Vhira groaned as she rolled around her bed trying to find a spot that blocked enough of the sunlight that was starting to pierce through the curtains of her window. She spent that remaining hour doing nothing other than rolling around her bed and found nothing but sunlight beaming through her shut eyelids. Finding no respite, she sat up a little while later with an expression that looked like she was already tired of the day.

She rubbed the drowsiness off of her eyes before falling back down her bed and stretching, she groaned at the feeling of her ligaments loosening accompanied by the soft pops of her back. Both of her elbows released one last pop before she suddenly went limp, a result of all of the tense energy she had suddenly getting relieved. This. This was something she always welcomed in the morning.

After that, she sat on her bed for a while with nothing but emptiness in her mind. She was in more of a dazed state really, where her eyes were glazed over and her mind numb.

Three days had already passed after she was fortunately rescued from that man but whenever her mind drifted off to that particular memory, phantom sensations would assault her body and she couldn't help but shudder in fear of what might have happened.

If... that man had his way, would she still be waking up in this bed? If Lionel and Whitney didn't arrive, what would have happened to her? Would she go missing? And if that man didn't come and help the three of them, where would they have all ended up?

She was stupid, she knew that. And a large part of her felt guilty for dragging everyone else alongside her when she decided to act like an idiot. And all of that for what? A pokemon that probably didn't even exist?

Vhira heaved a deep breath and shuddered.

Then, before she could further mope herself into staying in bed, she got up and prepared for the rest of the day: fixing her bed, placing the clothes she was gonna wear for school, and finally, taking a shower and cleaning herself up.

as she wiped herself, Vhira caught sight of her reflection in the mirror; she had toxic green hair, a pair of black eyes, and pale skin. Her cheeks, while not sunken, looked like they could use a little more fat and what could be seen of her arms were lithe and stick-like.

That was what she was, a young girl with nothing on her plate but luck. And that luck had run out long ago after someone in her community took her in.

And she wasn't complaining of course. How could she? After everything they've done for her, what right did she have to ask for more? She was fed, taken care of, placed under a roof, given clothes, and more importantly, got a chance to get educated. Sure, the people that took her in weren't exactly well off but they were trying their best to live, and sometimes? That's more than enough to keep going forward.

still, she sometimes wishes that she could help, not just in the land that her current guardians are tending (which, before she actually could, would require her stubborn landlord to be convinced.), but as a whole. She wanted to do it if even a little, and the only thing that she see's that would give her the chance to do that would be a pokemon.

she sometimes daydreamed about that, about how she would get a Pokemon and help out around the place, earn a bit of money, run around the outskirts of the farm to patrol, and much more.

she shook her head and slapped both her cheeks, "stupid, stupid, stupid." she said to herself, glaring at the girl in the mirror.

that want for pokemon almost harmed her and she still had the thought to even remotely think of doing it again.

But, she also felt happy and she continued to hum as she changed into her clothes because today,- this morning even, Lionel and Whitney would help her catch her very first pokemon and both of them were even kind enough to ask her what kind she wanted to catch. Of course, she answered that she wanted a poison type, they were something that interested her after all, and from what she heard around her community, there was once a man who slipped in and out of battles without being seen during the war.

He was quick and his moves were deadly, yet precise. His pokemon of choice? Poison Types.

She couldn't remember most of them but the stories she heard of that man were great and even if he was an enemy that lived across the border, she didn't mind. After all, admiring someone and turning them into a role model that she should follow didn't harm anyone. If she was given the chance, she would fight for her region with all her might.

not that she would be able to fight that man of course. From what she heard, the pokemon that he released onto the field were deadly enough to wipe out swarms of enemies with their poison gasses alone and even then, you shouldn't count the Pokemon as his strength alone because that man himself was strong. At one point, she even heard that he was as strong as his pokemon and could run alongside the best of them.

whether it was true or not, she didn't know.

