Chapter 10

Blake woke up unpleasantly in his room. It had been a long, long while since the last time he woke up in his room. He remembered that day like crystal clear. He was prepared to anything, ready to leave his house -even questionable if it was his house, after all- and departed to his grandfather’s laboratory for the beginning of summer camp in order to get his Pokémon trainer license. He knew, it was not going to be fun and short, but he was determined to deal with it no matter what. That was the way he could only imagine his life could lead to. He could not just sit back and have an average life like others. He had to be somewhere. He had people to disappoint.

He was tired of all the conversations he had with his grandfather, in which he insisted that his parents did not abandon him. He ended all the conversations for good, and worked on where he wanted to get. The last time Professor Oak mentioned about Blake’s parents, and defended them, of course, was the first day of summer camp. Blake ended the conversation with dedicated attitude and asked Professor to talk about Pokémon and being a trainer, instead. Instead of whining and being obsessed about other people, he preferred to focus on himself. During the ten weeks of this summer camp, he learned a lot of new things, and found the potential in him. He became even more sure of himself to participate in the Pokémon League. He knew that he could make Pallet Town and other people proud of himself.

In that last day of August, he unpleasantly got off his bed and walked to the window. A view of Pallet Town was there, just like the 15 years previous that day. Blake felt how much he was tired of this view. A change was going to be so good for him, that was for sure. He reached to the empty coffee glass on his table. It was left from last night after he came from the summer camp. When he remembered the previous day as a whole, the most memorable moment for him was the second he took his Pokémon trainer license from Professor Oak. Unlike some other students who wasted their chance to get one, Blake had a clear path in front of himself without wasting another year in that rotten place.

“Yes,” He thought, “you are rotten until I glorify you with my victory in the League, Pallet.”

When his door was knocked, Blake exactly knew who was there. No one else besides him and Professor Oak was living in that house. Blake, with the same unpleasant expression on his face, turned his back to the door and invited him in. Professor corresponded that with the happiest smile on his face. He was holding something white. Blake could not be sure what he was holding.

“Morning, grandson.” Professor Oak said. Blake always thought that friendly expression did not fit someone like Professor Oak, who had been a very important person for his hometown and region. According to Blake, someone like him would need to show his serious and tough side outside. But Professor Oak was not like that.

“What are you holding there, grandfather?” Blake asked. Professor Oak showed the white thing better. “That’s a letter, Blake,” He said, “from your parents.”

Blake was not as excited as Professor Oak expected him to be. Blake turned his back to the window again. “You can trash it.” He said calmly.

“Don’t be reckless, Blake.” Professor Oak said. The friendly and happy expression on his face was gone for good. Now he had an insistent voice. “You may not want to read it now. But if I trash it, you will regret for not reading it at some point.”

Professor Oak expected Blake to object that statement. Instead, he remained in silence.

“Just keep it with you. You don’t have to read. But you will when the time comes. Believe me.” Professor Oak said. He put the letter on the night table and closed the door. Blake just kept watching the view that he had been despising for so long.

Fennel took a half day off that day. But she still woke up as early as every other day. She meticulously prepared a breakfast for the family, including her Meowth. She would usually just put his food and leave the house before he wakes up. But not this time. She then prepared the table for breakfast. She made Redwald’s favorite food, waffles. She was going to have a long, joyful and meaningful breakfast with her son.

As she was done, she checked her watch. It was almost 10 a.m. She climbed the stairs with excitement in her heart, knocked Redwald’s door and came inside. Unlike her expectations, Redwald was already awake. He was digging a book, was already lost in it. He probably did not even realize his mother was in the room.

“What are you looking for?” Fennel asked. Redwald did not disturb his research. “Something I can’t remember.” He said. Fennel walked through him, put her hand on Redwald’s shoulder and whispered in his ear. “You can always ask me.”

It was funny, because Redwald did not even remember that his mother was an assistant. He put the book on the table, turned his back and saw his mother standing there with a heartwarming smile on her face. Redwald realized how much he loved his mother.

During the breakfast, Redwald knew that day was truly special, because even Meowth, who was the laziest Pokémon alive, bothered to leave the bedroom and ate his breakfast in the kitchen along with the family. Redwald and Fennel had a long chat. Redwald could not even remember when was the last time he had such breakfast with his mother.

At some point, the conversation became about Redwald’s journey. Redwald knew what he was going to do. The next day was the first day of September, in which the registrations for the Kanto League would begin. He knew what he was going to do that year. He had everything planned.

“Don’t worry, mother.” He said softly. “I will leave Pallet Town tomorrow, and go on a journey across Kanto.”

