained.
I sagely shook my head no.
“I really wish I was,” I said.
“Whatever, we’re ready, let’s hit the road.” May raised her arm and started moving towards the big gate.
“Hold it.” Norman’s protest almost caused May to trip.
“What? I’m excited to meet my Torchic,” May whined.
“May, I need to figure out what Pokémon I'm catching for Lea before we dive headfirst into the route,” Norman said.
May’s face morphed from a scowl to a grin as she started hopping up and down.
“YES! Okay, before you say anything Lea, do you mind if I take a guess?” May asked. I hesitantly nodded. “Lea wants a Ralts.”
“I... How? I didn’t give you any hints!” I shouted, feeling annoyed.
She just smiled and turned back to the gate.
“You do realize that training a Ralts from around here is going to be hard, right?” Norman asked. “They’re all young, and most of them only know how to Teleport, which by the way is going to make catching one annoying, and they’re frailer than most of the mons on the route. Don’t get me wrong, I very much get the appeal, once they’re trained the Ralts line is terrifying, but-”
“I know it’s going to be hard at first, it’s why I went ahead and bought a few extra poke balls. There are two mons on this route I want, but I really want Ralts as my starter.” I stared resolutely at Norman. “I know what I'm signing up for.”
Norman sighed.
“Well, can’t argue with that face.” Norman said before chucking out a single poke ball. “Charlie, can you do me a favor and ask around with a few of the local mons to see if a Ralts is eager to leave home?”
The newly revealed Slakoth lazily gave a salute before it made its way out to the tall grass beyond the gate.
“I can’t guarantee anything, but this’ll be easier for you and for me. If your Ralts is a bit adventurous, then you might have a bit of a head start on your training,” Norman said.
“Thanks. That means a lot.” I looked out into the grass. “Is it alright to send Charlie out alone?”
“I’m your sponsor, I’m supposed to do this for you,” Norman said with a smile. “And never do what I'm doing, by the way. I can get away with sending Charlie out on his own cause most of the wild Pokémon in the area are on friendly terms with the gym and know my Pokémon, yours would probably get jumped the moment the wild Pokémon in the area recognized it as an intruder.” Norman went from serious to smug. “Also, Charlie can take care of himself. He’s one of mine, and this is still Route 102.”
“Can we at least start making our way into the route now?” May whined. “Slakoth can find us by scent, and I really want to make it to Littleroot today.”
“Don’t forget we still have to push through Oldale and Route 101,” I said. May just chuckled.
“Oldale is five houses and a Pokémon Center, and 101 is like fifteen minutes long. This is the bulk of the trip, and if we start making inroads now, we can make the whole thing in under a day,” May said. She looked up towards the tree line on the other end of town. “I want to enjoy living indoors as much as possible, cause the trip to Rustboro is going to suuuuuck.”
I winced.
“Yeah, the forest is going to suck.” I turned to Norman. “I’m sure it’ll be fine if we take a slow pace, maybe stop, and take in the route a bit. I motioned for Sergei and started scrolling once I had him. “There’s even a set of ruins we can check out if we want.”
“Let’s save that for the return trip, Lea. I don’t want to hold up dad anymore then we absolutely have to. It’ll be more fun if we both have Pokémon anyway,” May said, taking Sergei back.
Sergei beeped twice.
“Combat ready Pokémon, you know what I meant.”
A few sparks shot out away from May.
“Yes, I know I can use you as a taser.”
I shot Norman a glare.
“You gave May a taser,” I said in disbelief. Norman raised his arms.
“It’s just a mild Thundershock, I swear.” He quickly made his way around me and moved towards the gate.
“Eve wouldn’t let me leave with a baseball bat but May gets a taser,” I grumbled.
“I think that’s less a slight against you and more your sister not wanting people to know she's related to a Team Electabuzz fan,” May said. “I can’t really blame her, honestly.”
“Why is everyone being mean to me today? I hope you know I'm stealing Sergei to watch anime later as payment for you bullying me.”
The nearby grass ruffled a bit as I cried.
“Eh?”
A Ralts walked out and stared up at me.
It blinked.
I blinked back.
