October 15th, 2016
Today was my younger brother's birthday, and like every year, I decided to take a trip to my hometown of Driftveil City to visit him on his special day.
I've been living in Saffron City for awhile now, so it's quite the plane ride to get from Kanto to Unova, as you can imagine. Going back to Unova always makes me really nostalgic, but visiting my parents usually bitters the experience.
It'd be nice if Sasha, my girlfriend, could come with me, but I am
NOT willing to subject her to my parents, and neither of us are really willing to have to explain what we have between us. I'd at least like to have my Pokemon with me, but my parents wouldn't appreciate having them out.
At least I get to see my brother again. He's turning 13 this year, and I only really know because we're ten years apart. I've never really bothered to ask why there's such an age-gap between us.
Before I arrived by my folk's place, I made sure to stop by the nearest game store to pick up a copy of Project Pokemon 5 for the PS4. My brother is a big fan of these games.
Eventually, I made my way over to my parent's apartment. Upon entrance, the first thing I'd expect is my brother running up to me, hugging my legs because he was too short to reach my body.
... Except he wasn't downstairs right now. Maybe he finally grew too old for that? Who knows?
"Jennifer! It's so nice to see you again!" My mom, wearing a polka dot dress and graying, medium hair, opens her arms. Reluctantly, I return a hug.
When she releases, she examines my button-up shirt I had matched with jeans and suspenders. Quite the look, if I don't say so myself.
My mom seemed to think differently. "Y'know, you're gonna have a hard time finding a man dressed like that."
Yes mom. That's the point.
Before I could really roll my eyes, I noticed my dad, in all his graying glory, approach me, wearing a suit and tie indicating he got off work not too long ago.
"Jennifer, how are ya? I haven't seen ya in like a year! Give yer old man a hug!" Similarly to my mom, I hesitantly hugged my dad. I couldn't help but notice he reeked of cigarettes, more than usual for him.
When I slid out of my dad's grasp, I had to ask about the Copperajah in the room; Or rather the Copperajah missing from the room.
"Hey, uh, where's…"
Before I could finish my sentence, my parents concerningly looked each other in the eyes before darting them back at me.
"Well, he's upstairs right now saying some ridiculous things about himself." Dad disappointedly shook his head. "He's having a phase."
Mom sighed. "Jennifer, I really think you should talk him out of this…" She pleaded as she put her hand on my shoulder. What she was saying had me a little concerned about my brother, but probably not for the reason they were worried.
"Good idea!" I blurted out. "I'll go check on him right now!"
One hike upstairs and a march through the hall later, I noticed the room to my brother's door was shut, not abnormal, but still concerning. I thought it'd be a good idea to knock on the door.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK
There was silence. Might as well try again.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK
There was a bit of a delay, but I could hear some kind of moaning noise.
"Leave me alone…" Is what I was able to make out of it.
"Hey champ...It's me Jenny."
There were a few more seconds of silence, followed by a "You can come in…" sounding as sorrowful as before.
I opened the door, and what I saw wasn't very different from my memory. A bunch of posters for Pokemon tournaments and gyms, posters of Pokemon in general, trophies for video game tournaments, a few Detective Greedent posters, a TV with a few video game consoles stacked on it, and right across from me was a bed with what I could assume was my brother facing towards the wall, with his long, black hair obscuring half of his body. I could hear gentle sobbing coming from him.
I thought it'd be a good idea to try to console him, and I sat on his bed, facing the opposite direction he was.
"Hey champ, how's it going?"
No response. This wasn't exactly my specialty.
"What's going on with mom and dad?"
The sobbing paused for a bit. "You'll think it's stupid."
"What? How do ya know that?"
"Because mom and dad said it was stupid. I shouldn't tell anybody."
Maybe I should try backing off on this? There was another moment of complete silence.
Why don't I try changing the atmosphere?
"Hey champ, I heard you're turning 13 today! You're growing up to be a fine young man, aren't ya?"
The sobbing picked up again, seeming to shift to a higher gear. Did I say something?
"Champ, what's the matter?"
My brother continued to cry for a bit, eventually coming to a halt.
"I'm…" He paused to sniffle. "I'm not a young man!"
