Thanks, Scythe, the Gary Stuness should fade away soon, I think.
Alter Ego, I'll give you a proper review response later today. :P
Here's Chapter...the next chapter!!!
Home is Where the Heart Is
Jeff, Hitmonlee, Daedalus, and Corphish walked into the dark house. There was a gloomy aura accompanying the lightless abyss of the home. There was an eerie silence with the exception of one discouraging noise: a feminine sobbing of a pokemon coming from upstairs. Much to Jeff's surprise, there was still no one home to tend to either the darkness or the cries. He decided to flick on the light. A blinding flash of fluorescent beams temporarily impaired their vision.
"<I'd better get that,>" Hitmonlee said, gesturing to the noise.
"Should I come?" asked the worried human.
"<You're in no situation to be comforting anyone… comfort YOURSELF and then you can help!>" the kick boxer-like pokemon answered, angrily. "<And go have a shower… you smell awful.>"
Jeff was taken aback by his friends anger.
"<THANK YOU! I've been trying to get him to for the past two days!>" Corphish chuckled.
Hitmonlee walked upstairs and they heard a door shut.
Jeff cleared his throat. "You guys can do whatever you want; I'm going to go have that shower." He walked up the stairs and entered the second floor hallway. He opened the door which was right next to his room on the far side. Jeff flicked on a blinding fluorescent light and took a dark green towel from the basket of clean laundry which he slung over the towel rack. He undressed himself before stepping into the spacious shower. Jeff turned on the tap and the nozzle released multiple jets of extremely hot water, which was just the way he liked his showers. The warm water hit his back, creating hot steam on impact.
He grabbed a bottle of Dial body wash in an attempt to cleanse himself of the dirt and mud which was really stuck on. The pressurized water attempted to pry the dried blood from his body, but it stubbornly clung to his wounds. The hot jets stung his gash of a leg wound, as well as the sole of his foot. The painfully hot temperature was very soothing once he got used to it. Jeff began to think as the warmth relaxed his mind.
"
Maybe Hitmonlee's right… maybe you SHOULD grow up. It's so hard… but you're a mature guy… you can get past this. Give it a try… Try being more cheerful tomorrow. All you're doing is dragging your friends down. You still don't have to be a trainer, though. Just go into the class, tell them about your journey, show them your pokemon, and answer any questions. It'll be a piece of cake… you can prove Hitmonlee wrong. Think of this realistically… what good is being upset doing you? Exactly! So just buck up for at least tonight and tomorrow and we'll see what happens from there! Ok? Ok! Ok, then! …Ok."
The water was really helping his mood.
"
If only you had a hot shower right after you dealt with Nidoking… or right after you found out about Kristie and Alan. That would have made things so much easier on everyone… NO! Snap out of it, Jeff! You're not a whiny, weak quitter, are you?! Yes, you are. NO YOU'RE NOT! Promise to cheer up!" Jeff pledged after trying to quell his two conflicting mindsets. He knew he wanted the optimistic one to win, but the ball and chain of the repenting thoughts still weighed the other down. "
Come on, Jeff…"
He winced as he rubbed the anti-bacterial body wash into his leg wound.
"I'm surprised that it's not infected… who knows what that Seviper killed with it?" Jeff muttered, inspecting the deep gash which was only a little red around the edges.
He pushed in the tap of the shower and the water ceased. The steam filled bathroom made it almost impossible to see where his towel was. Jeff walked out of the shower, his hand outstretched, and he managed to find the towel, which he wrapped around his waist. He opened the bathroom door and steam flooded into the hallway. Jeff fully opened the door to see Hitmonlee walking to a stop in front of the door.
Uncomfortable that he was in only a towel, Jeff awkwardly asked, "Hey… What's up?"
Hitmonlee scratched his head. "<I talked to Bayleef; I told her that Treecko only ran off. Your great choice of words made it seem like he was dead. She's still pretty upset. Did you disinfect your leg?>" he asked, pointing to the cut.
