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- Seen Aug 2, 2015
I wasn't sure if I was going to post this, but I figured I might as well. It won 8th place, so that's not too bad, right? I've edited it a little based on the judges' critique. It's an easy read, just under 2 pages, I think, since I wrote it in two hours go for quality, not quantity.
Anyway, here it is:
I can't believe I'm finally going home after a year and a half on the road. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder but I never thought I'd miss that tiny house or the quiet nights I spent staying up listening to reruns of Oak's Pokémon Talk, dreaming about a day when I could catch some of those Pokémon. It seems weird that it was such a big deal then. I mean, I still love Pokémon and there's nothing quite like watching that ball wobble before finally stopping to signal a successful capture, but it's not like some huge thing anymore. I guess losing that feeling is just what happens when you've completed eighty-seven percent of the regional Pokédex. Been there, done that, y'know?
Ugh. My legs hurt from pedaling so much.
It's getting dark but thankfully I can see lights up ahead. I left Violet about two hours ago so I must be coming into Cherrygrove. Oh man, I haven't been there since my first night after leaving. It was such a beautiful town, I remember. That guy took me to the ocean and I just stared. That was the moment where I was just like, this thing is gonna be huge. I'm gonna see everything. Again, it seems stupid to be so amazed by the ocean now – I've crossed the damn thing on a Pokémon like six times – but what can I say? I hadn't seen anything outside the scope of New Bark Town at that point and it was cool to see something different.
God, I was such a hick.
I only had one Pokémon with me then. My very first. I had always assumed that trainers kept Pokémon in their Poké Balls at all times but Professor Elm suggested I let one walk around with me every now and then. That was a good idea, looking back on it. Those first few weeks when it was just me and him were some of the hardest, longest, and most fun times of the whole journey, maybe even my whole life. That's where I really got to know him and we learned to trust each other. We hardly ever went to bed before midnight, thinking that if we could just walk a little longer we could find a Pokémon Center or a good camping spot. I'd look behind me and I swear to God, he would make a frowny face at me like he was tired. And yeah, it worked, so I would dig into my bag and use what was probably my last potion at the time to give him a little relief from all the walking.
Nowadays, I'm always stocked up on plenty of medicines and if I don't happen to have what we need, I just bike it to the nearest town and check in at a Pokémon Center for the night. If there's anything I've learned from getting into battle after battle, usually miles away from any help, it's that you can't be too careful.
The Center here feels nice, especially when it's so hot outside. I give my Poké Balls to the nurse but I decide to hold on to one. I figure we can go exploring the town together. It'll be a nice little nostalgia punch. So I leave five of them there and hit the town on my bike, just me and my original partner. My first stop is, of course, the ocean.
Once I get there, I can actually kind of see why I was so enamored with this. It's only water when you get down to it, but if you just look without really looking, you can feel it. You can feel the possibilities. I feel like I'm just starting out again. I haven't battled – and defeated, by the way – Team Rocket or any of the gym leaders or the Elite Four. I don't have any of the responsibilities of a champion or the worries of a hero. I'm nothing, but it's a good nothing. A nothing with potential to be a something if everything can somehow line up perfectly.
I miss being a nothing.
Not that I don't love where I am. I'm known all over the world and both me and my mother, thanks to her saving up a good portion of it, have plenty of money. I can do more now than I ever could before, including taking my sweet time riding back home while doing absolutely nothing productive. The problem, the thing I miss, is that the challenge is gone. There's no grinding left to be done or battles that I'll just barely scrape through. I've peaked.
Oh God, I've peaked. This is it for me. My best days are behind me and I wasn't even old enough to drink during them. I think that's the definition of tragic, which makes my life a tragedy. Fantastic.
I let out my Pokémon, sit in the sand with it, and we talk. I haven't done that in ages. Not since he evolved for the second time. My God, I forgot how nice it was to have a conversation like this. No criticizing, no judgmental looks, and best of all, no "tips" on someone I just need to battle or something I just have to do to prove once and for all I'm the best. He's a listener.
I start to wonder why I ever stopped sitting with my Pokémon like this. I think it was the bike. They couldn't keep up if I was riding so I just put them in their Poké Balls while we traveled. The speed was just such a convenience, y'know? That's where things started changing. I stopped thinking about the journey and only looked forward to the next accomplishment. Why was I in such a hurry? That was dumb.
I head back to the Center, my starter still following me, and pick up the rest of my Pokémon. It's already eleven o'clock so I begin to book a room but I stop myself. It's just a few more miles. I guess I could go for it.
So I step out the sliding glass doors and instinctively reach for my collapsible bicycle strapped to the side of my bag but pause when my Pokémon releases a tiny whine. I look at it and see the same frown I used to always see. I let go of the bike and smile.
So yeah, we walk. We walk and we talk. We talk about walking this path the first day. We talk about our very first battle with that one stalker-y kid who's probably hiding in the bushes somewhere nearby, waiting to surprise me yet again by just happening to run into me for like the eighth time. We talk about whatever.
I decide – well, we decide – that maybe, if we're feeling up to it in the morning, we could go to Kanto and sort of start over. It's supposed to be nice there and they've got their own gyms and everything. You could say I'm just delaying the inevitable and that one day, whether I like it or not, the journey's gonna be over and I'll be a has-been. And sure, that's true, but so what? The way I see it, if I just leave that bike at home, I can drag this thing out for years.
