Dedicated to Doppelgengar. All I can say is thanks for being awesome!
"Elron! Breakfast!"
I awoke to the familiar summons and made my way downstairs.
What a strange dream. Getting a pokemon and setting out to who-knows-where with Flora... The table was lined with a particular feast this morning: ham, sausage, scrambled eggs, and pancakes drizzled with Razz berry syrup. "Yay! Meat for breakfast! What's the occasion?"
A figure who normally did not sit at the table was helping herself to a plate of food. "I came by to get you, but apparently you weren't awake and your mom invited me in for breakfast."
I have mixed feelings about that not being a dream... "Wait, what do you mean by 'come by to get me'?"
"Exactly that. If we're going to go out into the wilderness then we need to train you to live on the road!"
Mother chimed in. "I made you a nice breakfast because you won't be getting much from me for a while."
Are they serious right now? "I hardly agreed yesterday and I'm already being drafted the next day?"
"Of course! I've already told everyone that I'll be leaving in a few days, I intend to stay true to that!" She held up three fingers. "This is how many days you get before we leave."
"You better eat quick honey," said mom, pulling up my old backpack from under the table, obviously already packed. "It's not polite to keep nice young ladies waiting."
She's still eating too you know.
-----
After filling ourselves and getting properly dressed, we made our way out of the village.
"Make sure you come back before you actually leave!" yelled mom behind us.
"Of course I'm going to come back, she took my gaming system away until I did."
Flora giggled. "She just wants the best for you and to see you one last time."
"It's not like I'll never come back. Besides, shouldn't she have been ready to send me off years ago?"
"With you, probably not. She probably expected you to live at home for way too long."
"Hey!"
"It's the truth."
I couldn't really deny that. We hiked for about an hour before coming up to a clearing with a river running next to it.
"This should be a good enough spot to set up camp. It's far enough that if something happens we can head back but far enough to discourage you going off on your own."
"Do you seriously not trust me that much?!"
She didn't answer, and instead put her bag down on the ground. From her sash she pulled a pokeball, and released its inhabitant. Out from the red laser popped Marill, water typed mouse pokemon with a round, blue body. "What are you waiting for, get out Aaron!"
"Right now? Why?"
"We're going to have your first pokemon battle of course. If we're going to get you trained up in three days then there isn't time to waste!"
You're the one who decided to leave so soon. Reluctantly, I released my pokemon. Aaron looked back to make sure it was my side he was on, and started walking towards Flora.
"Bubble!" Flora called out to her partner. A single bubble was blown and drifted at Aaron, who just watched it as it approached. The sphere touched his face and popped with quite a bit of force, sending Aaron backwards. The little guy was quite surprised, and apparently under a decent amount of damage, and ran back to me, then decided to hide behind me and use me as a meat shield. He glared at the Marill and Flora between my legs, eyes full of perceived betrayal.
"That's not how battles work Aron, come on now, use... errr..." It occurred to me that I had no idea what moves the little guy knew. "Something!" I exclaimed, trying to sound confident.
Aaron, still behind me, glowed a little blue.
I guess Harden counts as something.
"Come on you two, how lame is this battle going to get?! Mari, use rollout!" The Marill looked at her trainer in confusion. "Yes, at both of them!"
Aaron and I panicked. We scrambled away as Mari started rolling towards us. We were running out of clearing to run through and the mouse was slowly gaining. That's when I saw it. The way out of this situation. We only had a few seconds before we would run into the forest and Marill would catch up.
"Aaron, trust me! On my queue, jump left and then tackle!... Now!"
The now somewhat far off Flora could see what was happening. "Quick! Stop!"
It was too late though. I jumped right, and Aaron left, leaving a tree directly in Mari's path. Aaron, hit the ground, paused a split second in preparing his attack, the bolted forward. Perfectly timed, Marill slipped past us was sandwiched between Aaron's hard metallic body and an unmoving tree. Instant knockout.
Flora ran from her spot. "Mari!!!" Aaron backed up and watched as she ran in and embraced her pokemon. For a second, all that could be heard was the nearby running water and the faraway chirps of a Chatot. Then, out of the background noise, rose Flora's laughing and trembling at the same time. "I can't even beat a newbie on his first battle... It's almost like I've gone from having little talent to no talent over the past few years..."
"Are you okay?" I almost put my hand on her shoulder when she turned around, tears in her eyes and a forced smile on her lips.
