Scaredy Cat

//Author's Ramble: I dont own pokemon.. or any characters.. and i'm too lazy to go look up who wrote pokemon, etc..  this is a fan fiction :3  OBVIOUSLY.  This book will NEVER be completed.  So read at your own risk.  This entire book is dedicated to @SincerelyDeep for inspiring me with her amazing story, Retribution. Dont point out any "facts" i got incorrect, because chances are, i purposely changed that fact.  Its a fan fiction so dont get your knickers in a twist.//

Prologue:

I stumbled down the stairs, freezing as I finally caught my balance and hoping that I didn't wake IT up.  The thing slept near the base of the stairs, curled up on a makeshift blanket.  At least she hadn't woken up.  I breathed a quiet sigh of relief before continuing to tiptoe down the stairs.  Moving over the plush carpet towards the front door, I moved slowly.  Carefully.  Almost there. 

Jerking open the front door, I rushed out before slamming it shut behind me, not caring if I woke up the creature now that I was no longer in the same living space as it was.  Rolling my shoulders, taking a deep breath, I attempted to relax myself. 

Now to just think about what I'd be telling my dad when I got to the shop.  How could he possibly take me seriously when I told him I was ready to go on my journey, when I was terrified of the creatures I'd be forced to partner with? 

Most children started their adventure by age thirteen.  Here I was, seventeen, still at home, with no accomplishments under my belt.  I was the laughingstock of the entire town of New Bark!  I had to do something. I had to stand up and leave home, I needed to start my adventure.  I was tired of being my dad's disappointment. 

I walked calmly along the sidewalk, ignoring to the best of my abilities the smirks and snickers and sneers that hid behind the palms of the people I'd grown up with.  Oh how they had all changed.. the people I once called friends turned into snobs, the ones who I called family had turned their backs on me. 

Pariah. 

The word flitted through my mind, briefly, but I paid it no attention.  I kept moving, not slowing down, until I finally came to my destination.  An old blue, one story building that was attached to the small PokeCenter.  Across it in bold, white letters was the world "PokeMart", and I pushed the door and attempted to walk through, slamming into the glass.  

I rubbed my nose, glaring at the glass door that clearly said 'PULL' and sighed, pulling it open.  It didn't matter how many times I came to the PokeMart, at least once a month, I pushed the Pull door and wound up hurting myself in the process.  

'Smooth move, Snorlax' The voice in my head jeered, and I groaned, glancing around the Mart for my father.  Once I'd spotted him, I smiled.  He stood there with a goofy grin on his face, conversing with Miss Asuka, who was buying some potions for her pokemon, who were always fighting one another.  Miss Asuka and Dad had a.. "thing", I suppose you'd call it.  He'd been dating her for quite some time, and I knew that he had plans to ask her to marry him soon.  

She was beautiful, with long pale white hair that went to the very bottom of her back, porcelain, unflawed skin, a tall beauty of nearly six feet.  Ice blue eyes adorned her face, they always looked hard and cold, no matter how happy she was.  Ruby red lips and a full but slim figure, she was the epitome of perfection, at only age twenty-six.   Father was twelve years older than her, but they were in love.  Anyone could see it from a mile away, and she was nice, she didn't laugh at me behind my back either.  

I liked her, and father loved her, so I actually looked forward to when he asked her for her hand in marriage.

"Shiori," Father called, jerking me out of my reverie as I stared at his soon-to-be fiance. Looking up at him, I couldn't help but to brighten at seeing his happy face.  Dad definitely deserved to be happy.  Laugh lines sat at his eyes and mouth, his black and gray pepper-like hair was starting to thin out, but he looked as healthy as he ever had.  Standing at six foot, two inches, with his wide shoulders. He reminding me of a wrestler for his sturdy, muscular build.  But even with his hard lines, he preferred helping pokemon, he was a healer, he worked the PokeCenter as well.  Most had a Nurse Joy attending them, but New Bark Town had Doctor Yasuo Okayama.