He knew his words hurt Fennel no matter how much he had to do those things. Seeing his son leaving home was not going to be easy for her. Fennel knew that when she comes home, she would feel the emptiness without his son. But it could not be helped. Fennel knew, she had to find a way to deal with it eventually.

“You will be able to contact me at every Pokécenter, by the way.” Fennel said. “Now they have that upgraded call devices at every Pokécenter. You will even be able to see me with those cameras. Same for me. Professor Oak just bought one of these last week.”

“That’s great.” Redwald said calmly. Now he felt the tense in his bones.

Meowth finished his food and slowly walked to Fennel. He rubbed his head to Fennel’s leg while purring. Fennel put a forced smile on her face and hugged Meowth. She was happy to have Meowth no matter how careless he was.

Greta woke up even before her parents and went to the Day Care service. All the Pokémon that her parents had been taking care of were asleep. She silently walked through them and went to the backyard. An Oddish was playing with grasses. Greta walked to her. Oddish got scared when she saw her, as Greta was a completely new face for her. She jumped behind the bushes and thought she was hiding herself.

“Don’t be scared, Oddish.” Greta said with a laugher. “No one can hurt you here.”

Oddish showed up her face from the bushes and looked at her surprised. Greta’s innocent and friendly face was so pure that Oddish felt the desire of trusting her in a sudden. She came out of the bushes and wanted to play with her, instead of grasses. Greta played with Oddish for a while.

“You are such an energetic Pokémon, aren’t you?” She said. “All your friends are sleeping, but you are here, running and playing around.”

Oddish did not even care what she said.

Then somebody ringed the bell. Greta stopped chasing Oddish, as even Oddish stopped running. Greta told Oddish to wait for her, and she left the backyard. An old man was waiting in the lobby. Greta ran to the reception and greeted him.

“Good morning, sir. May I help you?” She said. The old man walked to her slowly. He was holding a Poké Ball.

“I am going on a vocation for my business.” The old man said. His voice was so tired that Greta knew he had no desire for this vocation. The old man showed his Poké Ball closer. “Here, my beloved Growlithe. I would like to take him with me, but the travel would be so much exhausting for him. Please, take good care of my Pokémon while I’m gone.”

“Have no worries, sir.” Greta said. “We are here to make your Pokémon comfortable. We have plenty of room for your Pokémon, of course. But please let me ask some questions first.”

She took a paper from the drawer and put it on the wood. She took also a pen and began to fill the paper.

“For how long will you be on your vocation?”

“Around one month.”

“How old is your Pokémon, Growlithe?”

“He is a young Pokémon. Slightly less than eight months already.”

“Do you want only care, or would you need us train your Pokémon during the process?”

“I don’t need Growlithe trained. He is just my friend. Please, make him comfortable. That’s all I need.”

“Sir, what is your name?”

“I am Thomas Dashier.”

“Thanks for the answers, sir.” Greta said. She let the old man say goodbye to his Pokémon, and then watched him leaving the Day Care. Growlithe was heartbroken as he saw his trainer leave him. But Greta was there to comfort him after all.

“Don’t worry, Growlithe.” Greta said. “He will come in a month. In the meantime, we can have so much fun here.” She was friendly as ever, but it had no impact on Growlithe. He was still sad, staring at the floor, had no reaction.

Blake brought his toast on a plate in his room, lied on his bed and stared at the ceiling for a while. Then, he put the plate on his stomach and began to eat it. He was thinking about a lot of things at once. His almost one year on this journey, his Pokémon, Cubone and Spearow, and many others he will catch, all the troubles he will go through...

“They will cry out my name...” Blake whispered. He was dreaming of League victory. “Everyone will be crying out my name through streets, especially in Pallet Town...”

Blake knew that everyone would have expectations from him if they knew he was Professor Oak’s grandson. Therefore, a League victory would not surprise anyone for real. So, he had only one option – to keep it as a secret as possible. “No one has to know.” He thought. “It has nothing to do with my grandfather. I am an individual person.”

He stared at the letter Professor Oak left for him. What could his parents say to him? Could Professor Oak write it himself? Would it really matter what is written in there?

Blake put the toast on the plate and straightened up. Now his feet touched the carpet on the floor. He had no idea what he had to do. Instead, he took the two Poké Ball which hosted for Cubone and Spearow, and left the house. He found himself in the backyard barefoot. He threw the two Poké Ball and called his Pokémon out. Both Pokémon appeared on the grasses.

