Pokémon Not Even a Nibble

[WannabeMerson]

John glanced at his watch for just a second, then reeled his fishing line back in with haste. This wouldn’t be the first time he anticipated a lecture from his parents about him having “worried them sick” or the question of “what if something happened to you”. He picked his bag off the ground with both his hands, walking at the pace of someone at least 30 years older than him.



When he finally arrived at the apartment complex where his parents lived, he stood still in front of his family apartment’s door before knocking. Although, what he heard made him refrain from trying to knock again.


“He’s not ready to spend too much time on his own and you know it!” His mom shouted. “He’s barely passing his classes in trainer school with his tutor!”



“But he’s passing, right?” Inquired the voice of a man he’s only heard speak sometimes at his classes. “And he’s told me he’s gone fishing every day in anticipation of this day. He’ll probably enjoy the opportunity!”



John continued to stand still without really doing anything to alert either of them to his presence. The door could have been unlocked, but if he was going to move in any direction…



“Don’t you professor types say there’s a time and place for everything?” His mom sneered. "This is clearly not the right time for him."



…It would be away from the door. Towards the elevator, perhaps. Maybe back to the sea? Just as he was going to head back out, the elevator chimed, allowing a tall man with neatly trimmed black hair to step off it and towards the same door John had just stepped back from. He was carrying a few gift bags and a box of cake.



Of course his dad had to work late tonight. Why was it that his mom understood that, but not that sometimes he lost track of time while out doing something he enjoyed?



“John?” The man asked. “Is everything alright? You’re trembling.”



“My mom is in an argument with Professor Kukui.” John mumbled with his head lowered. “I don’t want to interrupt, it sounds important.”



“Ah, well, you are around the age most people here take their island challenge, now.” John’s dad observed. “Maybe I can help sort things out, but you should probably come in with me.”



“Okay.” John choked out, going into the apartment, but grabbing onto his dad’s hand just in case.



“It’s about time you came back!” His mom said with a huff. “I was starting to wonder if you took the wrong way home!”


“Sorry, mom.” John couldn’t even look her in the eye. “I tried to avoid the grass, if it helps…”


“Carla, sweetie, don’t you think you’re being a little harsh on him?” John’s dad tried to reach for his wife’s hand, but she retracted it.


“See, professor? John isn’t ready to explore the region.” Carla’s glare fixed back to Kukui. “You should leave. We have a birthday to celebrate.”


“Well, don’t let me stop you from having fun!” Kukui nodded, before giving John a quick glance and heading out of the apartment. "See you at school?"


Carla sighed and sat herself down on the couch. “I knew moving to Alola was a bad idea, Howard. You should've stuck with your old job.”


Howard placed the gift bags and cake he was carrying onto the table. “Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. Anyway, would you prefer cake or presents first, John?”


John didn’t answer.


“...Let’s do cake first, actually.” Howard suggested. “I have a feeling I may have to return one of your presents.”

 

[WannabeMerson]

“Net balls! Are you kidding?!”

Carla’s shouting rang through John’s mind as he tried to sleep that night, with his eyes wide open and shuffling under the covers. Everyone else in his class was going to go on their island challenge by the end of the semester. Why couldn’t he?

Deep down, he knew why. The hours of tutoring with little improvement to show for it. His tendency to come home late whenever he tried to go fishing… he wasn’t ready for the world around him. Not on his own, at least. Maybe his tutor could also spare some tips for his eventual island challenge? He threw the blanket off of him, and opened the window. Maybe the nice Alolan night breeze would help him settle down.

John awoke early the next morning, barely taking time to brush his long brown hair, taking his bag and about to head to school. Although, he couldn’t help but notice something on his way out.

Where was his fishing rod? He looked around the closet where he would normally keep it, but found nothing.

Still, perhaps the best way to prove his mom wrong was to improve his grades first, and show her that he can excel at some things on his own. With a sigh, he closed the apartment door behind him and walked towards the building where his classes were being held.

The room for his first class was empty when he arrived. Or at the very least, there were no other students there. His biology teacher lowered her copy of the math class textbook when she heard the creak of the door, and saw John sit at his desk.

“You’re here early.” She observed, relaxing her face.

John adjusted his glasses, looking up at his teacher and the board she’d be writing her lesson on. Two girls would enter the class, giggling amongst themselves. One of them had wavy blonde hair and a tan, the other one with a brown bob. Upon seeing them, John immediately took one of his textbooks out of his backpack to hide his face behind.

“What’s the matter, John?” The blonde, tan girl would ask, grabbing his book from in front of him. “Sheesh, I would’ve thought Brianna would’ve at least taught you which book was for which class. Though, you are here on time, I guess I gotta give you credit for that.”

“Give it back.” John muttered.

“I’m sorry,” the girl who grabbed his textbook taunted. “I can’t hear you.”

“Give it back, Maia!” John yelled.

“How about this? I’ll give you your dumb textbook back before literature class if you can beat me in a pokemon battle!” Maia giggled. “That is, if you can even catch your first pokemon by the time that class starts!”

The teacher cleared her throat. “That’s enough, Maia. Class will begin shortly.”

The biology lecture was only about 40 minutes long, but throughout the entire class, John had his eyes fixed on his backpack. Surely he had enough money in his wallet to buy some pokeballs from the school store by the time literature class started?