The Ralts turned around and walked back into the tall grass.
Sergei started playing dial up internet sounds as I stared at where the Ralts had been for a good solid three seconds.
“Oi, wait up!” Once my brain had caught up to the rest of the world, I quickly ran after the little guy. “I need to ask you something. I’ve got cookies!” I reached forward through the grass, and my hand brushed up against what I hoped was my potential starter. “Listen, I just want to-”
“Lea, don’t-”
“Bad idea-”
Both May and Norman were too late. I had grabbed Ralts, and I now realized how bad of an idea this was as the world around me very quickly started to change. I was now in a beautiful clearing, with massive trees that I didn’t recognize towering overhead. A faint pink haze coated the moist ground beneath me, and I could faintly hear water rushing over rocks in the distance. I slowly pulled myself up and froze as my eyes caught a terrifying sight.
I hitchhiked on a wild Ralts's Teleport to a place I had never seen before, and what was worse...
Is that a single, tall, terrifying Gardevoir was staring down at me.
‘Interloper.’ And it did not look pleased.
“Wait, don’t-” My voice was cut off as the Gardevoir psychically lifted me into the air. She looked beside me, and her glare grew in intensity.
‘You’ve harmed my child,’ she hissed into my mind, and an ear-splitting headache started to form at the base of my skull.
Struggling to move, I shifted to see where she was looking. Much to my horror, I saw the Ralts that had teleported me here had passed out on the ground.
“I-I didn’t do that,” I choked out, desperately trying to think of a way to get the Gardevoir to ease up a bit. I frantically tried to focus on what I had done. “My mind. Just look and see.” And the pain in my head grew to an almost unbearable level as most of the events of the day played out.
Right at the cusp of passing out, it all stopped. Gardevoir dropped me, and I fell onto my knees. My vision swam, but through bleary eyes, I faintly made out a few flecks of red spotting the ground. I raised my hand to my nose as my vision cleared.
Blood.
Shaking slightly, I looked up to see my attacker shift her view from me to the Ralts with an exasperated look.
‘You did not hurt my child intentionally and you didn’t intend to take her against her will.’ The voice was like a thousand nails on chalkboard after what I had just gone through. “Voir.” I saw her slap her hand against her head. My heart stopped as this terrifying creature started to walk towards me.
“S-Stay back.” I stuttered, before falling flat on my ass as I tried to move. There was this weird disconnect between what my brain wanted to do and what my arms and legs were willing to do, and that terrified me.
“Voir.” She leaned down and placed both of her hands on my skull. This was it, wasn’t it. First day out and I was going to die. That must have been some kind of record. Gardevoir’s eyes glowed with an eerie blue light, and I clenched mine shut waiting-
For...
‘Oh god that feels so much better.’ I thought. Gardevoir gave me a smile.
My whole body went limp as she worked on fixing my head. The skull splitting pain that was radiating from behind my temples faded to a dull ache before ceasing to be an issue at all.
‘My child isn’t able to teleport another with her yet. I thought the worst.’ The words didn’t hurt anymore. She looked away. ‘I am sorry.’
“I didn’t exactly behave fantastically,” I said. “I just... saw a Ralts and got excited.” Gardevoir pulled my head up and moved it from left to right, as if examining something.
‘There, that’s the worst of the damage fixed. On the bright side, your mind should now be more... accepting of psychic communication. Do you still feel pain when I talk?’
“I... don’t. Huh, that’s neat.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about being more open to psychic energy, but I’ll take living over just about anything at this point.
‘Regardless of how you acted, you are still a child, and I am not.’
I am not a child, I am seventeen. Thank you very much.
‘To me, you are an infant.’
“Oi, you already got the whole story, stay out of my head,” I said.
The Gardevoir looked away again.
‘I... find myself unable too. Your mind is an open book right now, practically screaming its secrets for every psychic to hear. My attack... it forced a door open that I can’t seem to close,’ Gardevoir explained.
My eyes widened in horror.
“Every psychic?!” I’d be an open book to any trainer with something as basic as a Spoink.
“Ralts...” Startled out of my thoughts, I looked down and noticed that Ralts was finally starting to stir.
