Story Notes:
Decided to repost the whole thing, but yeah, same story really, didn't make many changes. Hope you enjoy guys and gals.Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Act 1: Chapter 2: Suprises
Four years had passed since the two had met and befriended one another, but despite the expectation of many the Treecko had not left and went back to the wild. He still stayed by Rose day in and day out, not wanting to leave her alone in case her strange ways of attracting dangerous situation caused her to yet again be put back in hospital. The small creature had saved her again numerous occasions after the event with Emily, which Rose felt eternally grateful for. She didn't just love the fact that he was like her guardian angel, but she loved the fact that he was also a good companion. Some days, they'd just sit together in the garden, basking in the sun and others they played a few games like Hide & Seek which Rose had taught to the Treecko whom nearly always won thanks to his special abilities. Their bond had grown so much that the pokémon could no longer handle being away from his friend whilst she was at school, the boredom was too much even for a relatively lazy pokémon like a Treecko. He made that up by following her to school and sitting in a tree just outside the always open window, so that he could play with Rose during the breaks and watch over her whilst she was in the classroom. Slowly, the pokémon began to find the lessons more interesting to the extent where he began to learn the human language to a greater extent and whatever the children were being taught about in the lesson. So, after two years of this he could now understand everything that Rose said to him which had made it much easier for them to understand each other. Finally, over the two year period the pokémon now had a complete set of emotions which he had picked up just from being around Rose, he had experienced anger, gratitude, happiness, fear but the one thing he found hard to grasp was the emotion love, which Rose herself found trouble explaining to him.
It was one of those days where Rose was at school and the Treecko was bored out of his wits as it was a day completely dedicated to maths. He never understood why humans needed to use numbers as when he had lived completely wild in the world their had been no use for currency, it was a lot more simple, if you wanted another pokémon's resources then you either stole it or fought for it, no symbols or fractions involved what-so-ever. At first the transition between the pokémon and human world had been very hard to do, but eventually he learnt about manners and how he could not do anything he wanted, but he didn't mind that sacrifice due to the fact that in return he got safety. The Treecko let out a whimper, according to the clock in the classroom there was still another hour left of maths before the school ended, and he had already completed the novel that he was reading. He let out a sigh and rested his head on the trunk of the tree he was lying on and shut his eyes taking advantage of the sun over head helping him to slowly drift to sleep.
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Rose let out a deep sigh of relief when the bell for the end of school struck, maths was quite possibly the most boring subject in the whole world! And a whole day of it! She quickly gathered up all of her books and made a break for the door with all of the other students but Miss Williams stepped in front of the door before any of them could escape what they all knew lay in her arms.
"Hold up kids!" she shouted, carrying a menacing looking pile of paper. "You seem to have forgotten about the highlight of the day...homework..." At the sound of the word every child in the room cringed in horror but grudgingly excepted the sheet that was given to them. "Rose, before you go, could I please have a little word with you?" she asked. Rose inclined her head and walked towards Miss Williams' office, she held her teacher in very high esteem after she had saved her from Emily. Miss Williams pointed at a chair so Rose thought it best to sit down.
"What's wrong Miss?" Rose asked cautiously, not sure what she wanted to see her about.
"Don't worry Rose, you haven't done anything wrong, I just have something to show you..." she said sincerely, opening one of the draws in her desk. Rose let out an inward sigh of relief, she thought that she was in trouble for some reason or another, but the anxiety was immediately replaced by curiosity when Miss Williams brought out a fairly large oak box and handed it to Rose. "I've already given this to five of your classmates..." This sparked her natural curiosity, it must be something of high importance.
"Why only six of us...?" Rose asked quietly, running her hand down the smooth wood casing of the box. Miss Williams smiled.
"I give it to the pupils who I believe will make good use of the contents.." she replied. Make use of the contents? This sparked her curiosity even further, why would Miss Williams believe that she would be better than any of the other classmates? She quickly banished these thoughts from her mind and decided to open the box. As soon as she saw the contents she had to stifle a gasp, inside was a red and white sphere and some sought of digital book beside it, both she knew were essential implements for a trainer. "You're now at the point where I believe you're mature enough to become a pokémon trainer," she exclaimed, waiting for some sort of positive reaction which wasn't going to come.
"Miss...this is great and all...but I really can't except this..." Rose said quietly, a bit startled by her own answer. The teacher's expression changed to that of pure confusion, this had never happened before in the ten years that she had been handing out the starter set.
"But...why?" she asked. Rose shuffled her feet awkwardly, trying to put her thoughts into words.
"Uh...well...I just think that pokémon...shouldn't be forced to attack each other...just for the sake of entertainment...and...I just hate the idea of controlling them...and making them do what I want...its kinda unfair..." she replied carefully and sincerely. Miss Williams thought about this for a moment, amazed at how far she had come in two years...from being against pokémon completely to thinking from their point of view and going against the flow to view being a pokémon trainer as something like a slaver.
"But that's not true at all!" she exclaimed. "Look...what's your relationship with your Treecko..." she asked.
"Firstly...he's not my Treecko...I don't own him in anyway, he's just like a friend, someone close to me and who's always there, I don't care whether he's a pokémon." Miss Williams smiled, if only all of the other trainers in the world were more like her, then there'd be no organisations made to manipulate pokémon.
"But catching pokémon doesn't have to be like owning them...it can be just like the relationship that you have with your Treecko, the pokémon that you catch can be friends...and also, battling doesn't have to be purely for entertainment purposes, pokémon with trainers who they believe in and enjoy being with just enjoy a battle as a way of expressing the friendship and the bonds that they share with their trainer. And anyway, when you're a trainer you don't necessarily have to battle, you can just explore the world making friends along the way...there's a whole world of possibilities out there..." she explained enthusiastically, obviously having experience in this matter as every word was drenched with truth, Miss Williams' old eyes seemed to regain their youth when she talked about life as a trainer. Needless to say, Rose was surprised by this sudden outburst of reasons which all comforted her fears of becoming a trainer, now that it had been properly explained the idea seemed extremely tempting...but was she ready for going out into the world?
"Miss...were you a trainer?" Rose asked after thinking through what she said.
"Back in my days yes I did Rose...they were perhaps the best days of my life...well aside from teaching you all of course!" she laughed...but Rose detected some sort of sadness in her voice which caused her to press further.
"But...how come you never have your pokémon about..." she asked but instantly regretted it as Miss Williams completely froze up and the shine in her eyes suddenly disappeared. She stared off out of the window, apparently reliving one of her worst nightmares, she looked like she had seen a ghost.
"Rose...you have to remember...that there are people in the wider world who do...evil things to both people and pokémon, by either exploitation or just pure violence...my pokémon were taken from me sixteen years...four months...and two days ago...I remember that moment...it haunts me everyday of my life...I swore revenge on them...yet I still haven't lifted a finger against them..." The poor women dropped her head and stared at the floor in shame, tears welling up in her eyes, the once proud teacher reduced to tears in a matter of moments. This sudden change of atmosphere made Rose feel responsible for what was happening.
