Synchronization

Chapter One: The Interview

A/N: I acknowledge that my knowledge of Pokémon is limited to Generation One, so if you find any mistakes in canon, please let me know and I will do my best to fix them. I did do as much homework as I could, though.

Chapter One: The Interview

"Welcome back to PokéTalk, and I'm Victoria Chatterbox. Our final guest is someone you should all be very familiar with. He has been a trainer for the last sixteen years, starting at the age of ten." The hostess paused with a smile as the audience murmured in excitement. "Now we all know that ten is the usual age for starting with your first Pokémon, but it's unusual for someone to remain a trainer for as long as our next guest has. After all, you can't stay ten forever." The raven-haired hostess paused again as the audience chuckled appreciatively. "And now, please join me in welcoming...James Gottum!"

A set of golden curtains at one end of the stage parted, and a dark-haired man wearing blue jeans and a white shirt under a white-and-blue checkered button-up shirt entered the studio, giving a shy smile as he raised a hand of greeting toward the studio audience. Following him was a Gardevoir, seemingly floating along behind him while casting anxious glances at the audience behind an equally timid wave. Both of them seemed uncomfortable with the setting.

"Thank you for coming on the show!" Victoria nearly had to yell over the cheers of the audience as the three of them settled into their seats.

"Thank you for inviting me," James said somewhat meekly. "It's a real honor."

"Now, before we get started," the hostess said, gesturing toward her guests, "I'd like to point out that trainers usually don't bring their Pokémon with them to interviews like this, but when they do they usually bring them in a Poké Ball. Now James, I know we talked about this during our prep call, but – for those at home who may be new – could you tell us why you don't have your Pokémon stored in Poké Balls?"

James sighed heavily. "I, uh..."

The audience knew that the question brought back bad memories for the veteran Trainer.

The Gardevoir laid a delicate hand on her trainer's shoulder, and he seemed to draw some strength from the contact. "When I was about fifteen, I caught a Diglett. One of the cutest things I ever saw. Anyway, I caught it in the usual way and named him 'Horatio'. Dunno why, he just looked like one."

"'Horatio'..." Victoria repeated. "What an interesting name."

"Yeah," James replied, absently rubbing his nose. "Thanks. Anyway, I took him home to transfer him to another Poké Ball for storage, but..." he briefly bit his lower lip. "The, uh, ball that I was transferring him to...something was wrong with it, so...when I activated its 'capture' sequence....yeah." He bit his lip, clearly unable to go on. "I don't know if the ball was defective or if it was damaged when it was shipped...all I know is that Horatio...didn't survive."

"How terrible," Victoria said sympathetically. "I can't even imagine what that must have been like, and to still feel the sadness after all this time."

"Like having your heart torn out of your chest," he replied with a tight smile and matching voice. "After that, I studied the technology myself and vowed that I would only use balls that I created myself, and that I would only use them for the initial capture."

"That's amazing," the hostess breathed. "Fortunately, your skills as a trainer were quite impressive, allowing you to earn enough money to care for your now-free-roaming Pokémon, right?"

"Yes, ma'am," James replied, seeming to come out of his depressed state. "I only caught Pokémon I could reasonably care for until I found a farm for sale large enough to house my...well, my friends," he said, briefly exchanging a smile with the Gardevoir. "Kimono here may not be living in the lap of luxury, but I do my best to do right by her as well as the others."