Hide Charlie

[mistysakura]

Just posting to say that I remember this fic! Man, the girl had a sad beginning... please do finish this. I remember it having so much potential.

[Lady Vulpix]

Oh, I hadn't seen this one before!

It's hard to imagine Oak and Ivy performing that kind of experiment, but I think it'll be interesting to see what happens next.

I liked the excuse they gave Charlie so that everything felt normal for her. But as Ada said, she did have a sad beginning. I wonder where this is all leading.

When did you write this?

Oh, as for what to write next... why don't you continue Full Moon?

[PancaKe]

Yay Yeah, I want to finish this. I want to write more, and write like I used to. I thought maybe I would have another attempt at this. I'm working on Part Five now; but its so difficult. How on earth did I used to do it?

Haha but yeah. A lot is explained in further chapters so yeah.

Thanks for reading it you guys.

[PancaKe]

LOL Gabi I see what you were saying now. Yes I didn't directly answer your questions, or actually, I didn't indirectly answer some of them either

Ok so- before I get distracted :

1. I wrote this... gosh... 2004 perhaps? A very long time ago. I think it was after Full Moon.

2. I've been trying to write Full Moon. I'm actually very afraid to touch it again. Part of me feels that I just can't write like I used to, because now that I'm older, more mature, more rational, I don't have that really angry side that I used to when I was a teenager. Things have changed. And I'm very scared of destroying it. I read it, and I feel like I don't know where to pick up and go to from there.... Whereas this one only had 4 chapters, easy to continue...

But I really do want to continue Full Moon.

Haha sorry sorry sorry sorry Gabbi ! You know I love you very much!


And umm ...

Part Two

The bedsprings creaked as fifteen-year-old James jumped up and down, up and down, on his bed. Any moment now, his mother or father would come rushing in, demanding to know what on earth the racket was he was creating, and why all they could hear downstairs was a loud thudding. James didn’t care how much trouble he got into, because excitement had blinded his sense of logical thinking. There was excited, then there was over excited, and then there was James’s level of excitement. It was as if he were a little child first experiencing the taste of a lollipop.

“JAMES WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON UP HERE?” his father bellowed, bursting into his room, slamming the door open. It banged against the wall, the sound of the connection echoing in the almost quiet room, the bedsprings creaking to a halt.

“Hi, Dad,” James greeted sheepishly.

“For goodness sakes, James, it’s almost eleven o clock, and you’re bed jumping?” His father sighed. “I thought you’d given that up at five.”

All James could do was grin. “You know I’m excited,” he replied, rolling his eyes. “As if I could do anything else.”

His father smiled and sat down on the bed, next to were James stood. James jumped and landed on his bottom, bouncing the bed and his father up and down. “You really should sleep if the first thing you’re going to do is go off into the never-never land tomorrow morning. Who knows? I might never see you again, you might get eaten up by wild pokemon, or by the mountain natives.”

James laughed. “There are no mountain natives.”

“How can you prove that?” his father countered.

James laughed again. “I have no idea which one to get,” he confessed.

“You know there are at least six species to choose from,” his father pointed out. “And Elm always provides the best of the best. Besides, I thought you were fixated on getting a Chikorita.”

James rolled his eyes. “I was, but those things are just so, so, so girly!”

His father laughed at James’s slight immaturity. “You know, they’re not that girly. I mean, I trained one after all.”

James raised an eyebrow. “Anyway,” he continued. “I’m looking at Charmander now. They’re just so powerful, so awesome, so cool! I’m sure if I had one, it would be just the best!”

“You should pick a pokemon based on its personality, rather than it’s type and how well it will do against certain pokemon,” his father advised. “Hang out with the damned thing first. That’s what got me to choose the Chikorita that is now the Meganium in our back yard that takes care of your mothers garden. Back then, in the day, Kelly was just so caring, and just… oh I can’t explain it. There was this link, this instant connection between the two. And that was when I decided I didn’t care if I looked like a sissy, Kelly was the one for me.”

James grinned. “Well, I hope I have that connection with a Charmander, then.”

His father laughed. “Why don’t you at least go to sleep and give your bed a rest. You don’t want to totally break it before you leave, do you?”

James shrugged. “Why not?”

“Don’t you dare,” his father threatened. He looked over to the backpack lying next to the desk in the corner. “Do you have everything you need packed in there?” James thrust a checklist into his fathers face. “Okay, okay. So you’ve packed, your wallet, your travel pass, your money and your keycard. You know, as soon as you run out of money to stop in whatever city your in and get a job and a cheap place to rent? Either that or come straight home.”