"I put anti bacterial soap on i…"
"<Not good enough. Are you going to put disinfectant on it or do you want me to?>"
"Fine… but interrupt me again and I'll punch you in where ever it is your that mouth is!" Jeff threatened with a friendly grin.
Hitmonlee chuckled before turning right. Jeff turned left to go to his room but Hitmonlee grabbed his arm.
"Can't I get some clothes first?" asked Jeff, confused.
Hitmonlee shook his head. "<Bayleef is in there, she'll probably want to talk to you.>"
"Fine," Jeff reluctantly agreed, walking towards his parent's bedroom.
"<I don't see why humans wear clothes anyways.>"
"It's because we're ashamed and we almost always have the undeniable need to fit in," Jeff informed, grinning.
They walked into the bedroom and sat on the bed. Jeff took out a med-kit that was stashed in the end table. He opened it and took out a spray bottle. As he began to spray the yellow-green liquid on his leg, in a grimace, he said, "I've decided to take your advice, Hitmonlee. I'm going to take care of myself."
"<So you're still a trainer?>"
Jeff avoided the question. "…I dunno yet."
"<I need you to promise me something…>" Hitmonlee spoke up. Jeff nodded in agreement. "<Promise you won't go after Treecko… >"
He was left surprised and speechless.
"<No good can come from it. He'll only drag you back down the hell hole you're climbing out of! …Promise?>"
Jeff didn't make eye contact, but he gave a quick nod. He finished bandaging his wound and walked out of his parent's room, still wearing a towel. He walked down the hallway, leaving wet footprints with each step. Jeff opened the door to his room and stepped inside. Bayleef was lying on his bed, looking up at the poster of the green-bodied Grovyle.
Annoyed at still being unable to change into clothes, Jeff walked over to his bed and sat beside her. He put an arm around her long, leafy neck in comfort.
"Are you ok, Bay?" Jeff asked warmly.
"<Not… really,>" she answered. "<I don't understand; why did he go?>"
"Well I… we… had a disagreement and things kind of were different ever since," Jeff explained.
"<So this is your fault?>" she asked accusingly.
"Ye…" Jeff's tongue held the 'y' before he stopped himself. "No, it's… no! It was no one's fault… it just kind of happened."
Unsatisfied with the answer, Bayleef placed her head in the ruffled folds of the sheets. She looked up at Jeff with a question.
"<Promise you'll bring him back? Please find him and get him back… I think you owe it to him,>" persuaded Bayleef.
Jeff paused. What was he to do? He had already promised that he WOULDN'T do just that! He gave a quick nod, just as he had done earlier. He would sort it out later.
"<Thank you…>" she replied. Bayleef placed her head on the pillow and began to fall quickly asleep. Seizing the chance, Jeff took a handful of clothes from his dresser and ran out into the hallway. He looked into the gym room and saw Hitmonlee kicking the punching bag.
"Hey, Hit, where's Mom and Dad? I thought they'd be home by now."
"<Away…>" Hitmonlee grunted between kicks.
"For how long?"
Hitmonlee shrugged and landed another powerful blow on the suspended bag.
"Are you guys eating alright?" Jeff asked, concerned.
He didn't answer; he just kept kicking the bag in a state of concentration. Jeff was impressed with the pokemon's adroit footwork. He walked into the washroom and removed the towel in preparation for changing. He slipped on blue shorts and white Reebok shirt before staring in the still fogged up mirror.
"You ready for a fresh start?" he asked his reflection. Despite the fact that it was a rhetorical question, he still didn't answer. "…Me neither, but too bad. It's worth a try!"
Jeff walked into his hallway and turned to go to his room to sleep. To his surprise, Daedalus was asleep on the bed, near where Bayleef was snoozing.
"Where's Corphish?" Jeff asked himself out loud.
"<Watching… 'E! True Hollywood story'… on David Schwimmer… and then Matthew Perry… says he'll be up… in two hours…>" Hitmonlee informed, not stopping his precise kicks to talk.
"Did you say TV? Doesn't surprise me," Jeff replied with a smile which astonished Hitmonlee, only because Jeff was grinning at all.