No. His mom would be furious. There had to be another way to get his textbook back.

“Oh, and Professor Kukui will be coming in for the next class.” The biology teacher informed her students. “He looks forward to seeing you all tomorrow.”

The rest of the school day would pass, and John would have to go to his literature class without his textbook. On his way out the door, though, Maia’s friend with the brown bob would hand it back to him. “Here. I’m sorry Maia stole this from you.”

“Thanks, Abby.” John muttered, accepting the book and putting it back in his bag. “...I need to go home.”

He grumbled under his breath on the way back to his family’s apartment, tears running down his cheeks as he looked for his fishing rod again. Unfortunately, it still wasn’t there.

“Mom?” John called. “Where’s my fishing rod?”

“I’m giving it away.”

 

[WannabeMerson]

“Why would you do that, mom?” John asked, muscles tensing. “I like going fishing!”

“What would you do if you actually caught anything?” Carla’s eyes narrowed. “We both know you’re not ready to be a trainer.”

“But what if I am?” John snapped, before stepping back after hearing himself raise his voice. “S-sorry. I just… I’ll release any pokemon I land while fishing. I just wish you hadn’t gave my fishing rod away.”

Carla sighed before putting a hand on John’s shoulder. “I really want to believe you can be a trainer, but you’ll need to prove that you can handle it.”

“…What if we battle?” John offered after a brief silence. “If I win, I get to keep the pokemon I caught.”

Carla took her hand off John’s shoulder but nodded. “We can battle. I’ll even lend you a few poke balls. But if you lose, you’ll have to release that pokemon stay in trainer’s school for another few months, at least.”

“I can accept that.” John agreed, albeit with a gulp.

“Alright, then we’ll battle one week from today.” She confirmed, backing away from John. “I want you to be able to stand a fair chance in a battle against me, so I’m giving you that week to learn about how the pokemon you wind up catching behaves.”

“Thanks, mom.” John shuffled away to his bedroom, looking out the window. Maybe there was some hope in this idea…

--

The next day, John woke up as soon as he saw the sun rise. He grabbed his stuff and headed out the door from his apartment. Carla saw him leave, and sighed, trying to follow him.

“I said I’d lend you some pokeballs, didn’t I?” Carla handed John a set of five pokeballs. “Keep these in your backpack, I’ve heard there’s plenty of pokemon to be found on your trainer’s school campus.”

“Thanks, mom.” John smiled so wide that his teeth were starting to show.

“But remember, I’m only letting you catch one. I only gave you multiple pokeballs in case it takes multiple tries to catch it. Choose your catch carefully!”

John nodded, then headed in the direction of school. As he approached the building, though, there’s a snicker from Maia.

“Heard Abby had to hand you your literature textbook back at the end of the day” The girl taunted. “I see you don’t have that stupid fishing rod on you either.”

“I’ll get a new one.” John said, beaming as he entered his biology class. He then stopped in his tracks upon seeing a familiar face. That’s right, his teacher did say that Professor Kukui was going to be here today, didn’t she?

“Hey!” Kukui greeted, waving towards him. “You’re the first student here!”

“Yeah, well… my mom is letting me catch a pokemon so I can battle her next week.” He peered away from the professor. “If I win, she’ll let me keep it.”

“Glad she’s finally starting to turn around! Although I gotta say, it’s easier to catch a pokemon if you already have another pokemon to wear it out.” Kukui suggested. “I can lend you my Rockruff after class to help you catch one, yeah?”

“Sure.” John replied. “Thank you, Professor.”

Class would begin, and John would keep his eyes on Kukui as he gave his lecture. This caused Maia to glance over at him and give a mean-spirited chuckle, passing a note to Abby.

“…That’s not funny.” Abby mumbled lowly.

After class was finished and all the other students left, John approached the Professor.

“Right, Rockruff!” Kukui handed John the pokeball containing that pokemon. “Go catch yourself a nice pokemon, yeah?”

Almost as soon as John entered the tall grass, a Magnemite floated over towards him. He almost sent out the Rockruff he was lent but remembered something. A good steel-type move could knock the canine out, he thought. He kept wandering until he found a Meowth. This one looked a little different from the ones in Galar, but he did remember hearing these Meowth were dark-type rather than steel-type. Perhaps this would be a better choice than the Magnemite…

“Go, Rockruff!” He unleashed the Rockruff upon the Meowth, “Use tackle!”

Rockruff lunged towards the Meowth, who simply stepped aside to slap the Rockruff with a Fake Out attack.

“Tackle again!”

This time, Rockruff had managed to get a hit onto the Meowth, who growled at the canine. Despite this, Meowth was pinned to the ground, and there wasn’t much of a way to escape. With this opportunity, John threw an empty pokeball at the Meowth.

Meowth stayed in the ball, strangely enough.

“I… I did it! I caught my first pokemon!” John returned Kukui’s Rockruff to his pokeball, and handed it back to the Professor, eyes gleaming as he looked over the feline pokemon in its capsule. The Meowth may not have put up much of a fight, but he finally did something he had been wanting to do for a while.

“I think I’m gonna call you Matilda.” John said, putting Matilda’s pokeball in his pocket.

This next week was going to be an interesting one, for sure.