“I know, and I won’t run out of money,” James rolled his eyes.

“You’ve got spare change of clothes, a few T-shirts, and things like that? Good. Pokeballs and the other pokemon trainer stuff you’ll need? Maps? Okay, I think you’re set.”

“I’ve also got a sleeping bag, and a small frypan in there,” James announced proudly.

“You can fit all that in there?” his father asked.

“Surprisingly.”

“Well, then, I guess your all set.” There was a hint of sadness in his voice as he said this. “Tomorrow’s the big day, huh? Going off into the big wide world, to hopefully accomplish more than your old man.”

“Not more,” James grinned. “Just as much.”

His old man smiled. “That’s my boy. Never could outshine his father.”

James poked out his tongue. His father got up and walked to the door. “Dad?” James said.

His father turned around. “Yes, James?”

“I’ll miss you,” James admitted. “Good night.”

“Goodnight James,” his father smiled sadly, before turning out the light and leaving James sitting on his bed, wide awake, in the dark.





{}{}{}{}

“Oh my gosh it’s TOMORROW MORNING!” James shrieked, bolting downstairs with his backpack and other items. His mother looked up at the rush of noise and smiled.

“The house will be quiet without you, Jimmy James,” she greeted. “How about the breakfast of champions?”

“Let’s just go! Forget about breakfast!” James cried.

“It’s eight o clock, we don’t have to be there until ten,” his mother pointed out. “Chill out.”

His father wandered out the bedroom in his boxors. “What’s all the noise? Is that bacon I smell?”

“Straight from the Swinub’s hide,” his mother sang out from in front of the frypan.

“Mmm, sound’s delicious!” His father sat down at the table to wait, boxors and all.

“Go get ready Dad!” James exclaimed. He jumped up and down, panicky. “If we’re not there in time I wont ‘make my connection’ like you said!”

“Make a connection?” his mother repeated, confused. “What’s all that about?”

“Nothing, dear,” his father replied, bright red, burying himself behind the paper.





{}{}{}{}

Breakfast was eaten, too slowly according to James, and then his father got himself ready, too slowly according to James, and then they drove to New Bark’s Pokemon Research and Care Center. James sat in the back seat, practically wetting himself from excitement.

When they got there, James tried to contain some of his excitement, in order to look cool. The doors slid open for them automatically as they walked in. The room was not that crowded, only five or so others had been selected to receive their pokemon at ten o clock. The others had been scheduled for later dates and times, due to the ungodly rush that would crave a pokemon of their own.

“Wow,” was all James could say. The pokemon up for selection sat behind a small fence, and were being watched over by standing by nurses and research assistants.

“Hello, Marsha, Blake,” a tall skinny man with glasses greeted James’s parents. “How do you do today?”

“Elm! Buddy! Long time no see!” his father embraced a surprised Elm, almost squeezing the skinny man to death. Upon release, Elm straightened his coat and then turned to James.

“I’m guessing you’re James, right?”

“Yeah,” James replied. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Elm answered. “Did you want to have a chance to meet the pokemon before you made your choice? Many trainers have found they get along and bond with the pokemon they meet before hand, as opposed to mail order pokemon and pokemon bought off Ebay.”

“Yeah,” James nodded, trying to contain his excitement. His parents smiled and went off to talk with one of the nurses about training and things along those lines. James dropped his bags and things next to a chair and walked slowly over to the fence, looking at the pokemon on display in front of him.

There were about six pokemon or so, some sitting down on chairs or cushions, some eating or drinking, others right up against the fence, conversing with to-be trainers. James teetered up to the fence nervously, and peered over the knee-high restrainer at the creatures. The Chikorita that lay on the cushion in front of him eyed all the people and then went back to its sleep, not showing a bit of interest. The Bulbasaur next to it was right up against the fence, listening to a trainer talk to it intensely. Other people were playing with the Quilava, the Squirtle and the Totodile, mucking around with them and having a good old time.

James searched the pokemon play-pen. Where was the Charmander he so longed to call his own? Where was the little orange lizard with its burning tail? Shouldn’t it be here?

He turned to ask Elm about the Charmander’s whereabouts, and crashed right into the professor. “Um, sorry, professor!”

“No worry, no harm done, none at all!” the professor chattered back to him. “What’s the problem?”

“Where’s the Charmander?” was all that James could ask.

“The Charmander?” Elm frowned. “You know, you’re the first person to ask about Jupiter all day.”