The weary human laid himself on the bed next to Bayleef and Daedalus. He carefully wedged himself between the warm bodies.
"
Well… it can't hurt to try…"
Jeff closed his eyes and fell asleep almost instantaneously.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next morning, his body clock woke him up at his usual time of awakening. Jeff looked down at his chest and saw Bayleef's head resting on his stomach and Corphish snuggled up next to his side. He also took out Atlas's pokeball and wondered how he slept.
Jeff was somewhat surprised when Daedalus flew through the window next to him with something in his beak, but was still too asleep to react. Daedalus circled around the room before flying onto the bed near Jeff's feet, with a proud smirk. Much to the human's disgust, Daedalus had the slimy, red and white bottom half of a Wurmple sticking out of his beak. He plumped down his prey on the sheets and began to contently tear away at the former bug type. Dae noticed that Jeff was eying his food, but he misinterpreted why. So Daedalus strutted over to Jeff and plumped the half on his chest, offering him the rest of the meal. His face went white, looking at the feast.
"Oh gross, Daedalus!" Jeff complained. "I appreciate the offer…but Wurmples aren't my choice of meal… and do you really have to eat that here?"
"<I thought everyone ate where they slept! Crazy humans… think they're too good for public eating,>" Daedalus retorted, offended.
Jeff realized he probably offended him so he apologized and allowed him to eat on the bed. He ignored the gore and looked upwards.
He thought, "
I guess this is the day. Time to go into that class with a smile… or at least a forced grin… and teach those future kids what it's like to be a trainer. Hopefully they'll have better luck then I did… and step one, Jeff, is to NOT be so down on yourself, stupid. Wait… Corphish broke my alarm clock!" Jeff quickly sat up, immediately awakening Corphish and Bayleef.
"What time is it?!" he yelled.
Hitmonlee walked into the room and leaned against the doorway.
"<Time to get up and go,>" he ordered.
"Yes, Mom…" Jeff muttered, sitting up in bed. "Come on, you two. Let's go show these kids how cool you are. You want to come, Bayleef?" Jeff asked the leaf pokemon.
She nodded, mildly interested. Immediately following the agreement, Hitmonlee piped up, "<I think I'll come, too.>"
"Let's go, then," he said, getting off of his bed. Daedalus finished his last bite and then flew onto Jeff's shoulder. Corphish leapt from the bed and clamped onto Jeff's shirt. He made it up to the other shoulder where he held on tightly. Luckily for Jeff, his shirt didn't rip this time. The two others followed their footsteps. Hitmonlee exchanged a glance with Bayleef but he then quickly turned back forwards.
They walked down the stairs, stopping at the front door. Jeff took a deep breath before opening it. They were met with the eastern sunlight blinding their eyes upon the door swinging open. Bayleef took in the bright light contently. The five walked down the hardwood steps and down to the concrete sidewalk. They crossed the street without the need to look both ways due to the lack of traffic. Jeff was admittedly nervous and he thought about what he was going to say.
"
Why did I agree to this again?" he wondered. "
Oh well."
With his thoughts, the walk to the lab seemed incredibly short as they were already at the unmistakable glass front door. Jeff looked to his right, facing east. Shielding the sun with a hand, he managed to make out the very familiar, open-field ranch where trainer's pokemon could run around freely. All that he could make out from the end of the street was the occasional flying type circling over the rolling fields and ponds; most of the pokemon must have still been asleep.
Jeff took out Atlas' pokeball and threw it onto the middle of the street. The titan emerged from the white flash with a massive roar. The glass on the door rumbled violently – Jeff held his breath as he was sure that the glass would shatter.
When it did no such thing, he sighed and instructed, "Ok, you guys go over to the ranch and hang out until we come out. That shouldn't be too long from now. Hitmonlee, you're in charge."
"<Him?!>" Daedalus protested, hurt.
Jeff caught on to his offended squawk. "Sorry, Dae… Next time, for sure," he said with a wink.
He and his pokemon went their separate ways and Jeff closed the door behind him.