I raised an eyebrow. This could mean one of two things, but one of the options in my mind seemed unlikely.
"Champ, we all have to grow up someti-"
"No!" He raised his voice to interrupt me. "That's not what I meant! I don't want to be a boy!"
"So then, are you saying…"
My brot- I mean, my sister nodded her head. "Yes. I wish I was a girl. It's stupid, I know, but it's true."
Well shit. This kinda explained a lot.
My parents haven't been very keen on gay people, hence why I've never really come out to them. I certainly can't imagine they reacted very well to their daughter coming out as trans.
"It's not stupid, champ. In fact, I have friends who are just like ya." I said, trying my best to make her feel better.
The moment I said that, she bolted up and faced my direction, revealing she'd been hugging a large Quagsire plush.
"There are people like me?" I could see her eyes light up as if I just sparked something.
I nodded, smirking a little to appear confident. "Yep! I know people who were boys that became girls and people who used to be girls and are boys now. It's certainly not stupid."
Judging by how she remains in awe, I think I've done a good job. "So...I can be a girl?"
"Absolutely!" I aggressively nod my head to try to get my point across.
"Wow, that's...that's incredible!" Her eyes begin to water, but it seems her tears are caused by joy rather than sorrow.
Oh! I should probably ask her something to make conversation less awkward later.
"Also champ, do you have a new name you'd like to be called?"
Looking very determined, she nods at me. "Yes! Call me Gwen!"
I chuckled a bit before I playfully ruffled Gwen's hair. "That's a very fitting name for you, champ!" She laughs as well.
As I'm having fun in the moment bonding with my sister, I'm simultaneously realizing that Gwen isn't safe here. I need to get her out of here. But who would be able to take care of her?
I think that responsibility might just be mine.
----------------------------------
September 1st, 2017
It's been almost a year since I visited my sister in Unova and gained custody of her. As much as I don't regret doing so, having to take care of a teenager can be kind of a pain in the ass.
I've had to buy food for one extra person as opposed to just me and my Pokemon. If I'm ever low on money I'm at least able to buy cheap Pokemon food for my Pokemon, but it goes without saying that kind of stuff isn't fit for a teenager. In fact, it seems she eats a lot, more than me, and definitely not as cautious of her diet as I am. I've been able to teach her to cook at least. She used to leave behind these massive messes, but she quickly was able to learn to be attentive towards that.
What I was really worried about was her clothing situation. Obviously, her old clothes weren't going to cut it, and having to seasonally shop for so many new clothes flet it'd be a financial nightmare. Fortunately, she doesn't seem very picky about her clothes, I'll just take her clothes shopping at a thrift store and she'll pick out the trashiest outfits, but loves them despite that. It's cheaper for me, at least.
By far the most unique thing about having to raise a trans teenager was hormones. As soon as I took her into my custody, I asked my trans friends what I should do, and they all seemed to agree that I should get her to start taking puberty blockers. I was able to find a clinic that provided that, and she's been on that since then, not having started hormone replacement therapy just yet.
Unfortunately, in the process of all this, Sasha and I broke up. Right before I took Gwen in, Sasha had been contemplating an offer to train for two years under some old guy who wrestles dragons or something. When I told Sasha I was going to get custody of my sister, she said she couldn't handle raising a kid and saw this as a sign that she should pursue training. I certainly don't blame her, raising Gwen hasn't been easy.
Right now, Gwen is leading me through the streets of Saffron, taking me to a burger joint that I said I'd pay for to celebrate her acceptance into Cape College. She's slowly memorized her way around the city, taking me somewhere that recently opened I wasn't very familiar with.
I'll admit, as hard as it's been to have another human in your residence, I'll miss her when she attends Cape. Hopefully she'll make some friends there, she doesn't really know anyone in Kanto besides me and probably some shop clerks, but it almost feels like my own child is moving out, even if she'll be back for school breaks.
As Gwen calls my name out upon arrival at the burger place, I see the excitement in her eyes light up, reminding me of when she first came out to me. I'm reminded of how she's been in a better place since that day, and soon enough she'll be surrounded by kids her age, and work towards her journey as a Pokemon trainer she's been looking forward to so much.