“Jupiter?” James repeated.

Elm walked off, and beckoned James to follow him. “Jupiter is the name given to Charmander. We received him a few days ago, but he’s had some things, you might call them issues, which we’ve tried to help him with. Honestly, I’ve never met such a dramatic and brash creature.”

“Brash?” James repeated, confused. “How can you tell if the Charmander is brash if you can’t even talk to it?”

“Brash simply is like, in a hurry, making impulse decisions without thinking, and being quite up front about things,” Elm explained, leading James down a hall way. “In some cases, brashness can be considered a good thing. In Jupiter, however, it’s caused a lot of problems with the other pokemon. So many, that we’ve decided to separate it.”

“But what about it finding a trainer?” James inquired, feeling quite sorry for this isolated Charmander.

“Well, we figured, if there was a trainer prepared enough to take on such a challenge, then they’d ask about it. And you asked,” Elm shrugged. He stopped at a doorway and punched in an access code and entered a dark room. James followed, cautiously.

The room was dark except for a flickering little light in the corner. Elm flicked a switch, and instantly the room was flooded with artificial florescent light. The creature in the corner jumped up and yelled out in surprise!

“CHAR!” he gasped, clutching his chest with one claw, and leaning against the wall with the other, breathing in and out heavily.

“This is the Charmander?” James asked.

“Jupiter, this is James. James, this is Jupiter,” Elm introduced. “Don’t be nasty, Jupiter. This is the only trainer to ask about you.”

The Charmander made a scissors action with two of his claws and cut his arm, and then his chest.

“Okay, that might have been a bit upsetting,” Elm continued. “But honestly, I think you and James will make a good team.”

For a moment, Jupiter studied James, staring at the boy with bright blue eyes. “Char,” he stated simply, walking over and extending a paw.

Elm looked pleasantly surprised.





{}{}{}{}

The sun shone down and warmed my skin. It tickled it almost, making it feel hot in places and then moving up and down my arms and legs. My feet were nice and cool in the water, and after some encouragement from Ricochet, I found myself standing in the water. It came up to my knees, and swirled and washed around me, dragging little rocks and pieces of sand in between my toes.

“This is so nice, Ricochet!” I giggled.

Ricochet smiled. I couldn’t see his mouth, but his eyes looked happy, so I knew he was smiling. “Be careful that you don’t tear the covering!” he called back.

I nodded, waving my arms up and down. My long hair was touching the water, getting wet. I could feel it pulling. My hair was shorter at the front than at the back, although I had no idea why, but Ricochet said it was nothing to worry about.

I had known Ricochet for as long as I could remember, and he had been taking care of me for as long as I could remember. He was such a clever Caterpie. He made this stringy stuff and used it to glue leaves together, and he made me coverings. He made me warm ones for the cold weather, and ones that let me go swimming in the warm weather.

“Ricochet, come in!” I called. I bent down and cupped the water in my hands, and threw it at him, laughing. Ricochet scurried away from where the water landed and shook his head.

“I think I’ll be right here,” he answered.

Little creatures swam around past my ankles, and kept on swimming down the stream. I watched them as they moved their bodies side to side, wondering how they could do that.

“How do they do that?” I asked Ricochet, pointing to the creatures that were in the water.

Ricochet moved closer to the water and peered in. “That’s a school of baby Poliwag,” he told me. “They live in water, and out of it. Because they can breathe in the water, they can swim easily. They also have slippery bodies that lets them move through it easier.”

Ricochet was always teaching me new and interesting things. He took really good care of me, and taught me everything I knew. If it hadn’t been for Ricochet, I wouldn’t know which berries or flowers to eat, and which things were dangerous. He was always telling me what was right and what was wrong. He explained to me the ways things worked, the way things were and how to live alongside other pokemon by the stream.

I climbed out the stream and sat down next to Ricochet on the grass. “How come I can’t swim?” I asked him. “I think it would be fun to swim like the baby Poliwag.”

“You breathe air,” Ricochet explained patiently. “Those Poliwag can breathe air and water. They are good swimmers because they can breathe. If you tried to swim like a Poliwag, then you wouldn’t be able to breathe.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“When we breathe, our lungs fill up with air. Their lungs can fill up with water and air, but their lungs filter the water out. Our lungs don’t do that, so we would just get a lot of water in our lungs. When we get lots of water in our lungs, we can’t breathe because there is no more room for air.”

“Oh.” I lay back on the grass, and watched the sky. A flock of Pidgey flew overhead, flapping their wings and making their way across the clouds and blue. I wondered where they were going.