"
Ok, you're in the lab and now go to the southern-most door on the right since the other one leads to pokemon storage," he told himself in his mind.
He walked past Birch's studying desk and opened the large brown door. There it was: Professor Birch's lecture hall. Desks were rowed so that they formed almost a semicircle. Like all lecture halls, there was stadium seating so that each seat behind the first rose a little more off the ground with each row. Only about half of the seats were filled up by the roughly twenty-three early teens. They were all either studying or chatting amongst themselves.
Professor Birch was standing at the front, reading through a clipboard. Jeff walked up to him.
"Hey, Professor, sorry if I'm late," he apologized.
"No problem, Jeff. You just made it in time. I was busy going through a few of these student's trainer applications," explained the pokemon professor.
"Erm… what exactly… am I supposed to, well, say?" asked Jeff.
"Basically, just tell them what your journey has been like so far, take some questions, and then we'll go outside to meet your pokemon."
"You mean from when I got my starter to when I got back here?"
"Yup. In a nutshell, though," Birch responded.
Jeff sighed. "Ok… let's do this then."
Birch nodded and spoke up, "Ok… listen up, class! Today we're going to have a break from status afflictions and what to use to cure them, and we're going to be having a guest speaker."
Sighs of relief and high-fives erupted from the class.
"Today we're going to have Jeff Growell, a pokemon trainer, as well as a former student of mine, who actually lives down the street, talk about what his journey as a pokemon trainer has been like so far. Afterwards we're going to see some of the pokemon that he has caught."
A flurry of positive reactions from the students followed.
"Jeff, the floor is yours," Birch told him.
Jeff stood at the front of the class. He took the twig from his mouth and put in his pocket before clearing his throat.
"I'm Jeff Growell; some of you may know me. Anyways, I'm going to keep this pretty short and then give more details on the questions. I started my journey around a week ago. I got my first pokemon and I left the lab to go to Oldale Town. There I met… another trainer who was just starting out. We traveled to Petalburg City and on the way I caught my first pokemon. In Petalburg I met an old…friend, who I battled and… won… against. Then I went from there up through Petalburg Forest where I caught another pokemon. My pokemon won me my first gym battle. Then we went back near the forest and we ran into a Nidoking. Our plan went kind of awry but my starter pokemon bailed us out. After that… me and my other two pokemon went back to Petalburg. I caught my third pokemon and we decided to come back here…for a… short break. Yeah, we were, and still are, on a break… questions?"
A girl in a pink shirt raised her hand. "So YOU were that guy who they were talking about on the news who got rid of that Nidoking who stole those fossils?!"
"Well, I guess, but like I said, it was really my starter who deserves all the credit!"
Another pre-pubescent male's voice rang out, "Who was your starter pokemon?"
"Erm, it was a Treecko," replied Jeff.
"Why did you choose a Treecko? None of the trainers in the past year chose Treecko!" the same boy asked.
"Well Treecko is by far the coolest one!" Jeff said with a grin. The class seemed unsatisfied with the answer given.
"Ok… you want to know the truth? A year ago from the day I chose my first pokemon, I was attacked by a Scyther. Then a Treecko came to save me. A year later I found out that the Treecko Professor Birch had for a year was the same one. He escaped from the lab and I helped to save him from a Fearow. Then he agreed to be my starter," Jeff explained, while at the same time dwelling on his words.
"That sounds pretty cool," another boy said.
"Who was that trainer that you traveled with?" asked a girl with a raised hand.
Jeff opened his mouth to answer but found that his words were stolen and obstructed by Professor Birch, once again.
"Wasn't it Kristie from your class, Jeff? Didn't she used to hangout with your friend Alan? She took a Torchic, I remember," chimed in the annoyingly observant professor.
"What happened to her after you guys got to Petalburg?" another kid questioned.
Jeff became incredibly flustered and uncomfortable. "I'll answer anymore questions outside!" proclaimed Jeff, motioning for Professor Birch to give the go ahead to go outdoors. He nodded and told the class to follow Jeff and him to the ranch.