‘Mommy... I don’t feel so good,’ Ralts sent out through a mental link. A mental link that I could somehow hear. Now Gardevoir’s eyes widened.
‘The feedback is a two-way street.’ Wait, did that mean I was psychic now?
I looked down and watched a very disoriented Ralts hurl on my cleats.
----------------------------------------
Those were my favorite shoes.
‘There’s not a single spec of vomit on them, I was very thorough. Put the damn things on.’ Gardevoir growled in my mind.
“Then why do they still smell like Oran Berries and sadness,” I wailed.
Ralts giggled.
‘I kind of like her, mother. She’s funny.’
Starting to think the little brat did this on purpose.
‘Oi, I am not a brat,’ Ralts complained.
Right... no privacy. That was still a thing.
“So... I’m just an open book to all psychics?” I asked.
Gardevoir looked away, rubbing the back of her head.
‘To be fair, most people are an open book to psychics. Your thoughts are just louder,’ Gardevoir said.
Ralts walked away from the two of us, looking bored.
‘There are a few mental exercises I can teach you to shield your mind. Learning how to do them would take a few days though,’ Gardevoir said, looking apprehensive.
“Yeahhhh, no. I’ve stuck around here for too long as it is.” Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Ralts fishing through my bag. A few random Poke Balls and a jacket were levitating around her as she pulled out a pair of underwear. My cheeks felt hot. “Oi, that’s mine.”
‘I just wanted to see what you were talking about. You said something about cookies...’ The Ralts got a dopey expression on its face as she fished out a box. ‘Ah ha!’
“How on earth can you be hungry, you just barfed all over my shoes,” I chided before looking over at the Gardevoir.
‘I mean, you DID offer her cookies before you got teleported.’ Gardevoir said.
‘I'm still waiting for that return trip.’ I thought back.
“Ralts.” She nodded once before popping open the small container I had labeled ‘BRIBE’. She inhaled all three cookies in one bite.
“Oi don’t go so fast or-” My brain stopped working as a single feeling of pure unbridled bliss passed through the mental connection. Ralts stood still for a moment before swallowing and turned to stare at me with a terrifying look of obsession.
‘More please,’ Ralts said.
‘Alright, that’s enough. I’m sending the human back to her friends now, before this gets any weirder.’ Gardevoir raised her arms, and her eyes started to glow.
‘WAIT!’ Ralts frantically puts itself between me and the Gardevoir. ‘I... I want to go with the smelly human,’ Ralts said.
“SMELLY!” I shouted. “I knew it! Three dips in the river and a full powered psychic blow drier still wasn’t-”
‘Silence,’ Gardevoir hissed.
What was I saying? Why was I saying it? I shrunk back but the Ralts in front of me stood firm. ‘A few cookies-’
‘It’s not about that,’ Ralts said.
We both shot her a deadpan look.
‘Okay it’s partially about that, but I can help her. I can help shield her mind. I know all the exercises by heart from when you showed me. And, uh...’ The Ralts floundered, as if it didn’t know what else to say. ‘I... kind of wouldn’t mind leaving the forest.’ Or maybe it was how to say it. Should I be listening in on this? Wait, I can’t help it.
‘No, you shouldn’t be listening to this,’ Gardevoir said with a bit of heat. ‘And you,’ She exerted a bit of pressure on the area as she stared down at Ralts. ‘You aren’t ready-’
‘I’ll never be ready by your standards. Lea is nice, and I want to go with her.’ Ralts interrupted her. Gardevoir started to up the psychic field a bit more and took a single step forward. Screw this.
“Oi, back off,” I growled, completely unsure of where this newfound bravery was coming from. “If the brat wants to come then she can come. I know just how bad being stuck in one place is. It’s her decision.” And now those angry eyes are being sent my way. Fuck.
‘Really then... are you both sure about this?’ She hissed, and a small bit of pain started to creep back into my skull. Scared shitless, I looked back to Ralts. She nodded yes.
“Damn straight.” Gardevoir immediately teleported behind us and grabbed both of us by the shoulder. She glared intently at me before shifting her focus back to Ralts. Oh god I'm going to die. I’m going to die. Why couldn’t I pick now to be a coward? Oh fuck.