"Miss...I'm...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to bring up hurtful memories!" she said quickly, hoping that her teacher would stop crying, and she did almost immediately. She simply wiped her eyes and grasped Rose's hand.
"Don't worry about my feelings Rose...what happened happened and its my problem not yours...just be careful out there...I'm not trying to dissuade you from going out there...you'll love it, I know you will, but don't make the same mistake I did...if you see a member of one of the organisations harassing someone...for god's sake don't do the honourable thing...or you'll live to regret it for the rest of your life...now take the box and go, I've got homework that needs marking!" she exclaimed, beckoning to the door. Surprised by this sudden seriousness, she quickly shut the box, picked it up and was out the door with only a mere "good luck" from Miss Williams.
As soon as she was out the classroom she shut the door and leant against with a sigh of relief, she'd learnt so much from her teacher in just a few minutes. Still, Rose was a bit undecided about becoming a trainer, it was extremely tempting but she'd have to discuss it with Treecko first, because she couldn't really go without him. But as she turned around she noticed someone trying to make himself look very uninterested and doing something else, Rose identified him almost immediately as her close friend David.
"David... by any chance were you trying to over-hear this conversation." she asked in a sweet but deadly sort of voice. He stiffened, and quickly put his hands in his pockets.
"Um...no..." he said awkwardly, not meeting her piercing gaze. She really did like Dave as a friend, he was helpful, kind and trustworthy...and although she wouldn't admit it even if under torture she did sought of have a crush on him. Eventually, he caved under Rose's glare and told the truth. "Fine...I was standing out here so that I could listen in to see if she was going to give you the starter set like she did to me." he said truthfully, holding out a similar oaken case.
"When did you get that!" Rose exclaimed, slightly annoyed that he didn't tell her something so big and important.
"Just this lunch time," he replied "I didn't want to tell you because I thought you'd be upset if you didn't get one!" he complained, trying to explain himself. Rose shrugged her shoulders and simply hugged him.
"It doesn't matter, cus' I got it anyway!" she stated happily, glad that her friend was going to become a trainer as well.
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The Treecko woke up from his deep sleep, a bit dreary and disturbed, as this was the first time he had had a dream. He found that he was developing intellectually much more like a human, before he had met Rose the only thing he had in his mind was his instincts, he generally didn't think or express any sort of emotion. But within the short time that he had spent with her, already his mind was developing, nowadays he could express and understand most emotions, he probably had a better understanding of Rose's lessons than she did because of the free time that he had, he could think clearly and now he was dreaming.
He stretched out his arms and legs and turned to look to see whether Rose was still in the classroom, and groaned slightly when he realised she was gone. It jumped to his feet and quickly leaped to the neighbouring tree, to check if she was on the playground, and let out a soft growl at what he saw. One of the things that he hated about the new torrent of emotions flooding through his mind were the negative ones, especially jealousy, which he felt every time he saw Rose and Dave together. The thing he hated about David was how he was free to communicate with Rose in full, whilst all he could manage to use was body language or the few words that he'd learnt. He waited in the tree until the two split up from one another, and then quietly traced Rose along the forest walk.
"Heh, come on, I know that's you out there Treecko!" she exclaimed, having grown accustomed to his light footsteps. So, he jumped out from the bush he had been hiding in and jumped onto her head, managing to balance perfectly. "I've got something I need to talk to you about...and I'm not too sure whether you're going to like it..." That had his attention, he jumped off her head and gave her a questioning look. She sat down next to him and looked into his eyes.
"Have you ever heard of a Pokémon trainer?" she asked him. He rolled his eyes and nodded, of course he had, he'd given the subject a lot of thought over the past few months, he'd been wondering whether she'd want to become one of those. "Well...I had a talk with miss about them...and I'm pretty sure I want to become one because it'll be really fun." she said, with a slight gleam in her eyes. -And you'll get to skip school- he thought with a snigger, but he had to admit, he did find the idea quite appealing with all the travelling and seeing new places...and although he wouldn't admit it he knew he'd enjoy the battling part as well. "And I was thinking..." trailing off, she brought out a poke ball, "I mean...I wouldn't be your owner as such cus' that' d be really bad and mean...but I'd..." she kept going, trying to explain a bunch of facts that he already knew. So instead of listening to all of this he just reached forward and opened the poke ball, and instantly he was engulfed in a crimson light and transported into blackness. In that instant every part of his body wanted to fight against the small space he was now trapped in, and he had to use every single ounce of his new found will power to disobey these natural instinct and soon, he felt everything calm down, he no longer wanted to escape...in fact he felt strangely peaceful...like he wanted to go to sleep....
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Rose watched the poke ball slowly stop shaking, and the red light glow in the middle for a second. It was extremely strange knowing that he best friend in the world was inside that small ball...she was actually rather repulsed by it for a reason that she could not explain. She picked up the pokédex which was now flashing blue, and saw that the details of her friends species on the screen, it was actually quite interesting as it showed her his weight and general health, which she was relieved to see were perfectly fine. She put the pokédex back into her pocket and grabbed the ball, instantly releasing her friend from the confines of the ball. The Treecko did a quick survey of his limbs to make sure all of him had made it out, and look up at Rose with a bewildered look on his face.
"Was it that strange?" she asked nervously. He nodded slowly , and then pointed to the ball and shook his head. "Um...oh, no its okay, I'm only going to use that in emergencies!" she assured him, his reply being a mock sigh of relief. Rose quickly checked her watch, "Shit! I should've been home like an hour a go!" she shouted, quickly shoving the poke ball in her pocket and setting off at a run towards her house, completely forgetting about her school bag. After five minutes of flat out running she was out of breath and turning onto her road, quickly sparing a glance behind her and was surprised to see that the Treecko wasn't behind her. She didn't mind though, he often went off to do his own thing so she quietly opened the door and slipped into the house, hoping to not alert her mother. However, half way up the stairs she heard people talking in the kitchen...the first voice she knew was her mothers...but the other she didn't recognise at all. Rose quietly snuck into the living room and placed her ear against the door to listen on the conversation...
"I'm afraid that there is no other way to solve this problem..." said the first voice, a masculine voice which was unknown to her, but the thing that worried her was the sinister tone he was using.
"L-look," This one was definitely her mother, "I didn't see anything...I don't know anything about it! I swear!" Jane shouted, with desperation in her voice. "James was the only one who knew...and you've already dealt with him..." she trailed off. The unknown person sniggered.
"Ah yes, I remember that, it was quite a spectacular show...and by the way, how is your daughter?" the stranger asked cruelly, Rose could imagined her mum stiffening at that, she knew that she should call the police now, but she was rooted into place, wanting but also not wanting to leave the door.
"She's fine...but please, leave her out of this, she's just a kid and she knows nothing!" her mother pleaded.