They poured out the alternate side door which led directly from the lab to the pokemon-friendly zone. Jeff walked ahead to his pokemon followed by the class and Birch.
"And here they are. Corphish, my first catch. Daedalus, my second catch. And Onix, my third," Jeff explained as the kids gazed in awe at the five. "I didn't actually catch Hitmonlee or Bayleef – they belong to my family and wanted to tag along."
"Why did you nickname your Taillow Daedalus?" a girl asked.
"I didn't nickname him - that's his real name," replied Jeff.
He received a few confused looks from the kids.
"How do you know what his name is?" a boy asked.
That was a long story which Jeff didn't wish to discuss. He instead avoided the question and acknowledged a hand coming from near Onix.
"Yeah?" Jeff asked him.
"Where's your Treecko? He's not here!" replied the black-haired pre-teen with a question.
"Erm, he's at my relatives… training," Jeff clearly lied.
"Aren't you supposed to not leave your starter?"
"Yeah, why would you do that?"
"Isn't it best to train pokemon yourself so your bond grows bigger?"
The voices all chimed in at once, echoing around Jeff's ears.
"Last question!" Jeff said, pretty much yelling. He found himself pointing at Sam.
"Can we have that battle now?"
"
It's definitely a better option than more of these questions. Those cruel little bastards," Jeff thought to himself.
"Sure, Sam."
"<Is he serious?!>" Daedalus asked in shock.
"<Damn right he is!>" Hitmonlee replied with pride.
The crowd and pokemon formed a sideline in the grassland, giving the battlers enough room to move about freely without needing to worry about hitting the spectators. Jeff and Sam walked to opposite sides of the line and faced each other to create the center of the battlefield.
Jeff pondered, looking at his row of pokemon standing at the sidelines. "
Hmm…who to pick? I don't want to ask Dae to fight, seeing as he'd probably refuse anyways. Since I'm battling this guy's starter, I can't go with Onix since he'd obliterate him… I'm not even sure if he's the battling type. I'm not sure Bayleef has ever even battled and Hitmonlee would probably take the battle too far… So that leaves me with…"
"Corppy, you're up!" he decided.
Corphish literally jumped in the air in delight before quickly scuttling over to Jeff's side.
"Corphish phish cor!" he merrily said.
Sam took his only occupied pokeball from his pocket and threw it.
"Let's go, Keith!" shouted the new trainer.
"Keith, huh?" Jeff muttered to himself. "Corp? Prepare to use harden!"
While Corphish's shell hardened with sickening cracks, a flash of white light appeared as the sphere opened and released its contents. The bright beam faded and emerging from it was a green pokemon; a green pokemon with a darker green thick tail, a red-pick chest and throat, and green lizard-like eyes.
Jeff recoiled at the sight of what he had to battle.
"A… Treecko?"
It completely slipped his mind that Treecko was one of the Littleroot Town starters.
"Keith, use pound on Corphish!" Sam called to his green starter.
The wood gecko, who was noticeably taller than Jeff's former Treecko, went from a crouched position to all fours. He ran towards Corphish with break-neck speed. Keith went from the run into a slide tackle using his tail to take out Corphish's unprotected feet. Corphish, who was caught off guard by the attack, immediately felt his legs and tail going over his head. He hit the ground and was forced into the grass with many beats from Keith's tails in rapid succession. Corphish had no time to defend himself.
"<Jeff!>" Hitmonlee called to get his attention. Jeff didn't even turn his head. With the false hope that the daunted human could see his body movements out of the corner of his eye, he called, "<Call for a counterattack!>"
Even if Jeff could have understood, the words seemed to go in Jeff's left ear and out his right, hitting only the wind. He was fixated on the Treecko who was pounding Corphish in. The brutal attack continued and Corphish attempted to block but the strikes were too fast.
"<Jeff! Stop daydreaming and get Corphish outta that volley of pounds!>" Hitmonlee tried again.