Ricochet got up from where he lay, and walked over towards the stream for a drink. More Pidgey flew up ahead, in the same direction as the other flock. Ricochet noticed this, and shook his head. “It is that time again,” he sighed.

“What time?” Ricochet had never mentioned a time before, or anything along those lines.

“Haven’t I ever told you about that time?” Ricochet asked, surprised. He walked over and sat down next to me. “I will have to tell you then.”

I eagerly sat up, listening hard.

“There is a time where the young and weak Pidgey venture north, away from their usual habitat. It is at this time that pokemon know to be careful and to stay hidden away, until the Pidgey return.”

“Why do we have to stay hidden?”

“Because when the weak Pidgey go north, it means that a new group of catchers are coming out. Catchers catch pokemon, and take them away from their family and their friends. When the catchers pass through, it is important to stay hidden. All smart pokemon stay hiding, and all the stupid ones end up becoming slaves.”

“That sounds horrible!”

“It is. Captured pokemon think that it is good to be captured, and to be friends with the catcher and to be in fights and win competitions. It is abuse to the natural abilities of pokemon, however. If anybody forces you to use your abilities for anything other than living and everyday survival, it is abusing them. These captured pokemon think that they are having fun, but they don’t realize they are being abused. That is why when the Pidgey fly north from New Bark, it means that catchers are on their way. And we have to hide from them when they come closer.”



{}{}{}{}

“So, Jupiter, apparently you’re brash and dramatic,” James said slowly, breaking the silence. He walked along, his hands holding the straps of his backpack, his newly aquired pokemon walking along beside him.

The Charmander shrugged and rolled its blazing blue eyes. “Char,” he replied.

Silence followed.

James felt awkward, walking along with this creature that was supposed to be his long term partner in power, the first of a team of many that would help him collect all the badges and be just like his father, with eight shiny badges on display in the living room. How on earth would he do this if he couldn’t even carry off a conversation with the damned monster? James felt so stupid for even wanting to come on a pokemon journey, he felt so stupid for getting so excited and worked up for it, when already, after half an hour of traveling, was tired, hungry, and couldn’t even talk to his Charmander.

James found a tree with a bit of grass underneath it, and threw himself down on the ground, deflated. He sighed loudly, and closed his eyes.

Jupiter grinned.

“Ooof!” James cried, the breath being knocked out his lungs as Jupiter landed on his back. “What the hell?” He got up, Jupiter falling on the ground in the process, and turned to face Jupiter, gasping and holding his back. “What the hell?” he repeated, angry.

Jupiter’s expression grew scared.

“Where’d that come from?” James continued. “What was that for? Man, my back is killing me now! What’s with doing that stuff?”

Jupiter shrank down, trying to make himself as little as possible, and turned around. James instantly felt bad for yelling at Jupiter, but the Charmander needed to learn some common sense. Part of James wanted to apologize to Jupiter. Part of James wanted revenge.

Grinning evilly, James slowly reached out, and then pushed the ball that was Jupiter. Jupiter rolled down the slight slope, and unraveled at the bottom, dazed. He looked up from where he was sprawled across the grass at James, and grinned.

James laughed at the sight of the spastic grinning Charmander. Jupiter laughed too. The tension of the morning eased away as the afternoon arrived, as Jupiter and James became friendlier towards each other.

Jupiter seemed to share James’s love of bread. The loaf of bread that had been packed by James’s mother, to be eaten over the course of a week or so, had been devoured within minutes by the hungry pokemon and trainer.

James felt much closer to Jupiter. He assumed Jupiter felt the same from the friendly “Char” it cried as it beamed up at him, mouth full of bread.

“So, Jupiter,” James began, this time much more confident. “You’re really dramatic, ey?”

Jupiter placed a paw on his heart and gasped, loud and long. “Char!” he cried, shocked. He shook his head. James could only laugh.

“Hey, Jupiter, you want to hear something corny?” James asked. Jupiter looked up, curious. “I think this is the beginning of a wonderful and exciting adventure. James and Jupiter, the super team! Ready to take on anything in their way!”

Jupiter stood up, his hands on his hips, looking up at the sky, chest out in the air. “Char!” he declared.




{}{}{}{}

Jupiter sighed as they kept walking. He wasn’t used to so much walking. His chest heaved in and out as they trekked through the long grass and the bushes and around the trees. Jupiter wouldn’t mind riding on James’s back. He looked up and tried to calculate how high it would be to jump up, but decided against it.