"Well...I'm afraid my orders were to destroy all possible leads...such a shame, you have such a great mind...and a combination of your brains and her fathers...initiative...would have been extremely interesting to observe...but alas, two great minds have to end up splattered against a wall...". This alarmed Rose to the point of severing her ear from the door and running to the phone, but in her heart she knew already that it was too late, her mother let out a scream followed by a deafening a gun shot which echoed through the house. Rose froze in place immediately, knowing but not excepting what had just happened, she frantically pulled the phone of the receiver to find that the wire had been cut...she let the phone drop from her hand as she saw the smoke coming from the kitchen. As soon as she heard the back door slam shut she pushed open the door, smoke was billowing from a fire that was burning the wooden floor...and there...collapsed in a heap one the floor was her mother...or what was her mother. The fire had already started to eat away at her hair and body...the most painful thing was seeing her so close but no being able to reach her. Rose awoke from her trance, her survival instincts started to kick in and she tore her gaze away from the burning corpse of her mother and turned to run for the door...but then the fire found the gas pipe.
The only thing Rose heard was an giant explosion behind her and then her vision went black
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Rose slowly opened her eyes and slowly got to her feet, a strange calm overwhelming her body, blocking out all of the previous fear and sadness. Slowly, she looked down, and saw her own body on the floor, surrounded by the burning building...she had already excepted the fact that she was dead...she felt completely at peace...and could feel herself already drifting away. But then a figure crept into the building, and with a pang of emotion she saw that it was Treecko with an extremely concerned look on his face. And within seconds of watching the creature scan her body for any signs of life...knowing that he was looking at the dead body of his friend...she was back to her normal self. She tried to shout out the creature, to tell him that she was here yet he could not here her...she had never believed in ghosts until now...she had become one. Shimmering white tears dripped from her transparent cheeks as she watched the hope extinguished from her companion's eyes.
She watched as her friend slowly dragged her body out of the house, apparently not caring about the lack of life in the body. And soon...the vision of the interior of her house disappeared...leaving only a blank landscape surrounding her. And then...she knew she was not alone, there was something else here, and in her heart she was scared, knowing that this could well be some sort of Grim Reaper. She turned around and there in front of her was a pokémon that she had only just finished studying this morning, one that many people considered some sort of deity or legend. The Mew was looking down at her with a curious look in its eyes. It said nothing, just looked down at her with a pair of big blue eyes, knowing her she probably would have snatched it up and cuddled it due to its cuteness however this was by far a normal day for her. There were another few more minutes of silence whilst the Mew examined idly and she summed up the courage to speak.
"Um...ex-excuse me... but where am I?" she asked it quietly, she didn't really expect it to talk back what with it being a pokémon and all.
"Uuuh...I'm kinda not too sure myself...but from what my parents told me you're in limbo". This deeply shocked Rose, not only because it was speaking but it was speaking inside her head, which was strangely much more personal than a normal conversation. Seeing that it had scared her slightly, it quickly tried to correct its mistake. "Oh! S-sorry about that, I'm kinda new to this speaking with humans thing, I forget how closed their minds are...no offence!" He added quickly at the end. Rose tried to shake the anxiety of speaking like this off of her. Limbo...she'd heard of that once...its kind of milestone between life and death, a place where one exists before moving on...so she really was dead. A new sense of panic overwhelmed her, but she had so much left to do! She had to go on a journey with her Treecko, she had to name him- "Stop it!" it shouted from within her mind, and when she looked up at the Mew looked apologetic, rubbing the back of its head with its paw. "Sorry for shouting and everything...but you were hurting my head" it explained. Just its words seemed to calm her down, it may have been some sort of psychic trick but it was still relaxing, she let out a sigh of relief feeling sad thoughts drifting away. "Feeling better?" it asked with a smile
"Yeah, much better...how'd you do that?" she asked, impressed by the obviously young Mew's skills.
"Heh, my mum and dad taught it to me, ya know when you sweep mess in your room under the bed, I kinda did that with your memories!" he smiled proudly. The thought that such a small thing could do that unnerved her slightly, but it seemed like it was being kind to her, so she tried to do the same with it.
"Do you have a name?" she asked him. The Mew seemed to be slightly off-put by this.
"Um...yeah I do...but I don't really like it...it's a bit of a girls name to be honest..." he told her quietly, blushing. "But if you really wanna know it's Amethyst..." Rose smiled, it was definitely quite young if it worried about a thing like that, probably around her age really, and she'd also learned that it was a boy. But soon she started to remember what had happened...and more serious matters came into her mind.
"...Am I dead?" she said quietly, remembering the sight of her own body. The Mew now hovered slightly closer to her, trusting her somewhat more. It gently put a paw on her shoulder, feeling sorry for what the girl had been through.
"Well...at the moment...you are kinda dead..." Tears began to well in Rose's eyes at this truth, "But it's gonna be okay! Because you're not meant to die yet, my parents told me to watch over you as you're important...but I got scared of the fire and didn't help in time...sorry about that." This was met only be silence as the new information swept over Rose, why was she so important that the rarest pokémon in the world was meant to be protecting her.
"I-It's okay...everybody makes mistakes...but why me?" she asked him, looking into its eyes.
"I'm...not really sure, I can sorta sense that you're important...you've got a very pure aura...b-but I don't really know...all I know is that you're not allowed to die yet, my dad just told me that you've got a lot to do before your time to...well die arrives..." This information was comfort to her, even if this was some sort of weird dream, being told that she was important was a great comfort, a thought came to her mind.
"So...are you going to bring me back?" she asked it. For some reason the small creature blushed slightly for a moment, but then smiled.
"Yep, I'm going to bring you back to life, if I didn't I wouldn't really be a very good guardian angel would I?" he giggled softly. "This may sound kinda cheesy and everything but if you ever need me, ya just need to call out my name, I shouldn't be too far away. Okay?" he asked. She nodded, suddenly realising how much this little creature had done for her already. "Don't worry, you don't need to thank me, its been real fun talking to you!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah...but how are you going to bring me back?" she asked him, and again he blushed.
"Alright then...so basically all you need to do is relax and close your eyes," his voice had taken on some sort of mesmerising tone, and she knew that even if she didn't want to go back she was powerless to fight the creature's hold over her. "Don't worry, this won't hurt...well it shouldn't...I think...but it'll be over quickly," he assured her, so she tried not to worry, despite the obvious fact that he hadn't done this before. "So...um...close your eyes and hold real still a sec..." he trailed off, for some reason nervous about what he was going to do. The darkness felt very strange, she tried to open her eyes but found that it was impossible, in the moment she started to panic, scared that all that the creature had said was a lie and she was actually passing into the afterlife. But in in an instant she knew she was not alone, there was definitely something here with her...and that was when it happened. She felt a pair of small, soft lips touch hers, and at the instant of that touch her mind started to go fuzzy, she knew that she should be trying to resist this...but something inside her not to. The alien pair of lips continued to gingerly brush hers, but eventually they become much more passionate, she could feel herself blushing greatly, and a pair of small hands on either side of her head but she didn't care who it was. Something inside her was being rekindled as it progressed, she was unaware of how much time was passing, it could have just been seconds...minutes or even hours, soon she began to feel something throughout her whole body...a pulse...at first her delirious head told her that it was just pleasure...but she knew that it was something else...she knew that it was life. Quickly, this feeling enveloped her, and started to drag her away from her lover's touch, and then she was aware of a light, one so bright that she couldn't bare to look at it, but she had no choice...she got closer, closer and closer until the painful ball of fire enveloped her...