He tried to call to attack but found that no words left his dry throat. He couldn't call the move. It wasn't like when he was fighting Chad and Roxanne; he wanted to attack but he literally couldn't… Something was keeping Jeff from giving the command.
"<What are you waiting for?!>"
There were hushed whispers among the students as to why he wasn't attacking. Everything was white noise except the grunts of the grass starter.
"I can't do it," thought Jeff. "Why can't I bring myself to attack him?! I thought I was moving on!"
Corphish groaned in pain with each rapid blow. Daedalus looked away from the battle, unable to watch his friend take the beating. Hitmonlee, however, began to understand what was going on. Daedalus, still turned away from the massacre, whispered something into Hitmonlee's ear… or where his ear should be.
"<I know you can do this, Jeff, just bring yourself to attack him!>" he urged, translating Daedalus' words.
Jeff tried but he still felt his tongue being held back by the invisible force which the mix of his guilt and conscience.
"<Jeff… I… could… use… some… battle… advice… right… about… NOW…>" Corphish growled, with a grimace between blows.
Daedalus whispered to Hitmonlee again, still facing away.
"<Get a hold of yourself, Jeff! You're not WEAK are you? The thing that Treecko hated the most!>"
Jeff remained silent, ogling the contenders. Corphish was fading away from consciousness, his shell becoming noticeably weak.
"It's working, Keith! You're doing great, keep at it!" Sam encouraged.
"<Your way isn't working, birdie… Screw the mixed signals; it's time for some tough love.>"
In a fiery passion, Hitmonlee roared, "<Come on, you weakling! You can't keep dwelling on what happened to you! HE abandoned YOU, NOT vice-versa. You have no reason to feel guilty because he didn't leave because of you! He left because he's so in himself that the lump in his throat is his tail!>" Daedalus shot him a glare, even though he knew it was true and admittedly agreed with it.
Jeff heard this yell and began to stammer.
The yelling Hitmonlee continued his zealous preach. "<JEFF! If you don't attack that damned Treecko you'll never be able to move past this and you'll never be a successful trainer! You say you're letting go, so PROVE IT! Otherwise MORE of your friends will be screwed over by your emotional weakness! No matter what you say, your pokemon aren't going to leave you, so get your head OUT of your ass, stop thinking that everything is your fault, poke-man up, and…>"
"CORPHISH, PARRY THAT NEXT BLOW AND USE CRABHAMMER WITH ALL OF YOUR MIGHT!" Jeff yelled, interrupting with trachea-tearing intensity.
Corphish's eye glinted.
"CoooorrrPHISH!"
Then, with concrete instructions, he knocked the oncoming tail away from him with his left claw and reared back his right. Keith was surprised that the pokemon started to fight back. Corppy thrusted his claw forward, upper cutting Keith. The force of the blow was heavily fueled by the adrenaline attained by the built up pain and rage. The Treecko flew backwards across the field, landing at Sam's feet. He tried to get up, but the blow to the jaw was too much. Keith fell to the grass with a sigh.
Applause arose from the crowd of teens. Sam ran over to his pokemon, fell to his knees, and held him in his arms, apologizing under his breath. Jeff also fell to his knees. As he yelled the command, it felt like a part of him ripped from his chest and flew off. He felt a wave of relief. The overwhelming feeling was unexplainable. Hitmonlee walked over to Jeff and put a hand on his shoulder. Jeff grabbed the hand and Hitmonlee pulled him up with a strong yank.
The confused human walked over to Sam, outstretching a hand. Sam stood up and happily shook it.
"You really did awesome at the very end there. Congratulations," Sam said, impressed yet a bit worried for his own pokemon.
"You're a pretty good trainer yourself. That Treecko is really strong. Remember… the pokemon is as equally important as the trainer. Be sure to care for them and, above all, listen to them."
Sam took in the advice and nodded. "I will… thanks, Jeff. I'll see you soon."
Jeff walked towards his pokemon and climbed up on Atlas.
"<Are you ok, Jeff? You look as white as a Gastly!>" Bayleef pointed out.
"<Which is a dumb saying because…>" chimed in Corphish, receiving a glare from Hitmonlee.