“Cubone, Spearow. How have you been?” He asked. Both Pokémon responded in the most energetic way they could bring out. Blake was sure once again that he chose the right Pokémon.

“It was a letdown for us to lose the tournament. Not just for me, but also for you too, I know that.” Blake said. “But it doesn’t matter right now. At the moment, we don’t need to focus on what has passed, but on what is to come.”

Cubone and Spearow were listening to him very carefully. They seemed glad to hear what Blake said.

“Tomorrow is going to be a milestone for our lives. We will go on an adventure. We will discover every corner of Kanto, challenge and battle all kinds of trainers and Pokémon out there. We will go through tough times, happy times or proud times. Maybe there will be disappointments. But we won’t give up or surrender. We will try harder, keep fighting and make what we aim for.

“I need you on this journey. You need me to become a survivor in the nature. We are reaching a helping hand to each other, and all of us will be the winners in this. Are you in with me?”

Both Pokémon joined Blake’s army determinedly. They were ready to do whatever it takes. They would do any sacrifice on this way. They aimed to become the winners in the League and the strongest one out there, so they were going to make sure it would happen.

“Then I have faith in you.” Blake said.

He rushed to his room and took the letter that Professor Oak said his parents sent for him. He opened the letter quickly, just in seconds, and read the whole letter in approximately two minutes. He had no idea if the letter made him angry, sad, confused or uncomfortable. He was only sure that he was not happy. He trashed the letter and started to get ready for the journey.

Greta put herself in the position where she was in charge of Growlithe. She decided to dedicate her one month on this Growlithe, make her best to make it happy. For starter, she prepared a lunch for him. She used her parents’ special recipe for the Fire Type Pokémon. She made it spicy and used a special flavoring that puppy Pokémon would enjoy. But Growlithe did not eat anything.

After that, she called her Nidoran and Caterpie out of their Poké Balls and introduced them to Growlithe. She hoped that her two friendly and heartwarming Pokémon could build a bond with sad Growlithe. But Growlithe ignored them from the beginning, turned his back and let himself live in his dreams. After Nidoran and Caterpie did not let him be, Growlithe attacked with Fire Type moves. Eventually, Greta realized that it would be unsafe to use her Pokémon to have a bond, so she called her Pokémon back in their Poké Balls.

Greta knew that Growlithe was going to be a challenging Pokémon for her. She always dreamed herself as someone who would not have any troubles to approach other Pokémon even if they are crusty. But Growlithe proved exactly otherwise by every single move of his since he came. Greta thought of receiving help from the books. She returned her room and read the parts in the books related to this situation. But in reality, it was not as easy as reading and learning. She knew how much she lacked by not trying, just reading and learning. In practice, everything she knew was just useless information.

She decided to give it one last shot. She returned to the backyard and found Growlithe. She sat next to the Pokémon and started to talk about herself.

“You know, Growlithe. You remind me of myself back in school.” She said. “I had no friends, because no one was a match for me. Furthermore, most of people thought I was a freak. They did not give a chance me to be friends with them. Not that I cared about it. I just went through on my own, and focused on myself and my studying. But it is not nice to be all alone, isolated.”

“I had someone whom I thought I could be friends with. But I was afraid that when I talked to him, other people would say I was a total freak and he would stay away from me. Now I see how wrong I was. Because once I got to know him, I saw he was not that kind of person at all. But if I became friends with him back then, I would probably be in a better place. Not that I complain about where I am right now. After all, I got a Pokémon trainer license and I can take over this Day Care from my parents one day. But for now...”

In the middle of his sentence, Growlithe stood up and walked away slowly. He did not care about anything Greta was talking about. That was the rudest thing Growlithe ever did since he came. Greta knew that she could not turn her back to a Pokémon just because of their behavior, but she also knew that she could not go on like that. She lacked empathy on Pokémon, and she needed to improve herself. She knew she lacked because she did not have practice.

“I have to do something...” She thought. “I can’t let my parents see me as a failure after I got my license...”

She ran outside of the Day Care service, and found herself on the crowded streets of Pallet Town. The street was so crowded that no one could even realize a frustrated girl.

“I can’t let that happen like that...” She repeated herself. She exactly knew what she had to do. She ran to Walker residence and knocked the door as hard as she could. She could not face the possibility that Redwald was not there to answer.

“Red! Open the door!” She shouted out. “Please!” She pushed the doorbell for a couple of times. Eventually, Redwald opened the door.

“Geez, Greta! What is going on with you?” He responded. Greta saw Meowth back there, just awakened, annoyed. But Greta had no time to deal with Meowth. She walked inside and pushed her arms on Redwald’s shoulders.