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"Clear!" One of the paramedics shouted as they attempted to bring her back to life for the fifth time. Normal procedure dictated that they only attempt this a maximum of three times...however for some reason he had been compelled to break regulation. "We've got a pulse!" he shouted, amazed that she had come back from the brink of death. The Treecko let out a sigh of relief, he'd thought that she was gone, he'd arrived as soon as he heard the explosion and had managed to drag her out of the house...but for her mother it was too late. The paramedics put her into an ambulance which the Treecko was determined to ride in, and so they drove to the hospital. A light blue outline of a small pokémon watched them go from high up above, however, his location could have been given away if the saw the dark shade of crimson which had enveloped both of his cheeks...
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Slowly Rose opened her eyes, at first the onslaught of life had hurt her eyes, but eventually she grew accustomed to it and took a pained look around the room she was in. Sure enough, everything was white and she was hooked up to a variety of different of different machines, most of which were probably keeping her alive. She slumped back onto the bed and turned her mind to the encounter with the Mew, Amethyst...had it been real? Most likely not, I mean since when does stuff like that happen to people like her...then again since when does a man shoot your mother and blow up your house. The remembrance of that encounter brought fresh tears to her eyes...now she was truly alone in this world, her mother and father dead...and having never seen any of her other relatives there was no-one she could turn to. However...there was one who she could...she turned her head to her right and sure enough her Treecko lay there in a deep sleep...he'd been the one who'd dragged her out of the burning house...which was especially dangerous for a grass type pokémon such as himself. She took comfort in the fact that she could rely on him to always be there...he'd also recovered her bag, which she remembered she had dropped in her rush to get to her house. Weakly she picked the sleeping pokémon up and put him on her stomach, stroking his back very gently so as not to stir him.
"My little protector...you're the last family I have left..." A thought occurred to her...she now knew what to call him. "You're my own little Lancelot...when you wake up..." she yawned, "I wonder if you'll like the name Lance..." she finished and wearily fell to sleep.
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She'd been sleeping at the police station for the past week, which was convenient for them because they continued to probe her for information over her mother's murders, which did tend to end in tears for her. Lance had accepted his new name with scepticism at first but over a few days he found he actually quite liked it. He was with her now, curled up in her lap as she watched the small TV, seeking refuge in the bad things that were happening to the cartoon characters. Then, a thought occurred to her...she was old enough, had no-one to live with and could buy all the supplies that she would need to become a pokémon trainer...not to mention that it would take her mind off of everything. So that's exactly what she decided to do, she picked up her bag containing her pokédex, phone, wallet and poke balls, woke Lance up to explain to him what they were about to do (who agreed, knowing that even if he went against what she said she had ways of making him look at her point of view) and left the station , leaving a small note so that she would not be labelled as a missing person.
As she passed the school Ms Williams noticed the pair and instantly embraced Rose, mumbling apologies that everybody else had been giving her for the past few days. However, once she got this over and done with she noticed they were heading out of town.
"Where are you going Rose?" she questioned, concerned. When Rose told her about her plans to become a pokémon trainer she smiled brightly and beckoned them to come into the school. The pair followed her into the classroom, and Rose got a strong sense of déj� vu when she started searching through a closet, but this time it was something completely different.
"I was saving these just in case someone needed them...and well you need them more than the other five so please take them!" she commanded, bringing out a much large rucksack with a great deal of kit in them, such as a tent, sleeping bag etc. Whilst Lance started to busy himself with look through the contents of the bag Rose turned to Ms Williams.
"But Miss...I really can't take all of this!" she exclaimed, first she had given her pokédex and a poke ball and now she had given her this! Miss Williams smiled sadly.
"I have no need for any of this, my training days are over...but you are going to take them, technically I'm still your teacher so think of this as a class project...okay?" she said sternly. Rose nodded her head, grateful for what she had given her. "And there is one more thing" she said as she opened up the bottom draw. "Your mother...asked me to give you this when you started your journey...so there is no not taking this...you understand?" At the mention of her mother she stiffened slightly, but she nodded her head, of course she was going to accept a gift from her dead mother, she'd have to be completely devoid of emotion to not accept it.
When she saw the gift in her teachers hand she let her mouth hang open, as it was another pokémon. She'd originally planned it to just be her and Lance, but now it looked like they'd have a new companion. Ms Williams pushed the poke ball into her hands,
"Now then...you should go before it gets too dark," she suggested, taking a note out of her pocket, "Oh, and before I forget, take this; if you ever need help the odds are the other trainers will be pretty close." Rose hadn't expected to this, a scrap of paper will all of her friend's phone numbers on, but she guessed it would come in handy so she shoved it in her pocket, gave a brief goodbye and set off along the track leading out of the town.
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Lance carefully watched his new trainer's face from atop the bag as she walked down the path, her expression was that of happiness, but under that he could see the mourning that could so easily break through. Over the past week she had varied greatly, having many mood-swings which apparently followed the death of a loved one. Over the first few days she'd wanted to be alone in the room/cell which the police had let her stay in, she had the option of having a psychiatrist but being her arrogant self she'd instantly denied this. However the most disturbing thing had happened the previous day, when she had allowed him to go into her room, at first she generally talked about no specific subject, but eventually she got to the point which she had wanted him to think about, revenge. At first Lance had thought that she was joking, but the look in her eyes told him a completely different story, she really wanted to make this man pay...which he understood of course, but all the same he was worried about how exactly she would take her revenge. However, now she was obviously just trying to focus on the journey that lay before them, and she seemed to be back to her old self...almost.
After they'd walked about a mile in silence Rose put her bag down next to strong tree, and then collapsed on the ground wheezing.
"I...did...not think...that...this would be...so tiring!" she exclaimed between huge breaths. Lance did feel kind of sorry for the fact that he couldn't help with the carrying, but he could not stop himself from laughing at how tired she was already. This problem was quickly solved with a quick whack to the head courtesy of Rose, and both of their attentions were quickly drawn to the poke ball that she still held in her hands. Lance pointed to the ball and his eyes, after a few moments Rose got what he meant.