Jeff gave no reply. The morose feeling of relief still swept about him.
"Thank you, Jeff for that presentation on what your experience was like; we hope to hear back from you in a few months to see how you're doing then," stated Professor Birch, who began to herd the students back inside. He began to talk to the teens who were walking through the door. "And that brings us to an important topic of why not to get over-confident in a battle, Sam!"
"Hitmon!" Hitmonlee tapped Atlas and pointed down the road to Jeff's house.
"Hwrrrrgh," the Onix answered in a low rumble, beginning to slither carefully down the road.
Corphish hopped beside Atlas, holding his claws up like a child who wanted to be picked up. Jeff reached down and grabbed a claw. Corppy winced as he was pulled up; bruises still colored his body. Jeff noticed the pokemon's pain and smiled comfortingly.
"As soon as we get home, I'll run a warm bath for you," he offered.
Corphish leapt at Jeff in a hugging manner, beaming. He obviously enjoyed the prospect. Jeff closed his eyes and listened to the pokemon talk.
"Low taillow taii."
"Phish phish corphish."
"
I guess I'll have to get used to hearing and understanding their names," thought Jeff.
They rolled up to the driveway and Jeff took Corphish under his arm, hopping off Atlas. He took a deep breath.
"Ok…" The pokemon leaned in expectantly. "Here's the deal… do you guys WANT to travel around and battle with me?"
Corphish nodded vigorously, Daedalus nodded to the first comment and shrugged to the next, and Atlas and a slight nod and then looked away.
"Then… if you guys really want me to… I'll…" Jeff began to struggle with the words. "…Give… being a trainer… another shot…"
Corphish yelled for joy and hugged Jeff. Daedalus shrugged and also flew up and hugged him. Atlas emitted a large roar, for the joy that they were on the move. The bellow caused a guy who was biking by to lose control and flip the bike forwards, landing in pain and shock.
Hitmonlee noticed and urged them inside. Jeff recalled Atlas and walked inside.
With a confident grin, Jeff exclaimed, "So Corphish, we'll get you that bath and we'll leave tonight."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Somewhere in Route 101
The sharp blades of grass soothed the cut bottoms of my feet. With all of my strength, I continued to push onward. The orange setting sun shot sideways through the trees, casting the glow on the clouds overhead, as well as the tree canopies. Normally I'd travel around in the tree tops but right now I was just too wea… in pain. I had to make do with walking on foot.
I stopped dead in my tracks. I got that sensation in my tail again. The same one that shot chills up my spine. I almost wished that I didn't get that surge, anymore. It told me that it was going to rain tonight.
You had better get there fast.
As I picked up my labored pace I noticed that my body grew weaker as the grey clouds blotted out the setting sun. Over rocks and twigs I staggered until I stopped minutes later for a deserved breathing break. Panting, I walked over to a tree. I closed my eyes and leaned against it with a cringe. My mouth felt so tingly and awkward – it was because it was missing something… the twig.
You left him. You left your trainer and your only friend. He probably thinks it's his fault… but isn't it?
Isn't he the one who pressured you into coming with him?
Isn't he the one who collapsed after what's her name chose that other human? I know I'd never show weakness in that situation.
Isn't he the one who didn't want to be a trainer and didn't choose you for a gym battle and ended up needing to have you save his tail?
Isn't he the one who didn't trust you to take out 'Daggerback', that Nidoking?
And isn't he the one who hit you and told you to leave?
Exactly! It's not your fault – other people either just slow you down and or begin to hate you. That's their problem, not yours. So get your lazy tail off the ground, you worthless pile of ****, and keep moving!
I shot open my eyelids and looked around. Dusk began to over take the many magnificent trees to which I was familiar with. I looked beside me and saw a straight twig on the ground, with a leaf jutting from the side. To quell my naked-feeling mouth, I picked it up and placed it in my maw so that it rested on my lips. The sensation was different, like a stranger in a strange land, but it'd have to do.