“Tell me you are going on your journey, right?” She said. She was too close to cry, but she was trying her best not to. She had no tolerance to express another weakness.

Redwald was shocked. “Ye... Yes, I am...” He said slowly.

“When?” Greta asked.

“Tomorrow morning. Registrations for Kanto League will begin tomorrow.”

“Great.” Greta said. “Meet me at the laboratory at 8. I will be there.”

“What?” Redwald was surprised. “Are you coming with me?”

“I will see.” Greta said. “I will let you know tomorrow.”

She turned her back and ran out. Redwald could do nothing but stare for a moment.

It was the late evening. Redwald was watching the sky. Only a dark blue remained as a light there. In a short time, it would disappear and the sky would surrender to pure darkness. Eevee and Pidgey were lying on his bed. Redwald sat next to them. He was sentimental.

“Tomorrow is the big day, guys.” He said. “Once we leave home, we will not have a domestic life for a long time. We will be camping, going through all the obstacles and training as hard as we can. Are you prepared for this?”

Both Pokémon expressed determination on their faces with the random sounds they made.

“I don’t have to push you into this.” Redwald said. “This should be your decision, after all.”

Eevee and Pidgey moved to his legs. They showed their loyalty to their owner. Eevee knew Redwald did so many things for him already. He broke his insecurity in people and made him open his heart to his owner. Pidgey got much better since he joined the team. It was not possible that these Pokémon would leave their trainer behind when he needed them the most.

“I love you guys... I really do.” Redwald said softly, thinking about life.

Redwald woke up with a kiss on his forehead. That was the kiss from his mother. Fennel was standing there. Redwald realized very quickly that Fennel cried a moment ago. The trace of her mascara was still on her cheekbones.

“Are you ready, dear?” Fennel asked. Redwald looked at the corner of his room – where everything he prepared one day before was standing. His backpack, clothes, belongings and other little things, they were all ready. Eevee and Pidgey were also sleeping on the other side of his bed.

“I am.” Redwald said, shortly. Fennel put Redwald’s hand in her hand. “Remember that I love you, and I will be waiting for you in the end of the year. It doesn’t matter what is the result you came here with, I will know you do your best and you still have a long life to make things up.”

“No, mom.” Redwald said. “I will not be happy with it. I am on this way to get somewhere. I will spend my one year in the wild world, no matter how hot or cold it will be. Me and my Pokémon will suffer but for a cause. We will not return home with anything, it will be something that is worth for this.”

Fennel put a smile on her face. But this time it was a sincere one. “I count on you, Red. Do your best and make the whole town proud of you.”

“You bet!” Redwald said determinedly. The sad atmosphere was replaced with a heated one. Redwald’s heart was beating as it if was going to explode. Fennel nodded her head and left the room. Redwald was left alone with his Pokémon.

He changed his outfit, took his backpack and called his Pokémon back in their Poké Balls. For the last time, he visited Meowth in Fennel’s bedroom, woke him up and said goodbye to him, and he left the house. As he promised Greta, he went to Professor Oak’s laboratory and started to wait for Greta.

He checked his watch. He still had 5 minutes to 8. He waited for 5 minutes, thinking about the hype he had. Greta did not show up after 5 minutes. Redwald stood 10 minutes more, thinking and waiting. There was no trace of Greta. Redwald waited 5 more minutes. Greta did not show up.

“She must have decided not to come along, after all.” Redwald thought. 15 minutes was more than enough to wait. He turned his back and walked through the path which would lead him to the Route 1, on where he would face the real danger. But a voice shouted behind.

“Hold it, Red! I am here!”

Redwald turned his back. Greta was rushing to him with her bag and Poké Balls in her hand. “Sorry I am late! I had to do one last thing at the Day Care Service.” She said. She was thinking about Growlithe while she said that. Redwald smiled at her. “It is great to have you with me, Greta. I am happy you decided to come along.” He said. Both trainers looked at each other in the eye, and walked through the path of Pallet Town to make their dreams come true with determination in their hearts.

Humans

 * Redwald Walker
 * Greta Parker
 * Professor Oak
 * Fennel Walker
 * Blake Oak
 * Greta's Parents
 * Thomas Dashier
 * Blake's Parents (mentioned)

Pokémon

 * Thomas' Growlithe
 * Oddish at the Day Care
 * Thomas' Growlithe
 * Oddish at the Day Care
 * Thomas' Growlithe
 * Oddish at the Day Care
 * Thomas' Growlithe
 * Oddish at the Day Care
 * Oddish at the Day Care