Anyway, here it is:
If We Walk, it'll Last Longer
I can't believe I'm finally going home after a year and a half on the road. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder but I never thought I'd miss that tiny house or the quiet nights I spent staying up listening to reruns of Oak's Pokémon Talk, dreaming about a day when I could catch some of those Pokémon. It seems weird that it was such a big deal then. I mean, I still love Pokémon and there's nothing quite like watching that ball wobble before finally stopping to signal a successful capture, but it's not like some huge thing anymore. I guess losing that feeling is just what happens when you've completed eighty-seven percent of the regional Pokédex. Been there, done that, y'know?
Ugh. My legs hurt from pedaling so much.
It's getting dark but thankfully I can see lights up ahead. I left Violet about two hours ago so I must be coming into Cherrygrove. Oh man, I haven't been there since my first night after leaving. It was such a beautiful town, I remember. That guy took me to the ocean and I just stared. That was the moment where I was just like, this thing is gonna be huge. I'm gonna see everything. Again, it seems stupid to be so amazed by the ocean now – I've crossed the damn thing on a Pokémon like six times – but what can I say? I hadn't seen anything outside the scope of New Bark Town at that point and it was cool to see something different.
God, I was such a hick.
I only had one Pokémon with me then. My very first. I had always assumed that trainers kept Pokémon in their Poké Balls at all times but Professor Elm suggested I let one walk around with me every now and then. That was a good idea, looking back on it. Those first few weeks when it was just me and him were some of the hardest, longest, and most fun times of the whole journey, maybe even my whole life. That's where I really got to know him and we learned to trust each other. We hardly ever went to bed before midnight, thinking that if we could just walk a little longer we could find a Pokémon Center or a good camping spot. I'd look behind me and I swear to God, he would make a frowny face at me like he was tired. And yeah, it worked, so I would dig into my bag and use what was probably my last potion at the time to give him a little relief from all the walking.
Nowadays, I'm always stocked up on plenty of medicines and if I don't happen to have what we need, I just bike it to the nearest town and check in at a Pokémon Center for the night. If there's anything I've learned from getting into battle after battle, usually miles away from any help, it's that you can't be too careful.
The Center here feels nice, especially when it's so hot outside. I give my Poké Balls to the nurse but I decide to hold on to one. I figure we can go exploring the town together. It'll be a nice little nostalgia punch. So I leave five of them there and hit the town on my bike, just me and my original partner. My first stop is, of course, the ocean.
Once I get there, I can actually kind of see why I was so enamored with this. It's only water when you get down to it, but if you just look without really looking, you can feel it. You can feel the possibilities. I feel like I'm just starting out again. I haven't battled – and defeated, by the way – Team Rocket or any of the gym leaders or the Elite Four. I don't have any of the responsibilities of a champion or the worries of a hero. I'm nothing, but it's a good nothing. A nothing with potential to be a something if everything can somehow line up perfectly.
I miss being a nothing.
Not that I don't love where I am. I'm known all over the world and both me and my mother, thanks to her saving up a good portion of it, have plenty of money. I can do more now than I ever could before, including taking my sweet time riding back home while doing absolutely nothing productive. The problem, the thing I miss, is that the challenge is gone. There's no grinding left to be done or battles that I'll just barely scrape through. I've peaked.
Oh God, I've peaked. This is it for me. My best days are behind me and I wasn't even old enough to drink during them. I think that's the definition of tragic, which makes my life a tragedy. Fantastic.
I let out my Pokémon, sit in the sand with it, and we talk. I haven't done that in ages. Not since he evolved for the second time. My God, I forgot how nice it was to have a conversation like this. No criticizing, no judgmental looks, and best of all, no "tips" on someone I just need to battle or something I just have to do to prove once and for all I'm the best. He's a listener.
I start to wonder why I ever stopped sitting with my Pokémon like this. I think it was the bike. They couldn't keep up if I was riding so I just put them in their Poké Balls while we traveled. The speed was just such a convenience, y'know? That's where things started changing. I stopped thinking about the journey and only looked forward to the next accomplishment. Why was I in such a hurry? That was dumb.
I head back to the Center, my starter still following me, and pick up the rest of my Pokémon. It's already eleven o'clock so I begin to book a room but I stop myself. It's just a few more miles. I guess I could go for it.
So I step out the sliding glass doors and instinctively reach for my collapsible bicycle strapped to the side of my bag but pause when my Pokémon releases a tiny whine. I look at it and see the same frown I used to always see. I let go of the bike and smile.
So yeah, we walk. We walk and we talk. We talk about walking this path the first day. We talk about our very first battle with that one stalker-y kid who's probably hiding in the bushes somewhere nearby, waiting to surprise me yet again by just happening to run into me for like the eighth time. We talk about whatever.
I decide – well, we decide – that maybe, if we're feeling up to it in the morning, we could go to Kanto and sort of start over. It's supposed to be nice there and they've got their own gyms and everything. You could say I'm just delaying the inevitable and that one day, whether I like it or not, the journey's gonna be over and I'll be a has-been. And sure, that's true, but so what? The way I see it, if I just leave that bike at home, I can drag this thing out for years.