I got up from my relaxed stance and I walked on all fours away from the tree. Traveling like this was much faster, but it also felt more degrading. It felt like a step backwards to my old, primal self, but that was where I was headed so I had might as well get used to it. It wasn't TOO bad after all.
Pain coursed through me with every movement I made. I knew whining and complaining would get me nowhere so I sucked it up and soldiered on. Around me I sensed wild pokemon staring at me, not threateningly but out of curiosity and worry. A Zigzagoon hopped out in front of me and urged me to stop. The brown furry rodent blocked my path, to my dismay.
"<Are you ok? Did a human do this to you or was it a wild pokemon?>" he asked me.
I paused. "<Not exactly,>" I replied, the only emotion showing was seriousness.
"<Do you want some berries for your wounds or do you need some…>"
"<Get out of my way,>" I boldly answered, glaring into his beady brown eyes which were beginning to glaze over.
"<Sorry. Just wanted to help,>" he squeaked, slightly quivering in his place.
I continued onward, past the pathetic obstacle, keeping my eyes straight ahead of me. The tree line broke and I found myself now in the night, by a very familiar lake. Exhausted, I walked to where the calm water met the shore. I fell to my knees and stared. In the lake was the reflection of the full moon and the stars, creating a rippling duplicate of the true thing in the water.
I stared at the reflection before following the water in front of me back to the shore. I looked at myself in the water. I saw a green face and snout, with red coming from the bottom of the mouth. It returned the cold gaze that had been given to many, friend and foe alike. I noticed that my red chest was riddled with purple-red bruises, cuts which had dried or proceeded to seep a mild trickle of blood, and red lesions which I got when Seviper got a hold of me. It was a good thing he got his in the end.
I continued to look at myself. My eyes… the yellow organs stared eternally into each other.
You're home. But is it worth it? You chose the road not taken but you made a u-turn before crossroad was out of sight. Does that make you the coward? Does that make you weak and puny? Did you really give up your one chance at friends and happiness because you were scared to try something new? But you're all alone, just the way you've always liked it. Why do you feel guilty? It's because you left home in the first place to travel with Jeff. You became emotionally attached and you left him when he was injured and alone.
Why did you leave? You did it for so many reasons that it floods your head. Inadequacy… guilt… fear… and most of all… shame. The reason why you don't have friends is because you don't care about them. This is just as much your fault as it is Jeff's. You left him when he needed you because you only care about what's in your stupid-pathetic-little-head! You sat on your hands and missed your only chance at something more! Now all you have left is your home… and puny, weak you.
I continued staring into the eyes of the pokemon which seemed foreign to me. I could hardly recognize what I saw. The Treecko which used to be my reflection was something else. It was grinning while I remained cold. It had friends around it while I remained alone. It felt something while I felt nothing but a sense of self-obligation. I blinked and saw my true self staring back at me. The yellow eyes were now filled with sadness. Before I could stop it, a tear dripped from the eye and plummeted into the water, hitting the opposing eye. Its impact created ripples, distorting the face so that it became an incomprehensible green, red and yellow waving blur. Rage at both what I saw and at myself for my weakness coursed through me.
"TREECKO!" I quickly shouted, hitting the would-be reflection with my hand, creating a bigger splash so that there was now no trace of a face ever being there. I wiped my eyes with my dry hand and put on the cool apathetic look which I had come to know and subconsciously associated with myself.
Grow up! Like you said before, it's his fault not yours. Just deal with your own problems and he'll deal with his!
I cupped water in my hands and splashed my cut face with it. Soon after, I took a large, bowl-like leaf from the ground and filled it with water. Holding it in both my hands, I turned around and slowly walked towards the enormous tree which was highlighted by the moonlight.
At least now you only have ONE thing to care for…
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When you try your best, but you don't succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse
And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you
When high up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you never try you'll never know
Just what you're worth
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you
-"Fix You" By Coldplay
AN: I wasn't originally going to put the last scene in, but Elyvorg of Serebii gave me the idea.
So...Character developement, I think. Jeff's out of his annoying depression and yeah... stuff. xD