Vhira fixed her hair, she brushed her bangs aside and clipped them to make them stay in place. For once, her eyes were fully visible and she smiled as she looked at herself in the mirror, she gave the collar of her shirt a pull and fixed it for the nth time before checking her teeth. She had been repeating that for a while now and she couldn't help it!

she didn't want Lionel- and Whitney to think that she was weird!

her eyebrows furrowed,

she also heard that pokemon liked first impressions... so looking well would get her and her pokemon somewhere.

right?

after spending a few more minutes fixing herself, Vhira finally got out of the bathroom with light steps. As she got out of the bathroom, she checked her room one last time to see if she missed something- it wasn't all that special, just a one-bed place that had enough space to fit her and her belongings. And to her, that was more than enough. The decorations that she had put up around the walls of the place had given the room a homey feeling and the comfort that she felt whenever she lies in her bed at night was more than enough for her to consider this place home.

After straightening out her bed one last time, she grabbed her backpack and left the place. She looked back once to double-double check for anything she missed but then again, it was useless to do so because her room was as minimal as minimal can get and nothing inside can hide anywhere.

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she got out of the small building that was both her house and room with a smile. Greeting the land owner of the place as she walked by them, she gave the man a bow, "thank you for keeping me here again,"

the land owner, a man in his lower fifties, rubbed the back of his head and smiled wryly, "come on Vhir, we both know that you don't need to say that," he says, "as I said, you're more than welcome to stay here for as long as you want." she pat him on the head, "you're family."

"but I still feel like I should thank you after taking me in again after..." she wasn't able to meet her eyes and her own moved to the side,

the arms that wrapped around her were warm and they tightened considerably when she hugged back, "I would've been angrier if you could no longer come back because instead got yourself into even worse danger." he pat her back and moved away, smiling still, "I'm thankful for those brats even bringing you back to us," he said, "so how about you take them here and meet us? I think a thank you is in order."

she shook her head, "I-"

"if you don't want to then it's fine," the man cut her off, "you can do what you want after all," he said a matter of factly, "now, off you go." he waved her off, "I don't know what caused you to go to school this early but I'm sure those reasons are validated," he grinned, "now go, you wouldn't want to keep that boy waiting." and with that, she walked out of her land- adopted father, yep, adopted father's farm. She was his adoptive daughter and Vhira was happy about it.

...

the nervousness she felt got worse and worse the closer she got to Route 35's gate and by the time she reached it, she had already fixed herself to the point that she was sure she looked even worse before the constant pulling of her clothes and hair. Even then, she still ironed out her button-up shirt one last time with her hand, fixed her hair, then continued to check herself for anything that might look weird, and for the last time, she took a deep breath and stepped unto the street that directly faced the entrance to the gate.

and the first thing that she immediately noticed was the massive Kangaskhan standing by the gate's entrance. It stood around 8 feet tall and Vhira didn't know the regular size of the pokemon but she was sure the one before her wasn't normal. In a good way. Right next to the Kangaskhan was a boy roughly around her age, his dirt brown locks weren't combed and looked frayed, and is wearing a black hoodie with no designs along with a six-pocket cargo pants tightly wound up to his waist by his belt. On said belt was a Pokeball belonging to a Grimer that she, quite frankly, wanted for herself back then.

To his side was a Persian that gave her a sly grin when she met his eyes, it was the standard smile for the pokemon but she couldn't help but think that he was silently teasing her.

Off to that Persian's side was Whitney, happily talking to Lionel about something.

she stopped walking and paused, she gave her body a long glance before looking at the two in front of her. Both of them looked more capable, better. Can she even walk alongside both of them without looking weird? Like an extra?

She took a step back, the phantom pain in her chest was something new but she knew that it was because of the guilt that she felt from dragging these two with her and them even accepting her like this makes her feel like a third wheel and Lionel simply just looked so much better with Whitney and-

the Persian called out its name and everyone him all turned to look at him, then at her. The presence of the Kangaskhan was unnerving yet she was sure that both Lionel and Whitney's excited looks were worse than that.

both of them ran up to her and she was tempted to run away but she didn't. The look of the Persian somehow convinced her it was a bad idea. Somehow.