"Alright then...let's see what mum's last gift to me was..." she said quietly, before throwing the ball in the air. A crimson light darted out and form the figure of a small four legged pokémon, with mainly brown fur but a large white area in its mid-section. The pokédex loudly stated that it was an Eevee, the pokémon looked up to her new trainer and let out a happy bark before jumping on top of her and licking face. Lance was bewildered by this immediate show of affection, as it were as if the small pokémon already knew Rose. Speaking of Rose she was busy cuddling the cute little thing, stroking it, shouting "Cutie!" on numerous occasions etc.
"I bet if I did that to you it'd freak the shit out of you," he thought and laughed silently. The sun was starting to set on the horizon, and as Lance watched the golden ball of fire disappear behind the hill he could have sworn that he saw a blue outline hovering in the sky above them, he was about to investigate when he suddenly had a powerful overwhelming urge to go and set up the tent...Chapter End Notes:As always, review if you feel compelled to =
It was one of those days where Rose was at school and the Treecko was bored out of his wits as it was a day completely dedicated to maths. He never understood why humans needed to use numbers as when he had lived completely wild in the world their had been no use for currency, it was a lot more simple, if you wanted another pokémon's resources then you either stole it or fought for it, no symbols or fractions involved what-so-ever. At first the transition between the pokémon and human world had been very hard to do, but eventually he learnt about manners and how he could not do anything he wanted, but he didn't mind that sacrifice due to the fact that in return he got safety. The Treecko let out a whimper, according to the clock in the classroom there was still another hour left of maths before the school ended, and he had already completed the novel that he was reading. He let out a sigh and rested his head on the trunk of the tree he was lying on and shut his eyes taking advantage of the sun over head helping him to slowly drift to sleep.
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Rose let out a deep sigh of relief when the bell for the end of school struck, maths was quite possibly the most boring subject in the whole world! And a whole day of it! She quickly gathered up all of her books and made a break for the door with all of the other students but Miss Williams stepped in front of the door before any of them could escape what they all knew lay in her arms.
"Hold up kids!" she shouted, carrying a menacing looking pile of paper. "You seem to have forgotten about the highlight of the day...homework..." At the sound of the word every child in the room cringed in horror but grudgingly excepted the sheet that was given to them. "Rose, before you go, could I please have a little word with you?" she asked. Rose inclined her head and walked towards Miss Williams' office, she held her teacher in very high esteem after she had saved her from Emily. Miss Williams pointed at a chair so Rose thought it best to sit down.
"What's wrong Miss?" Rose asked cautiously, not sure what she wanted to see her about.
"Don't worry Rose, you haven't done anything wrong, I just have something to show you..." she said sincerely, opening one of the draws in her desk. Rose let out an inward sigh of relief, she thought that she was in trouble for some reason or another, but the anxiety was immediately replaced by curiosity when Miss Williams brought out a fairly large oak box and handed it to Rose. "I've already given this to five of your classmates..." This sparked her natural curiosity, it must be something of high importance.
"Why only six of us...?" Rose asked quietly, running her hand down the smooth wood casing of the box. Miss Williams smiled.
"I give it to the pupils who I believe will make good use of the contents.." she replied. Make use of the contents? This sparked her curiosity even further, why would Miss Williams believe that she would be better than any of the other classmates? She quickly banished these thoughts from her mind and decided to open the box. As soon as she saw the contents she had to stifle a gasp, inside was a red and white sphere and some sought of digital book beside it, both she knew were essential implements for a trainer. "You're now at the point where I believe you're mature enough to become a pokémon trainer," she exclaimed, waiting for some sort of positive reaction which wasn't going to come.
"Miss...this is great and all...but I really can't except this..." Rose said quietly, a bit startled by her own answer. The teacher's expression changed to that of pure confusion, this had never happened before in the ten years that she had been handing out the starter set.
"But...why?" she asked. Rose shuffled her feet awkwardly, trying to put her thoughts into words.
"Uh...well...I just think that pokémon...shouldn't be forced to attack each other...just for the sake of entertainment...and...I just hate the idea of controlling them...and making them do what I want...its kinda unfair..." she replied carefully and sincerely. Miss Williams thought about this for a moment, amazed at how far she had come in two years...from being against pokémon completely to thinking from their point of view and going against the flow to view being a pokémon trainer as something like a slaver.
"But that's not true at all!" she exclaimed. "Look...what's your relationship with your Treecko..." she asked.
"Firstly...he's not my Treecko...I don't own him in anyway, he's just like a friend, someone close to me and who's always there, I don't care whether he's a pokémon." Miss Williams smiled, if only all of the other trainers in the world were more like her, then there'd be no organisations made to manipulate pokémon.
"But catching pokémon doesn't have to be like owning them...it can be just like the relationship that you have with your Treecko, the pokémon that you catch can be friends...and also, battling doesn't have to be purely for entertainment purposes, pokémon with trainers who they believe in and enjoy being with just enjoy a battle as a way of expressing the friendship and the bonds that they share with their trainer. And anyway, when you're a trainer you don't necessarily have to battle, you can just explore the world making friends along the way...there's a whole world of possibilities out there..." she explained enthusiastically, obviously having experience in this matter as every word was drenched with truth, Miss Williams' old eyes seemed to regain their youth when she talked about life as a trainer. Needless to say, Rose was surprised by this sudden outburst of reasons which all comforted her fears of becoming a trainer, now that it had been properly explained the idea seemed extremely tempting...but was she ready for going out into the world?
"Miss...were you a trainer?" Rose asked after thinking through what she said.
"Back in my days yes I did Rose...they were perhaps the best days of my life...well aside from teaching you all of course!" she laughed...but Rose detected some sort of sadness in her voice which caused her to press further.
"But...how come you never have your pokémon about..." she asked but instantly regretted it as Miss Williams completely froze up and the shine in her eyes suddenly disappeared. She stared off out of the window, apparently reliving one of her worst nightmares, she looked like she had seen a ghost.
"Rose...you have to remember...that there are people in the wider world who do...evil things to both people and pokémon, by either exploitation or just pure violence...my pokémon were taken from me sixteen years...four months...and two days ago...I remember that moment...it haunts me everyday of my life...I swore revenge on them...yet I still haven't lifted a finger against them..." The poor women dropped her head and stared at the floor in shame, tears welling up in her eyes, the once proud teacher reduced to tears in a matter of moments. This sudden change of atmosphere made Rose feel responsible for what was happening.
"Miss...I'm...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to bring up hurtful memories!" she said quickly, hoping that her teacher would stop crying, and she did almost immediately. She simply wiped her eyes and grasped Rose's hand.
"Don't worry about my feelings Rose...what happened happened and its my problem not yours...just be careful out there...I'm not trying to dissuade you from going out there...you'll love it, I know you will, but don't make the same mistake I did...if you see a member of one of the organisations harassing someone...for god's sake don't do the honourable thing...or you'll live to regret it for the rest of your life...now take the box and go, I've got homework that needs marking!" she exclaimed, beckoning to the door. Surprised by this sudden seriousness, she quickly shut the box, picked it up and was out the door with only a mere "good luck" from Miss Williams.
