A New Life Through The Eyes Of Kanto: An Autobiography

Black & White

My Pokemon ate together not far from where I sat on the ground, my back against a tree trunk.

June was nowhere in sight, having taken time for the past couple of hours to feed her own Pokemon.

I had watched her walk away deep into the forest for some privacy, and for a brief second, I considered asking her to stay with me. I had considered trying to convince her to send out all of her Pokemon in front of me and not hide them. For a brief second, I thought of telling her that it may help if her Pokemon met me and my Pokemon, and we could try to work together on their personal issues.

The feeling disappeared in the next instant as my thoughts returned to Aly. I didn't care about anything else but her right now.

June would be fine. It was probably best for her to work with her own Pokemon alone, anyway, I thought. They don't even know me. What help can I provide?

BOOM!

The sound of the gunshot that took my friend from me rang through my ears. It was just a memory, and yet the sound was so clear, I jumped in shock.

Aly fell to the ground on her side.

She coughed up blood everywhere, staring at me with her tear filled eyes, shivering hard.

Her arm reach up and grabbed my arm tightly, desperately.

"Gary," her last words she choked out.

I closed my eyes tight and shoved my head into my knees, wiping my eyes on them.

"You damn coward! I'm not afraid of these bullies!" Aly had yelled at me when I had tried to calm her down, insisting it wasn't worth it. "You have to stand for what you believe in. You can't just cower away! How can we win if we let people like this step all over us?"

I cried silently. A rustling in the trees made me quickly wipe my eyes and look up.

Someone was coming.

June appeared several seconds later, a sad look on her face, staring down. She looked up at me and forced a smile. "Hi."

My six Pokemon were staring at me, their food bowls about halfway filled. It seemed that they didn't have much of an appetite since leaving Lavender Town.

I wasn't exactly sure what was wrong with my usually hungry team. My eyes went to June and I made some kind of noise towards her, acknowledging her presence. I then stood up and walked over to my Pokemon, returning them to their Poke Balls before putting their food bowls back in my bag, pouring the food that was in them into my bag carelessly.

June and I exchanged blank glances.

"I'm ready," she stated.

I didn't reply, simply turning and led the way out of the woods and back on the path.

The sun was setting, the sky looking eerily beautiful, a mix of red, orange, and dark blue, looking like a painting, decorating the sky above us.

Somehow, wistfully watching this sight made me feel even sadder than I had before. Why am I here? I wondered. Why isn't Aly on this path, or one like it, instead of me? Why didn't I do more to stop them? Why didn't I jump in front of the gun? Why didn't I attack the person who shot her? Why did I just watch it all happen? My eyes fell to the ground. Tears dripped from them and disappeared from my view as I walked.

"You damn coward!" I could hear Aly's scream.

Yes, Aly, I thought to myself. I am a coward. A damn coward. Tears flowed from my eyes even faster, and I sniffled. A damn, pathetic coward who did nothing to save you. I should be dead; not you. This is all my fault.