When they caught up, both of them gave her a wave and Whitney's expression turned into annoyance, "what took you so long?!" she scolded, pinching Lionel in the arm, making the guy flinch. Then she ran up to her and hugged her, "I thought that you were stupid enough to try that stunt again." her hug tightened. "don't." Whitney added.

"I-" her eyes went over to Lionel and then at the Kangaskhan trailing behind him, "I won't," she said and Whitney let go.

"good, if you ever think that way again and if I catch you doing that again I'm gonna make sure Lionel spends the rest of his life looking for you, alive or not."

"why me though?" she heard the guy murmur.

"because I command you now," the older girl said, grinning when Lionel groaned. She looked at both of them, did something happen between them? Their parents were well acquainted so maybe they told Whitney to not let Lionel make stupid decisions like rescuing her... again, the guilt turned itself into chest pain and she resisted the urge to run away from the two of them.

Whitney clapped her hands, grabbing her attention and pulling her out of her grim thoughts, "anyways! how about we all go out and actually catch your pokemon yeah?" she grinned and leaned closer to her, "it's Lionel sponsored!" she whispered, then she giggled and strutted up next to Kangaskhan and Lionel. Vhira quickly followed.

because of Kangaskhan, the looks they got from the surrounding people as they made their way toward the gate made Vhira blush but the other two with her simply ignored it. Lionel, she knew didn't care about that sort of thing since he didn't even react let alone look at their classmates when they started murmuring excitedly about his new pokemon when he let Grimer out of his pokeball back then. Vhira was even sure that the guy didn't even notice them.

she looked at him oddly, she knew from the other students that he once competed relentlessly when he was young and had actually raked up several awards but apparently, he just... suddenly stopped.

as for why? she didn't know.

it didn't take long for all of them to enter the gate and Vhira watched as Kangaskhan ducked so that she can pass through the door. The pokemon really was massive...

she shook her head and instead, looked at the guards who simply gave them all waves as they passed.

huh.

She was worried that they wouldn't be allowed but she guessed it was unfounded.

...

"Ho-oh how long are we going to stay hereeeeee!!!!" Whitney punched a nearby tree, shaking it and causing a few pidgeys to fly away. They glared at her as they left, clearly displeased. "yeah! screw you too!" she yelled at them.

"Nidorans are pretty rare," Lionel says as he gave his Grimer food that the little sludge happily ate.

Vhira frowned, she didn't want to tell both of them that she feels slightly guilty for dragging them both here... maybe she should call for a stop- she shook her head, they'd already spent an hour here, and walking away now would just waste that. "what do you feed him?" she asked, hoping that Whitney would calm down enough to listen about pokemon diet. Vhira herself enjoys that sort of thing and Lionel seems to have taken a liking to it so maybe Whitney will as well?

or maybe not? Vhira looked at the brown-haired girl and she frowned. Why was she so impatient?

Whitney glared at her, "what? what's up with the glare?" she asked, leaning against the tree she just punched.

she blinked, was she glaring? "I- what?"

"nothing," Whitney sighed, "just- maybe I'm just not used to seeing your eyes out in the open," she said

Vhira subconsciously touched her hair, her eyes didn't make her look mean, did they? "I'm sorry," she said.

"no, I started it." the older girl replied, "anyways, where do you think nidoran lives?" she asked Lionel and the guy shrugged,

"I don't know," he replied, "I know that they're supposed to live in fields, since, you know, they look like-" he paused, "-they live in burrows so we're in the right spot.

"I just don't know where they're supposed to be in this spot." he gave his Grimer's head a rub on the head, "right bud?"

"Grimer!"

"anyways," he stood up, "once Grimer's done eating, we should go ahead and check places like hills, I think nidoran can be found there." he looked at her and smiled, "and if not then we have the entire day for ourselves to check for them."