As soon as she was out the classroom she shut the door and leant against with a sigh of relief, she'd learnt so much from her teacher in just a few minutes. Still, Rose was a bit undecided about becoming a trainer, it was extremely tempting but she'd have to discuss it with Treecko first, because she couldn't really go without him. But as she turned around she noticed someone trying to make himself look very uninterested and doing something else, Rose identified him almost immediately as her close friend David.
"David... by any chance were you trying to over-hear this conversation." she asked in a sweet but deadly sort of voice. He stiffened, and quickly put his hands in his pockets.
"Um...no..." he said awkwardly, not meeting her piercing gaze. She really did like Dave as a friend, he was helpful, kind and trustworthy...and although she wouldn't admit it even if under torture she did sought of have a crush on him. Eventually, he caved under Rose's glare and told the truth. "Fine...I was standing out here so that I could listen in to see if she was going to give you the starter set like she did to me." he said truthfully, holding out a similar oaken case.
"When did you get that!" Rose exclaimed, slightly annoyed that he didn't tell her something so big and important.
"Just this lunch time," he replied "I didn't want to tell you because I thought you'd be upset if you didn't get one!" he complained, trying to explain himself. Rose shrugged her shoulders and simply hugged him.
"It doesn't matter, cus' I got it anyway!" she stated happily, glad that her friend was going to become a trainer as well.
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The Treecko woke up from his deep sleep, a bit dreary and disturbed, as this was the first time he had had a dream. He found that he was developing intellectually much more like a human, before he had met Rose the only thing he had in his mind was his instincts, he generally didn't think or express any sort of emotion. But within the short time that he had spent with her, already his mind was developing, nowadays he could express and understand most emotions, he probably had a better understanding of Rose's lessons than she did because of the free time that he had, he could think clearly and now he was dreaming.
He stretched out his arms and legs and turned to look to see whether Rose was still in the classroom, and groaned slightly when he realised she was gone. It jumped to his feet and quickly leaped to the neighbouring tree, to check if she was on the playground, and let out a soft growl at what he saw. One of the things that he hated about the new torrent of emotions flooding through his mind were the negative ones, especially jealousy, which he felt every time he saw Rose and Dave together. The thing he hated about David was how he was free to communicate with Rose in full, whilst all he could manage to use was body language or the few words that he'd learnt. He waited in the tree until the two split up from one another, and then quietly traced Rose along the forest walk.
"Heh, come on, I know that's you out there Treecko!" she exclaimed, having grown accustomed to his light footsteps. So, he jumped out from the bush he had been hiding in and jumped onto her head, managing to balance perfectly. "I've got something I need to talk to you about...and I'm not too sure whether you're going to like it..." That had his attention, he jumped off her head and gave her a questioning look. She sat down next to him and looked into his eyes.
"Have you ever heard of a Pokémon trainer?" she asked him. He rolled his eyes and nodded, of course he had, he'd given the subject a lot of thought over the past few months, he'd been wondering whether she'd want to become one of those. "Well...I had a talk with miss about them...and I'm pretty sure I want to become one because it'll be really fun." she said, with a slight gleam in her eyes. -And you'll get to skip school- he thought with a snigger, but he had to admit, he did find the idea quite appealing with all the travelling and seeing new places...and although he wouldn't admit it he knew he'd enjoy the battling part as well. "And I was thinking..." trailing off, she brought out a poke ball, "I mean...I wouldn't be your owner as such cus' that' d be really bad and mean...but I'd..." she kept going, trying to explain a bunch of facts that he already knew. So instead of listening to all of this he just reached forward and opened the poke ball, and instantly he was engulfed in a crimson light and transported into blackness. In that instant every part of his body wanted to fight against the small space he was now trapped in, and he had to use every single ounce of his new found will power to disobey these natural instinct and soon, he felt everything calm down, he no longer wanted to escape...in fact he felt strangely peaceful...like he wanted to go to sleep....
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Rose watched the poke ball slowly stop shaking, and the red light glow in the middle for a second. It was extremely strange knowing that he best friend in the world was inside that small ball...she was actually rather repulsed by it for a reason that she could not explain. She picked up the pokédex which was now flashing blue, and saw that the details of her friends species on the screen, it was actually quite interesting as it showed her his weight and general health, which she was relieved to see were perfectly fine. She put the pokédex back into her pocket and grabbed the ball, instantly releasing her friend from the confines of the ball. The Treecko did a quick survey of his limbs to make sure all of him had made it out, and look up at Rose with a bewildered look on his face.
"Was it that strange?" she asked nervously. He nodded slowly , and then pointed to the ball and shook his head. "Um...oh, no its okay, I'm only going to use that in emergencies!" she assured him, his reply being a mock sigh of relief. Rose quickly checked her watch, "Shit! I should've been home like an hour a go!" she shouted, quickly shoving the poke ball in her pocket and setting off at a run towards her house, completely forgetting about her school bag. After five minutes of flat out running she was out of breath and turning onto her road, quickly sparing a glance behind her and was surprised to see that the Treecko wasn't behind her. She didn't mind though, he often went off to do his own thing so she quietly opened the door and slipped into the house, hoping to not alert her mother. However, half way up the stairs she heard people talking in the kitchen...the first voice she knew was her mothers...but the other she didn't recognise at all. Rose quietly snuck into the living room and placed her ear against the door to listen on the conversation...
"I'm afraid that there is no other way to solve this problem..." said the first voice, a masculine voice which was unknown to her, but the thing that worried her was the sinister tone he was using.
"L-look," This one was definitely her mother, "I didn't see anything...I don't know anything about it! I swear!" Jane shouted, with desperation in her voice. "James was the only one who knew...and you've already dealt with him..." she trailed off. The unknown person sniggered.
"Ah yes, I remember that, it was quite a spectacular show...and by the way, how is your daughter?" the stranger asked cruelly, Rose could imagined her mum stiffening at that, she knew that she should call the police now, but she was rooted into place, wanting but also not wanting to leave the door.
"She's fine...but please, leave her out of this, she's just a kid and she knows nothing!" her mother pleaded.
"Well...I'm afraid my orders were to destroy all possible leads...such a shame, you have such a great mind...and a combination of your brains and her fathers...initiative...would have been extremely interesting to observe...but alas, two great minds have to end up splattered against a wall...". This alarmed Rose to the point of severing her ear from the door and running to the phone, but in her heart she knew already that it was too late, her mother let out a scream followed by a deafening a gun shot which echoed through the house. Rose froze in place immediately, knowing but not excepting what had just happened, she frantically pulled the phone of the receiver to find that the wire had been cut...she let the phone drop from her hand as she saw the smoke coming from the kitchen. As soon as she heard the back door slam shut she pushed open the door, smoke was billowing from a fire that was burning the wooden floor...and there...collapsed in a heap one the floor was her mother...or what was her mother. The fire had already started to eat away at her hair and body...the most painful thing was seeing her so close but no being able to reach her. Rose awoke from her trance, her survival instincts started to kick in and she tore her gaze away from the burning corpse of her mother and turned to run for the door...but then the fire found the gas pipe.