He settled for walking slowly, lagging behind slightly. They had been walking all day. Shouldn’t they be setting up camp soon? Jupiter didn’t know. After all, this was his first journey, and everything that was happening was new to him.

“Hey, Jupiter,” James said, turning around. Jupiter looked up at him. “Do you want to stop for the night? We can set up the tent, or just sleeping bags, because it’s not that cold, and we’ll make some dinner and get some sleep. How does that sound?”

Jupiter grinned. “Char,” he replied. He thought it sounded fantastic. His stomach grumbled in agreement.

James heard and laughed. “Right, we’ll stop at the next clearing we come across,” he announced. Jupiter sighed and dragged himself after James.

Fortunately, the next clearing was not that far away. Jupiter threw himself on the ground, his eyes shut, his body worn out. This was going to be a tiring journey, or at least, until he got used to it. He heard James throw down his backpack, but didn’t bother looking.

“I’m going to go get some water from the stream,” James informed Jupiter. “It’s just over there through the trees. Mind the backpack while I’m gone.”

James turned and left. Jupiter opened one eye, and looked at the lonesome backpack. He crawled over to it and collapsed on top, eyes shutting and refusing to open.

How long he slept for, he didn’t know. The sounds of James returning with the water woke him up, but he was too lazy to make obvious signs of his alertness. Suddenly, he felt James pushing him. His deadweight made him difficult to move off the backpack. Opening one eye, and glaring sleepily, he found himself jumping up startled, and gasping for air, as he realized that James had not returned.

“What the hell?” Jupiter yelled. “What the hell are you doing, pushing me off the backpack?”

“It’s obvious he’s a thief,” another voice commented from up above. The Sentrent glared at Jupiter, before working his paws away, trying to open the sack.

“Do you mind?” Jupiter asked. “That’s not yours.”

“I know,” the Sentrent answered offhandedly.

“So what do you think you’re doing?” Jupiter asked.

The Sentrent whipped out something shiny and grinned. “See ya.” He turned and scampered.

“Watch the bag!” Jupiter yelled to the third party watching, and dashed after the squirrel. Leaping up in the air, he dove for the rodent and tackled his hind legs, taking him down. They both landed on the ground with a loud thud. Jupiter thought that he was dead, as he lay on the Sentrent, winded.

He felt the Sentrent squirming beneath him. “Where the hell are you going with what you stole?” Jupiter demanded. The Sentrent continued squirming. Jupiter held onto him tightly, being dragged along the ground.

“Would you let go?” the Sentrent screeched, turning around and pushing Jupiter. Jupiter raised one hand and brought it across the Sentrent’s face, scratching it with its claws. He wasn’t sure what he had meant to do, but the Sentrent didn’t seem too happy about it, so Jupiter assumed he had done the right thing.

“I’m not letting go until you give back what you took,” Jupiter growled at the squirrel. The Sentrent continued squirming, waving his stubby arms about.

“Just get off would you?” the Sentrent yelled out. Jupiter shook his head. Sentrent tried to push him off again, but Jupiter slapped him across the face. Holding on with one arm, Jupiter continued the constant slapping, his eyes shut, not having any idea of what he was hitting.

He felt his paw connect with an object other than the Sentrent, and he grabbed on to the stolen item. He tugged on it, and felt a sharp tug back. His claw closed around the object tightly. “Let go!” he yelled at Sentrent.

“Why?” Sentrent replied.

“Because it’s NOT YOURS!” Jupiter yelled, slapping Sentrent, leaving shining scratch marks across his cheek. Sentrent dropped the item and grabbed his cheek.

“Ouch!” he cried.

Jupiter sat there, stunned for a moment, dangling the stolen item in his claw. Realizing he was holding James’s possession, he got up and turned and ran from the Sentrent. “Go away!” he yelled over his shoulder.

He ran over to the bag and shoved the shiny thing inside. He had no idea what it was. The third party Pidgey raised an eyebrow from where he was watching the bag. “Some skills,” he commented.

Jupiter’s chest heaved in and out, as he struggled for oxygen. “Shut up,” he managed to tell the Pidgey, who chuckled.

“So, can I have it back?” the Sentrent asked.

Jupiter turned around. “Piss off!” he snapped.

James came through the bushes, carrying a pot of water. “Hey! Jupiter!” James cried. “A Sentrent! Let’s catch it!”

“Char!” Jupiter yelled, shook his head and collapsed once more on the bag. The Pidgey chuckled once more from above, as the Sentrent turned and scampered.

~fin~