Chap 2

I moved silently through the dark house as tears poured down my face. I was responsible for a death. That was not a part of my plan. The scientist's empty stare flashed in my mind and sent me running to the bathroom. I almost didn't make it in time before my dinner came spewing out of me. Tears and bile filled my porcelain confessional for what felt like hours. I stayed on my knees until all the regret had drained from me. I knew that when I stood up, I had to be ready to be strong. I also knew that I could never speak of what I had just witnessed, so I let it drain from my system before attempting to make my next move. Once the tears dried and my back stopped heaving, I stood up, flushed my sins away, and cleaned myself up. I went to the sink and stared at my face in the mirror. My eyes burned red and the dark skin on my face stained with a white, salty trail from the tears. Never again I said to my reflection before I picked up my egg from the floor and walked out of the bathroom.

I was a blur for the remaining time I spent at home. I grabbed some clothing, a map, a few poke balls and the egg. I packed them all up and left the house. Just before I walked out of the house for maybe the last time ever, I left a note.

"I left to begin my career as a Pokémon trainer. I didn't want to wake you, so I didn't say goodbye.

Your innocent son

-Reef

I headed north once I walked out of the house. I knew that I could only go north or south and south was only accessible by boat. At the edge of town there was a patch of tall grass that represented the only exit I could take. Something ran through the grass and startled me. It occurred to me at that moment that I didn't actually have a Pokémon I could use to defend myself. I walked cautiously through the grass making sure not to disturb anything. My dad always told me that the only things living in this area were Rattata and Pidgey. Those weren't the most imposing threats but getting bitten by a Rattata still wasn't on my to-do list.

I made it out of the first patch unscathed and stepped onto a dirt path. I followed the path into a dead-end. It was some kind of hedge made of brown stone. The weird thing was that it was jagged and spiky on the side facing Pallet town, the other side was smooth enough to use as a ramp. I had no choice but to walk west along the ledge and hope it had an opening somewhere in it. I was thoroughly upset when it led directly into another patch of tall grass. I did see an opening in the hedge. I just needed my luck to continue.

The moment I stepped into the waist high, green prison I felt something brush across my left foot. I froze in place. Panic seizing every nerve in my body. After a few seconds I was able to force my lower extremities to move again. I took three more steps and watched a Pidgey land on the dirt path I was headed to. Now that's just cheating! I yelled inside my head. Its coal colored eyes focused on every motion I made. I clutched at one of the Poke balls in my pocket. I only had five of them, so I really didn't want to waste one on a Pokémon at full health.

When I stepped onto the dirt path ours eyes locked. I wasn't sure what to do next. I didn't think it could kill me or anything like that, but it could definitely blind me, and that was just as bad to me. The Pidgey didn't seem to consider me any kind of threat though, it wasn't making any noise or trying to intimidate me at all. I took a chance and walked past it. Nothing happened. I let out a sigh of relief and continued along the path to yet another patch of tall grass. There was a mixture of crunching and squeaking sounds as I approached three Rattata from behind. They were eating something; I couldn't get a good look at what. One of them must've heard me and turned around. Blood and bits of ripped flesh coating the fur around its mouth. It made a quick squeaking sound and the other two turned around as well. All three of them slowly began advancing on me spreading out as they did.

Using my go-to defense mechanism I froze in place and watched them slowly surround me. I went over my choices in my head. I could run back the way I had come, or I could keep standing here like a skin statue. While I weighed my options the Rattata had positioned themselves. One directly in front of me, one on my left side, and one on my right side. I moved to take a step backward and the one on my right side pounced. The purple ball of fur hurled through the air toward my face until it was knocked out of the air by a brown, streaking ball.

The Rattata crashed on its side and didn't get back up. The Pidgey landed in front of me and with its wings spread wide.

"Did you follow me?"

The pidgey looked up at me and made a soft, chirping sound. The Rattata in front of me stepped forward, Pidgey turned its head back toward it and let out and ear-piercing screech. The Rattata stopped briefly, but then it and the one on my left began moving forward. I watched with newfound concern as Pidgey's focus went from one Rattata to the other and back again. I did not want to watch them make a meal out of this bird. I reached into my pocket and grabbed a poke ball. I raised it as Pidgey began rapidly flapping its wings, kicking up an insane amount of dust.

The dust particles hit my eyes and burned like a tiny wildfire. I dropped to my knees desperately trying clear the debris from my eyes. I was just able to see the two Rattata dive into the massive cloud of dust simultaneously. Just as fast as they dove into the cloud, they were bounced back out of it. One of them slammed off the trunk of a tree and landed somewhere in a clump of trees. The last one hit the ground and rolled onto its side. When the Rattata were no longer a threat the Pidgey stopped flapping and the dust finally settled.

The Pidgey turned and faced me. I saw what looked like pride on it's face through my tear-filled eyes. I was about to thank the tiny bird when it suddenly screeched and shot directly into the air. As he ascended, the Rattata on his back with hanging on by its fangs became visible. When the pidgey had reached the speed, it needed it stopped ascending. The Rattata on its back was launched into the air. I noticed the Pidgey struggling to flap its right wing as it descended. When it went into a full nose-dive I panicked and threw the poke ball I was still holding. They met about twelve feet above the ground. The ball captured the brave bird without any struggle. Holy crap I thought as the ball dropped into my hand, I just caught my first Pokémon!