The only thing Rose heard was an giant explosion behind her and then her vision went black
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Rose slowly opened her eyes and slowly got to her feet, a strange calm overwhelming her body, blocking out all of the previous fear and sadness. Slowly, she looked down, and saw her own body on the floor, surrounded by the burning building...she had already excepted the fact that she was dead...she felt completely at peace...and could feel herself already drifting away. But then a figure crept into the building, and with a pang of emotion she saw that it was Treecko with an extremely concerned look on his face. And within seconds of watching the creature scan her body for any signs of life...knowing that he was looking at the dead body of his friend...she was back to her normal self. She tried to shout out the creature, to tell him that she was here yet he could not here her...she had never believed in ghosts until now...she had become one. Shimmering white tears dripped from her transparent cheeks as she watched the hope extinguished from her companion's eyes.
She watched as her friend slowly dragged her body out of the house, apparently not caring about the lack of life in the body. And soon...the vision of the interior of her house disappeared...leaving only a blank landscape surrounding her. And then...she knew she was not alone, there was something else here, and in her heart she was scared, knowing that this could well be some sort of Grim Reaper. She turned around and there in front of her was a pokémon that she had only just finished studying this morning, one that many people considered some sort of deity or legend. The Mew was looking down at her with a curious look in its eyes. It said nothing, just looked down at her with a pair of big blue eyes, knowing her she probably would have snatched it up and cuddled it due to its cuteness however this was by far a normal day for her. There were another few more minutes of silence whilst the Mew examined idly and she summed up the courage to speak.
"Um...ex-excuse me... but where am I?" she asked it quietly, she didn't really expect it to talk back what with it being a pokémon and all.
"Uuuh...I'm kinda not too sure myself...but from what my parents told me you're in limbo". This deeply shocked Rose, not only because it was speaking but it was speaking inside her head, which was strangely much more personal than a normal conversation. Seeing that it had scared her slightly, it quickly tried to correct its mistake. "Oh! S-sorry about that, I'm kinda new to this speaking with humans thing, I forget how closed their minds are...no offence!" He added quickly at the end. Rose tried to shake the anxiety of speaking like this off of her. Limbo...she'd heard of that once...its kind of milestone between life and death, a place where one exists before moving on...so she really was dead. A new sense of panic overwhelmed her, but she had so much left to do! She had to go on a journey with her Treecko, she had to name him- "Stop it!" it shouted from within her mind, and when she looked up at the Mew looked apologetic, rubbing the back of its head with its paw. "Sorry for shouting and everything...but you were hurting my head" it explained. Just its words seemed to calm her down, it may have been some sort of psychic trick but it was still relaxing, she let out a sigh of relief feeling sad thoughts drifting away. "Feeling better?" it asked with a smile
"Yeah, much better...how'd you do that?" she asked, impressed by the obviously young Mew's skills.
"Heh, my mum and dad taught it to me, ya know when you sweep mess in your room under the bed, I kinda did that with your memories!" he smiled proudly. The thought that such a small thing could do that unnerved her slightly, but it seemed like it was being kind to her, so she tried to do the same with it.
"Do you have a name?" she asked him. The Mew seemed to be slightly off-put by this.
"Um...yeah I do...but I don't really like it...it's a bit of a girls name to be honest..." he told her quietly, blushing. "But if you really wanna know it's Amethyst..." Rose smiled, it was definitely quite young if it worried about a thing like that, probably around her age really, and she'd also learned that it was a boy. But soon she started to remember what had happened...and more serious matters came into her mind.
"...Am I dead?" she said quietly, remembering the sight of her own body. The Mew now hovered slightly closer to her, trusting her somewhat more. It gently put a paw on her shoulder, feeling sorry for what the girl had been through.
"Well...at the moment...you are kinda dead..." Tears began to well in Rose's eyes at this truth, "But it's gonna be okay! Because you're not meant to die yet, my parents told me to watch over you as you're important...but I got scared of the fire and didn't help in time...sorry about that." This was met only be silence as the new information swept over Rose, why was she so important that the rarest pokémon in the world was meant to be protecting her.
"I-It's okay...everybody makes mistakes...but why me?" she asked him, looking into its eyes.
"I'm...not really sure, I can sorta sense that you're important...you've got a very pure aura...b-but I don't really know...all I know is that you're not allowed to die yet, my dad just told me that you've got a lot to do before your time to...well die arrives..." This information was comfort to her, even if this was some sort of weird dream, being told that she was important was a great comfort, a thought came to her mind.
"So...are you going to bring me back?" she asked it. For some reason the small creature blushed slightly for a moment, but then smiled.
"Yep, I'm going to bring you back to life, if I didn't I wouldn't really be a very good guardian angel would I?" he giggled softly. "This may sound kinda cheesy and everything but if you ever need me, ya just need to call out my name, I shouldn't be too far away. Okay?" he asked. She nodded, suddenly realising how much this little creature had done for her already. "Don't worry, you don't need to thank me, its been real fun talking to you!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah...but how are you going to bring me back?" she asked him, and again he blushed.
"Alright then...so basically all you need to do is relax and close your eyes," his voice had taken on some sort of mesmerising tone, and she knew that even if she didn't want to go back she was powerless to fight the creature's hold over her. "Don't worry, this won't hurt...well it shouldn't...I think...but it'll be over quickly," he assured her, so she tried not to worry, despite the obvious fact that he hadn't done this before. "So...um...close your eyes and hold real still a sec..." he trailed off, for some reason nervous about what he was going to do. The darkness felt very strange, she tried to open her eyes but found that it was impossible, in the moment she started to panic, scared that all that the creature had said was a lie and she was actually passing into the afterlife. But in in an instant she knew she was not alone, there was definitely something here with her...and that was when it happened. She felt a pair of small, soft lips touch hers, and at the instant of that touch her mind started to go fuzzy, she knew that she should be trying to resist this...but something inside her not to. The alien pair of lips continued to gingerly brush hers, but eventually they become much more passionate, she could feel herself blushing greatly, and a pair of small hands on either side of her head but she didn't care who it was. Something inside her was being rekindled as it progressed, she was unaware of how much time was passing, it could have just been seconds...minutes or even hours, soon she began to feel something throughout her whole body...a pulse...at first her delirious head told her that it was just pleasure...but she knew that it was something else...she knew that it was life. Quickly, this feeling enveloped her, and started to drag her away from her lover's touch, and then she was aware of a light, one so bright that she couldn't bare to look at it, but she had no choice...she got closer, closer and closer until the painful ball of fire enveloped her...
