Leaving Twinleaf
- I stood there trembling for a good ten minutes, contemplating where my life would take me after I turned the doorknob and stepped inside. I was so excited and yet so nervous, my body fed off of the adrenaline my heart had pumped and I started to shake. Because this was it. All my dreams could come true... just through this one door...
“Well, are you going to go inside?” my father asked, clearly amused as he stood behind me, overlooking my shoulder and down at my small prone form. He had come with me purely out of sheer tradition, as he had come with my older siblings when they had gotten their first Pokemon.
I nodded my head yes, and grasped the doorknob tightly, my palms now starting to sweat.
The door opened with ease, and my father and I both stepped in quietly. A vast array of odd machines and tinkerings appeared before us, each one lighting up different color lights and buzzing different sounds. We walked to the back, and saw Professor Rowan himself with a pair of protective goggles and rubber gloves on, holding a screwdriver and some sort of electrical device in his hands. I cleared my throat and took a step forward.
“Professor Rowan?”
The man stopped what he had been occupied with, and lifted the grey goggles over his eyes. His mouth flipped to a smile, and he pulled his rubber gloves off.
“Well gentlemen, what can I do for you this fine day?”
Father looked down at me with an encouraging smile, and I looked up directly at the Professor, breathing in deeply.
“Professor, I'm here to get my first Pokemon, and my license.”
The Professor raised his eyebrows and chuckled.
“But of course you are. Why else?” he laughed, “you're the fourth child from your family, yes? Ah, I know of both your brothers and your sister. Alicia's got her Chimchar; your eldest brother Jeremy has his newly evolved Empoleon -from what I've heard-, and Alex has his Grotle. Haven't heard from them in a while though...” he mused, scratching his head. He motioned for me to follow, and I did as we embarked on a short journey to an adjacent room. My father opted to stay where he was, suddenly interested in a painting on the wall.
“Uh, what's your name again? My memory isn't the best...” the Professor asked sheepishly. Somehow, this wasn't surprising to me, as many other people tend to know my older siblings more than they do me.
“Zach, spelled with a “c h”.” I replied, indifferent.
“Short for Zachariah, I presume? Good name. A strong one indeed.”
I didn't bother replying, as we found ourselves stopped in front of a large stainless steel table, surrounded by rows and rows of Pokeballs lined up along the walls.
“So which Pokemon were you hoping for Zach?” the Professor called as he inspected each Pokeball, “I'm sure which ever you choose, your siblings won't have any hard feelings!”
I rolled my eyes, because of course that was a complete and utter farce. Both my brothers and sister have been known to have a very heated three-way rivalry, and of course they'd think I was playing favorites. Which ever Pokemon I chose, I'd have the other two siblings breathing molten lava down my neck for the rest of my career.
“Um, well, anyone will do,” I said. Professor Rowan was oddly quiet, and he was muttering to himself and checking serial numbers now. He took one of the Pokeballs, looked at the taped number, and set it back, shaking his head.
“Uh, I'll be back in a jippy, Zach, just need to talk to one of my assistants,” and with that he took off out of the room, leaving me to wonder and ponder, and decidedly peek at some Pokeballs.
I saw they were all the same - bland red and white colors- just with different numbers, and I could hardly discern the difference between which ones I'd already picked up, and the ones I hadn't looked at yet. After a while, I sighed and stopped, bored. I wondered where the Professor was when I'd heard mild yelling somewhere near. It was muffled, and I had to press my ear to the wall to hear.
“ - already taken?! You were supposed to let me know when we were out! Now I've got a kid in the back who -”
My ears had shut off after those last few syllables. My mouth gaped open, and despair sunk into my swelling heart. I told myself not to cry, because grown men don't cry, ... but I couldn't help it. I'd waited for this moment for so long and now I'd have to wait another year! It was heart wrenching.
Finally, after a few simply sniffles, I was able to get my feelings in check and brush the incident off. -Well, not completely but alright for the moment. The Professor came back in, flustered, and caught my gaze.
“Zach, I erm, am terribly sorry to tell you this, but it seems my assistants forgot to tell me we had already given away all the starter Pokemon...”
I shook my head at his feeble attempt to apologize.
“Don't worry about it,” I said coolly, anger underlying in its tones. The Professor gave a pathetic sigh, and took a card out of his back pocket. He handed it to me wordlessly, and I stared at it with furrowed eyebrows. “What's this?”
“Your license,” Rowan said simply, “though you don't have a starter, this allows you to catch Pokemon anyway. Normally I don't give them away so easily, but I truly am sorry, so I want you to have it. Next year, you can come back and still get your Pokemon. Though I guess technically he won't be your 'starter', eh?”
I stared in disbelief, but soon pocketed the small card. Rowan then handed me a device similar to the one he was working on earlier.
“It's a Pokedex,” he answered, sensing my curiosity, “it tracks all the Pokemon you've seen and caught, and this model has a built-in map and GPS system, so you can't get lost!”
Interested, I fiddled with it for a moment, then put it away with my newly-found license. I exited a short while later, and father followed me out the lab. Once we were out in the street, he asked the the question I knew he was dying to ask.
“So, which one did you get?”
I shook my head wordlessly.
“Don't worry about it dad. They ran out of them, and I've got to catch my own. Next year I can come back and get it.”
He sensed my discomfort and replied simply with an “oh”. But then, he looked at me strangely.
“So then, why are you coming back home with me?”
We both stopped, and it was my turn to look at him strangely.
“You mean I can go? Even without a starter to protect me?” My father laughed and put a muscled hand on my shoulder.
“Of course you can. I know you're tougher than both your brothers, and smarter than your sis. Let's just keep it a secret from your mother, alright? She'll have a Miltank if she knew I let you go without a starter. Let's say you got... a Cyndaquill!” He chimed.
“A Cyndaquill?” I looked at him dryly, “those are only in Jhoto.” My father winked.
“But your mother doesn't know that.”
Excitement now rushed back into my system, and I refrained from giving him a hug. Grown-up men didn't hug each other. I only nodded enthusiastically.
“I'll still need to get my stuff though-”
My father then dangled my black book bag, stuffed full of clothes and whatnot, in front of my face. He grinned, because he knew I didn't see him take it when we left the house. He must've known I'd been anxious about this.
“A Cyndaquill?” he asked, holding the book bag to me. I grabbed one of the straps and swung the bag around my shoulders. I nodded.
“A Cyndaquill.”
He then ruffled my brown hair as he'd always done in the past, and watched me sprint off in the opposite direction of Twinleaf. I couldn't help but smile, and head straight for the winding road down below the high noon sun, to route 202.
My life was just now beginning.
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ugh. this is that one chapter I hated to write because it was boring. In fact I may end up just scrapping the entire chapter later on...
I do not own Pokemon. 
Apocolypta :: a journey fic
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