‘Don’t die,’ she said to Ralts. ‘Don’t fuck this up,’ she directed at me. Wait- ‘And brace yourselves.’
No no no no no no!
My whole body felt like it got shoved through a tube of toilet paper. Fuck, put me under the next time I teleport anywhere. Once it was over, a feeling of weightlessness took me.
“Oh, that bitch-” Before gravity pulled me down to the hard ground JUST to the left of the soft grass. “Ow....”
“Ralts....” Ralts agreed.
Wait.
“Ralts!” I exclaimed. She immediately perked up. “I’m not dead! I’m not dead and I’ve got my starter! Oh legends, I’m so happy.”
‘Mom really scared me for a moment there.’ Ralts looked up to me as I gently pulled myself up from the ground.
“Oh my lord, you’re okay!” I heard from a few yards away before almost getting tackled. “We were so worried when you just disappeared.” May all but shouted in my ear.
“Relax, I’m fine,” I said, smile firmly in place.
Ralts shot me a confused look and I very subtly shook my head no.
‘I don’t want to worry her or bring attention to your mom.’
“Never, EVER do that again,” Norman said before walking up behind his daughter. He looked me over before sighing in relief. “In addition to the million and one things that can go wrong with surprise impromptu teleportation, you had no clue where the Ralts was going, what was on the other side, if that Ralts could even handle teleporting with you-”
“Alright, I get it, I fu-”
Norman’s gaze got even sterner.
“Er, messed up. Legends above, if you told May all this crap, no wonder she’s squeezing all the air from my lungs right now,” I said the last bit a bit louder, hoping May would get the hint.
May let go of me as if I’d burned her.
“Sorry,” May muttered quietly.
Great, now I felt bad.
“Look, I'm fine. See? I’ve even made a new friend,” I said, pointing down. Ralts pulled at May’s pant leg. May and Norman both looked down and Ralts waved.
“Oh my god you are precious.” May quickly scooped the Ralts up in a hug.
‘I like this human. She correctly knows how to identify how awesome I am.’ Oh good, my Ralts has an ego.
“May, you shouldn’t just grab Pokémon off the ground without their permission first,” Norman said. He backed off at seeing her daughter's glare.
A dark aura radiated off of May in waves as she dared her father to interrupt.
“Though she seems okay with it... heh heh heh.” Norman backed away from her daughter slowly.
“Yeah, she’s fine with it,” I said.
Norman looked at me in surprise.
“What, she just told me.”
“You... already have a psychic link? How?” Norman asked. “Most Ralts can’t make a mental connection with a human. They usually can’t hold a conversation until they’re a Kirlia. They don’t have the raw psychic power to make up for our lack of any kind of psychic ability.” Norman looked thoughtful for a moment.
“Well, I don't know about that, but we can talk to each other just fine.” I said, nervously glancing from Norman to Ralts. ‘Any idea how to explain this without telling them your mom tried to turn my brain into a fruit smoothie. I really don’t want to spend a month in a hospital with probes on my head.’
‘It wouldn’t do much good anyway, humans really don’t know how the brain works all that well. You might want to pay attention, the stuffy old human is still trying to talk to you,’ Ralts said.
I looked up and both May and Norman were looking at me funny.
“Sorry, trying to hold an actual conversation and a mental conversation at the same time is... apparently kind of hard,” I explained.
“You’ll adapt the longer you’re together,” Norman explained. “You’ll definitely have plenty of time to practice.”
I nodded along before realizing something.
“Wait, I still need to actually catch the Ralts, don’t I?” I reached down and pulled my bag open. Norman stopped me. “What?” I asked.
“Sorry, it’s a bit of a tradition. Your sponsor gives you your first Poke Ball,” Norman said before pulling out a small white ball. “A Premier Ball for a premier event. Congratulations.”
I took the ball and gently touched it to Ralts’s head. It opened, quickly pulled her in, and dinged. I smiled. After so long, it was finally official.
I was now a Pokémon trainer, and I had caught my first Pokémon.