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"Clear!" One of the paramedics shouted as they attempted to bring her back to life for the fifth time. Normal procedure dictated that they only attempt this a maximum of three times...however for some reason he had been compelled to break regulation. "We've got a pulse!" he shouted, amazed that she had come back from the brink of death. The Treecko let out a sigh of relief, he'd thought that she was gone, he'd arrived as soon as he heard the explosion and had managed to drag her out of the house...but for her mother it was too late. The paramedics put her into an ambulance which the Treecko was determined to ride in, and so they drove to the hospital. A light blue outline of a small pokémon watched them go from high up above, however, his location could have been given away if the saw the dark shade of crimson which had enveloped both of his cheeks...
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Slowly Rose opened her eyes, at first the onslaught of life had hurt her eyes, but eventually she grew accustomed to it and took a pained look around the room she was in. Sure enough, everything was white and she was hooked up to a variety of different of different machines, most of which were probably keeping her alive. She slumped back onto the bed and turned her mind to the encounter with the Mew, Amethyst...had it been real? Most likely not, I mean since when does stuff like that happen to people like her...then again since when does a man shoot your mother and blow up your house. The remembrance of that encounter brought fresh tears to her eyes...now she was truly alone in this world, her mother and father dead...and having never seen any of her other relatives there was no-one she could turn to. However...there was one who she could...she turned her head to her right and sure enough her Treecko lay there in a deep sleep...he'd been the one who'd dragged her out of the burning house...which was especially dangerous for a grass type pokémon such as himself. She took comfort in the fact that she could rely on him to always be there...he'd also recovered her bag, which she remembered she had dropped in her rush to get to her house. Weakly she picked the sleeping pokémon up and put him on her stomach, stroking his back very gently so as not to stir him.
"My little protector...you're the last family I have left..." A thought occurred to her...she now knew what to call him. "You're my own little Lancelot...when you wake up..." she yawned, "I wonder if you'll like the name Lance..." she finished and wearily fell to sleep.
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She'd been sleeping at the police station for the past week, which was convenient for them because they continued to probe her for information over her mother's murders, which did tend to end in tears for her. Lance had accepted his new name with scepticism at first but over a few days he found he actually quite liked it. He was with her now, curled up in her lap as she watched the small TV, seeking refuge in the bad things that were happening to the cartoon characters. Then, a thought occurred to her...she was old enough, had no-one to live with and could buy all the supplies that she would need to become a pokémon trainer...not to mention that it would take her mind off of everything. So that's exactly what she decided to do, she picked up her bag containing her pokédex, phone, wallet and poke balls, woke Lance up to explain to him what they were about to do (who agreed, knowing that even if he went against what she said she had ways of making him look at her point of view) and left the station , leaving a small note so that she would not be labelled as a missing person.
As she passed the school Ms Williams noticed the pair and instantly embraced Rose, mumbling apologies that everybody else had been giving her for the past few days. However, once she got this over and done with she noticed they were heading out of town.
"Where are you going Rose?" she questioned, concerned. When Rose told her about her plans to become a pokémon trainer she smiled brightly and beckoned them to come into the school. The pair followed her into the classroom, and Rose got a strong sense of déj� vu when she started searching through a closet, but this time it was something completely different.
"I was saving these just in case someone needed them...and well you need them more than the other five so please take them!" she commanded, bringing out a much large rucksack with a great deal of kit in them, such as a tent, sleeping bag etc. Whilst Lance started to busy himself with look through the contents of the bag Rose turned to Ms Williams.
"But Miss...I really can't take all of this!" she exclaimed, first she had given her pokédex and a poke ball and now she had given her this! Miss Williams smiled sadly.
"I have no need for any of this, my training days are over...but you are going to take them, technically I'm still your teacher so think of this as a class project...okay?" she said sternly. Rose nodded her head, grateful for what she had given her. "And there is one more thing" she said as she opened up the bottom draw. "Your mother...asked me to give you this when you started your journey...so there is no not taking this...you understand?" At the mention of her mother she stiffened slightly, but she nodded her head, of course she was going to accept a gift from her dead mother, she'd have to be completely devoid of emotion to not accept it.
When she saw the gift in her teachers hand she let her mouth hang open, as it was another pokémon. She'd originally planned it to just be her and Lance, but now it looked like they'd have a new companion. Ms Williams pushed the poke ball into her hands,
"Now then...you should go before it gets too dark," she suggested, taking a note out of her pocket, "Oh, and before I forget, take this; if you ever need help the odds are the other trainers will be pretty close." Rose hadn't expected to this, a scrap of paper will all of her friend's phone numbers on, but she guessed it would come in handy so she shoved it in her pocket, gave a brief goodbye and set off along the track leading out of the town.
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Lance carefully watched his new trainer's face from atop the bag as she walked down the path, her expression was that of happiness, but under that he could see the mourning that could so easily break through. Over the past week she had varied greatly, having many mood-swings which apparently followed the death of a loved one. Over the first few days she'd wanted to be alone in the room/cell which the police had let her stay in, she had the option of having a psychiatrist but being her arrogant self she'd instantly denied this. However the most disturbing thing had happened the previous day, when she had allowed him to go into her room, at first she generally talked about no specific subject, but eventually she got to the point which she had wanted him to think about, revenge. At first Lance had thought that she was joking, but the look in her eyes told him a completely different story, she really wanted to make this man pay...which he understood of course, but all the same he was worried about how exactly she would take her revenge. However, now she was obviously just trying to focus on the journey that lay before them, and she seemed to be back to her old self...almost.
After they'd walked about a mile in silence Rose put her bag down next to strong tree, and then collapsed on the ground wheezing.
"I...did...not think...that...this would be...so tiring!" she exclaimed between huge breaths. Lance did feel kind of sorry for the fact that he couldn't help with the carrying, but he could not stop himself from laughing at how tired she was already. This problem was quickly solved with a quick whack to the head courtesy of Rose, and both of their attentions were quickly drawn to the poke ball that she still held in her hands. Lance pointed to the ball and his eyes, after a few moments Rose got what he meant.
"Alright then...let's see what mum's last gift to me was..." she said quietly, before throwing the ball in the air. A crimson light darted out and form the figure of a small four legged pokémon, with mainly brown fur but a large white area in its mid-section. The pokédex loudly stated that it was an Eevee, the pokémon looked up to her new trainer and let out a happy bark before jumping on top of her and licking face. Lance was bewildered by this immediate show of affection, as it were as if the small pokémon already knew Rose. Speaking of Rose she was busy cuddling the cute little thing, stroking it, shouting "Cutie!" on numerous occasions etc.
"I bet if I did that to you it'd freak the shit out of you," he thought and laughed silently. The sun was starting to set on the horizon, and as Lance watched the golden ball of fire disappear behind the hill he could have sworn that he saw a blue outline hovering in the sky above them, he was about to investigate when he suddenly had a powerful overwhelming urge to go and set up the tent...Chapter End Notes:As always, review if you feel compelled to =