"That was really good thinking! You have a lot of talent! I think you'll be like your dad in no time."
I stepped back and broke eye contact. "Don't compare me to that man."
The water trickling by was now the only sound that could be heard.
"Come back Mari," said Flora, taking her injured pokemon back in its capsule and attaching it to her sash. "You did a good job... Go, Tiffiny!" A Beautifly suddenly appeared, fluttering with its colorful wings. Our eyes met. "You didn't think we were done, did you?" She smirked.
-----
So passed the day, battling, learning about basic camping skills, and wandering the area. When it was all said and done, everyone was exhausted. I built a fire, though not a particularly well made one, and we rolled out our sleeping bags around the source of warmth and sat on them. For tonight's meal we took the easy path and simply roasted hot dogs. For our pokemon we poured some pokefood, and all four of them happily scarfed down their rations.
Flora's third pokemon turned out to be Swinub, an ice and ground typed pig sort of pokemon. It was amazing that the creature could see, because his hair was so long that I couldn't see his eyes. Flora affectionately named him Truffles, after his favorite food to hunt for, though he had only found it twice.
After dinner we recalled our pokemon and hopped into our sleeping bags. The fire was now nothing but embers, and only a thin wisp of smoke was now making its way skywards. We didn't know each other too well, and just kind of laid there in silence until she fell asleep.
I couldn't help myself. Still wrapped in my sleeping back, I inched towards her to get a look at her sleeping face. I was almost to her when out of my bag popped Aaron, who without hesitation headbutted me in the stomach, making me roll back and away in pain. I coughed and gasped for air, which woke up Flora.
"Are you okay?"
I nodded yes, and slinked back into my original spot. She shrugged and went back to sleep. Aaron and I stared each other down. You little twerp! I wasn't even going to do anything! After giving me a very harsh stare that said "don't you try anything," he sat laid down next to her and went to sleep as well. Ugh. Too lazy to put him back in his pokeball. Oh well.
-----
The next two days went by way too fast, and I found myself in the middle of town saying goodbye to my fellow villagers. Mother, Aspen, Flora's parents, and a few of the older folk came to send us off. I'm pretty sure most of them came just to verify with their own eyes that I was indeed leaving.
"I've already given Flora one, but now that you're leaving you'll need one of these too," said Aspen, handing me a red box which I knew to be a pokedex. I flipped open its lid and got a good look at it. It look seemed simple enough, just rotate the pokeball design on the side and press the button in the design's center to select options. "When you come back be sure to update me on your findings. Every little piece of data helps!"
I nodded and put it in my backpack. "Thanks."
My mother handed both of us a packed lunch in paper bags, properly labeled with whose it was. "This is the last home cooked meal you'll have in a long time, so you better enjoy it, got it?" She hugged me in front of everyone.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll be sure to savor it." She gave up her grasp. There you go, embarrassing me in front of everyone.
"Well, I suppose I should let you go now, be good!"
"Have you known me not to be? Goodbye everyone!"
"So long!"
We were on our way, leaving almost all that I had known in my life behind, and heading towards a new future. Next stop: the northward Fallarbor Town!
-----
After hiking for a few hours we decided to stop and eat. The sun hung over us and was beating down, which was something I was definitely not accustomed to after all these years sitting in my room. We found haven in the shadow of a large tree and opened our lunch bags.
"Awww!! My parents left me a note in here! I guess our parents worked together on this."
I looked inside mine and found a note, and, to my surprise, a pokeball and hat buried in with my food.
Dear Elron,
I know you don't want these, but I'm going to give them to you anyways. The hat was your father's, and he always wanted you to take it with you when you had your journey. I'm sure that hat has been through a lot, so take good care of it for me. Also your father left you a pokemon, a pokemon that is very important to him and that he wanted to be your starter. Obviously things happened and it wasn't, but I hope that he'll grow on you. Unfortunately, all I have to give to you is this meal, so make sure to enjoy it to the fullest. Love you, and come back safely.
Mom
"What's yours say? Mine is just my parents rambling on about how I should settle down and start a proper life after this go around. You know, normal parent stuff."
I took out the pokeball and slipped it into my backpack. I knew exactly what was in it, so there was no need to check. Flora watched in silence as I pulled out the hat and placed it on my head. "Oh, nothing much." The hat was getting in the way of my vision and was annoying me, so I quickly turned in backwards. "Normal parent stuff." I hate to admit it, but I smiled.